Diagonal Rib Tank

I've finally figured out what inspires me most for a new project. It turned out to be the linen yarn I got from La Drogerie. So far, I've cast on 100 stitches in the green and am doing a diagonal rib. Last night, I lost track of which side was the right side (I know, pretty pathetic) and ended up having to rip it and start again this morning. It's going well now, and I really like the look of the diagonals. The linen seems particularly nice for diagonals, since it's just a stiff yarn and diagonals can cause a slanting effect in the fabric. With the linen, it should keep its shape pretty well. Most of the tank will be in the green, with blocks of the two other colors (white and lavender). I think it will look nice when finished. My only worry is that it may be too busy with the diagonal and the changing colors. We'll see, I guess.

Another project I plan to start soon is the Kiri shawl. I got a ton of some extremely inexpensive (but hopefully not cheap) mohair laceweight yarn recently. I played with it a bit, but having never used laceweight yarn (which you don't see much here, now that I think about it), and not a huge mohair fan, I was at a loss for what to do. So, I put out a distress signal on the Knit List and many, many people came to my rescue with some suggestions. One, even came armed with a really pretty pattern for the Kiri Shawl, which is quite lovely, though I'm not much of a shawl wearing kind of girl (that's why I'll be knitting it for my grandmother). It'll be done in a royal blue. Then, I've also got tons of this same yarn in bright yellow. My thought is to either find (or make???) a lacey shawl pattern for it to resemble a setting sun. I like the idea, but can I do it? We'll see after I do the Kiri.

Sorry, no pictures of any of this today, because the batteries in my camera need charging. Too much blogging of late, you say?

Also, a funny thing happened to me at the store today... it's semi-annual sale time here in France, and I saw a pair of shoes I liked. I tried them on, which you know you should never do if you don't want them following you home like a lost puppy. So, I sat there looking at these 40 euro shoes (in a style I've been wanting for a very long time), and I thought about all the yarn I could get for that price. In the end, I put them back and walked out of the store, all the while thinking about yarn. So, doesn't that give me the right to immediately go out and splurge on whatever yarn suits my fancy?

On that note, I'm off to go fiddle with my sticks (and yarn).