16 Repeats

I know this is hard to believe, but I have just now, on row ten million of the shawl, recognized a fundamental truth: 

This thing is slowing down as I move toward the end of it.

You would think that such cosmic trusim might have occurred to me before this point in the process, but there you have it.  I can't believe it - I'm actually going slower and slower because each row has more stitches in it than the last one.

Which means that right up to the point where that little lightbulb of a notion asserted itself, I was actually thinking - wait for it - that I should be finishing this up any time now. 

It was only when I counted the number of repeats actually present in the shawl, and then compared them to the number required by the pattern, that I truly understood:  I have been knitting a lot of diamonds, but there are many more still to knit. 

Stupid numbers.  Rotten counting.  Why's it always gotta be the math harshing my mellow? 

Indignation Complete.  Must be Monday.

I Can Quit Any Time I Want

So, sure, my arms hurt.  And sure, the only cure for that is to rest them from the activity that caused the hurt.  I get it.  Time to take a break from knitting.  Much.  It's not like a have a problem or anything...

I was spinning, as you know.  Spinning and spinning, and making lots of nice Caora Dubh singles, chipping away at the pile of washed locks I promised myself I would get done before the end of May.  Here is some of that work, which you have to take my word as being recent, since this bobbin looks just exactly like all the others that came before it.  

And then I realized that my dear friend and college roommate Jill is having her 40th birthday party this Saturday.  This is the Jill who starved and shivered with me in New York City.  The Jill who held my hand on my wedding day.  The Jill who woke my babies up just so she could play with them before she had her own.  There is no way her birthday could go past me unacknowledged by knitwear.  So I fell off the wagon a little:

I'm a little bit smug about this one, because while Jill has a wool allergy (Poor Jill. That's like having a Banana Split allergy.  Why bother even getting out of bed?), I still wanted to knit her something, and the stash yielded one perfect skein of Comfy Sport , which is the perfect Jill Color (Honey Dew), and the perfect Jill softness, and the perfect Jill non-wool.  Clearly the Universe wants me to knit.  Get a load of that sheen, will ya?

And I was enjoying the lace so much that I realized I would really be letting down the Shawl-Along if I didn't spend a little time with Lindsay's beautiful triangle.  Which I am now finally beginning to get the hang of and wish to high heaven that I had put beads on, like Maria did.  See, even though I wasn't technically supposed to be knitting, it's okay because I switched gauges by changing to a different project, which we all know is a very healthy thing to do.  Heck, that was probably better for me than not knitting.

And then at Campbell's soccer game, it was so cold that I had to pull this out of my bag just to cover my face with it.  I may have accidentally knit on it as well - I was distracted by my shivering and it's possible that I forgot I wasn't supposed to be knitting.  

So while it is true that in the strictest sense, I didn't achieve my goal of not knitting this week, I think I still have everything under control.  I mean, it's not like I made an afghan, for pity's sake.  You don't see any Bohus around here, for crying out loud.  And although Phillip and the Smallies have been smirking a lot, they couldn't possibly understand:

Think how much knitting I'd have done if I hadn't been trying not to.

On the Road Again

Greetings from the Relentless Atomic Knitting Book And Teaching Tour!

On Tuesday I met the Snohomish Knitters Guild,

Led by the Unsinkable Charisa Martin Cairn:

Who, in addition to rocking this sassy "Worldwide Knit In Public Day " apron, rallied her happy troops to attend that event, the Seattle Mariners Stitch and Pitch, and their very own first-ever knitting and eating retreat.  This lady does more before breakfast than most people do in a day, God bless her.  And the knitters are fearless, in the finest sense of the word.  Their show-and-tell parade was a mile long, and included everything from cables to colorwork to lace.  I want to be them when I grow up. 

And speaking of lace:

I've been working on the shawl - I think it is starting to look a little bit shawly!  I may cautiously state that I am getting the hang of the lace (Universe, please smite me not), but I still have to lock myself in a room and concentrate HARD to work on it.

And the Rare Gems cardigan has received one sleeve (three times, first two wrong, natch), and part of another.  Totally unreasonable goal # 512: Wear it to class on Saturday.  Which is today.  What could possibly go wrong? 

Last night I got to hang out with the knitters at Village Yarn and Tea , who threw a special Knit Nite, just for me.  Can you believe that?  I am nearly dying of honor.

Today we are going to knit some mittens together, which is about the most fun I know how to have, legally.  Best of all, my talented and beautiful niece, Katy, will be in my class.  As ever, I'm the most blessed and lucky knitter in the world.

Tonight after class I'm going home, to the Smallies, the Dog, and the Husband-Who-Lives-In-The-Garage.  Things are looking up for his eventual forgiveness:  I ordered a new fleece.  Many thanks for the love and concern of those who feel my pain, and wish for his continued survival.