A Successfully Finished Knitted Object!

Dear Mom,
Just so you know it isn't all clean ups and failed weaving projects around here....
I started and finished this shawl in about 10 days. It is the Stitch Sampler Shawl, and I succumbed to this one after seeing too many pretty ones at the Village Yarn Shop. I must have been in there at a weak or highly suggestible moment, because this is not something I would normally find myself knitting. Still, I enjoyed it; it was simple and quick; and I could knit most of it while reading a book I didn't want to put down! ( The book was Drums of Autumn by Diana Gabaldon, the 4th book in her Outlander series).

I used Mountain Colors Twizzle, a beautiful merino/silk blend, in three color ways- Cedar, Harmony Woods, and Red Tail Hawk, and I modified the pattern instructions to repeat rows 43- 70 to give the shawl a little more length and to use up as much of the yarn as I could.
I seem to be on a bit of a shawl kick right now. Two more on the needles- one requiring some attention, and the other is another Color Affection Shawl. With all that has been going on around here this summer and in these last days before we take the Young Man off to college, my knitting once again gives me solace and something I can still be the boss of.... ( and reading about James Fraser isn't hurting anything, either! noooo sirrrreeee.)
Love,
Kim