Sunday, August 29, 2010

The Old Grey Mare

ain't what she used to be.  Roxie, if you make a comment about "rode hard and put away wet", I swear I'll delete you from the comments!

I spent a goodly amount of time yesterday on the living room floor, stretching the Big Burgundy Blob out until it somewhat resembled a lace shawl.  See:

I forgot how old I am, so I didn't thread the blocking wires through the border until I was already down on the floor.  Of course, by the time I got all the wires in the edge and the darn thing stretched out, I could hardly get up off the floor.  Yesterday, my knees and ankles ached all day; today, it's my butt and thighs that are screaming from all the kneeling and crawling. 

But, it was totally worth it. 

ToolMan took the picture early this morning before the clouds moved in, so it's a little over-exposed.  I tried to fix it in Picasa, but this is as good as it gets.  The shawl came out smaller than I expected; it's about 48 inches across.  It sure seemed a lot bigger than that when I was slogging through all that plain stockinette. 

Still very wearable, though.  Especially with one of ToolMan's shawl pins.

The details:  Pi Shawl (Ravelry link) pattern from Elizabeth Zimmerman, using her concentric circles variation.  In a burgundy wool/nylon lace weight yarn of unknown parentage.how much I used because I don't know how much I had to start.  I had part of a cone to start and almost none left when I finished, so it probably a lot.  I don't know n I used 29 inch circular needles in US Size 3.  I didn't check gauge; I just changed needle sizes until I got a fabric I liked. 

Now I want to knit something that I can actually see progress on, so now it's a pair of socks on the needles.

These will be for Mom.  I haven't really picked a pattern yet, but I have cast on (using JMCO, of course!) and finished the toes.  This is the Cashmere Sock from Frog Creek Fibers that I bought a couple weeks ago and it is delicious to work with!  When their Etsy shop is refilled, be sure to grab some of this; it's totally worth it.  And blocking socks, probably won't strain you butt muscles.

4 comments:

  1. She may be old and gray, but she still pulls the load! Beautiful work. You're an inspiration to me. I've got a circle to block in a day or two.

    It's just a shame that the cute and perky girls we are got trapped in these old woman's bodies.

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  2. I love the shawl and the color! Beautiful. Someday I'd like to do EZ's shawl....someday...and you've inspired me even more!

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  3. I just blocked my new black shawl yesterday - but did not take any pics while it was stretched out.

    It's a square about 56 inches per side - I was aiming for 5 foot square to give me a 7 foot triangle when folded - but this is still pretty big.

    I'll bring it with me to OFFF just to show it - I still have to work in the ends and I haate that on lace.

    see you soon

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  4. I'm seriously considering turning a wall into a blocking board for just that reason. And because I have a couple of big shawls in progress that are going to involve a lot of crawling around. (Provided, of course, that I ever finish knitting them...)

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