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.

Dilemma

Next weekend is Women's Weekend. Someone knitting at WW several years ago inspired me to take up the needles again. I expect to do me some knitting at this WW, but the cabin where we stay is nestled amongst the trees and shrubs, and is not well-lit inside. And we talk. A lot. So I need some easy-to-knit things that can be knit in the semi-dark.

That rules out the current Embossed Leaves sock project:



A lace pattern plus dark yarn won't work. I'll just make mistakes and exhaust my vocabulary cursing.

The Pinwheel sweater is a possibility...



... but only if I complete the edging and get a sleeve started. The edging is a challenge to stay with because either the two yarns get confused as to where they need to be in relation to the needles and the loops, or whatever needle I am not clutching has a tendency to slip its stitches and leap bare naked to the floor. This struggle is why my cursing vocabulary is running dry.

The Seasilk scarf is definitely going...



... but it is so close to completion that it will not last long once I hunker down in the cabin.

What to do, what to do? Big Bad Baby Blanket? Ski Beanie? IU socks? Hmmmm.

Friday Funk

By Friday evening, I have just about had it. While I like my employer, the work itself is b-o-r-i-n-g. And I am busy Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday evenings, so when Friday night rolls around, I just want to do what I want to do, not what I should do. Tonight I should put the house back in order (just had the carpets cleaned) and I should shred more of that paper that litters the Home Office, but I'd rather just knit. Knitting makes me feel like I am creating something tangible, unlike my job, and something somewhat permanent, unlike a tidied house.

The Rainforest socks got a boost today. Usually, I only work on them over my lunch period, but this afternoon we had a "town hall" meeting. The meeting was not on site, but it was Webcast (ahh, the magic of technology!), so I could sit in my cube and knit while viewing the meeting on my PC. I'm getting close to the toes.

The Sea Silk scarf and I have been on relatively good terms all week long. I think I have finally gotten the hang of knitting this inelastic yarn. The pattern says one skein will make a scarf 80 inches long, but if you want it longer, you will need more yarn. What I want to know is, Who wants a scarf more than 80 inches long? I'm up to 10 inches, so once the Rainforest socks are done, the scarf is going to become my portable project so that I will have half a chance of completing it by summer.

The pinwheel sweater and I had a bit of a tiff last night, but it was entirely my fault. I am up to where you change from stockinette to garter stitch, but for some reason I am having a difficult time remembering to purl for an entire round. Purling goes slower than knitting, but tinking goes even more slowly.

And what's going on with the Kidsilk Haze top? I really need to chart out the sleeve increases/decreases to make sure I am doing the right thing. That requires a clear head, but I haven't been sleeping well this past week. Maybe sometime this weekend, she said optimistically.

Inspired

What do you do when you are in a bad mood? Sometimes I just want to escape the feeling for a while, so I watch a movie or read fiction. But other times, I want to do something to make me feel better. This morning, inspired by several brave, brave knitting bloggers who have been revealing their WIP's and vowing to finish at least some of them, I decided what would make me feel better is doing something similar (but not so brave). I may not like the process but I will like the results.

This baby bib and burp rag needed only a few ends woven in and a button to be finished. Voila!



This set is for my hair stylist who is expecting her second (another boy). For her first baby, I gave her this electric green baby hoodie and wasn't sure if she like it. But she recently volunteered that she was looking forward to using it again on son #2.

A recently completed knit-wise project just waiting for some blocking was the Shetland Triangle Shawl.



The pattern came from a book, and I don't know which one because the photocopied pages don't have that information on them, but the pattern designer is Evelyn A. Clark, if that helps. I used Schaefer "Anne" in powder puff pink, which bled a little during the soak.



Quite a while ago, I purchased some blocking dressing wires from HandWorks Northwest, but I had not yet tried them. Heck, I hadn't even opened the package yet.



The kit was recommended by Yarn Harlot, I believe, and even though I'm not sure I was using them correctly, they did help with the blocking.



I used two wires across the top and one down the center. The pins that came with the kit were almost enough for this shawl.

The pinwheel sweater got bogged down when I decided I wanted to verify the location of the sleeves. This morning I took it off the needles, fetched a couple of sweaters from my closet, compared and contrasted, and stretched the pinwheel a little, and decided I can just follow the pattern. I am leaving in the yarn I used to hold the stitches as a lifeline, though, in case I change my mind later and want to rip back.

Now, the frustrating story of the Sea Silk scarf.

As you may recall, I have been trying to get something going with this yarn ever since I bought it. Through Ravelry, I found a pattern by Amy Singer that was designed for this yarn, so I thought my problems were over. Wrong! I wrestled with this yarn on multiple needles, in multiple needle sizes, until I despaired of ever getting further than a few inches on the scarf.



But I finally found something that works: my Turbo Addi circs in US6. The slippery needles and the slippery yarn force me to be mindful of my YO's, but I think this is going to work.

And, yes, now I feel much better.