When the Best Laid Plans Go Seriously Awry!

Well, I did wake up well before dawn, concerned that I'd read my Ebay bid ending time incorrectly, and figured I'd missed it. As luck would have it, there's still six hours to go when I woke--frantic that I'd lost the item--but all is well. Things are safe.

Having fretted and stewed for 3 days over the lace for the sleeve edging on my entrelac, I began, the intrepid adventurer, and realized the lace I'd chosen was a garter lace--so I had to adapt the lace to a stockinette (means "purl back" every row), which also means that I had to rip out several rows I'd already knit, dissatisfied with the look of the result and begin again. It's a good thing that a lace edging is only 7-12 stitches wide--or well, at least this one is. However, working in stockinette has it's own drawbacks--in that, it does tend to curl--which is precisely what this lace wants to do--the garter wouldn't have done that--but the overall "look" and feel is more "matched" with the diagonal stockinette of the sweater, and so I am, at this very moment, blocking my lace on one sleeve of my entrelac sweater--just so that I can take a picture for you!

My first task was to get up with the sun, but I beat the sun, so there you have it. Unfortunately, I still smell (okay, I reek) because I didn't take my shower. I unloaded the dishwasher, and reloaded it with dirty dishes, then cleaned out the sink and found out that my drains are plugged! Somewhere between the garbage disposal and the U under the sink, so I have to wait until hubby wakes to fix that before I can continue with dishes. So I loaded the laundry and started knitting.

It's likely to be several hours before the parade downtown, so I probably have time to finish the other sleeve before I have to go. The second sleeve will go much faster because I know better what I'm doing. I'm thinking that I made a mistake with the stockinette, and that eventually I will probably tire of it constantly curling--and I'm not sure how I'm going to counter that aspect--it would be quite nice if the stockinette were on the diagonal--rather than parallel to the sleeve, but that was a change that I wasn't quite ready to parse out--especially at 10pm at night.

Perhaps to win the item on Ebay as well--we'll have to see about that. At present there are still 3 hours to go, which puts the ending time right around the time I figure I must leave for the parade--I'm thinking about taking my wheel downtown, maybe dressing up in my re-enactor garb, as well, to spin and talk with passersby. That's the great thing about spinning--where ever you go, there are people who will stop and watch what you're doing, and you get to demonstrate your craft while they ooooh and ahhhh in understanding as you explain just exactly how this contraption works. It would be seriously cool to take the traditional saxony wheel with me--since the car is clean still, there's likely room for it. I would just have to park VERY close to where ever I decided to demonstrate. What would be even more seriously cool, would be if I had some flax to spin into linen, but I don't know how to do it.

YET.

It's one of the things that I'd like to learn, however, I understand that there is some considerable use of your own spit to soften the flax fiber to manipulate it into linen--rather like softening cane for weaving baskets. I'd also like to learn to spin cotton on a Charka--a small wheel in a box. They cost about $100--and at present, I have no time (or money)for that endeavor (expense). However, the Michigan Fiber Festival will be in August, and I do intend to buy one at that time. Cotton yarn, here I come!

So now, while my lace is cooling, I'm thinking--OH THIS IS SO PRETTY!! I surely have trouble waiting for things to chill down from blocking--it can't cool fast enough--even in the 60 degrees or so that we keep the house! So I'm going over to take a peek to see how it's doing....

Oh it's done! It's done! Picture time!As always, comments are encouraged!!! :)