Block you

The Grape Diamonds scarf is fiunished, blocked and has successfully adorned my neck against cold. 

The curling on the edges didn't completly disappear with blocking, but that is not obvious when the scarf encircles a neck.  Not sure if that is the fault of the pattern or the yarn. 

I know the curling is there, but no one else does, so I am not obsessing worrying about it too much.

It did give me a chance to use my blocking wires for the first time.  :-)  My sweetie only gave them to me as a birthday present two years ago.    The wires worked beautifully, and I couldn't imagine pinning out the whole bloody length of the scarf. 

I have also been working recently on the aphgan for my mother-in-law.  Even in bulky yarn on Size 8 needles, it seems like this is dragging along.  Of course, it probably helps to take it out of the knitting bag once in a while.  Apparently, knitting fairies don't sneak into the bag at night and finish my projects. 

And last but not by any means least, the newly named Black Rose shawl.

2 inches completed, 49 inches to go.  With teeny tiny black alpaca.  On teeny tiny needles.  Of ever-increasing rows that end at 990 stitches.  Oh, dear me, what have I done?

Meanwhile, I did some housekeeping yesterday, of my Ravelry account.  I created projects (some of which are already completed--I really am behind on this), and added pictures.  Lots of pictures!  And updated other projects.  And linked yarns and patterns in progress. 

Today, it is all about the housekeeping.       

A Lesson in Lifelines

Grape Diamonds is finished, or nearly so.  I just have to attach the edge, and block it.  This is the scarf equivalent of Kitchnering a sock, and subject to the same level of procrastination. 

However, it is winter, and my chilly neck gives me incentive to finish sooner rather than later. 

I have enjoyed this scarf, though it apparently made me a bit cocky about lace.  (More on that later.)  The mistakes were relatively easy to idenitfy and repair.  I didn't even use lifelines beyond the first couple inches. 

Which leads me right into the pride that led-eth to my fall. 

I started the shawl.  Teeny tiny black yarn.  Teeny tiny size 2 needles.  Complicated lace pattern.  And yet, fresh from my recent lace triumph, I decided not to bother with a lifeline.  [Insert maniacal laughter here.]

After ten rows or garter and eight rows of lace, I made a mistake.  When I took a break for a day, before trying to find it, a bunch of stitches fell off the needles.  I looked at the inch of completed rows, and decided  it would take less time to rip out completely and start over, rather than tink back stitch by stitch, recover the lost stitches and locate the mistake. 

I have learned my lesson.  I am humbled by the lace.  I have finished the garter neck border, and dutifully put in the first lifeline. 

Today, it is all about the humility.

Did you fondle it?

You know how it is when you are expecting yarn.  You check the tracking info, multiple times a day.  You look at pictures of it online.  You dream of future projects.  And at long last, you hear the news:

My sweetie: a package arrived for you today. 

Me:  My yarn!  Did you open it?  Is it pretty?  Did you fondle it?  Is it soft?

My sweetie:  Um, I didn't open it.

Personally, I don't see how he can resist opening my yarn for me, but I would feel the same way if it was hunting-related. 

So without further ado. . . .

Six gorgeous skeins of black Misti Alpaca Canada Lace.    All purchased off Ravelry for $24 (including shipping).

2,600 yards of alpaca softness! 

And it is SOFT.  Baby cheeks soft.  Angel wings soft. 

I am seriously fighting the urge to spread it on the floor and roll around naked on it. 

Today, it is all about the softness. 

Loving the Lace

Lace.  Lace.  Oh, where have you been all my knitting life? 

Needless to say, I am loving the lace.

This little puppy is flying off my needles.  Relatively speaking.  I mean, this isn't a garter scarf on double-stranded worsted, but I have been pleasantly surprised at how fast I see progress. 

At this rate, I will have another pretty lace scarf in no time. 

The scarf is curling badly in the middle.   Is that doesn't block out, my love affair may be coming to a swift end. 

Meanwhile, I am already plotting my next lace masterpiece.  The pattern is selected, and I am scoping out yarn.

In the meantime, I have a scarf on the needles, and a stole ready to cast on

Today, it is all about the love.    

I have been cruising along nicely on the Grape Diamonds scarf.  I am enchanted.  The pattern is not memorizable, but the chart is logical, and the mistakes are (relatively) easy to spot. 

At first, I was concerned that the color shift would be too short to work well with lace.  Now I am concerned that the shift will be too long to work with a scarf.

I thought the dark purple would never end, but yesterday the lavender and sage started peeking through.

The edges are curling badly, but I assuming that will block out. 

Lace requires a lot of blind faith.  You have to have faith that the chart is correct.  You have to have faith that each yarn over and decrease is correctly placed in the overall scheme, even if you can't see the general pattern.  And you have to have faith that the crumpled mess of lace will block out into something pretty. 

Today, it is all about the faith. 

One step forward, three steps back

Having finished a WIP recently (the second Gryffindor scarf for my baby boys) I now felt free to start something new. Having recently noticed a dearth of scarves in my wardrobe, a scarf seemed appropriate. But I went a little overboard.

I have three things, in various starting stages.

  

One is White Diamonds Lace Scarf, in Patons Lace, in "sachet".  This one is in the pre-swatch stage, hence the multiple needles. 

This is the Print O' the Wave  Shawl, in a fucshia yarn I bought in Poland ages ago.  The swatch is completed, the size is selected, and I am ready to cast on. 






The third is the Laughingbird scarf, in Yarn Bee's Diva (sequin), in Scottish Heather. 

So, I finished one project, and started three more. Three LACE projects.  This is getting out of control.  Someone stop me.  Please.

Today, it is all about the backward motion. 

Feeling Scarfy

It is official, except for the calendar.  Winter is here.  No more sandals and capris.  The weather has turned cold, and will not be warm again for months.  But winter has a knitted lining.  Time to break out all those snuggly socks, cozy cardigans and soft scarves. 

That was the plan this morning, at least.  I bundled up my baby boys in their winter coats, hats and one recently-completed Gryffindor scarf (Bugaboo refused his, said it was only for Halloween).  I then turned to swath my own chilly neck and realized how few scarves I own. 

How can a knitter have so few scarves? Two old cheap store-bought scarves from my pre-knitting days, two warm weather drama scarves, two novelty boa scarf, and one lace scarf that is presently missing in action.  (I know that I put it "somewhere safe" for the summer, and now I can't remember where.  I hate that.) 

Really, how is this even possible?  How could I have neglected myself like this?  I live in a place that is wicked cold for months on end. 

I am going to have to do something about that. 

So, really, this is just an excuse to start something new.  I did finish one scarf, so that brings it down to only six active projects right now.  I am allowed.

Excuse me, I think I have to go shopping. 

Today, it is all about the neglect. 

I just need a bigger bag

Heard at Knitter-vention on Monday night:

"That is the third thing you have worked on in two hours!"  Yeah, so?  What is your point?

So, I couldn't decide what to bring, and had to grab a bigger bag, what is your point?

So I worked on three different things, there was a good reason.  The first was a sock, my usual briefcase sock that had an error that I needed to locate.  Once the error was corrected, I really didn't have to work on it anymore that evening. 

The second item was the Harry Potter scarf.  I finished a color, and didn't have scissors.  Yes, I could have easily borrowed a pair of scissors from one of six people, but that seemed like a good stopping place on that one for the night. 

The third was my complicated sock in progress.  

What of it?

Apparently, I haven't learned my lesson about endless shawls.  The Merry Berry shawl has been rescued from the bottom of the bag.  It is fingering yarn too, but mohair, so larger needles than the Duchess shawl.  (Size 7, I think.)  There will still be a mind-boggling number of stitches by the time the shawl is finished.  290 so far, increasing by four every other row.  

Meanwhile, I am starting to be tempted by lace.   

Which one shall it be?  I have some pretty sage green semi-solid mohair-ish that would be great for the Celtic Knot Stole.  And some fuschia laceweight that I see for the Print O' the Wave shawl. 

But I have been obsessing over the idea of a black lace shawl.  Maybe with some sequins or beads or something.  Elegant.  Dramatic.  Fit for the red carpet.  (Because that is something I encounter so often.) 

Snowdrops Shawl would work, though seems the antithesis of the name.  Or, the Rose Trellis Shawl. 

I am trying to finish at least one of the eight active projects before I run out and buy black lace yarn. 

Except. .  . I have a little time between taking Doodlebug for his flu shot and volunteering at the Talk to a Lawyer Day.  Just enough time to stop by the yarn store and pick out that black yarn.

Today, it is all about the licentiousness. 

Public Notice

I have been wearing the Duchess shawl everywhere for the past week.  I am resisting the urge to sleep in it.  It has received many positive reviews.  (Naturally, what else would someone say?  "I know that you have been working on that forever but . . . .I don't really care for it"?)

The knitters oooo'd and ahhhhhh'd the loudest, as you would expect.  The greatest praise came from two attorneys, both of whom noticed the shawl, and realized that it was something I had been working on for a long time.

The shawl is suprisingly warm.  It is a herringbone design, which is quite dense, almost woven-like.  And the yarn is a silk wool blend, contributing to the coziness factor.

I just can't heap enough praise on the shawl.

I have eight active projects right now, continuing my post-shawl promiscuity.  It makes blogging on their progress difficult.  And inch on this one, a half inch on that one.  Not exactly discernable from photographs.  But I don't care.  

Today, it is all about the variety.      

By the numbers

At long last.  The Duchess Shawl.  C'est fini!  So here are some of the statistics:

1980: yards of Knit Picks Gloss in fingering weight.  Color: jade. (For those doing some quick math, that is over a MILE of yarn.) 

700: yards of yarn in the ruffle alone. 

9: feet in the wingspan.  

5: number of Size 5 circular needles used on knitting the ruffle.

16: months of knitting monotony monogomy.

13: months overdue for the Knit-along deadline. 

250: estimated total hours of knitting. 

80: estimated hours of knitting on the ruffle alone. 

1: very happy knitter who proudly wore the new shawl to court, convinced that it would make her look 5'10" and 110 pounds, and just like Her Grace. 

Today, it is all about the numbers. 



Knitting Intervention

I experienced a knitting intervention this past week.  Two actually.  In the same night.  Completely unrelated and uncoordinated. 

Knit Night re-started after the summer hiatus.  The first question posed to me was about the Duchess Shawl.  I had to admit that I had been a bit of a knitting slut lately.  Very slutty.  "No last names, up again the wall in the restaurant parking lot" type of sluttiness.  (Insert roar of laughter here.  We are a wild and crazy crowd, we knitters.)  I was informed that next month, I had to bring the shawl with me, finished or not. 

Then, I left to go to the other knitting group, as it was one of the rare months it fell on the same Monday night.  And the first question posed to me was about the Duchess shawl.  Once again, I admitted my recent knitting promiscuity.  (Same line, even funnier second time around, since everyone had a half-drank pint of beer in front of them at the time.)  I received the same admonition that next time (two weeks later, shorter turnaround time), bring the Duchess Shawl with me.

When I got home, I saw the Duchess Shawl still crumpled on my nightstand, alone and neglected.  I had to face realilty:  I wasn't please how the cast off prescribed by the pattern was looking.  It was curling inward.  There was no way I was going to work on a shawl for about 200 hours (not an exaggeration this time, shockingly enough) and not like how the final edge appeared.  Really not the shawl's fault. 

 So I found some leftover scrap yarn, and started test knitting various methods.  I knit a small ruffle, then started wandering the net for different methods, some stretchy, some not. 

Finally, I found one that seemed to not curl as much as the pattern method.  I am hoping that the small curling blocks out. 

I did start casting off Duchess.  One foot down, around 21 feet to go. 

The days are turning cool, the nights are cooler.  It is prime shawl weather. 

It is time to finish Duchess. 

With any luck, in time to show it off at the next meeting of the knitters. 

Today, it is all about the reconciliation. 

Variety is the Spice of Knitting

I have been working on many different things the past couple weeks.  Like this skirt.

And this aphgan

And this scarf.  (for those with good memories, yes, this is the second Gryffindor scarf.  I have two boys, and once one had one for last year's Halloween costume, of course, the other wanted one too.) 

Of course, there is a complicated sock in progress,

and a simpler sock,

And I am trying colorwork for the first time, so pillow in progress. 

The hunting mittens are nearly finished, except. . . .can you see the error?

 What about now?  Look closely at the finger flap. . . .One exposes the knit side, and the other exposes the purl side.  Ooops.  The current plan is to knit a mirror image twin pair, then let my sweetie choose which design he wants, then give the other to a soldier to be named later. 

What I haven't been working on is the shawl.  I know, I am down to casting off a coupel thousand stitches, and yet, I have been strangely avoiding it.  I just can't bear to finish those last few stitches, and I use the word "few" in relative terms. 

The weather is started to be cool at night and in the morning.  In short, it is perfect shawl weather.  And yet, my 99.5% finished shawl has been sitting crumpled on my nightstand untouched for the past two weeks, feeling like a neglected housewife.  If I don't finish it soon, it will sue me for divorce. 

Today, it is all about the avoidance. 

Shawl? What shawl?

I have started casting off the Duckess shawl.  Then I got a little distracted. 

It is the Swirl Skirt.  I realized that I only needed one size 5 circular needle for most of the knitting, and that I could use a straight needle for casting off, freeing up one circular from the ruffle immediately, and I was a goner.                                         I am enchanted.  On the concentration continuum, it is more towards the mindless side.  Mostly garterish, adding a stitch at the beginning and decreasing at the end to create the bias effect, it is very nice briefcase knitting.  I think the extras long color gradation is ideally suited to this pattern.  I am just fascinated watching the colors gradually change as I knit.  The yarn is single ply and loosely spun, which has taken some time for me to get accustomed. 

I will finish the shawl by the time cold weather arrives.  It was in the 90's this week, so I think I have some time to finish casting off, which like everything else for the shawl, takes an atromonical amount of time.  I estimate another four hours of casting.

Today it is all about the flirtation turning to seduction turning to obsession. 

Measure once

The good news is that the final row of the ruffle is completed.  The bad news is that it is NOT the row I started this week; it is the one before.

Earlier this week, I looked at my ball of yarn, and decided I had just enough yarn to do one more row then cast off.  I did not measure or weigh my yarn.  Mistake #1.

I blogged and started happily knitting.  I even brought the shawl with me to the office (it is no longer briefcase sized or readily portable, so I was not doing that very often anymore), and made some serious progress on it.  I ignored the voice in my head that observed that the ball was decreasing quickly.  I still did not measure or weigh the yarn.  Mistake #2.

I passed the halfway point on the row with glee and delight.  The end was near, I could taste it.  I could see myself modeling my shawl soon.  I still did not measure the yarn.  Mistake #3.

Last night, I looked at the ever dwindling ball, and decided that I should probably measure it.  I rigged up two chairs, measured the distance, and unballed my yarn.  28 loops, 5 feet per loop. 140 feet.  45 yards (give or take).

That is . . . barely enough to cast off, not enough to finsh the row AND cast off.  I quickly reivewed my options.   1.  I could finish the row, not cast off, and consider the needles around the edge a design element.  This plan was immediately discarded.    2.  I could buy another ball of yarn.  Not bad, but they have free shipping if you spend $50, so I would really have to buy more yarn on top of that so I didn't waste money on shipping, and I already have so much yarn that I am just dying to knit, why add to the stack.  That left:  3.  Tink backwards to the beginning of the row, and just cast off.  (For the non-knitting muggles, "tink" is "knit" spelled backwards.  It is unknitting, which takes the same amount of time if not longer, and has twelve times the frustration.)

We have a winner, much as I hate the whole concept of tinking.  So I reversed directions and started backwards.  I still have about 40% of a row before I can start knitting again.  I brought the shawl with me to the office again, apparently still in denial that I actually have that pesky work thing at the office, not plenty of child-free knitting time.  The denial extends to bringing with me the first two balls of yarn for the Swirl Skirt, because I only need to free up two of my ruffle needles to start that.  After I finish swatching, that is.

I could have finished the shawl last night, but my body rather rudely demanded a few hours sleep.  I think I can have it done this week, if I continue to ignore the pile of paperwork on my desk at intervals, children and husbands cooperate, and the stars align to warp the space-time continuum.

Piece of cake.

Today, it is all about backwards.

Last row, I think

When I arrived at Knittervention on MOnday night, it was coincidental that the three people present were not present two weeks ago.  So none of them had seen me in over a month.  Their first words: "Where is the shawl?"

They thought I would be finished with the shawl.  Insert half-crazed laugh here.  No, though the ball is noticeably smaller.

 In fact, I think I started my last row this morning.  Each row takes approximately 40 yards, and I have to leave enough for the bind off.  Only about 10 more hours of work.  (For one row and the bind-off, that is just wrong.) 

Meanwhile, I have started swatching the next project.  The only reason I haven't started it, is I think I will be needing two sets of size 5 circular needles, the same as the shawl, and I will be damned before I buy MORE size 5 circular needles when I am almost finidhed with a project usuing 5 of them at once. 

In fact, it occured to me this morning that I will be able to start the skirt before the shawl is completely finished, because I only need to free up half of the shawl needles. 

Today, it is all about the final countdown.

Last ball

I am down to the last ball of yarn for the Duchess ruffle.  The ruffle is between 1 1/2 and 2 inches wide already, so this really WILL be the last ball.  (I am not bothering with a picture.  Scroll down to the last picture from a few months ago, and mentally add another inch to the ruffle that you can't really see anyway.)

There is a sense of resolution and finality to my knitting now.  Everytime I give the yarn a little tug, watch the ball spin in the bowl, and see another yard of yarn leave the ball, I know that I am one more yard closer to the end of the ball.

When I was knitting the body, I watched in increasing alarm at how quickly the balls shrank into the end.  Now, of course, it feels magically never-ending. I know that it isn't.  I know that the last ball is dwindling in size, and I am (Finally!!!) nearing the end.

I have been flirting with some non-shawl knitting, but mostly just focusing on the shawl. 

Today, it is all about the shawl.

A Wheels Digression

 This blog has been dominated by the "needles" part for the past several years, so it was time for a "wheels" entry. 

A call was made last week.  A little town ( pop <3000) lost a soldier.  The Westboro Baptist Church was talking about protesting, because a funeral is of course the proper time to express political views. Thie Chief of Police had a little talk with the head of the local nursing home, who also happens to be the President of our American Legion Riders, requesting if he could round up a few bikers to escort the body home from the airport, to serve as a large and rough looking buffer in case there were protesters. A flurry of emails and phone calls went out.  The message was clear: please come, and spread the word to others.


My sweetie answered the call, and arranged to meet the others at our Legion parking lot to drive the 60 miles to the airport. He said that he hoped there were more than four or five, since it was short notice. Imagine his surprise: Our legion had 36, and the sister legion had 12 more. 

When they got to the airport, they couldn't believe what they saw. Nearly 500 motorcycles were there to escort this young man home. It was the lead story on the local news station. If there were any protesters, no one was looking at them.

But my sweetie and his bike got a little hurt during that ride. Someone cut in front of my sweetie, and wasn't paying enough attention to the bikes in front of him, so he went down.  My sweetie drove into the ditch, instead of driving over this guy's head only feet in front of him. So my sweetie broke a foot peg, and hurt his wrist. Not broken, just sore and swollen, but he couldn't work the next day.

Cost for new footpegs: $209. Lost wages the next day: $140. Value of honoring the sacrifice of a fallen soldier: Priceless.

Today it is all about the honor. 

Could it be that easy?

I tested my guage on my new  mystery project, and it appears to be twice as many stitches as the worsted/bulky weight pattern that I am modifying.  Doesn't that just mean I double everything in the instructions? 

That would be much easier.  That means I only have to change the actual design changes, and don't have to worry too much about the changes because of yarn weight. 

That sounds too easy.  I am sure there is a mathmatics explosion ticking away somewhere in my logic. 

My sweetie has only a vague understanding of knitting (and cares even less about it, but he loves me so he feigns minimal interest,)  but he does recognize yarns, so he can recognize various works in progress.  Last night, when he saw me casting on with silver yarn, he asked "What happened to the. . . .?"  Me: "The shawl.  The shawl is dead to me.  We do not speak of the shawl." 

At his look of dismay, I reassured him that I was not completely abandoning the shawl.  I was just taking a break. 

After all, I have already put a good forty hours in the ruffle alone.  It looks beautiful, or will when it is completed.  I will be back to it, and probably soon. 

Today, it is all about the admiration for sweeties who can't remember the word "shawl", but know what one is supposed to look like. 

A. B. S.

Anything But Shawl

After another month of dutifully knitting exclusively on the endless ruffle.  I have made almost significant progress.  One ball down, another ball halfway down.  A mere inch completed of the ruffle.  Last night, I knit for 2 1/2 hours, and completed 2/3 of a row.  On June 15th, I will celebrate the first (and God willing, only) anniversary of working on the Duchess shawl. 

So this morning, it happened:  I cracked.  I simply could not face another day knitting on the same ol' ruffle.  I couldn't even face the idea of knitting on the briefcase-appropriate sock in progress. 

I HAD to start something completely new. 

I considered the Swirl Skirt, since my sweetie bought the yarn for me as a birthday present.  Then I saw that it called for Size 5 needles.  The ruffle has size 5 needles.  That correlation alone made me immediately reject that project.  Plus, I am NOT going to buy ANOTHER size 5 circular needle because I was impatient one morning. 

So instead, I pulled out some prety dove gray yarn that I bought years ago in Poland.  I haven't been able to locate the pattern that fits the image that I have in my head.  I found something close on Ravelry, but closer inspection showed that it was an unspecified modfied version of another pattern.  Sp I have to modify the modification, without knowing precisely what the modifications were.

Also, the original (and probably the modified version) were in worsted/bulky yarn.  My yarn is closer to fingering.  So not only am I modifying the modification, but I am doing it with significantly different yarn weight. 

So apparently, I am just going to wing it.  Unless I come to my senses while I am still swatching, and come crawling back to the shawl. 

Today, it is all about the senseless. 

(P.S.  I took pictures, but I am having, er, techinical difficulties.  The printer is looking at the memory chip, but the computer is playing hard to get.) 

Kill. Me. Now.

The suicide ruffle is aptly named. It is that damned row that you start on Monday and knit all week. And still don't finish the row.

I am nearly finished with my first ball of yarn, and I am on row 6.

It was likely a wise move to order three balls for the ruffle. I honestly thought I would only need two, but I wanted a spare.

Meanwhile, the weather is turning warmer, and I have missed another deadline. For those who can't remember that far back, the first deadline was September 15th, the cruelly-imposed deadline for the Knit-along. The second deadline was Christmas (Ok, by this time I knew it was unlikely, but a girl can dream?) The third was less definite, but around the start of spring.

I have been working on this bloody British knockoff shawl for nine months. That is just insane. The monogomy requirement is long since past, but I still find myself obsessively devoted to the shawl. It is a matter of principal.

I will not let this ruffle defeat me.

Today, it is all about the obsession.

Circulars are Double Points too

First, the obvious question: "Did you finish the Duchess Shawl?" Um, no, I ran out of yarn.

I did finish the body. The decreases finally reached the magic number of 7. Seven the favorite number of prime afficionados, Harry Potterites, and Duchess Shawl knitters everywhere. So I dutifully started picking up stiches. On. All. Three. Sides.

About a half million stiches later, I realized that there was no way I was going to fit all these stiches on one circular needle, especially since I was only about halfway around. So I found another needle, and kept going. Three million stitches later, I had worked my way around, and realized again that while all the stiches squished onto two needles just barely fit.

Row 2: increase by one stitch on every stitch. (Translation for the non-knitting muggles: double the stitches.)

So I bought two more needles. I had to go to three stores to do it. Apparently there is some sort of run on size 5 circular needles in Lafayette.

I finished Row 2, so now there are approximately 100 million stitches on four circular needles, strung together like giant double points. And that is when I ran out of yarn. And realized that I need yet another needle, to have the "working" needle.

I can buy the fifth needle when the yarn arrives.

Today, it is all about Ruffle insanity

P.S. For those who prefer their math exaggeration free, I have not actually counted the stitches, but I estmate 1200 stitches picked up, so 2400 stitches after the increase row. If I ever get bored, or find that the curiosity is driving me crazy, I will count.

Tip to Tip

We are really down to the wire for the Duchess Shawl. Which is good, since I have been ignoring the chorus of "Aren't you on the ruffle yet?" wherever I go.

A mere twentysomething stitches across, decreasing 4 stitches every repeat, down to 7 stitches wide. I only have a few repeats to go. If I really buckle down, I may start the ruffle tonight. Ok, Ok, so I have thought that every night this week. Tonight I have a couple child-free hours, so as long as I don't get distracted by the Superbowl, I have a shot. I am straightening the ruffle needle cable, just in case.

The really annoying part is that I know that I am not going to have enough yarn. I need at least one more skein, maybe two. Maybe three. I have not ordered the new yarn yet, but there is a method to my procrastination. I surely have enough for at least one row of the ruffle, maybe two. So once I start the ruffle, I will have a better estimation how much yarn I need.

Today, it is all about the tips.

Sprinting to the Finish

The Duchess Shawl is finally getting close. It is only 60 stitches wide now, so each row only takes a few minutes. Plus the excitement is bulding. I am making the 60 stitch dash to the end of a Triathlon.

Except that my ride has forgotten about me and I have to walk home.

How many more metaphors can I come up with for the ruffle?