the racing form

i am thrilled and astounded by how many cheerleaders came out for the moth shawl race! (every time i think about it being a race, i cringe—but then again, i joined of my own free will, so . . .). and then there are the wonderfully, optimistic people who are voting for me. what shall i do about them? i don’t want to let them down.

well, now i’ve done it. put myself under the gun. this might just be my dumbest knitting mistake*—getting into a wrangle with julia, beth, carole, and company. i am trying not to get sucked into competitive mode. seriously, it could get ugly—please don’t make me. i know i come across as almost too laid back (or is that just another self delusion?). but i’m not. so i pour all of my compulsive, anxiety-ridden energy into knitting. it keeps me off everybody’s back. and maybe, in a race, it’s a good thing after all. but still, i am staying away from reading TOO much about how far each racer is . . .

11 repeats in, 131 sts on each side, folks. i dunno how that stands up against any of the other competitors, but i’m sure beth and julia are far, far in the distance. now, before any of you switch teams, let me mention that i have two things going for me. i have a big work project that is due to begin by september 1, maybe earlier, so i am trying like crazy to clear my plate of commitments before then. and, i was remembering this morning that when i knit the very first moth shawl, a couple of years back, i did the whole thing (design and all) in about a week. of course, i did not have to go to work that week, but still.
and, as a bonus, today, i have a two-hour phone meeting.

*click on that link and go to deb’s site for yet another contest!

tomorrow i should be able to photograph my contributions to the prize patrol. obviously, there will be patterns offered, but i need to go stash diving and find some other goodies! speaking of that, i am already jealous of whoever gets to pick from the fiber stash that cheryl is offering. how pathetic am i??

speaking of empty distance, what is the ONE thing that makes a bike rider’s heart just SING?
c’mon now, think hard . . . what ONE thing makes a cyclist want to unclip, get down, and positively kiss the ground she rides on?

on saturday morning—bright and early, mind you—they came and tore up our street. for the past several days, starting at 6 am, they have been making an atrocious amount of noise just outside the office here. positively godawful, in fact. and then last evening, they left us with this thing of beauty, just as the sky gave off its last bit of dim light.

i can’t wait to ride to class today, just to roll over these two blocks of heaven. understand, many, many miles of my daily routes do NOT even come near looking like this. i will spare you the gore, but the roads are pretty bad around here. at least, the parts i use are.

ok, now back to knitting!
desk socks enjoyed a little action yesterday, while i waited for something or other

not much newsworthy there, i’ll admit. i’ve been working away on the cashmere shawl as well, but it doesn’t look any different, so i’ll spare you that. i also started swatching the yarn mason dyed for me. and i have to say, i am IN LOVE!

it will be a lacy scarf. of course, debbie does not remember where she bought the yarn or what kind it is, so we have a snowball’s chance in haell of getting any more to play with. lemme just say, it’s soft and very fine, yet has that bit of heft i need in a lace yarn in order not to be crazy every minute i knit it. mason, i HEART you and your yarn!

UPDATE
debbie weighs in and says that she found the receipt and the base yarn is knitpicks alpaca cloud. thank debbie! for those who didn’t know, mason dyed the yarn with beet and blueberry powder after mordanting it with baking soda and cream of tartar