theraineysisters knitting and so much more

Thank you all for the wonderful outpouring of support for the Wrapped in Care program.  I received a number of stories that validate the project and a number of people who have jumped on board to knit a shawl and/or get the word out to knitting groups, church knitting ministries, etc.  Thanks!  I created a Ravelry Group called Wrapped in Care — I would love it if those of you who are working on shawls would join!  You’re all issued a formal invitation to join the group!

This weekend, instead of spending two full days at a soccer tournament ( – er, Bad, Bad Mommy! – ), I will be sewing.  I am making the dress that goes with my Mystic Waters Shawl (which isn’t making much progress) — here’s the pattern:

Check out the cute pants that go under the dress!  I thought that was a great idea — more coverage without looking frumpy, so I bought the dark blue to go with.  It says “fast & easy” so I hope there is truth in advertising!  My real sewing days are over.  I used to do close-to-couture sewing and made all of my clothes.  Now, fast and easy rules!

I’ve stationed myself downstairs in view of the DVD player and will sew to Pride and Prejudice or something along those lines.  I know every word by heart, so it can play in the background.

What are the rest of you working on?  My knitting is in such a doldrum lately that I would love to be inspired by others!!

 

That’s what Lettie said, and I had to comply!  Bad puns abound in our household.

Row 226 and Chart D complete.  Using my crack math skills (or should I say, my math on crack!), I figure that around Row 260 of 367, I will be at the ~50% mark area-wise.  There is something so wrong about that!  I feel better deluding myself with row counts and not square inches :).  But I must be at least 1/3 done…The picture isn’t great or artistic, but the green is pretty close to accurate.

This is a fun shawl to knit and I attribute it to lack of repetitive patterning.  The squares along the sides repeat, but not noticeably and the internal patterns have a rhythm, but the shawl in its entirety does not feel repetitive.  It certainly is not mindless, and I prefer that for my at-home knitting.  My mindless, take-along knitting is not progressing very well because I do not have much time to work on it.  Monogamy assures faster results, that’s for sure!

Rudee “accused” me 😉 of not being completely honest about my “stay-cations,” citing Sally’s and my recent trip to NYC.  I agree and disagree: did you notice who was missing on that trip?  My family peeps!  I go on trips with Surly, but my family and I never go anywhere!  Our family vacations are non-existent :(.

The weather here is downright b-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r.  Last year it was in the 90’s and now it’s barely making it to 60.

Happy Memorial Day weekend to all of you.  Are many of you having “stay-cations” this summer??  Stay-cations are those taken close to home to avoid rising gas prices.  All my vacations are stay-cations…

Anyway, part of my weekend plans involve knitting — shocking, I know ;).  I’ve been puttering along on the Mystic Waters Shawl and still really enjoying it.  The chart has grown to 4 pages wide already (landscape, no less!), so I now have it folded in half. There are no repeats to the chart, so I marked off 10-stitch intervals to help keep track of where I am.  The sts tend to line up clearly at various points, so that helps, too.

I’m in the 180’s — er– make that the 200’s out of 367 — 50% done with the rows so ~30% (?) done with the shawl.  I am on Chart D out of Charts A through I.  Shawls are a lot of knitting, n’est-ce pas?

Click here for a close up.  The color is greener than the pictures, but still very pale.

PS: We had some terrible weather come through today, and a tornado touched down within a few miles of here.  Further to the northeast a town was flattened. 

 

i am really liking this shawl!!  I am in the early phase of infatuation when you need to knit all you can!  It fades quickly as we all know.  Strike while the knitting needle is hot, as they say.

I am done with the first two charts (130 rows complete): 26 x 13 inches:

The finished shawl is supposed to be about 50×100 inches!! Using my bogus math skills, that means I am ~13.5% done.   That’s not too bad, though I will never keep up the same pace. 

Tomorrow is Monday :(.