Yarnification

I spent a couple of hours working on the Seraphina shawl last night. It’s pretty close to being done. It needs either another two or six rows; I’m not sure yet which. I need to try it on again after I finish the current repeat and see how it looks. After the last try-on it was almost the size I wanted it.

It’s funny how easy that pattern has turned out to be. I was so intimidated by the instructions and all the photos, and it’s certainly the longest pattern I have. But since getting the basic pattern established I haven’t needed to look at the pattern at all.

I’m making it out of RH Symphony, which, based on how warm I’ve been while working on it, should make for a really cozy, lightweight, warm shawl. I’m thinking it’ll take about two and a half to three skeins all told; I’m on my third skein now but I don’t think I’ll use the whole thing before it’s done. That’ll leave me a full skein and maybe a little extra to make something else. I haven’t decided what just yet—I’m thinking a scarf, maybe Donna’s Alternating Windowpanes scarf.

Oh, and I think I’ve settled on what to do for my first felting project with the yarn Lori sent me! Recently Dawn posted this terrific felted bag pattern: Felted Memo Bag and I really want to make one. I think that dark autumn red will make a great-looking bag, and this bag is very much my style.

I should have a photo of the Petite Pineapple doily very soon. It’s all finished and everything, just keep forgetting to upload a photo.

On the to-do list:

Lining a purse and curtain tie-backs, both of which involve sewing. (And I’m sure I explained this before, but the sewing machine is stored in the mud room, weighs eleventy-billion pounds, and I’ve been having back trouble, so I’ve been off the sewing—ha! I say that like I sew all the time or something—because it really sucks to end up with a massive muscle spasm just from setting up the machine. I’m trying to convince my back to behave itself without going back to the doctor for more steroids.)

A pair of socks, halfway through the second sock. Bad case of Second Sock Syndrome right there. But I was wearing my first pair of crochet socks the other day and started thinking how very nice it would be if I finished up this second pair sometime in this lifetime so I could have more fun stripey socks.

And, coming sooner than I’d realized:

Dishcloth ahoy! I need to:
* Get a pair of size 7 needles (I have two sets, one size 9 and one size super-freaky-huge which is what I used to learn to purl so I could better see what was going on).
* Do a gauge swatch to make sure that size will work. (I already know the size 9 needles are way too big because I already did one swatch.)
* Put aside other projects and obsessive mandolin-plinking once the big day arrives. (Friday! Whee!)

I reserve the right to decide I hate this pattern with the sort of passionate hatred I generally reserve for things like sauerkraut or scrubbing floors, but no later than two days after the Olympics start because if I do any pattern-switching any later than that, there’s a solid chance that I won’t finish on account of I’m still slow at knitting, and I’ve got my hands pretty full with work right now and have been working longer hours than usual.

And…I think that’s it. I’ve deemed those unidentifiable thread projects a loss; none of them were far enough along for it to be worth the effort of figuring out which pattern and what size hook I was using (there were a handful of them but none of them seemed to have more than a couple of rounds done).

I’ll be back when I manage to get that photo uploaded.