A Little Yarn On The Side

The shawl for my mother's retirement is done! And the fact that it's an entire year since she retired is really just being nit-picky (or should that be knit-picky?) Theo is, of course, thrilled.... I guess sometimes just having finished something is reward enough...

I pulled out June's Project of the Month bag, and it's a pair of socks!!! Obviously, I'm highly excited--but then again, I'm excited about ANYTHING new lately. Still, I haven't made socks in a while, so this is exciting. May's Project of the Month, cotton washcloths, could be considered quite a success. This is dishcloth number 13 I believe. Sometimes I'm very, very thorough. And..... The edging isn't quite done, and this needs to be washed & blocked and I know white on white makes a lousy picture, but I've had some problems getting a photo and Theo did find me out as soon as I got the pictures snapped. Changing sheets is one of his favorite games: Which means house guests have probably wondered about the enormous amounts of hair in the bed, but they're always polite & don't mention it. The kitty wake up calls, however, have been discussed a few times. Good thing we don't tell them about the mouse that was turned loose in the...

Last year on May 31 I had used up 50 balls of yarn & something over 7000 yards of yarn. This year on May 31 I have used up 33 balls of yarn & 7042 yards of yarn. Do you realize this might be the only consistency I've ever had in my knitting?????

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......

Yesterday, after having almost forgotten all about it, I received an email from Elann.com telling me that the stock levels had increased for the yarn I had planned to buy on January 1 for a sweater for Andy. Excited--since I had already DECIDED to buy the yarn at the end of last year so it would be fair game to order now--I eagerly clicked on the link and found they did indeed now have the yarn in "licorice." 2 whole skeins Not even 2 skeins of the same dye lot. To be fair, Elann has no way of knowing that I am actually looking for an entire sweater's worth and had no interest in just 2 odd balls, but that is a really cruel thing to do to someone who's in the second year of a total yarn diet.....

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 ...

However.... I finally committed. Having the black next to the strawberries had been my first choice, too, so it's pretty much unanimous. The blocks aren't sewn together yet, but I like how it looks. I'll be putting 10 blocks across and 18 down, I believe, which should be a big enough table cloth to cover our dining table. Then I'll back it with 2 layers of flannel to protect the table, and bind it--maybe in black. Because there won't be any batting, it won't need to be fully quilted, but I could do a little decorative stitching on it--maybe on the green?