Crazy Foreigner

Imagine if one lived in your neighbourhood, down the street or even, heaven forbid, next door! The strange things they do, the strange smells coming from their kitchens, the odd hours they keep, the fact that they hang their laundry out in the afternoon and... leave it out overnight!! (oh no! shock! horror!) 

Some are stranger than others. Some can be found in their driveway with a SLR over their shoulder, draping a small bright red shawl over the greenery and then taking numerous pictures of it... Very very odd! 

Harmless, but odd!

A mini-shawl knit for a coworker from one of the MANY balls of yarn she gave me after having cleaned out her mother's house. She apparently threw away most of the yarn, saving the "best" for me. I in turn passed most of what she gave me along to an NPO teaching women from areas hit by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami how to knit. One of the balls of yarn, however, was turned into this shawl (I'm calling it a "shawlette" because it is only just wide enough to tie around your neck). My coworker is a strong, opinionated, and brilliant older woman who spent much of her life working in a male dominated field. She dresses sharply in a style that has nothing of the feminine cute so common in Japanese attire. I was surprised just how hard it was to find a shawl pattern that was lace but not flowers/leaves/arabesques. I finally found this geometrical design and knit it with a straight border instead of the scallops in the pattern. Hopefully she thinks it is the perfect pattern for her too!