Have I ever said how much I love Ravelry?

A place for us knitters to go to to share our trials and tribulations with each pattern as we experience our choice of luscious yarns and many brilliant designers. I recently found one of those designers, Jennifer Wood, with her newly released book "Refined Knits". I picked up a copy of the book after seeing her posts on Ravelry and found so many patterns in the book that I'm sure to spend my summer with the imprint of needles/hooks in my hands. I am totally in love. I can't  wait to try knitting the pattern called Anwen, which is a rectangular shawl (pictured on the front page of the book) and will look beautiful in our Queensland Llama lace by Euro yarns. I have to decide what color to use - decisions, decisions.  I'm leaning towards ecru, but I can imagine this pattern would look divine in any of the beautiful colors.

What I like most about Jennifer Wood is that she is creative.  In this new book she focuses on interesting, structural technique in cable and graceful laces.  Since I love to stretch and learn new things, her patterns spark my interest.  With every new skill I learn in knitting, I try to pick at least three patterns in a row where I can practice the skill.  I remember when I was learning the Kitchener stitch....and any of you out there that know how to Kitchener, you have my admiration. I not only wanted to learn how to do it,  but I wanted to memorize the technique to be able to teach it to other knitters and friends in our store. For those that are wanting to learn how to Kitchener stitch, pull up a chair, put on some soothing music and dive into Michelle Hunter's tutorial video