Cozy finished, tank top started

This past weekend, I put the finishing touches on Cozy and blocked it. Zowie. That was an experience! As I've mentioned before, I love the smell of wet wool, but wet silk (Reynolds Mandalay) is something else. When I dunked my newly knit shawl into the sink, it began to exude a horrible stench! The closest thing I can liken it to is the smell of snake poop. I'm not talking about the innocuous dry stuff, either! (You reptile types will know what I mean.) Even though I use a no-rinse wool wash, I rinsed it anyway with a good dose of vinegar to help cut the smell. Now that it's been drying on towels for a few days, the smell has pretty much gone completely. Until I have occasion to wear my new shawl out, I plan on storing it in the cedar chest so as to impart a slightly nicer aroma, and you can be sure I'll avoid wearing Cozy outdoors on rainy days.

This weekend I also treated myself to a trip to my LYS for my birthday and picked up 4 skeins of silky wool to knit a tank top from Lavold's Viking Knits. (I'm going to see if I can juggle this project with the Mathew scarf.) It seems as though my wardrobe has gone the way of white and khaki once again, nearly devoid of all color. I can't let this trend continue, so the next yarn purchase is going to have be something vibrant! At least for now I don't have to worry about stuff not matching...