(Just about a) WIP Wednesday

I’m choosing to count My Dahlia shawl as a WIP, since it won’t actually be done until it’s blocked. The fact that I’ve fastened off and woven in the ends doesn’t mean it’s done, oh no. We won’t mention that more commonly I wear things with ends dangling all over the place, since I can’t wait to wear things once they’re done.

This time, I’m going to be patient, do things properly, and block this monster before I wear it. If you follow me on Instagram, you’ll know that I had slight palpitations at the end of the last row, worrying that I was going to run out of yarn. I therefore adopted the practice common to knitters and crocheters everywhere of stitching faster. This means the yarn doesn’t notice what’s happening and doesn’t run out before you’re finished. That’s the theory, anyway.

To my relief, it worked this time, and I have a tiny amount left over. Actually, relief is very much the word of the day, as we’ve called in the professionals to deal with the situation in the garage, which means I don’t have to. There are still things that will need to be done, but the decision to let someone else do most of them is such a weight off my mind. The relief was such that I pretty much fell asleep on the bus going home last night, and I would have finished the shawl then if I’d been able to keep my eyes open.

As it is, I fastened it off at 8.15 this morning, wove in the ends right away (I must be ill), and will soak it when I get home tonight, hopefully ready to show you as a FO on Friday! For today, I’ve decided to join up to Ginny’s Yarn Along (link below). One of the things I’ve more or less stopped doing over the last few years is reading. It’s partly because crafting started to fill the time I used to read in, and partly to do with a complete inability to concentrate on words on the page. I read a few books on holiday in September, both on paper and my iPad, and am hoping having something to link up with will help me rediscover something I used to love. To that end, I picked up a pile of books from the library last week. I find I choose better when I feel I have a choice, rather than when there’s only one thing in front of me. And despite my profession, I still get a thrill from going around libraries and being able to choose whatever I want to read. Books! Free books! How awesome is that?

Of course, there’s also such a thing as too many choices, but with the day I was having, it was books or chocolate, and even I know better than to choose that much chocolate. Now I just have to pick a book!