That’s two strikes for my Chai shawl . . . I got to about the same point again and . . . still didn’t like the way it was looking. I’m well aware that lace doesn’t look like much of anything until it’s blocked and tried to take that into consideration, and yet . . . still not happy with the way it was coming out. The yarn is as beautiful as ever, but the actual lace . . . not so much!

So, I frogged it. Again.

Now I’m thinking I’ll change the lace pattern again, since it’s not coming out the way I really want it to. Or, the other option is just to make the Flower Basket Shawl that so many others have made. Goodness knows that Stephanie‘s was perfect, and Shelley‘s is looking wonderful . . . the sad part is that in the swatch I made a couple weeks ago, the diamond/trellis pattern looked lovely . . . What went wrong when I tried doing the actual shawl? Was it the way I charted the pattern? The increases? The timing of the increases?? Is it worth trying for yet a third time, or should I just give up on this pattern in this particular yarn? The yarn’s not going to stand for being frogged a third time, so no matter what I decide, the next one has to be right.

On the plus side, I’ve made definite progress with my NbaT, seen here, reclining on my new Spaceboard blocking board (with which I am already in love). Doesn’t she look lovely?

I finished the second sleeve last night, and then pinned them out this evening, just before dinner.

I’ll admit to you (but only to you) that this is the first time I’ve ever blocked the pieces of a sweater before assembly. It’s kind of neat knowing that they’re pinned to exactly the same size, but I really don’t know how good a job the steam iron did for blocking purposes. It didn’t seem like an enormous amount of steam was coming out of there, but by the time I got this far, it was obviously too late to soak/wash the pieces first (since they were already pinned out), and I don’t own a spray bottle that’s not already filled with something like vinegar-water (for the floors) or Chappy’s Halo herbal flea/tick spray.

Speaking of Chappy, his best friend Horatio is coming to romp tomorrow. Horatio’s big sister Princess is coming too, of course, but she’s an aloof Greyhound and much, much taller than the “boys” and so doesn’t quite qualify as a playmate. She hangs out with us adults on the deck while the boys wrestle in the yard. Not that they wrestle as much as they did when they were puppies; they’re much more blase about things these days. Still great fun to watch.

And of course, my friend Cindy will be coming, too. (The dogs really rarely ever go anywhere without her.) She picked up some sock yarn today, and some needles, and I’m going to give her a sock-knitting lesson while the kids play. This could be fun! I should probably re-read Wendy’s Toe-Up Sock pattern tonight, too. It’s the one I always use, but since I’ll be giving it to Cindy, I should probably make sure that whatever I tell her agrees with the pattern!

It’s also official. It came in the mail today. An invitation to Tim and Betty’s wedding. (This is my sister’s brother-in-law.) I’m so looking forward to this. Not only is it the first wedding I’ve been invited to in about 8 years, but my Peacock is very much looking forward to using it as her debut. The reception’s at the Manor, too–very ooh la la. And, oh yeah . . . yeah, yeah . . . wishing the happy couple felicitations . . . that stuff, too. Now I get to buy them a gift! (I love buying gifts . . . pity neither of them is into yarn….)

In case anyone’s interested, I started Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire today. Only two more Saturdays before Book 6 is out!

(And, sorry about the funky look to my blog–assuming Typepad hasn’t fixed it yet when you read this–they’re doing upgrades this weekend and promise things will be back to normal soon.)

Tags: Family, General, Knitting/Spinning // 3 Comments »