First, happy Memorial Day, everyone. (Well, the U.S. readers, anyway . . . although I hope everyone else has a good day, too. And of course, I don’t see why non-U.S. people couldn’t take a moment to remember those  who died for their country, too, so . . . )

I’m digressing. (Yes, I do that from time to time.)

The shawl?

Definitely in Zephyr "Curry."

See? I’m up to row #14 already. It’s really very nice to be doing lace again! The first time since October when I finished my rectangular Peacock Stole.

The one problem? Nothing to do with the Japanese chart, but with the lace needle.

See, I had bought one of the Addi Lace Needles to try a couple months ago, when they first came out, and it’s sat in the closet ever since, waiting for a chance to be used. But, when I bought the yarn on Saturday, I figured I’d get a needle there, too, specifically for this shawl . . .

What do you suppose the odds are of my accidentally buying two of the exact same size and length?

Yeah, you guessed it. Very good. I’m assuming that I can take yesterday’s back to the store and exchange it for a different size at some point . . . In the meantime, I’m using the one that’s been in the closet–it’s only fair. The plus side is that these needles are all that the reviews have said they’d be–sharp, but not too sharp–sleek but with enough "grab" to keep the lace yarn under control–flexible cord with that perfect Addi join. All of that. The bad part? One, the cord, at this stage of the shawl is annoyingly long (which is my own fault, not the fault of the needle), but also, the brass-tipped needles smell annoyingly metallic and keep leaving a metallic tang at the back of my throat . . . and my fingers smell like brass. I’m hoping that will go away. Although, I’m also thinking about switching to gray Inox needles on a shorter cord, or maybe Knitpicks Options, for a while . . . you know, until I have enough stitches and "heft" on my needle to make the longer cord a little more reasonable and a little less annoying.

Incidentally, I just joined another KAL, one which fortuitously started up just as I got ready to start my shawl–the Knitting Elegance KAL, for anyone knitting one of the patterns from the Japansese "Let’s Knit" series.

The shawl I’m making, you’ll remember, comes from Book #11.

And, while we’re talking about Japanese knitting, let me also point out that there’s a Yahoo! Group, Knitting in Japan, dedicated to it.

But mostly, the really important thing, is that I’m not cheating.

I had promised myself that I wouldn’t start any new projects until one or the other of my sweaters was done. And while my Celtic Icon isn’t entirely done, it’s done "enough" that I’m not feeling guilty.

I finished the sleeves last night (you can see them here, blocking as proof), and the next official step of the construction process is to sew in the zipper. Now, first of all, I think that’s a little silly–shouldn’t that be the final step–but anyway, since I’m not going to know if I want to use a zipper or buttons until the entire thing is done, that’s not happening for a while anyway. Which means the real next step (for me) is to sew the fronts, sides, and back together, sew up the raglan seams, sew up the sleeve seam, and THEN pick up the stitches and knit the hood. Well, all that seaming is going to take a while and really, I’m not feeling any guilt at all about starting my next knitting project in the interim. Except for a couple, little Christmas gifts, one Mystery Project and, what, two pairs of socks? I’ve been plugging away on the same two "big" projects for almost half a year (Celtic Icon since October, Tatami since December) . . . so, well, it’s almost June, I want to knit lace, I finished the sleeves of C.I., and darn it, I’m just not going to feel guilty about this! All in all, I think I’ve been doing just fine in the perseverence-on-endless-projects stakes . . .

What else have I done today? Well have I have NOT done the two things I planned to do–thoroughly vacuuming my room and giving Chappy a haircut. But I DID organize all my lace and sock yarns, and sorted them into these canvas sweater organizers (that even have a cedar insert, which is never a bad thing). It came in a set of three, my sock yarn fits into one, my lace yarn (pictured) into another, and the third is currently home to the odds and ends that don’t quite fit into any categories–leftovers, and whatnot. (My other two storage cubes are filled with specifically "sweater" yarn.) I could wish that these had solid bottoms so that I could stack them on the top shelf of my closet a little easier–reaching to get that third one on top is tricky because they’re just a little longer than the shelf is wide and so I have to stack them horizontally, so that I can’t reach the handle, and, well, but who cares? It’s a good size, the canvas is breathable, I love the scent of cedar, and the top is plastic so I can easily tell what’s in there.

I did some other organizing/cleaning kinds of things, too. Took Chappy out for a short walk (it was only about 80 degrees but very humid). Made potato salad for supper. (In all modesty, mine is the best in the family.) Started my shawl, as you saw. Did some reading.

Oh, and yesterday? We celebrated the family birthdays–my niece and nephew, as well as my giving my brother-in-law his belated gift, and us giving my sister her gifts a little early (since her birthday is the day before Graduation, and my Mom wanted to be sure she had her gifts in case she wanted them for that day . . . not to mention it kind of made more sense to Mom to celebrate her birthday along with the others, rather than doing it on Graduation day. It was a nice day, although we came home to a house without any electricity. Not just us and our next-door neighbors, though, for a change–and it was back on within three hours, but still . . . it’s lucky that I have a front door key on my keyring, because the only other way into the house requires electricity!

Mom and I also finally got around to watching Music and Lyrics this weekend–we had thought it looked charming when it came out in February, and sure enough, we both enjoyed it. A romantic-comedy that didn’t quite go over the edge into ridiculousness, and one in which the two leads (Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore) shared real chemistry. And, really, I enjoy watching both of them when they’re being charming and funny. The faux-80s pop video was highly amusing, too, and the songs remarkably catchy. (The actress, Haley Bennett, playing the newest teen sensation could really sing, too.) It’s romantic-comedy, so it’s a "fluff" movie, but it was entertaining fluff and one I’m very glad I picked up.

Now, I think that’s plenty long enough for one blog entry, don’t you? Congratulations if you made it this far. (Actually, one of my co-workers wanted to figure out a basic word-count for a decent-sized paragraph and started looking at emails in his inbox to copy/paste one of them and then said, "Oh, let’s just look at one of yours." I guess I have a reputation for being wordy or something . . . or maybe it’s just that I use complete sentences when I explain things??)

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