A Little Yarn On The Side

While he refused to help me with the washing & blocking process, Theo did decide that the new shawl needed the all-important "furring" step: which coincided almost exactly with the moment I decided the shawl was ready to be picked up & folded away. That did cause a bit of a rift with Theo, but a little catnip goes a long way.... Not even chocolate makes me look that...contented. Why isn't there people nip? The shawl is "Faroese-Style Lace" by Myrna Stahlman, which can be found in this book: which is one of my FAVORITE knitting books. I've made at least four of the shawls in this book, and have plans for at least three more. LOVE this book! Today's knitting project has been the simple & mindless blanket for my nephew: who is not simple & mindless, thankfully. I haven't decided exactly how big the blanket will be, and I'm now thinking maybe more rectangular than square. It' just garter stitch with two rows in each color, a...

Okay, edg ing . There haven't been any posts in the last couple days because I was trying so hard to get here: I'M ON THE EDGING!!!!!!!! I know--I haven't forgotten the purple swoopies. This doesn't mean the shawl is even CLOSE to being done, but I am on the last part . This time I looked it up--the lace mohair edging-abyss had over 1300 rows of edging. This one has 880 rows. That is MUCH better....which I might be reminding myself around row 359..... Theo is a little depressed about the lack of sewing but the prospect of FINISHING a knitting project--and finishing up that 880 yard ball of yarn--has really been distracting me. I'll see if some tummy rubs make up for it.... ....or show him the video clips of the water therapy just as a reminder......

So.....in my last post I blithely mentioned making the tablecloth 10 squares by 18 squares. Now, I'd like to think that in normal circumstances it would have dawned on me that 10 times 18 would mean 180 squares, but in this case, it did not. It didn't hit me until last night. 180 squares!!! I don't even have the material for that (Dana, I might be buying your material after all), and considering I've made something like 70 blocks now, I may not have the strength. 180!!!!!! Sure, I love how it looks, but 180!!!!!! Aside from washcloths, I have been knitting the shawl for my mother's retirement (a year ago now): It's making progress, and I was just beginning to get frustrated thinking I should have used up at least one 440 yard ball of lace yarn by now, when it dawned on me--this yarn is in 880 yard skeins. In fact, I specifically bought it BECAUSE of the larger skeins because it meant fewer joins. Really, I swear I did not have a lobotomy when I went in for ...

Quilting with a striped fabric might be the fast lane to the funny farm. Yesterday I picked up the blocks off the guest bed and put them on a shelf in the sewing room. I don't know what possessed me--it isn't like cleaning is one of my great joys in life. Today when I got it back out to see how the two new blocks fit in, I discovered that everything depends on HOW the blocks are laid out--like which one starts what row & everything. NOW I have to figure out how I had it laid out before I picked it up because I started 3 of the same block that theoretically might finish the darn thing.... so one of us is in need of a "time out." And a drink. Most of today was spent out in the sunshine planting things, but I did get a few rows in on this which looks like a new project, I realize, but it really isn't. I started this last month on the trip to McCall, but had so little done that it was too embarrassing to photograph. It's a shawl my mother picked out as...

The Albatross Swan Lake MS3 stole is finally done!!! It will look a bit better after being blocked, but how much depends on your perspective. I am a "symmetry" sort of person, so this takes top honors as my least favorite knitting project ever. But, it's done, and I get to add 1000 yards to my tally for the year. YAY! I might have been doing a little swearing while working on the last few beaded rows--Theo obviously thought it safer to wait outside the sewing room. I've had a little difficulty deciding what to work on next. After finishing 5 projects in a row, I would love to cast on something new, but I'm hoping to get to at least 10 WIPs in a row before I crack. So, I did a few rows on the Fir Cone Shawl which can't be finished without buying more yarn, then on to Fleur which I have a love/hate relationship with. It's a lovely cashmere blend yarn, but because of the shaping, it is really fussy knitting and yet boring stockinette stitch, so I los...

I have finished 3 projects in the last two weeks--including tonight's blocking of the plum scarf-- and instead of diving head-long into the stash to start 3 new things, which would generally be my next move, I have apparently contracted a little known disease called "finishitis." This is possibly the first ever documented case in the knitting community. Unlike "starteritis," with "finishitis" the victim is irrationally compelled to finish projects--a very desirable state, of course, but the long-term effects of this condition are as yet unknown. High on the thought of finishing four or even five projects in a single month, I pulled this out of the WIP pile: and have knit 3 rows already. This is the start to Fir Cone Square Shawl from Cheryl Oberle's Folk Shawls book, which was abandoned about 7 months ago when the intended recipient said she didn't actually want a shawl for her birthday (which later led to the music quilt--which she will ...

Gleefully casting on a new project every month is WAY more fun, but thanks to a powerful decongestant, it is the WIP Month. I have given myself a few days to recover from the shock of the sheer volume of unfinished projects, and am ready to dive in. First though, Cheap Thrills is finished, blocked, and furred. Honestly--I set it down for 30 seconds TOPS. I think the cats have some sort of radar for detecting clean, furless clothes. For those 30 seconds, though, it was a really stunning sweater. Deep breath, and time to check projects. This is a lace scarf that I started sometime last year. I love the yarn, love how it is turning out, but it's one of those lace projects where you always have to consult the chart, and I'm not always in the mood for "attentive" knitting. Still, I love it, it's more than halfway done, so I keep it, though I'm calling it a "B" priority for this month as it's for me & I can wait for a while. For some things....