So, the arms aren’t done yet. So what?

Isn’t my Celtic Dreams looking fabulous? Even if it does look like it’s got hair curlers on the shoulders.

I like this picture, too, because it’s from the back, you can (1) see how great my hair looks with the sweater and (2) it makes me look thin. (Hey, I’m not saying I’m fat, because I’m not, but the fact remains that my stomach is rather more convex than concave. But that’s another story.)

Anyway, I knitted my little fingers off last night in my eagerness to get the body finished. Usually, I knit about an hour a night, a little more on weekends, but between Sunday and Monday I racked up about six hours of knitting time. Two and a half hours last night, but darn it, It was so close . . .

I don’t categorize myself as being either about the process or the product in knitting–I like both–but when I get to a certain point in a project, I want to hurry and see it done. So, last night at 9:00, my psyche started whispering in my ear, ‘You’ve only got five rows to do.” “AND the cast-off.” “Okay, six rows, but that’s so few; you’re so close!” “But, it takes me about an hour to do four rows–and it’s late.” “But . . . so, so close. You can do it! You can knit while watching Medium, instead of spinning, just this once.” “Well…..”

I think it’s obvious which of us won, huh? No complaints, though!

I do think my gauge “drifted” a bit, though as I progressed. Not surprising, really, considering how hard it was to maintain that death-grip of tight-tension on teeny-tiny size 2 needles with Aran-weight yarn. When I finally was able to lay the whole thing flat, well, the bottom does look wider than the top. (Even just going from the armholes down.) I’m not going to worry about it now, though!

Now, as to the “soul” portion of the post. I flashed my tea stash for the Knitters Tea Swap. On the upper shelf is some herbal and flavored tea (which I rarely drink, but occasionally get the urge to try, in case my taste buds have changed). Also a handy mug for holding all the tea-brewing gadgets, tea balls, strainers, and so on. The bottom shelf has the Lipton iced tea bags that Mom likes, the green tea that my sister likes, and then the tea that I drink most often–Tetley’s British Blend, by far the best “supermarket” tea, I think. I like the flavor, and love the convenience of the bags. There’s an unopened box, there, but we always store the “current” box in that plastic, airtight container to keep it as fresh as possible.

Not that there aren’t plenty of options for brewing tea in a pot! There’s the handpainted one Mom did (which, unfortunately, drips), the tea-for-one I brought back from one of the mansions in Newport RI a few years ago, another tea-for-one that I painted, a tiny blue pot from Harrods, an IngenuiTea from Adagio (which I would like better if it were glass–hot tea and hot coffee should never come in contact with hot plastic, so far as I’m concerned, though there’s no denying it’s efficient). What else? A tea cozy from Harrods, and, let’s not forget, my favorite, the brown-betty pot. I just adore that pot, simple though it is. I’ve had it for about 17 years now and love it’s cheerful roundness.

Okay, so tonight, I’m going to watch the season finales of Gilmore Girls and Veronica Mars. (Obviously, UPN took my email very seriously and is being smart and airing the V.M. finale tonight, instead of pre-empting it for basketball again.) I plan on doing a genteel amount of knitting, and on letting my fingers recover from the rather insane marathon of the last couple days.

Worth it though, don’t you think? (grin)

• Tags: General, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Body and Soul // 20 Comments »