thank you everyone for sending so many good birthday wishes—i was flabbergasted by how many i received. i hope you’ll forgive me for not answering on this one day—i decided to try to knit and relax instead.
in between eating cake, that is, heh.
actually, i had a bit of a cake hangover yesterday—my own fault for not eating enough real food. turning 50 doesn’t prevent me from behaving childishly once in a while . . .
but can you blame me? starting with an italian “love” cake from janet during monday’s class, we had three big tempting cakes at our house in three days. the three-layer chocolate cake is from barb (the spinners came for a make up class on wednesday evening) and then there was david’s carrot cake. all delicious, all very much appreciated.
i just need to learn to pace myself a little better—i’m a fan of generous slices.
as it turned out, i didn’t get a whole lot of knitting done on wednesday—just a few rows while waiting for the our spinning class to gather (though i did have very nice leisurely day).
yesterday i needed to get some pattern writing done and had to be out in the afternoon and evening, so i wasn’t able to make it up then, either—i was completely beat when i got home and went to bed at 10:30.
which means that i was up before dawn this morning and finally, i had the hours of birthday knitting i promised myself. it’s growing . . .
i’m finally into the shawl enough to have worked through all the charts except the shoulder shaping at least once. designing with the body motif is tricky—there’s a lot of overlapping in the motif that creates a wonderful (but tricky) asymmetry. what looked mathematically correct on paper, needed quite a bit of tweaking as i worked through the charts the first time.
but now i have a much better understanding of how this motif behaves on the needles with the shaping. the charts are shaping up i think, so that on this second time through, i expect everything to go smoothly. i should be able to finally put together a pattern for the test knitters next week, yay.
and—my cake hangover is gone.
i’m really glad i did a test knit with another yarn—first of all, i will love owning one in this color and secondly, when i finally start the second one in my handspun silk/cashmere, i’ll have a much better idea of which pattern size to knit.
meanwhile, the rows on this one are definitely feeling shorter and going faster; once i get through this current repeat of the body charts, i’ll be able to start the shoulder shaping. maybe two or three more night’s work and i’ll be finished.
i may be compelled to infringe on time that’s supposed to be devoted to secret knitting . . . hmm, should i be “good” or give in and be “bad”??
i love how the finish really speeds up on a shawl that starts out so big.
i’m totally psyched to knit a second one . . .
more amaryllis growth has been spotted as well—i’m finding the bulb completely fascinating to watch day by day. tender green shoots are sprouting out of places that look way too wooden to have generated them
the leaves stand up one day and flop over the next, then stand up again.
why? i have no idea, but it amuses me to think of reasons . . .
my friend kris gave me a rose scented geranium yesterday, too. i haven’t had one since the year before last, when the ones we had succumbed to old age. i have hope that this one will survive longer, now that i know how to take better care of it.
have a good weekend; i’m going to see if i can add a few more rows to that shawl before i go get my hair cut this afternoon.
37 thoughts on “take two purls for that hangover”
You can send ME the leftover birthday cake! I’d be glad to spare you having to eat it.
Oh I missed your birthday! I am glad it was relaxing so belated wishes from me! x
Glad I wasn’t there in person. All that cake would go straight to my hips.
I’m so glad you had a wonderful day 🙂
I’m glad you had a great birthday, I hope you got some wonderful presents. I have to say i never pace myself when eating cake i don’t believe in it and I’m usually the first person to have a slice and most times the last lol! 🙂
I’m hoping to get a nice pattern to start for my birthday, i have so many wools and not enough patterns. And as i said in my last comment my birthday is tomorrow, which means I’m probably going to buy myself more new wool 🙂
It’s nice to hear you had a great day nessa xxx
What a lovely bouquet!! Birthdays are meant for generous slices of cake…you go girl!! 🙂
I love watching your amaryllis! We have one, too…I’ve been collecting photos of its growth and development for a later post!!! I can’t wait for the leaves to start sprouting!! 🙂 🙂 Too much fun!
I am so in love with that shawl!
Darn you. Now I want cake.
I’m glad you got some relaxing bday knitting in!
I love the center back motif of your shawl. Can’t wait to see the pattern.
Aren’t amaryllis’s (?) fun? I don’t have one this year but used to have one that lasted several years.
Never too much cake!
i am unreasonably excited about this shawl; it looks like it’s going to be so much fun to knit! p.s. i was feeling kinda down yesterday, so i allowed myself (ahead of “schedule”) to cast on for that butternut scarf with hedgehog fibres’ cashmere and it was delightfully therapeutic!
that shawl just takes my breath away!
I hope you’re having cake for breakfast.
Happy Birthday, Anne! Love the shawl even in its unblocked state — not to mention that gorgeous color. And I get cake hangover too! Have a wonderful year!
Happy Birthday!
About floppy amarylis leaves – my dad makes a rig with some twine and garden stakes. With the huge one they have, the blooms can even get a bit heavy for the stalk. Don’t be afraid to stake it! Nothing is sadder than droopy blooms!
Oh, the shawl is heavenly! I love watching it develop.
I’m glad you got some shawl knitting time. It’s looking beautiful!
Beautiful flowers, cake looks yummy and the shawl looks wonderful! Happy belated birthday!
Happy Birthday Anne! It sounds like you really enjoyed your birthday knitting.
The greens in that amaryllis would make a dreamy sock yarn colorway…..
Mmm… Cake hangover… I really love that shawl — I can’t wait to see it blocked! The way the motifs flow into one another is lovely 🙂
I’m glad you spent your day eating cake and knitting what made you happy!
I’m behind in my blog reading, so happy belated birthday! I’m glad it was a good one.
Mmm…cake…
Happy Belated Birthday. I love your new shawl.
I hope someday I will be able to make it. Glad
you had a good birthday. Love those cakes too.
Belated Happy Birthday from me. The cakes look lush. Happy knitting, and best wishes for another 50 years!
x
Happy Belated Birthday, Anne! Despite the cake hangover, being able to eat cake all day if you want to is one of the best perks to adulthood don’t you think?
Do you think you could get David to post that carrot cake recipe? I need to stop drooling every time I see a picture of it. Thanks!
It sounds like your birthday was wonderful. A cake hangover is one I don’t mind experiencing. I hear the remedy is a cup of coffee and another slice. Yum!
The shawl is so lovely. The motif and color combination offers promises of spring.
Looks like you had a beautiful birthday! Lovely flowers, yummy cakes – and satisfying knitting. Good weekend to stay in and get MORE done!
Those cakes look absolutely delish! Couldn’t get that height at the altitude I’m at!
The shawl looks beautiful….and I definitely vote for the “bad”……
Nice vase of flowers too.
i always find if i host knitting at my house i never actually get any knitting done. ah well, such is life. 🙂 glad you had a lovely birthday. cake hangovers are brutal. glad you’ve made it through this one.
Be bad Anne, be bad. I have some laceweight silk-based handspun just waiting for that shawl to be released.
Lovely flowers … and the pattern of your shawl is really coming along nicely!
What’s the saying? “Let them eat cake!!!” Glad you enjoyed yours and your special day.
I agree with Kat. I’ve got a skein of Winter Lace in raspberry shades that’s just waiting for this new pattern. On the other hand, I’m doing Irtfa’a during the Olympics, so I couldn’t start it yet anyway! I haven’t had an amaryllis in years but your photos are making me want to pick one up.
If you need another test knitter for the shawl let me know, I could use the distraction lately!
Belated (but sincere!) birthday wishes. So happy to know it was a wonderful one for you. The shawl pattern in gorgeous and I look forward to knitting the pattern.
Enjoy the rest of your cakes! xoxo
I have known cake hangover and I hope to know it again someday. The shawl definitely looks like the right antidote.
Belated happy birthday! It’s wonderful to spend your 50th creating things. A good omen for the next 50 years.
Let me join the latecomers and wish you a belated happy birthday! The cakes looked yummy and the flowers are almost as beautiful as the shawl. Can’t wait for the pattern!
Happy Belated Birthday. I love cakes & carrot cake is my favorite. You are so lucky that David bakes you a cake !
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