Knitting Report

Well, Marianna's shawl is still a work in progress.  My ambitious knitting schedule did not leave wiggle room for losing an entire day to finding and fixing multiple, albeit small, errors. 

The Monday of Holy Week found me counting and recounting and recounting those 396 stitches.  At one point I was four--four!--stitches short and desperately needed to stretch the shawl out to find out where they belonged.

I have a circular needle kit, so I can add extra length as needed.  Unfortunately, all my longish bits were holding other projects.  I had to move this lap blanket onto a piece of yarn in order to use the knitting cord.  Simple, but it took some time, as did hunting through my unfinished knits looking for the most useful bit of cord to harvest.  So I transferred the cord, spread out the knitting, then found and marked the three places I had lost stitches, ready to repair them as I completed my next row.  Good grief!

Unfortunately, the next row was my second run through the lace pattern (4 rows over 396 stitches!), and it didn't seem to line up properly.  Unsure of what it was supposed to look like, I cast on some sample stitches on other needles and knit enough rows to find out that the shawl was indeed lined up correctly.  Again, simple but time consuming.  (I am not a speedy knitter.)

My most persistent time waster, though, was trying to keep track of those 396 stitches.  It was a pain to count them, and if I lost my place--grrr!  Len offhandedly remarked that I should put some stitch markers in.  Duh!  With a little ring placed every 50 stitches, it's no longer excruciating to check my work.

After that long day, preceded by other days with too much time spent knitting, I gave up on finishing by the Easter Vigil.  I had already let too much housework and schoolwork slip by.  The thought of letting my home and family fend for themselves for another week (and maybe not finish the shawl anyway) was unappealing. 

Holy Week and Easter were more peaceful (for me and all of us) than if I had stuck to my original resolution.  It was the right call.

I'm no longer working at a breakneck pace, but the shawl is progressing.  I'm down to 137 stitches, and set to decrease on my next row.  This stage is simple garter stitch (no more lace).  That, coupled with the reducing width, is helping the work move faster and faster.  Maybe Marianna will be wearing it to church next Sunday.  Time will tell . . .