Willpower? Willpower? anyone seen my willpower?
Yeah, I can’t find it either. I was suppose to finish off DH’s gloves before I started the shawl this month . . . but after finishing 6 things (5 of them were UFOs) I just couldn’t help myself. First I broke down and allowed the handspun yarn for the shawl into the house . . . it normally lives with the rest of the stash in the “barn”, a safe distance from my work basket. Then when it begged to be wound into skeins during the baby’s nap I just couldn’t help myself, I gave in and wound it. Afterall, it isn’t like I can wind yarn when he’s awake, right? My swift and ball winder fit perfectly on the two arms of our futon frame and keeping him off things that spin around, not gonna happen in this lifetime . . . so why not do it while he’s asleep, what could it hurt?
From there it was only a matter of time before it snuck over to the needles and began to cast on the 3 little stitches that start the project. . . . how much trouble could 3 little stitches cause? Next thing I knew I had several rows, just to see how the yarn will look knit up . . . and at last check I’d worked the beginning of the shawl to the start of the “repeats” of the lace pattern and then worked the first 10 repeats of the lace.
See:
Not the greatest picture, and since it isn’t blocked you can’t see the pattern clearly. There are a couple of mistakes that I’ve spotted but since it is meant to be a “work” shawl, not a fancy going out shawl I’ve decided to live with some design features, particularly where they aren’t really all that obvious . . .
Ah well, guess it beats eating a whole pack of oreos or something, right? I mean if your going to lose willpower at least casting on a new project is pretty low cal . . .
Actually, I really like how it is turning out and the pattern is very easy to memorize so its moving right along now. The fabric has a nice springing feel to it from the handspun and I think despite the lacy nature of the pattern it will be a relatively warm shawl for wearing around our chilly house.
The yarn is some of my very early handspun. It is the first fleece that I bought whole and processed myself. I bought it over the internet, sight unseen, and it was my first attempt at scouring and carding. It was also the first time I tried to spin something as large as a whole fleece straight through. Come to think of it, its the only fleece I’ve spun the whole fleece of . . . I tend now to spin by the needs of the project rather than spinning a whole fleece just to spin it up. The yarn itself is rather varied; thick here, thin there; tightly spun here, loosely spun there, lots of ply here, none there . . . you get the idea. But worked up into the shawl pattern it seems to be working out fine and I think, especially given the color, will make a nice around the house shawl when its done.
I’m hoping to finish it this next week as it seems my best odds on finishing something are if it can be done in a week to 10 days or less. Wish me luck!
As of a few minutes ago we have 14 people who are guessing on the skein yardage . . . just a few more hours until I announce the winner. Stay tuned!
