Can You Tell What it is Yet?

Yes, I am knitting a large ginger beard. Not really. Here is (are?) the beginnings of one of my twin shawls. This was after only a couple of days, and before I was distracted by some hand-painted Opal sock yarn. I have now knitted three-quarters of a sock, but cannot report further progress on either shawl.

I am now unable to put my sock down and will most likely finish it before picking up on the shawls again. Here is the sock (a couple of days ago):

The stitch is Stansfield #10 from Sensational Knitted Socks. The colourway is Midsummer Night's Dream. The colours are so much darker than I expected - nothing like the bright colours in the photo, but this happens, I suppose. Sometimes it takes something like this to make you realise what it is that really pleases you. These dark colours are quite striking if you look at them close-up, but I now know for certain that I prefer something lighter (not usually pastel, though), brighter and - dare I say it - more feminine.

I had trouble deciding which stitch to knit the socks in, too. About ten rows in, I still wasn't very happy with Stansfield #10. I don't know why. Maybe it's too austere when combined with this colourway. Thing is, though it's not making my heart flutter, I do feel the pattern shows the yarn off quite nicely. This yarn is lovely to knit with - it's all springy and has a lot of body. I do really like it, but can't help feeling that the yarn and pattern combined were really meant for a man. And not a flibbertygibbet thing like me.

Soon, I will tell you about the shawls, and the "issues" I have. Oh, things just aren't tickety-boo knitting-wise, at present. I feel as though I've made some errors of judgement. However, as all knitting is good knitting, and, it's the journey that counts, etc., it's okay.

Before I go, I am so ashamed of not thanking you all for your lovely comments on my Edwardian wotsit. So, thank you, all of you.