To Tink or Not To Tink

Ok, I'm going to do it. While brushing my teeth tonight I decided I don't want a shawl that has two screw ups so early on. (Did I not mention the other one? Oopsie. You can almost see it in the picture, there's a decrease that doesn't stack right. All subsequent ones are fine, so I was really going to pretend it wasn't there.) Surely I'll make more mistakes later, and isn't it important to not rip rows that have 196 stitches in them rather than ones with less than 40? And don't I--since this is for me--deserve something perfect? You bet I do.

I am totally going to rip back and make this baby 100%. I haven't knit on it for four nights and there's a reason. It needs to be right.

Except...I have no idea how to rip back something like 9 rows of lace without completely screwing things up. And I have no lifeline because, well, because lifelines are for amateur's and regardless of the fact that I AM an amateur at lace I wasn't going to admit it to myself.

(Excuse me while I go look up the definition of "hubris.")

So how do I do it without tinking back stitch by stitch? Any suggestions??

And while I'm waiting? I'm totally going to cast on this guy. I can't help myself. Thanks, Kristi.

Thank you, Ravelry

You know, it has taken me two weeks to write this post. But such a good reason why:

Sure enough, digging into my iPhoto library for stash pics lit a fire in me to knit again. Sunday afternoon (8/12!) found me hunched over the laptop, nursing a half-asleep baby while one-finger typing left-handed. Mr. Cygnet, who is often sympathetic to all things fiber-related, only shook his head when he'd stumble upon me surreptitiously adding another yarn or project.

Naturally, this led to wanting to knit. No, strike that. I realized I *need* to knit. That night I drifted off in a haze of wool fibers, swearing that I was going to insist on 30 minutes of knitting time a day. Thirty minutes of baby-less time where I do absolutely nothing but knit.

Day One:



Day 3:



Day 6:


As can be seen, I had some trouble with continuity. At first, I thought that when Mr. CygKnit came home, I could rely on him to give me the 30 minutes. I pretty quickly found out that he had nothing to do with it. The real person in control of me getting my knitting time was me (not Emerson, as I thought for a few days).

I finished the knitting on the bolero, and am almost done seaming. When I did the last bolero, I blocked the sleeves and armholes before seaming, then did a light blocking of the whole piece when it was done. The seaming ended up as easy as it can be for me, and looked pretty good. Not so much this time. I have fought with those damn things like you wouldn't believe.

So I cast on another project. Or two.

This is a gift, which is why this is all you see. It will be gifted today, so more soon on it. (The bolero really should be gifted today, too, to the same person. Of course, I should probably not have thrown it across the room in frustration last night, hmm?)In the past (pre-baby, of course) I have made this piece in an evening. This took me about ten days, but it was a comfortable knit, easy to do while the boy sat in his bouncy seat at cooed at me.

This is all Ravelry's fault:

Forest Canopy Shawl

The lighting is bad in this picture, and I have zero experience photographing lace. The yarn is Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Merino in an unknown colorway. I lost the tag somewhere--it's been caked-up since last September, after buying it at Kaleidescope Yarns after the Vermont Sheep and Wool Festival. It was supposed to be used for a Diamond Fantasy Shawl for my mom, but the event I was to make it for her has come and gone (oops) so I figure the yarn can be re-purposed, right?

Oh, in the pic, I've completed the set up and the first repeat. Since then, I've just about finished the second repeat...except I somehow ended up with an extra stitch. Since all my decreases are stacked right, and each of the leaves looks like it should (I think), I'm going to follow Jess' advice and bury the decrease. I may be back next post regretting that, but for now I am fearless in the face of lace! Ha ha!

I can't help myself. I have to end with a picture of Em. At least this one is fiber related.

Guess what? Em can smile:


And because I can't help but be excited by a smiling baby, another one:


Is that great? Or is it just me?

My BFF of many years (15 this year!) came out for 11 days to stay with me. You know the type of friend where you don't have to entertain, you just exist in each other's company? That was the kind of wonderful we had. We went on a tour of half of New England, including SIX farm & factory tours in Vermont. Her visit came at just the right time, too, as I was starting to feel a little edgy. Getting out with her made me realize that while the first two weeks may be the hardest, the six week mark has a sort of endless quality to it.

Ben & Jerry's, of course, was quite the highlight of our Vermont tour:

What's not to love?

While driving nearly the length Vermont with a baby with a deep and abiding hatred for his carseat, I had some time to think. I put down my knitting (yes, knitting. I completed a whopping four rows on a sock for me) and stared out the window. I was trying to compose a blog post about this, about traveling with a baby, about all the stuff that accumulates with them, about staring strangers, and about the stress of it all. I kept rejecting thoughts and opening sentences because they weren't what I would like to read about. They weren't that funny/reflective that captivate so many people. Mostly, they had the sound of that high-pitch nervous giggle that you give right before succumbing to hysteria. While that is far closer to my day-to-day emotional state than funny/reflective, it isn't what I want to be. It certainly isn't what I want to blog about.

So, I did some more thinking. I though more about it while we were riding through Vermont (while staring at a baby who, despite a full tummy, a clean diaper and every trick we could think of, still insisted on screaming his frustration at the safety of a five-point harness). I've been thinking of it every day since. I don't know why I can't find the funny. There is certainly something essay-worthy about waking up next to your adorable infant (whom you swore would never sleep in your bed) and realizing that you're covered in his poop.

Maybe it's perspective I need.

I realize those thougths don't sound great, but I don't mean it that way. He's a damn cute baby and I really do wake up every morning amazed at his little self and totally in love with the way he insists on curling up his little body into my chest. Even on the days I have to wash the poo off me.

I have been knitting here and there. Sometimes it's just a few rows on the Baby Bolero I'm way overdue on gifting, but I am knitting. It feels good to go at it again, and as we fiddle with some form of a schedule for the boy I think there may be more time for me in the near future. Lisa and I are even talking about Rhinebeck: Revisited this year. I got my Ravelry invite yesterday, too, so diving back into my fiber obsession seems probable again.

I would like your help, though. I spend a lot of time (still) nursing this little boy. Once he closes his eyes, I like to pop open the laptop and read some blogs. My Bloglines was always pretty sparse, holding just enough feeds for me to be able to sneak a peek at when I was at work. Now that I have oodles of (kinda) free time, I'd like to read more. I don't get to comment much (or return emails), as may be obvious, but I'd like to read more. Please, suggest some of your favorite reads. (Even yourself, if you're not listed over there.)