Did you?
Did you notice that I was quiet for a few days .. just a few?
Did you miss me? I hope so, coz in the honest truth - I kinda missed you lot too!
Firstly, thank you
everyone who came along for the ride through June, for all your comments and responses - they made my heart squeeze.
As much as I love the great outdoors, the meadows, the sky, walking, photographing, camping, cloud watching, star spotting, mini-beast hunting (the list goes on and on...) I actually found it hard going 'reporting' daily my #30DaysWild. This was my third year of doing and for some reason the hardest.
So, those comments were just the boost I needed - thank you :)
Now, as promised - normal transmission has resumed. Here is the knitting news.

Early June I was gifted by my brother and fav-sis-in-law two balls of the yummiest, scrummiest, cuddliest, snuggliest balls of delicious yarn of Sirdar Aura in colours that sang of the sea. Sang of the sky and holidays on Scottish islands - I
could not wait to start knitting.
Silly me, in my excitement I forgot to take a suitably posed picture of my yarn and needles but I managed to find an image on the net (thanks ebay).
Any hoo, I just wanted a simple asymmetrical shawl that I could wrap on my shoulders for a cooler summer evening.
I researched all my usual resources and patterns and found I was not inspired at all. Until I remembered a simple design I had used for a couple of hats that consisted of a repeated four row arrangement with alternative purl and plain giving a deep and squoshy feeling. Then by increasing by two and decreasing by one, a wing shaped shawl began to grow.
As the rows fell off the needles, it became obvious that the colour changes in the yarn
just by happy lucky chance, changed exactly on the rows.
The ridges and furrows began to develop delicious stripes of their own.
I could not have been more delighted!

Every time I was a passenger in the car, or while sitting on the settee in the evenings,
I would knit.
Every walk we did, I would shove my knitting into my day-bag and at every stop,
the knitting would appear and I would knit a row or two.
At our weekly knit and natter, I would knit ... no! that is a lie,
we tend to chat....eat...chat....sip tea....chat....eat cake....
I would
occasionally knit a stitch or two.

Then on Saturday, while out collecting keys for Eldest's new Uni digs,
I finally completed and cast off the shawl on the return journey.
We'd planned a picnic lunch along the way and as Himself pulled off the small road
and parked beneath a hawthorn tree, I snipped the last thread.
With a small handful of remaining yarn left, I made a tassel whilst sitting in the sunshine.
Then, lunch forgotten and camera thrust at Eldest,
my new shawl and I
twirled and posed.
We frolicked in the cool sunshine (we've had a lot of rain recently so I may have gone a little a la-la)
and we just plain showed off!
Now, at home,
we have both calmed down and are quietly sitting together.
My new shawl and me.
Happy smile :)
PS - I do have more knitting news, but that can wait.