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.