The Update That Isn't

This is an update, and yet....

I've been working on my Fair Isle gloves this week, but working slowly. My right wrist has been bothering me quite a bit, so I know I have to take it easy. In the interim, I've read two Dean Koontz books (true literature, n'est-ce pas?), but I can't stay completely away from my knitting.

I took these three pictures earlier this week...

Since then, I've frogged back to the ribbing.

First, I decided the ribbing wasn't quite long enough for my liking. I get impatient with cuffs. They seem to take forever, and so, I give up on them when I think they're long enough. They never are.

Second, I've decided on a different fairisle pattern. I don't mind the one in the pictures, but.... eh!

Third, as you can see in the third picture, the thumb gusset isn't quite up to the point where the thumb gusset should be. It is, however, according to the pattern, the correct number of stitches. That means, the glove, had I kept going, would have been too small. I know, I know, I could have kept going, increasing to the right point. I thought about it, but I wasn't completely happy with the rest anyway and there were a couple of mistakes in the patterning, so..... I frogged it back.

Needless to say, it no longer looks like the pictures above and I haven't taken another picture because there's not much to show you past the ribbing. Because of that, this post is an update that really isn't an update.

On to other things... Last night, I, once again, picked up the Pi Are Square shawl. I'm thinking it needs, probably, another three balls of yarn to finish it to an acceptable length (I have eight balls remaining). I've just added in the second to last colour (light denim blue). After finishing that ball, I'm thinking I'll use the two balls of the dark denim blue to finish the shawl. I have no intention of getting into another repeat section; I haven't counted the stitches currently on the needle, but there are a lot of them! I have no desire to double that count, thank you very much. As long as I can wrap this shawl around my shoulders, and it comes at least to my waist, I'll be happy.

Generally, I wear shawls around the house to keep my shoulders and upper back (lower neck) area warm. Sweaters just aren't as cozy.

And, speaking of shawls, I might just be persuaded to cast on for another Pi shawl. Over in Yahoo groups, I've discovered the Ez as Pi group. Elizabeth Lovick is hosting a knitalong for an Orkney Pi Shawl; it is based on Elizabeth Zimmermann's basic Pi shawl (as mine was), and incorporating traditional Orkney lace patterns. I like that thought. The first installment of the pattern was posted yesterday.

I have some yarn in my stash that I think would be lovely for this shawl, but I don't think I have enough. Believe it or not, Liz is calling for approximately 3400 yards of 2-ply laceweight yarn for this shawl. I have 7 or 8 skeins of Drops Alpaca I was using for another project that has since fallen out of favour. The problem is, the Drops Alpaca is only 200 yards per ball. I would need seventeen balls!! That's a LOT of yarn. I might have to rethink this... or see what else I have in my stash.

I did say MIGHT be persuaded.... just not quite yet. In the interim, I'll be collecting the various parts of the pattern for possible future use.

So, what is it about shawls that makes them so addicting to make? I mean, I love knitting lace! I know there are lace knitters out there who don't wear the shawls they knit, but I'm not one of them. Right now, I have three shawls in my bedroom, not tucked away in drawers but draped over my bedside stand, and one around my shoulders. The appeal can't be because they knit up quickly; some do, some don't. Most lace projects take a lot of concentration. Then, once you've done with the knitting, you have to block it; that can be an exercise in frustration.

Perhaps the addiction is a result of that final step: releasing the shawl from it's pins and seeing that final, glorious product... Lace. And knowing that something so beautiful came from your own fingers. Perhaps.