WIP Wednesdays and Malabrigo Madness. . .

I'm participating in a 12 shawls in 2012 challenge on Ravelry, so there will be a number of these in my future.  My latest is the Stacy Shawl from the book Wendy Knits Lace by Wendy D. Johnson.

It's a fairly easy pattern to follow and I am LOVING the wool I'm using.  I have heard knitters rave before about Malabrigo and so when my local yarn store had a sale, I quickly snapped up three skeins. of Rios in the colourway Playa.   The photo above is a bit misleading - the wool is more deep blue than purple.

And thanks to the Savvy Girls Podcast  (an entertaining podcast by two Canadian sisters who travel quite extensively - Deborah works in South America and Melanie is a professional opera and cabaret singer who works around the world and they also go on trips together), I also can't think about this wool without breaking into giggles.  I refer you to their Episode #21 March of the Malabrigo which has a permanent place on my iPod.  Deborah features an interview at the Malabrigo headquarters and Melanie. . . well, she has pet gerbils.  And she can really sing.  And she can sing in the voice of her gerbils - if gerbils could sing.  And if those said gerbils sang the praises of Malabrigo to the tune of many recognizable, popular songs, then they would probably sound like they do on this podcast.  You really just have to listen to it.  But do it in the privacy of your own home and not say, on a public bus, because it's tear-inducing laugh-aloud funny.

Melanie is also working on a CD of WWI era knitting songs!  Can't wait for this to come out.  No word yet on whether the gerbils will be making an appearance.

As I happily immerse myself further and further into the wild and wonderful world of knitters, it reminds me of my first forays into the world of bookselling.  What immediately struck me about the people I met in the book industry was not only how nice and non-competitive everyone was, but how fascinating was the range of interests and hobbies that my colleagues embraced in their spare time. The knitting community is similarly supportive, friendly and talented.  They are just wonderful and inspiring people to hang out with - in person and online.