Which Swatch?

I haven't been doing much for Swatching Sunday recently, but I have been doing a steady stream of swatching in the last couple of weeks.

Last Wednesday I swatched for the Kiri shawl. I need your help deciding what needle size to use.

Keep in mind, I swatched two different parts of the shawl (not smart, I know. I'm not sure what I was thinking.) But it's close enough to get a sense of how the yarn knits up.

Here are the swatches pinned for blocking (US Size 2 on top and US Size 4 on the bottom):



Here are the swatches after they have been unpinned and thrown around a little. The edges are curling some, but the blocking seems to hold up OK. (US Size 2 on top and US Size 4 on the bottom):

The yarn I'm using here is Mystic Alpaca from Peru4less. I got the yarn on eBay ages ago, and the vendor seems to have disappeared from the face of the earth. There is some debate about the yarn's fiber content. After talking it over with the other knitters at Bluebonnet, we think it is a blend of alpaca and acrylic.

I think the Peru4less would be appropriate for a shawl, but I do have another option:
This is the Skacel Merino Lace that I bought at the Yarn Barn in San Antonio. I could scrap the Peru4less altogether and start fresh with this. It's true laceweight, and I'm sure of the fiber content.

I'm looking for opinions, so please vote. And vote soon. I want to cast this on to knit on my trip to California.

Early FO: The Floppy Horse Family

Meet the Floppy Horse Family. They have Floppy Horse Syndrome, a bone disease that makes it hard for them to stand up. So they decided to lie down for this picture.

Here's the Daddy Horse:

The Mommy Horse:

And the Baby Horse, who seems to have the most severe form of Floppy Horse Syndrome. His neck is twisted all the way around:

The Floppy Horse Family is another creation I knit in the third grade. The pattern is from The Workshop Book of Knitting by Ursula Von Wartburg. The horse pattern was a lot of fun. The horse is knit in one flat piece that was folded up and sewn together. There was a lot of stitches on stitch holders and casting on extra stitches. I remember how accomplished I felt knitting something so advanced.

Like most of my projects from this era, I think I used acrylic yarn from my Mom's stash and US size 9 Boye aluminum straights like these. I really like the tweedy yarn I used for the Daddy Horse. It seems like it came from somewhere besides my Mom's stash. Or maybe she frogged an old project. I'm not sure.

It's really a shame The Workshop Book of Knitting is out of print. Fortunately, Mom still has her copy (I think.)

Early FO: Needle Wallet

In my efforts to declutter, I've been taking pictures of some of my crap stuff before I get rid of it. It's about holding onto the memory and not the stuff.

But not everything I took pictures of was thrown away. A couple of weeks ago I uncovered the first of what will probably be many items I made when I first learn how to knit in elementary school.

This is a needle wallet I made in my early knitting years, probably third or fourth grade.

I learned to knit from my Mom and The Workshop Book of Knitting. I was surprised to find it on Amazon. I think it's been out of print for ages. I knit many of the patterns in that book, including this one.

This is acrylic yarn from my Mom's stash. The exact brand and colorway has been lost to the ages. I'm pretty sure I used US size 9 Boye aluminum straights like these, because I used those on just about everything back then. (In fact, I'm pretty sure they were gold.)

Believe or not, back then my knitting was very tight, and I knit English. When I picked it back up later on, I loosened up and switched (unknowingly at the time) to Continental.

Some things did stay the same, however. I still love my aluminum Boye needles, and while I love natural fibers, I'm not afraid of some acrylic yarn.

I see I used a crochet chain for the ties here. I'm surprised, because the book has a tutorial on a twisted cord that was incorporated into some of the patterns. I was into the twisted cord thing for a while, but I must have switched to the chain at this point.

I didn't do the best sewing job with the inside, but it's still functional. (I found it with needles inside.) I probably end up using it.