My Current Obsession

We're now back to the normal schedule, which has been tough to get used to but I'm dealing with it. There is something to be said for predictability (not to mention sleeping in your own bed every night).

I am still working on the handspun socks during my lunch breaks at work, but at home in the evenings, it's all about the lace shawl I've been designing. I'm simply obsessed with it. Last night I finished up the third and final chart before the edging -- here's what it looked like before I finished the last three rows of the chart:

Of course, lace looks like complete crap until you block it. I've given myself a bit of a preview by stretching out portions of it to get an idea of what it will look like, but it's now slightly too big to stretch out on the needles, so I'll have to wait until it's done to get the full picture.

I got through most of my planned border last night, which would have meant two more rows and a bind off tonight, but thinking about it kept me up last night when I was trying to go to sleep, which means that tonight I'll be ripping out the border (all the while kicking myself for not putting in a lifeline after I finished the last chart -- which I totally thought about doing but didn't because I was too lazy to go get the thread and a needle to insert it). The border I was using just isn't playing as nicely with the end of the last chart as I would have liked, so I'm going to tweak it a bit. Fortunately it looks like my yarn supply will last, provided I don't make the border too large. I'm sure I'll be cutting it close enough to make me nervous. With any luck, I'll be able to finish this up tonight, block it tomorrow, and be able to show it to you later in the week.

Oh, and do you know who will be able to model the shawl for me once it's done? Meet the newest member of the family:

I had long been wanting a dress form and finally broke down and bought one earlier this month. Rainbow has dubbed her Matilda, and she'll be doing me a great service by modeling shawls and other accessories so that I can do the photography and get the shots I want. Usually I'm the model and the Mister is the photographer; he can get good shots, but his eye is usually more on me than on the knitwear. I think the new set-up will make both of us feel a lot better about photo shoots.