All the Time in the World

When the phone rang at 6:30 this morning, I was slouched over my coffee at the breakfast bar. I perked right up when I heard the recorded announcement from the other end of the wire: my place of employment was without power, so no work today.

Suddenly, the day stretched ahead of me, full of possibilities... as long as they were indoor possibilities - it was raining. Should I fill my day with chores or delight? I promised to do a few chores between the delights, but frankly, other than a few errands, it was mostly delight.

Knitting seemed like a good first choice. I had finished up the Big Bad Baby Blanket, but felt like it could do with a little soak 'n' block.



Yes, it's superwash merino, but there had been a whisper of laddering in the middle of the blanket. And the fabric needed a little regulating.



After squeezing out the water, though, that whisper of laddering turned into a shout. Blocking was out of the question, so I did what any panic-stricken knitter would do: I threw it into the dryer.



And it came out looking great, all fluffy and smooth, with no visible laddering. Whew!

Meanwhile, I took the opportunity to finish the knitting on the Pinwheel Sweater. I'm not more enthused because I'm not sure I like the way the cuffs turned out. They flare. Are they supposed to flare? Is that The Style? I've seen sleeves that flare out from below the elbow, but no flaring occurs on this sweater until the wrists. And I'm not thrilled with the fit elsewhere. The model in the photo must be one of those mythological extra-small creatures, because the sweater looks big and cosy on her. I'm above average height and above average weight, so the sleeves are very snug and the fabric stretches quite a bit across my shoulders. I'm hoping a soak 'n' block relaxes it enough to make it more comfortable. Otherwise, the sweater will have to find a home elsewhere. I'm going to leave the cuffs as is (as are?) for now, reserving the option to rip out the garter stitch and replace it with ribbing at some future date. Besides, the true owner of this sweater probably will not have my gorilla arms.

And, basically, that is all I accomplished today, besides some running around town with the dog (vet, pet store, ATM, BK). Tonight is yoga, but it has stopped raining, so maybe I'll go stick a few seeds into the ground.