Progress in Knitting

This week's progress:

Shrug: I'll let the photos speak for themselves:

It was supposed to take the greater part of 2 skeins of this yarn -- it took less than one. Now I have to decide what to do with a spare skein of cotton/merino blend that is a lovely and distinctive colour. Maybe I'll make another shrug for someone else or something. I think I'll keep it around for a while anyway.

Leda's dream - frogged due to irreparable error - well, it could have been repaired, but I continued to make it worse and worse as I tried to fix it. Comedy of errors?

Cardigan - a few more rows done, but nowhere near where I'd like it to be. I was hoping to be at armhole decreases by now.
I was working on birch needles with this one until yesterday. As I struggled with it on Saturday night, I realized that the yarn was fighting the needles and they in turn were fighting me. This called for the diplomacy and tact of Addi Turbo!! Yesterday I bought a set, and while it's still a minor struggle - it's significantly better. Now I just have to watch the gauge and ensure it doesn't change with these slick needles -- didn't think of that.
I thought the birch needles were cheaper because their packaging didn't say "Lantern Moon" - this is not the case. Just a by-product of my knitting education I suppose . . . one cast on will work for everything, and cheaper is always better. Not so. Birch needles are nice and grippy. I bet they'd be fantastic for slippery yarn, but they definitely don't work with this cotton/acrylic blend.