Lookit!
I got the Easter shawl off the needles!
There are approximately 4.63 million ends to run in, and I have no idea how I'm going to block this crescent-shaped shawl (except that it almost certainly won't involve this evening owing to the Ends problem) with my decidedly straight blocking wires - answer: without them? - but I did finish the castoff, then ate celebratory cookies.
It is very twisty.
Also the curly-overy thing at the caston (not pictured) resulting from my not having cast on in the recommended manner is looking downright Ew. Ew as in, there ain't no way that roll is blockin' out. I am going to live with it.
Other Startling Developments
I've decided I'm going to get on a plane next year to fly to Rome, and then back again. I am SUPER phobic about planes after way too many scary flights plus a lifelong fear of heights, and have not set foot in an airport except to say Hello! or Goodbye! for... oh, it must be 14 years now, so this development is making me sit down.
(No, I have not always longed to go to Rome, meaning no disrespect to Rome. But some good friends are going and I don't want to miss out just because I am such a coward. My plan is to attend a lot of hypnosis sessions, request tranquillizers, and learn Italian so as to be able to order nonstop gelato in the break between flights.)
Another thing that is making me sit down is the fact that I messed up and wore my Blundstone boots one shopping trip too many earlier in the week. Apparently, since wrecking my Achilles tendon and some other muscles I just can't do that sort of thing. Solution:
I hobbled to the comfy-shoe store after my chiropractor visit today and bought Very Practical Summer Shoes.
1/ super hideous sporty velcro sandals just oozing orthotic support and squishy soles
2/ super pretty denim blue updates to my standby thong sandals ('Helen', by Mephisto; I love them so)
3/ super pretty, soft, adorable, totally-self-indulgent Roman sandals that have no arch support at all but I DON'T CARE because they are so soft and super pretty.
Actually I hate the way Roman-style sandals or any shoe with an ankle strap tend to make one's legs look like mobile tree stumps, but I felt compelled to make an exception for these. Eventually I figured out it was the Rome connection. It is ridiculous how suggestible I am.
(I'd complain if it weren't for the fact that this is what will make the hypnosis work.)
I have also been thinking about chic but compact-when-folded raincoats.
And sunhats. That's not about over-organization and control issues related to early panic about flying though - that's because the really awesome sunhat I wore the last two years has eaten its biscuit and desperately needs replacing. I'm strongly tempted to sew a hat but you know what? There is a hugely scary amount of fabric in my house right now that has to be sewn and shifted up to the cottage fast, before I trip over something and really wreck my legs.
Of course if that happened, I would have more sitting down time to finish the socks for the Mary Janes, or maybe some twined mittens for next winter, so there you go. Silver linings everwhere you look, right?
Hope your week is going well, and that I meet you here again in a day or two!
2 comments:
Hi Mary,
Your shawl is awesome! I love the pink and grey together.
I like crescent shaped shawls as well and like you, I only have straight blocking wires. I know there are flexible blocking wires available but I haven't felt a need to buy them.
Usually I just pin out the shawl with well placed pins and use a yard stick to get even measurements.
I read a post by the Yarn Harlot, oh more than a year ago. She used dental floss and ran it through the curved edge. Then she used some very strongly anchored pins at each end of the floss thread and gradually pinned out the shawl edge into a curve. She had photos to show how she did it. The method worked well for her but I haven't tried this for myself.
Good luck and Happy Easter!
Ohhhh, Bonny - thanks for that tip about the dental floss! I'll do a hunt and track that post down. If I can't figure it out there's always pins, as you say :^)
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