The first FO of 2006

I finished up the prayer shawl I've been working on a couple of nights ago. Somehow it feels fitting that this is my first FO of the year. I'd like 2006 to be a year where I knit for others outside my immediate family and for charities. I love knitting for my family, and of course enjoy knittng for myself, but adding intentional knitting for people I may not know but who need the warmth and care of a handknit has become important to me. This prayer shawl is for the neice of a dear friend of mine, who was in a devastating car accident right before Thanksgiving. She had severe head and brain injuries and has been in a coma. My heart hurts for my friend and her family. Her neice had just gotten married this summer, and her husband has had many difficult decisions to make in the past couple of months. Once I heard about the accident I looked through the stash for an appropriate yarn and cast on. These past weeks I've steadily worked on the shawl, trying to be mindful of why I was working on it. As it's grown I've received updates on her progress which has steadily improved, although the doctor's still don't know how far her recovery will take her. I hope that this shawl can bring her and her family some comfort, or at least warmth this winter. Project Stats: Pattern: The standard Prayer Shawl Pattern from the book Knitting into the Mystery Yarn: Red Heart Light and Lofty in Navy Grape. I chose an acrylic for ease of care, and to completely eliminate the itch factor. The pattern calls for a textured yarn, and I think the finished fabric is light yet warm and very soft. In other news, I won third place for the Knit the Classics Classic Knitting photos contest. Although there was no way I could compete with a couple of other members who had so many wonderful photographs that they found to share, I was able to find over 20. If you like check out all the photos that were found here All of them are beautiful and very interesting for those who enjoy learning about the history of knitting. My contest winnings included two lovely balls of cotton blend sock yarn. As this has become sort of the year of the sock, I was thrilled!! Elspeth tagged me, so I'll be back tomorrow with my answers to that, and some other knitting news!