It's a thin line between love and lace

It feels like for every row I knit, I have to rip out two. Painstakingly slow, but pretty. Lace seems to be a lesson in patience for me, I don't have very much so I guess it's a good one. If only I can get through a repeat with no mistakes, I'll be happy. If only I can lose 5 lbs., I'll be happy. If only...

I am at the heel of my Monkey sock and have promised myself if I get to the foot part then I can start a new project. Hmmm. It will most likely be the Chevron Scarf. I am wanting a mindless knit--a sweater perhaps? I'm thinking a stripey top down raglan. I have some brown sheep cotton fleece in my stash, I would only have to buy a little to make it stripey...maybe, mebbe not.

I'm going to my 20 year high school reunion next month. It is amazing to me that it has been 20 years. Also it is a bit terrifying, but I'm swallowing that and heading off, I already bought the tickets, there's almost no turning back. I was a bit reluctant to go, especially after having been to the 10 year, and having it be very disappointing. Now we've set up a site on Ning.com and started relating to one another without the old high school hangups and it could be fun. I bought a dress. It's pretty cute, although it shows a lot of the "curves" I've developed in the last months. I am forever trying to maintain or control my weight, it's stupid, I hate it, but I do it. Mostly because I'm on the verge of what I feel is not a comfortable me. But I love food and cooking it and eating it. Especially sweet food.

Anyhow back to knitting, I bought this dress, and I'm thinking it would be good to make a shrug, as it does get chilly here in the East Bay in the evenings. Can I make a shrug in a month? Especially if I deliberate over what to make for a week or so, shortening my month, to mere weeks or days. We'll see if I find the motivation. My monkey boys are in camp next week, so that means I've have a bit of time to think clearly.


And of course Harry Potter. Yes, Harry..I tried to resist for many years but I must admit, I am excited. I'm reading the book, monkey 1 finished it already. This also may stand in the way of the shrug.

I think I can, I think I can

Okay, so I have wanted to knit the Victoria Tank from Interweave Knits iwpshopinfo.interweave.com/Knits/2004newsletters/summer04projects.htm
since I first laid eyes on it (only 3 years ago). I'm just getting around to starting it, I was searching for the yarn or what I could sub for the yarn when I came upon Knitting the Blues http://soupgirls.typepad.com/photos/ik_victoria_tank/ and saw that she had done hers with brown sheep cotton fine. I have that! I was going to make a beautiful lace coverlet for my mom and only got 3 panels of a billion I needed to do and figured it wasn't really going to happen in this lifetime. So anyhow, I cast on 288 stitches, no gauge swatch for this knitter.....and those stitch markers at every lace repeat they suggested? Ha, I don't need training wheels, I can knit, I can knit lace, I've done it before. So after many rows of "fixing" my number of stitches, because they did not come out right, I realize that I must rip it all out and start over. So then measure just to see how I've done and it's huge. Huge. So I looked back at the Knitting for blues and realized she used a smaller needle. So I re-cast on the 288 stitches on a 2 and started once again. Ha. After the first lace repeat, again I was off and "fixing" again. And by fixing I mean, adding a stitch here or taking one away to try to make it right. It didn't. So avoiding casting on once again, I took it back to the start of the lace and put on my training wheels, and so far so good.

I'm spinning yarn to make my second Chevron scarf from Last Minute Knitted Gifts,

my first one did not turn out quite like I wanted it to. Being new to spinning, I have a lot to learn about how my yarn will look knit up. Evidently, I have even more to learn about this blogging thing and making it look nice, but for another time.