Next project: a hand knit shawl designed by Sarah Bradberry. Thank you, Sarah, for the beautiful pattern. My daughter gifted me with some Noro Kureyon and it seems perfect for a shawl. Although we have had a wonderful summer weather-wise in Minnesota, from experience, I KNOW it is going to be cold again. (Understatement...) A shawl is a nice thing to have when that happens. The pattern is here:
http://www.knitting-and.com/knitting/patterns/shawls-shrugs/feather-and-fan-comfort-shawl.htm
There is a section on Flickr showing shawls people have made with this pattern. Go to the Flickr website and search on Feather and Fan to view. (Not sure if you need to have an account or not.) If you're a member of Ravelry, there are lots there too. Some very elegant and richly colored ones.
With the Noro, it's hard to go wrong with colors. Every now and then I'll put in a couple of rows of a contrast color from my wool stash to break up the pattern. I'm not at all a fan of fringe, so mine will have the undulating bottom edge. It should block nicely being 100% wool.
Even though machine knitting is probably my favorite of the two arts, every now and then I need to have some hand knitting to do. The blues and greens are a little easier on the eyes than my red stuff of late.