What's on My Needles Sunday

I don't know if you heard, but Andrea of Bad Cat Designs has another knit along that is "officially" starting tomorrow.  I say Officially in quotes because the pattern is already available and there is nothing to stop you from starting early, it is one of those "come as you are, easy going" type knit alongs.

The pattern is Annapurna and it has been available through Jade Sapphire for a little while now, but is finally available to purchase as a download through Ravelry which is very convenient as then the pattern is stored in your online library and can't get lost!

Here is what Andrea has to say about the pattern :

"Annapurna I is one of the 8,000-meter (26,200 ft) peaks of the Himalayas. In 1978, the American Women’s Himalayan Expedition became the first United States team to climb Annapurna I. The first summit team successfully reached the top at 3:30 p.m. on October 15, 1978. The second summit team followed shortly after, and two women in that team lost their lives. To this day, it is one of the most dangerous mountains to climb. There is a wonderful book called Annapura: A Woman’s Place, by Arlene Blum. I read it 20 years ago and it left quite an impression on me. I would recommend it to everyone.
Annapurna, or Goddess of the Harvest, is one of a series of shawls I designed, based on mountains. She was the first in the series, and another seven are included in my upcoming book, New Heights in Lace Knitting (Interweave 2016.) If you enjoy this project please check out the book, which is scheduled to hit book stores in June, 2016!
This pattern was originally published as a printed pattern in 2014 by Jade Sapphire yarn company. The 2016 download includes the original pattern plus two alternate versions of the chart. The alternate charts take up more space but are larger. The knitter should look through the additional charts (beyond pattern page 4) and decide which they prefer to work from, and then just print those."

I test knit this pattern for Andrea way back then, and nearly decided against knitting along with the group as there were (and are) some other projects on my needles.....

but.....

You knew that but was coming, didn't you?

But.....My first Annapurna in ColourMart 2/28 has had a lot of use!  I have worn it to work, while teaching financial literacy in a basement that could never be depended on to be climate controlled to any climate you would want to be in, with jeans, dress slacks or a skirt, so I decided that maybe, just maybe I would play a little game of sizing experimentation and knit it again.

Maybe just a bit bigger this time around?  In say a fingering weight, I have plenty of Land O Lace ShaSha left over from my Winter Wheat? And by some I mean over 1200 yards.

Or maybe in a cobweb yarn and go for a very delicate look?  I have a lot of Love Potion  #3 left over from Persian Princess. Probably about 1500 yards of this one!

Only one thing to do....swatch

Yeah, I know, those look like the starts of shawls, but they are swatches I tell you!

Along with the usual stealth projects I am plugging away on my Chevron Cardigan, that pattern is also available on Ravelry! 

Funny how the knits that are designated just for me to wear get pushed to the side!  (TDQ will steal at least one of those shawls I started, we picked colors based on a dress that she really likes to wear but is a bit chilly in an"climate controlled" room!)

I did get a couple of pictures of the stash dragons, I mean yarn chickens, together.  Here you can see that the second one is quite a bit bigger than the first.  I tried getting some outside shots, but let me tell you, with a little bit of a breeze those wings work!  I was picking dragons up from all over my yard!

TDQ says I almost have a perfect Fire Lizard from Pern!

What's on your needles this week?