Knit My Dog

Phew! It's Saturday, my parents' 50th Anniversary party is tonight, and my whirlwind knitting project is complete.

First, photo evidence:

After running out of yarn, having two skeins priority shipped from Canada, and waiting for the package to arrive, I resumed my knitting Tuesday evening after picking up the package at the DHL office. I figured that I should finish by Thursday so that I would have time to block and dry the shawl. No problem, I only had 3/4 of the edging to complete! So I knit during every available opportunity. Of course, I had to work and sleep. Otherwise, I was knitting. At 11 pm on Thursday night I realized that I had at least another hour to go and my left hand was killing me. So instead of trying to finish in a blurry-eyed state, I went to bed. After working on it during lunch yesterday, I still had at least another hour to knit. How does that happen, you knit and knit, and it doesn't seem to get any closer to completion? I came home from work and knit without stopping until it was done. Howie was getting a little hungry and decided he wanted to go out for Chinese food. Of course, I didn't tell him about the grafting that needed to happen. Then the soaking. Then the blocking. He helped out by getting two fans that we pointed at either end of the shawl while it was blocking, and off we went to dinner. I used the fans because I had visions of having to unpin a damp shawl this afternoon and having it shrink back to its preblocked lumpiness.

Good news, after 3 hours it was dry! I'll have to remember the fan trick in the future.

So my outfit is complete. I'll have a picture taken at the party of me in the dress with the shawl.

Next, my prize package from Suzanne. I won for being the 1,000th commenter on her blog. She asked me what I would want and I gave her some ideas of my likes, then said to surprise me. Well, this was quite a surprise:

Shall we take a closer look? Clockwise from top: Heal My Hands (unscented of course), Sesame Crunch candies from Whole Foods (perfect becasue Howie doesn't like sesame seeds so they're all mine), two 4oz batts of wools that a beginner like me can spin without becoming frustrated, from Amy in Rocky Mountain High and Gothic Love (I also made a road trip to Amy's last week but neglected to blog about it), two skeins of a beautiful brown/rust wool from Sheep Shop Yarn Company (Howie saw it and wants a sweater out of it but I informed him that it will be a scarf one day and I'm not sure that I can afford a sweater's worth for him), one skein of a beautiful green sport weight wool from Blackberry Ridge (possibly some hand warmers?), 350 yards of superwash/mohair/nylon blend "Ruby River" sock yarn from Mountain Colors, and let us not overlook the Cappucino batt from Barneswallow Farm that everything is perched upon.

I really was expecting a skein or two of sock yarn. She outdid herself! And she took the time to read my blog and figure out some things about me. For instance, that I am a new spinner with a wheel and no fiber stash...The box still sitting on the diningroom table so I can stare at it and fondle it whenever I please. Thank you Suzanne! Now go comment on some blogs and maybe you'll win something;-)

The last fibery news of the week is that the Perfect Sweater from Mason-Dixon Knitting is complete and blocked:

No pictures of me modelling it because it is just too hot to wear it and Howie wasn't around during the photo shoot. I must say, it's perfect. An easy stockinette pattern with enough waist shaping to keep my interest. I love the colors, the picot edge, the V-neck, the fit. I think it will be a sweater that gets plenty of wear.

That's my fiber week in review, now I'm off to get ready for the big bash.