I Do Knit!

I haven't had a lot of k-nitting k-news which is why I have regaled you with tales of my office insanity.* It hasn't been because I haven't been knitting; it's just that I have nothing new to report. Snuffleupagus is on the back burner because it is going to take some time to sew him up. Time, and wits. I'm no longer popping pain pills (maybe I shouldn't admit to this - they were a good excuse for my many brainfarts), but I feel like I need some down time to concentrate and down time has not been what you would call abundant, or um, at all present. I still would like to have him done by Christmas, so maybe one night this weekend.

I've also been working on the not-really-lace-but-it-sure-has-a-lot-of-yarn-overs-and-slipped-stitches shawl/wrap. I finally finished it last night after having some uh, issues. Seems I am no good at guesstimating how much yarn it will take to bind off an object and I kept having to rip back. Argh. Anyway, I did manage to finish it and decided to block it late last night. The whole blocking thing took a little Lucy & Ethel turn though. I was going for a wet block because I am not down with the steam and the iron and the heat and well, you get the idea. So water, then OMIGOD I NEED OXYGEN! When the water met that yarn, a bouquet of barnyard aromas were released. It was NASTY. I figured it might be a little funky from the multiple doctors offices and so forth and that it might require a swish in some mildly sudsy water to wash off any stray typhoid. WRONG! This baby was nasty. I swear, a sheep borrowed my wrap, rolled in some crap, passed it to a pig who did the same and the passed it on to some friends to also do the same and then put it back in my bag. I washed it, twice, with mild good smelling shampoo and then conditioned it. I'm not sure if the lingering eau de barnyard was from the stench stuck to the shower walls, or if my nostrils were permanently branded, or if it was the wrap still retaining the stink, but I am really hoping it was not the latter. I had put the blocking wires in before the water immersion, which was smart but not well played. I ended up having to redo two of the wires because its bath was a little more rigorous than I had anticipated. Once that was all done, I did block it ... on our guest bed. This thing is a queen, so it is a good sized blocking surface. But I made a, hopefully not fatal, mistake by aligning it across ways instead of up and down.



I think that it will still be plenty long, but if not I can do it over. Heck, I may have to if my guest room smells like Old McDonald's when I get home today. Obviously the colors are off a tad because 1)it's wet and 2)it was late and dark. Despite this, the pattern has really shown itself nicely.



If I do have to re-block it because it is too short or (more likely) smells like Wilbur, I will not only be more careful of the blocking wires, I will probably put a few wires in width-wise to help straighten out my rows. As you can see, they are a little wonky.

* Here is one tidbit of office insanity because really, I don't want to cut you off cold turkey and have you suffer withdrawal ... Crazy, in a hysterical, on the verge of tears voice as she SLAMS her office door shut: "Those were for everyone! You're sequestering the chips!" Chip sequesterer?!?