No, this isn’t a pregnancy announcement.
I’m just noticing that one box of something isn’t always enough to feed the family anymore. One pan of meatloaf doesn’t quite cut it. Last night, one box of linguini wasn’t quite enough to satiate the crowd. It’s weird.
I bound off the faroese shawl last night, which required breaking into the last skein of yarn on the last quarter of the bind off. That really sucked. I could have returned that skein and bought something else! But no.
After it was done, Hayden and I agreed that it shouldn’t be blocked. I’m concerned about it being too big for my mother-in-law, plus I really like the three dimensional texture. Hayden liked how the bind off was a bit wavy, almost a ruffle.
And I know you all want a model shot, but keep in mind this is, like, 10 inches too small for me so it looks ridiculous.
Experiencing the sudden wave of freedom associated with finishing something, I turned optimistically to the Uptown Boot socks, wondering where I had left off.
That would be the picking up of the gusset stitches. So my celebration was short lived and quickly turned to annoyance. Picking up gusset stitches is my second least favorite part of sock knitting, the first being the actual starting of the sock.
I hate starting socks. It’s tempered by the excitement of starting something new, breaking into a new skein of yarn, etc, but I hate it for the first couple of inches, every time. I always question my sanity, willingly knitting something with toothpicks instead of needles, as it flops all over and drops tiny little stitches.
Well, picking up gusset stitches required too much concentration for me last night, so I didn’t knit anything after binding off the shawl. I don’t really remember what I did.
Oh! Not true. I remember. I started swatching for the fingerless gloves for Mary. And I don’t have the swatch to show you. I sent it to school with Liv, to give to Ana, to take home to Mary so she can tell me if she likes it before sending it back to school with Ana, to give to Liv, to bring back to me tomorrow.
It’s kind of a crazy little swatch, with a couple of snake-like cables running up the hand. I intend to split them off in the direction of each finger if she likes the pattern. But I’m still kicking around whether or not to go up a needle size.
Hayden laughed at me. I swatched on size 2 bamboo, frogged, switched to size 0 steel, frogged, and started on a steel size 1. And it might be too stiff. I don’t know. But if I go back up to a 2, Hayden will ridicule. In a loving way, of course.
May 10th, 2007 at 2:50 pm
Had to laugh about the family growing. With my three boys, one of them now 13, a 9 x 13 pan of lasagna with large salad and bread is no longer 2 meals. It isn’t even 1 meal and a couple of lunches – it is barely enough for one meal!
This summer I need to concentrate on finding quick to fix, healthy meals that are filling and cheap and can be made in large quantities, because that is what my family needs when I am working full time.
May 10th, 2007 at 3:20 pm
That shawl looks fantastic!
May 10th, 2007 at 9:23 pm
the shawl is beautiful! And WillowCaroline, may I, with 6 children, recommend a pork roast? I have a recipe that’s fabulous, and uses the cheapest cut because you NEED fat on it. (it cooks 5 hours). It’s EASY, inexpensive, great the first night with potatoes, and the leftovers are great a) in enchiladas, b) quesedillas, c) barbecue shredded pork sandwiches. I’m always looking for inexpensive, easy recipes as well.
May 11th, 2007 at 9:02 am
Ha, yes, yes I will laugh and laugh but with love because you didn’t mock me when I continually messed up the lace swatch. Although you should have, because I don’t think I could have mis-read that pattern any more.
Also, the spread out shot of the shawl….looks like wings, which I never noticed before. That’s pretty cool.
May 11th, 2007 at 10:27 am
The shawl is amazingly beautiful. I like how it looks unblocked as well. Wise choice :o)
I hear ya on the feeding the family stuff. And let me tell you…it only gets worse from here on out. I am dreading the day that I have 3 teenage boys to feed. That’s still a long way off…but I’m already dreading it :o) Both of my little guys are going through growth spurts right now and all they want to do is eat eat eat. It’s insane.
HA! I know that sock feeling of the first few inches. I have switched from dpns to 2 circs though and I like it much better. I aos use to dread picking up the gusset stitches but I’ve finally made peace with them and figured out how to do them correctly which made me sooooo happy. That’s been buggin’ me for years…I’ve been doing them wrong LOL! DOH! Good luck on finishing the socks and I can’t wait to see the gloves :o)
May 13th, 2007 at 9:08 am
I was just thinking about the food issue yesterday. When I make a stir-fry, I don’t use a recipe. I realized last night that I am no good at estimating how much I need any more. I cooked what felt like a huge pot of chicken and broccoli, yet there was almost none left after fixing plates for five kids.
I’m sure it has been mentioned in a previous post, but the shawl looks like angel wings when it is laid out like that :-).