Photography Fail

I took so many photos for this post, even with my good camera, and a total of 3 of them came out in focus.  I ask for forgiveness on that.  I have never studied photography and am trying varying a number of variables, but I'm pretty sure I need to obtain or rig a more standard background and lighting arrangement.  I have some ideas to play around with, I just need to set aside some time to do it.  

On to the knitting! And my first adventure in spinning!

My mom really liked the start of my Traveling Companion (details to come later), so when she came to visit, we took a trip to my LYS.  She was struggling to find colors she'd like to blend.  We took some time to cruise through some shop samples and she found the Hitchhiker.  She really loved it and at my LYS, it is knitted up in Freia.  The shop had some in stock and Mom really liked the teal.  We discussed the options for alternating balls to preserve the gradient, or working one skein after another.  She opted to preserve the gradient and here's the beginning of her shawl.

 For me, I am working on the Traveling Companion.  Another knitter at the LYS I hang out at made one and it was gorgeous.  I was completely inspired and am making a color version of it.  Mine is being made with Western Sky Knits - Magnolia Sock.  This project got off to a rough start.  I had to restart it 3 times.  Not because of the pattern or yarn, all operator error.  The first time I just could not get my gauge right and had to experiment with a number of different needle sizes.  The second time I stitched my MC and CC in reverse, and had to frog it.  Finally I got through the first 2 sections, only to find out I had messed up the lace pattern in the first 4 rows of the lattice section.  That time I only had to rip out those few rows, but it was frustrating.  Since I've corrected that mistake, things have been flowing smoothly and I'm really liking how this shawl is coming together. 

Finally, I'm in the midsts of my first adventure in spinning!  The roving is from Gourmet Stash, which is dyed in the same town as my LYS.  It's coming along ok.  There are bumps in the road, but over all I'm learning a lot and enjoying the process.  I hope to be spinning more in the future.