Laborious Pursuits

Labor Day, according to Wikipedia, is to celebrate the American labor movement. I didn't know that until I Googled it for the purposes of writing this blog entry. Learn something every day.

This year, Labor Day for me, is less about celebrating the American labor movement, though I am most grateful to all those who gave their lives and livelihoods to fight for the ability for all of us to have safer working conditions and earn living wages.

Labor Day is about getting to go home for the weekend. This is my first year away from home at college and I have yet to get to the part where I'm at home enough in the environment for it to be fun.

Being home for the weekend has the added bonus of giving me the ability to block shawls. Travelling Woman is finished. Ends are weaved in, it is all bound off, and it has been stretched across a king-sized mattress and soaked with water until it became the beauty you see before you.

I had a long post about this, because I have a whole line of long, complicated reasoning as to why this shawl exists, in this color, in this style. The short version is this: I have a player character in Dragon Age: Origins named Elenor Amell. She is calm, elegant, rational, and classy and I would very much like to embody those qualities. Therefore, I made a shawl for her me, inspired by something that I thought she would wear.

Not too over-the-top fancy, not plain enough to be missed. A beautiful, elegant, understated shawl in a shade of blue representing the Grey Wardens, an organization she counts herself lucky to be a part of. The shawl is a fitting tribute to a character I adore.

I can't work on my mother's shawl at home, so I've begun work on my aunt's Christmas present. After dismissing multiple patterns for being wrong (I tried one knitted lengthwise - that didn't work out well), I've settled on Aimee Alexander's Simple Chevron Scarf. I've also decided to make my aunt a shawl. I didn't think it was something she would like, but my mum laughed at that idea, so I think that means she would like one.

That's going to take a bit, though, because I don't know what colors she likes. Making a neutral-toned scarf is driving me mad and I think if I see another skein of cream-colored yarn again, I will rip my hair out.

Ahem. The Chevron scarf, while attractive, is somewhat repetitive. Just a little bit. I think I'm going to start my mum's shawl soon, just so I can work on a project that changes over time. In the meantime, I'm going to watch Castle and pretend that I don't have to go back to school tonight.