Well, the weather was at least marginally better today–still hot (ugh) but not so hazy. You could actually, you know, breathe. And see! I actually caught a glimpse of Manhattan off in the distance this morning. It’s been obscured by humidity for over a week now. Thank heaven for central air conditioning

The other plus side was that there was actually some sunshine. So I took my Flower Basket Shawl out to play.

Not that the conditions were ideal–by the time I was able to get out there with the camera, the sunlight was dappled out on the deck, and I had to drape it over the mesh chair, so you still can’t quite see the pattern or the beauty of this yarn.

I did try, though! It’s frustrating that I can’t get you a photo that shows off how beautiful this shawl really is. Maybe I’ll try again tomorrow. It can be my new hobby!

I’ve restarted my Union Market Square Pullover, too. I was having trouble getting the gauge, you’ll remember–by rather a lot. Knowing my gauge was a little big (ahem), I cast on the 226 stitches called for the smallest size sweater, hoping they would come out about right . . . Um . . . Not so much! Huge! So . . . frogged the several rows I’d knitted the other night . . . but managed to salvage the cast-on row so as not to have to mess with the crochet chain again. (I opted, obviously, for the crochet-cast on rather than the “invisible” one.) Then, I pulled out the calculator and crunched numbers for what I really need. I’ve got 202 stitches on the needles now and it looks like it might be closer . . . the trick will be that I’m not going to know my row gauge until I’ve knitted a couple inches, and that will affect some of the shaping. Because, apparently, my gauge swatch was completely useless–the gauge I was getting from knitting in the round was different than the swatch, anyway, so I can’t trust that for row-gauge, either. Or, anything at all, apparently. Oh well. All part of the fun, right? At least the colors are nice.

I had plans to visit the new Yarn Cafe with Risa this weekend, but she badly sprained her ankle the other day and we both agree that trying to hobble around the yarn shop–on crutches–with twin toddlers–is not a good idea! (And I didn’t even tell her that there are some steps to climb to get to the shop–negligible for someone on two solid feet, but really not a good idea in these circumstances. See, Risa? I’m just looking out for you!) Anyway, go on over and give her some moral support–the twins haven’t been feeling great, either, this week, and her parents willingly gave up a vacation to help out, and . . . it’s just not a good week! Not getting to the new LYS is really nothing compared to that. (Though, she did tell me that I could go ahead and “scout.” I don’t know, it just seems wrong . . . !)

Tags: Finished Knitting, General, Knitting/Spinning // 7 Comments »