theraineysisters knitting and so much more

I have been knitting away on Peacock and loving it.  I don’t know why I am enjoying this so much.  I think it is the feel of the yarn, the sheer brilliance of the pattern, and the fact that each row is different and seems to go quickly despite the number of sts.

Here is a progress shot:

And another:

I am probably about 8-10 rows from the bind off.  I say “bind off” but it is really a “crochet off.”  I am not the best crocheter to say the least, so I expect that phase to take a while :).

Tomorrow evening (or actually THIS evening, since it is well after midnight), I am teaching a class that I did not know spaced out about until 10 minutes ago!  Ruh roh!!  I did not have it on my calendar and the class is full.  It is the I-cord class, which is a ton of fun, but I’m not prepared.  I’ll need to get up early and pack my stuff — so off to bed I go!

Anyone who says knitting is not like brain surgery has never tried to rip out a few rows of fine lace knitting! 

Late last night I was trying to get one more row in on the Peacock Shawl and kaplooie!  A stitch popped off the needle and the shawl started to disembowel!  I attempted to fix it, but it was nearly impossible — too many yarnovers, triple decreases, etc. and it had unravelled 3 rows back.  Needless to say, I was BESIDE myself!  My lifeline was 16 rows back and I did not want to go back that far, seeing as how I had already done that once this week (true confession time 😉 ).  I knew if I went back to that lifeline, I would put Peacock away, perhaps forever.

So, I decided that I needed to try once again to rip back a few rows instead of going all the way to my lifeline.  This was at 12 midnight, so I was very tired and it was very dark.  But emergency brain surgery waits for no one.

This is a picture of my operating suite in the harsh light of day.  You can see my instruments: scalpels, sutures, magnifying devices, etc.

Peacock is being knit on US 4 needles, so I ripped back past the aneurysm (I believe about 5 rows) and used a US 1 needle to pick up the sts as I pulled out the yarn.  I did so in such a way as to be picking up the purled sts, not the right side “lacework” row.  This actually worked better than I had anticipated.  I then transferred each st to the US 4 needle, making sure every st was placed on the needle in the correct position, counting all sts, making sure the pattern was absolutely correct, and replacing all stitch markers.  Whew! 

This morning I knitted the next chart row AND (you guessed it) placed a lifeline!  It was painstaking, but the patient came through the procedure perfectly, though the surgeon is a bit worse for wear!