Black and Amorphous

I've got a new project started! My Nuvem (named Firework in Ravelry) is underway. 

(casting on while flying South)

I cast on while I was headed down to Atlanta last week. I have to applaud Judy's Magic Cast On, other than that I screwed up my first attempt by not leaving myself a long enough tail, it is wonderfully simple and does indeed disappear into the fabric of the shawl. 

You'll notice I have a pure black skein here. There was a slight change in plans. Originally, I had grabbed three skeins of Dragonfly Fibers in the Firecracker Colorway, Pixie Base and one skein of a teal that--under the YarnCon lights--looked similar enough to make a good ruffle. Under natural light this was not the case. 

And from what I can tell, Dragonfly Fibers doesn't regularly dye an all black skein of Pixie. Fortunately, they did do one for a kit and someone on Ravelry was willing to sell me hers. I decided to go with all black in the middle and then fan out the colors. Everyone who has seen the yarn thinks the pops of teal are lovely and at least one person has already tried to lay claim to the finished garment. 

I'm hoping that by mid-July when I expect to finish it, it will be warm enough in Chicago to deter some of the grabby fingers. 

While it is 98% mindless knitting, working in black means I need good light and do have to notice every other row whether I'm doing increases or plain and so while this is fabulous TV/commute/listening to a webinar knitting, it's not going to be the only thing I can work on. I'm going to a 6 hour play in about two weeks and a part of me is wondering if I could get a raglan sweater started and through the armholes before then. 

I spent a blissful and restful weekend at M's and Sunday afternoon languished on the chaise, read Agatha Christie, and worked on my knitting. I had anticipations of being able to finish multiple skeins of yarn while in Atlanta and also the socks that I took along with me. 

(on the flight home)

As you can see that didn't happen. But progress has been made and it's going into rotation for commute knitting. Certainly I should be able to get through a large dent before Stash Dash starts. If I can finish it for Stash Dash, it'd be 1500 yards all by itself, a sizable contribution towards any level of completion.