The Last Long (and fun) Day

Day 7 of UFO Marathon Week, Monday May 26 (Memorial Day)

Today I started knitting at 6:30 am and stopped at 10:30 pm. I didn't knit or work on knitting for only 75 minutes during the day. Those 75 minutes were to eat, brush my teeth, run the dogs on my bike, make 14 cups of tea, coffee, espresso, etc. and to go an equal number of times to the bathroom. At one point in the afternoon, when I was 8 hours into the knitting, my husband commented (I was slumped on the couch with barely combed hair, and my "Life is Good" yellow labrador sweats and t-shirt on) that all I needed was my Camelback full of my favorite beverage and I wouldn't even have to get up! I did look rather rumpled and slovenly, and certainly wasn't going to accomplish anything but knitting on this holiday day off work. It is also a good thing that he does most of the meal preparation, or I would have starved this last week.

I started the morning with 6 hours of work on the shawl border. It is the Ruffled Fichu from "Victorian Lace Today" by Jane Sowerby. I am making the sunset red version with a beautiful green/purplish silk I bought in San Francisco for the lightweight yarn and Rowan Kidsilk haze from River Knits for the fineweight yarn. I had finished the body of the shawl and picked up for the border a couple of months ago, with 6 inches of the silk left (whew!) after finishing the body. The border is described by Jane Sowerby as "a relaxing knit ... please don't count the stitches halfway through the ruffle...just think of the beautiful garment you will be wearing at the end." Well, that is good advice except if you are trying to finish it during marathon finishing week! After 6 rows of the 19 border rows, I knew I was in deep doodoo. The stitches increased from 233 to 840 by row 17. Each row pair was taking an hour, so that was 9 hours of knitting, just to get to the last row picot bind off. That row increased to 1401 stitches while binding off. I started the bind-off row at 9pm Monday night and calculated that it would take about 10 hours to finish the last row. I did not stay up. I finished 4/38 bells in the pattern during that last hour on Monday, and am working on it about an hour a day. I am also probably going to run out of yarn. It is a learning experience.

The toddler sweater for CIC charity went much faster. I had blocked it the day before, and it was still wet in the morning, so I put it outdoors on the picnic table. It was dry by 1:30pm and I knitted the sleeves and put it together. It was done by 5pm. The pattern is from the Knit Girls Kids book (same book as other toddler sweater), and the yarn is Colorado by Katia, bought about 7 years ago and left over from a vest I made for me. I really like how the baby sweater turned out.