slumping toward the finish

Posted on Posted in book reviews/events, projects, Uncategorized

this may be a cliché, but i don’t care—thank GOD it’s friday. i am not kidding.
i am totally wiped-out, too. even after that 2-hour nap i just had . . .

i have some shawl progress! you know, i think i am not knitting. in fact, i KNOW i am not knitting. but then i look down and see that, in spite of that fact, there is progress!

i have finished the deep band of twin leaf lace and have begun (just barely) the final band of corona pattern, which will create wavy shapes and large-ish holes along the edge, reminiscent of the edge of a moth’s wing (please don’t ask which moth—one of those big ones with the spots was what i was thinking, you know, in the abstract . . .).

i feel a little sad! i dunno if it’s just from being inside too much this week (i worked right through the holiday, which i do NOT recommend, especially in summer for the 4th), or if it’s the end-of-a-wonderful-project-blues, or what. what could it be? i’m hoping the weekend will bring more sun, more moving around, and some fun to chase away the funk. i hate feeling this way!

of course, we are not quite done yet with this shawl, and we are not quite sure i am going to make that KWC deadline either!
i have about 36 hours left, and a 2-hour nap in my very recent past, so i am up for the duration.

i’ll have to start thinking about a new project while i puzzle out my emotions—and who knows? maybe a new project is all i need! i was thinking of resuscitating this, which i know will make not only me, but a few other people happy:

i want to use this yarn to make the same shawl i am finishing up now—to me it looks very moth-y. though, with the stickiest part of the summer upon us, i may put off using this alpaca til september (we don’t have AC). after all, i do have a nice assortment of other laceweights i can work with! like this for instance—can you spell mmm-mm?

actually, this is it, i think! it’s light, gorgeously inspiring, and incredible in every sense of the word. hmm. now to find a stitch pattern (or three) that will do it justice. i have 800 yards—enough for a luxuriously large stole. or should i do a triangle?? hmmm.

i definitely have to think of something; the tour just started and we have quite a few more evenings in front of the telly with that. of course, i have to finish up my skirt first! it is still EXACTLY where i left it over a week ago, with about 2 hours of work left to go.

for shame! you would think i’d be really anxious to get this off the needles and onto my hips; after all i really want to wear it. it’s a bit of a barometer of how i feel this week, i guess—just schlump-ey, like i don’t care.
i swear though, AS SOON as that shawl is pinned-out on my living room floor sunday morning, the skirt will be in my hands!
i know what one of my stumbling blocks with it is: while i had it off the needles last, i put it on, and though it fits great, i could see that it will need blocking or pressing to open up the lace. but my experiments with ironing this fabric were not good; the nylon in it makes it stick to the iron and get funny marks on it, no matter how low i turn the iron down (don’t worry, i used my swatch to experiment with!). i haven’t figured out what i should do about that, so it’s just another thing contributing to my malaise.

anyway, as much as i wanted to bring the shawl to the shop the other night to get some work done on it, i was also afraid that i would make a big mistake while listening to people talk, or somehow tear it, or something disastrous (see? i’ve been like this all week!). so, i left it home with great reluctance, and grabbed my half-finished autumn spiral sock instead.

and i managed to get all the way from the heel to the end of the toe and off the needles in the
4 hours i was there (including that little incident where i had to rip out because i realized i had toe-shaped wrongly whilst teaching debbie the correct way to pick up wraps on the short-row heel . . . not the most stellar example to be setting, eh?).

it’s comforting at least to know that when i feel bad, i can still see something productive in my knitting, still pick up my needles and immerse myself in whatever the attraction is for me!

i’ve got a brand new desk accessory, which is on its way to becoming socks for some lucky guy

while getting pulled this way and that by all the fabulous handpainted yarn that crossed my sitelines recently, i came to think of the trekking i had acquired as a sort of plain-but-great-basic; the kind you go to when you don’t have something fabulous to trump it.
but you know what? the trekking yarn really is a nice knit! it’s speedy, gratifying in its subtle stripiness, and makes a nice fabric. every trekking sock i make just pours off the needles. i am always glad i picked it. it’s a keeper, and i won’t take it for granted again.

oh, and in a TOTAL aside, david got a new vacuum—a dyson.
he’s been lusting after one since they were invented. not that there’s anything wrong with that!
i think he went a whole couple hours today without using it.
jus sayin’

5 thoughts on “slumping toward the finish

  1. Mm, I’m sure that fearless fibers laceweight will chase those blues away. I can’t wait to see that shawl finished, its so… !!!

  2. Can’t wait to see the white shawl finished. And Fearless Fibers looks great, I’m sure you’ll have a great time with it.
    I do hope you get some cycling time with your new skirt SOON!!!!

  3. Good luck finishing your shawl by the deadline. It’s looking beautiful.

    I’m curious — why can’t you just wet block the skirt?

    Hey, what size ndls do you use on your Trekking socks and what gauge do you get (on the non-ribbing part)?

  4. ok, first….Didn’t I tell ya’ll she is the BESTEST lace knitter…..see,seee, I told ya so, I told ya so (yes, I am bouncing up and down with glee)…also, in defense of Anne with the boo-boo fear of the shawl, you guys just don’t know how rowdy us Wednesday knitters can be (mostly Beth though heehee) so Anne is VERY justified with her fear of tragedy! Now, onto the little oops on the Spiral socks, in case you are wondering how it could happen …well, until you have ME in your class and until you try and actually TEACH me something, you’ll just NEVER understand! Anyways, Anne taught me and I am doing it with ease (after several emails and one entire class of utter confusion) …….now c’mon everyone….we heart our Anne!

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