FO - Lilac Evening Shrug (in Bamboo!)

When I saw this shrug pattern in my RSS feeds (via Craft:'s blog,) I knew instantly I had to make one for myself. Bamboo is one of my favorite fibers, it's super soft and has this wonderful quality of keeping me warm in cool temperatures, and cool in warm temps. The hard part was trying to decide if I wanted to make it with SWTC Bamboo in Intensity, (variegated denim blue, teal and lilac) or Habu Bamboo in Lilac - both yarns I have plenty of in my stash.

Since I'd already worked with the SWTC Bamboo, I decided to go with the Habu. Plus, since it's a solid color, I think it'll look a bit fancier with a nice dress. I have another cruise coming up in the fall, and I always need something to keep my shoulders warm in the big dining room. On the last cruise, I forgot to bring a sweater one night and was f-f-f-freeeezing! Hehehe.

After I finished up a quickie Bernadette Scarf, I used my cast-on fever to motivate myself to finish up some chores before I actually cast on for it. A good tactic I'll definitely use again, I really hate folding laundry. What do you do to motivate yourself for chores you dislike?

I had a bear of a time starting this, I used a long tail cast-on, and had real problems joining the cast-on row. So, I knit a couple rows back and forth and then joined to work in the round. I also used Knit Picks metal dpn's, as my interchangeable circular set doesn't include a 12" cable (and honestly, I don't think I would've been able to join the round on a 12" circular anyway.) Once I got past the garter stitch beginning, I had to be careful not to leave a yo as the last stitch on any of the needles; but once I figured that out, things went a bit better.

The first sleeve worked up super fast, I had it done and split for the back the first day I really worked on it (the multiple cast-ons took me a few days to get over before I tried again.) I actually gave myself a little blister, probably trying to manage the dpn's... the bamboo seemed to stretch a lot though, and I ended up with ladders between where the needles met. No matter what I tried, I couldn't seem to even lessen them, they stretched out after I created them, in the round following; and I had no way of evening the adjoining stitches out to hide them.

I used a 3 needle bind off to finish it, and was very pleased. I only wish the edges didn't curl as much, it rides up in the back, and down in the front! I fudged my measurements a bit, because I knew the edge along my neck would need to be longer than the lower one; so I took them both, added them and then divided by 2, to get a total length from armpit to armpit of 19.5" (9 3/4" on each half of the body sections.)

I don't have a picture with me in it yet, but I love it! It's great for when the a/c kicks on in this humidity!