Foiled

I have two rows left to go on the Aeolian shawl, and I have run out of beads. I am so disappointed! I crawled the floor and dug under the couch cushion (there were a lot under there as it turned out) but I couldn't scrap up enough to finish. I ordered more beads (the local shops may have restocked by now, but thanks to the snow that has been dumped on us, I figure the internet is still my best bet for getting it before June), but obviously, I had to find something else to work on in the meantime.

Enter Hanami - the least thematically appropriate thing to be knitting in the middle of a snowstorm. I've been wanting to knit this for ages and I got the yarn and pattern for my birthday last year. I was working on other things at the time and set it aside until the time was right.

In a fit of startitis a few months ago, I gave in and cast on for it, but it really just wasn't the right time for the project so it didn't go anywhere. The paltry few rows I had knit sat forlornly on the needle, waiting for me to get back to it.

Well, I picked it up again and it turned out to be the perfect post-aeolian knitting. It's rectangular so it has a set stitch count and let me tell you, when you have been doing rows of 600 stitches or more, rows of 100 go like lightening. I'm powering through as much of the basket weave section as I can while this feeling lasts, since I am not good with repeating the same pattern many times over. The following two pictures should give you an idea of how far I have managed to get over the last couple of days. The first one I took after my first evening of knitting, and the second one I took last night. I've done another full repeat since then (well, almost).





I'm still working during the day even though I'm snowed in at home, so I feel pretty good about this progress. I'm thrilled.

The Knitting Olympics commence on Friday and I really had not prepared to participate. I'm of two minds with these kinds of things - I think they sound like a blast, but I am so hard on myself I find it difficult to participate. Also, life doesn't stop while the Olympics are going on so I still have to plan around my normal life.

To that end, I have settled on a semi-flexible goal for the knitting Olympics, and one that requires a minimum amount of planning.

My Olympic goal is to knit 4 pairs of socks. Further, I want them to be socks for someone else, since I don't really have Olympic size feet (I wear a 6). I plan to start out with plain stockinette socks, and if I discover by some miracle that 4 pairs is not that much of a challenge after all, the last pair or two will be patterned socks of some kind, or maybe toe up - some kind of hurdle. I wondered if this was cheating, but decided it was akin to pacing myself in a race. I'll speed out of the gate and adjust my pace to keep up with the pack. (I know that's a summer Olympic metaphor, but I couldn't think of a proper winter one). I can take socks with me and knit them anywhere, so it seems like the perfect goal for my busy life.

I don't actually know if I have enough sock yarn to pull this off, but I think I should. I haven't checked the stash in a while. Anyway, my first pair will be for a coworker who asked for a heavily striped pair of socks. I am foiling his attempt to make life difficult for me by using self-patterning sock yarn. HAH. I have chosen Berroco Sox colorway 1420.



As I think about it, I have some Panda sock yarn that I got for my birthday or Christmas or something, plus two more skeins of Happy Feet sock yarn that I think also came from the same gift-giving occasion, plus one skein of Casbah left over from the Yellowstone Shawl, and I think I have another skein of Cherry Tree Hill somewhere.

Unfortunately, one of my sock needles broke the other day so that's a bit of a problem. I do have another set, but that set is in use. I may just have to put those socks on a lifeline (they are for me so it's no big deal) and rob the needles from them. I could try to finish the sock before Friday - you know, as a training exercise - but that would mean less time to knit on Hanami and I'm having too much fun to stop for anything less important than the Olympics.

My alpaca leaf lace shawl from Woodstock Knits has been keeping me warm throughout this cold and snowy weather.



I am really annoyed that I never finished those french press slippers - my feet could really use them right now!! I could finish them, but - I'd have to put down Hanami. Not happening, thank you very much!

ETA: My Jordana Paige Rio bag came from the Handbags for Haiti sale! It looks a little pitiful all empty but I'll soon have it filled up!