A Little Yarn On The Side

Wednesdays are not generally my day for crafting, but this week I've really worn myself out and thought it best to take a rest day before physical therapy tomorrow.  So, I decided to work on the Valentine place mats, and I'm very pleased with how they are turning out,  but I need to do something to tack down the batting in them and can't decide if I should do a couple concentric hearts in maybe purple or pink or if I should do something more whimsical--like swirls or dots?  What do you think?

The shawl is no longer with us. I thought about trying to fix it, but this is not the first problem I've had with breakage in this particular yarn.  In fact, the current ball was actually wound into a ball instead of using the swift and ball winder because it's the only yarn I've had that broke repeatedly when wound with the swift.  So, since the shawl was intended to be a gift and I would just be freaked out all the time that the yarn would keep breaking and popping holes all over the place, I decided to cut my losses and move on.  Being of thick, wonderfully soft yarn, the balaclava got a lot of attention yesterday, and I am just loving this thing.  The yarn is Elann's Limited Edition Rossini and I adore this stuff.  It's unbelievably soft, and I'm actually sorry that I have now used up the first of the three balls I own.  Knitting World, please go buy up the rest of their stock so I will not be tempted by it.  Literally, I want to live i...

I think amongst the knitting world, the Knitting Gods are known to a cruel and vindictive lot.  Boast even the teensiest amount about one's own cleverness or how well a project is going and SMACK--the knitter's needles or yarn or BOTH are bound to break, or a wave of moths are about to descend.  They're a cantankerous lot at best. However, I think they might have met their equals in the Physical Therapy Gods. Remember me saying that I had to walk so slowly on Friday that I didn't even boost my circulation?  Yeah--big mistake.  That slow walk actually threw my hip back out.  I thought maybe it was just sore, but by Saturday night--it was definite.  Luckily, I have been shown how to force my hip back into place with my new toy Unluckily, the very concept of having to move bones about is generally enough to make me want to hurl, but it turns out that pain is an excellent motivator and Valium can take my mind off anything--even consciousness. So, I was...

....and I might be a little bit behind. Theoretically, if I want to finish 12 sweaters/shawls in 12 months I would be really close to finishing something right now.  On Friday Theo helped me with the fronts of the mohair sweater and we did make great progress, but that still leaves those pesky sleeve things to be done.   And I don't know about Theo, but I need breaks from working with mohair.   So, I've been working on one of the shawl WIPS, and I am on the final part of one side of the cream shawl, but then there will still be a second side to finish, which even strikes ME as a lot of knitting to do in 3 days.  Especially when there is a balaclava getting some knitting action.  I went for my first walk outside yesterday, and since I have firm instructions from the therapist to walk slowly and gently, this also means I'm walking WAY too slow to get the circulation moving enough to not freeze while walking.  I'm thinking the balaclava will do a m...

Yesterday started off with a trip to the dentist.  It was just a cleaning, and I really like my dentist, but I still don't think a REALLY good day starts off with a visit to ANYONE in the medical profession.  Then I ran some errands, came home, hauled bags in, then headed to the gym to swim for 30 minutes and walk laps for 30 minutes, then intended to come home and make soup.  That was the intention.  I was so tired by then that I seriously considered crawling into bed, even though it was barely after 4:00 PM.  I didn't even have the energy to do my physical therapy exercises.  This health thing is really a full-time job some days.............

So, I think I've decided to frog the vest and start over.  In order for the current stitch count to work, I need it to stay at the same gauge as the ribbing with the smaller needles, and that seems unlikely.  I think taking out one of the 18-stitch repeats will make it work, especially since patterns tend to loosen rather than tighten upon washing.  So, this poor little ball of yarn is going to be knit for the THIRD time, and since I try to use the yardage tally to accurately represent what has been taken out of the stash, I won't get to count it AGAIN.  Maybe I need to start keeping a "frustration tally...."

Bright and early, Andy made me some new table legs: There's a wooden dowel inside the pipes to give it some additional strength.  The table is now 36 inches tall, and I love it!  It's a bit less stable than it was before, but not much.  So I spent much of the day straightening the sewing room, getting the final place mat and the batting cut out, and even got a bit of sewing done.   I think I'll do some sort of decorative stitching to keep the batting in place, but I think they'll be quite fun.  I even tried the coasters: and after figuring out that a half-inch seam allowance was more appropriate for making a small heart ornament, I think I got everything figured out. I had the good day. Theo, on the other hand, had a rather bad day.  The sewing room table is one of his favorite spots to hang out, and where I keep his water glass: He has a water bowl, of course, but only uncultured kitties drink out of a bowl, and giving him his own glass ...