It's Friday, Finally

It has been a very weird week. We all had Monday off, but usually when that happens, Monday ends up feeling like Sunday and I'm confused about what day it is for the rest of the week. Then we had that stretch of extreme cold, because of which Molly's school decided to move to remote instruction on Tuesday and Wednesday (at her age, that meant her teachers posted assignments each morning that she was able to work on over the course of the day, so she was on FaceTime with a group of friends for much of the day while they studied and did assignments together). Yesterday was my first day back at the office since breaking my foot, but when I got there, there was an issue with the building's water and we couldn't use the bathrooms on our floor, so after my team meeting, I went home. Today I've got to go in again for a meeting. And the Mister had to make another quick work trip this week. All of this, plus all the news (which I'm trying not to look at too often) has made for really long and wonky week. I'm looking forward to a break this weekend.

Over the course of the day on Wednesday, I was able to ply all the singles I shared in that morning's post. It was a bit of a mess at the end; when one bobbin of singles ran out, I wound off what was left on one of the remaining bobbins to make a plying bracelet so I could continue with the three ply. I ended up with a bit of a tangled mess and had to pull some knots out and splice in torn ends several times, but in the end I did use nearly all of the singles with minimal waste. And I fit them all on the bobbin!

What's a bit hard to see in this photo is that the yarn right at the edge of the bobbin end is threatening to spill over it -- I really pushed the capacity of this bobbin! Yesterday afternoon I skeined the yarn and gave it a bath, and I left it to dry on the radiator overnight. I'm really quite delighted with how it turned out!

I'd say the finished yarn ranges from fingering to sport (some bits of fiber were easier to spin finely than others), and my length measurement is approximately 492 yards. I was hoping for a bit more than that given that I've got nearly 7.5 oz. in this skein, but no doubt the range in fibers played a role in that, too. Mainly I'm just relieved to have it done!

Now that I've finished that yarn, my full attention is turning toward my sweater, which has grown a bit since you last saw it, though it's probably hard to tell.

I did end up doing the short-row bust shaping, though it added very little extra fabric (if you click on the photo, you might be able to see a concentrated area of green just above the needle). The knitting that's ahead is very straightforward: I work a bit more straight, then do some waist shaping, then work straight some more, and finally do the bottom hem in brioche. That makes it sound like I should be done in no time, but in fact it is quite a bit of knitting. Fortunately I'm at the stage where I don't have to look at my knitting quite so closely, so I'm able to read or watch TV while I work, and I plan on taking advantage of that.

This evening we are taking my parents out for dinner, and on Sunday we have plans to get together with the Mister's side of the family to celebrate my father-in-law's birthday, which was this past Tuesday. We're also supposed to have weather at or above freezing, so perhaps I'll manage a walk or two! Whatever your weekend holds, I hope it gives you some time for rest and rejuvenation. I know the news has been unrelentingly terrible lately, so please remember to be kind to others -- and don't forget to extend that same kindness to yourself.