09.11.11:
I lost my knitting mojo as soon as I gave up smoking in late August 2011.

I’ve never knit a shawl before, I love stripes, the pattern is free and I’ll dip my toes in the scary lace pool without drowning in it. Fingers crossed.

13.11.11:
I’m up to row 54. The slip stitch selvedge was too tight (like quite a few others have reported) on the side where the yarn is carried up.

I knit 7 or so rows, realised the slip stitch selvedge was too tight (like quite a few others have reported) on the side where the yarn is carried up.

I frogged and looked at other methods but they either didn’t appeal to me or I didn’t know how to do them. So I went back to original slip stitch the pattern calls for and relaxed. That’s all I have done differently and both selvedges now have equal tension. Cool.

17.11.11:
It’s been hot - often too hot to knit.

I’m up to row 70 with 213 sts on the needles. I’ve been listening to podcasts, watching Sherlock and now I’m on to the famous BBC version of P&P.

It is 1.41 am. I’ll finish my P&P episode, get a row or two more done and then go to bed coz I’m starting to make stupid mistakes.

I love this shawl! (disclaimer: so far)

28.11.11:

I still love it! This shawl would be quite a fast knit if I put just and hour or two into it each day - I haven’t mainly because of the heat.

I have finished the stripes and hopefully have 297 stitches on my needle. I need to do some counting and then onto the lace. Hold me; I’m scared. No, really, this is way out of my comfort zone.

21.10.2013

Just under 2 years later and I’m finishing this wip off. It has spent 23 months with just the lace section to go and me too cranky at it to tink back to my last fuck up 6 rows previous. Well, last Thursday, after being so chuffed with myself for finishing a 3 & 1/2 year old wip, I started on this.

It took me two looong tinking sessions to get my affairs in order and be able to continue on.

Title Song: I Had A Dream, Joe by Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds

I had a dream
I had a dream
I had a dream, Joe

I had a dream, Joe
You were standing in the middle of an open road
I had a dream, Joe
Your hands were raised up to the sky
And your mouth was covered in foam
I had a dream, Joe
A shadowy Jesus flitted from tree to tree
I had a dream, Joe
And a society of whores stuck needles in an image of me
I had a dream, Joe
It was Autumn time and thickly fell the leaves
And in that dream, Joe
A pimp in seersucker suit sucked a toothpick
And pointed his finger at me

I had a dream,
I had a dream,
I had a dream, Joe

I opened my eyes, Joe
The night had been a giant, dribbling and pacing the boards
I opened my eyes, Joe
All your letters and cards stacked up against the door
I opened my eyes, Joe
The morning light came slowly tumbling through the crack
In the window, Joe
And I thought of you and I felt like I was lugging
A body on my back

I had a dream,
I had a dream,
I had a dream, Joe

Where did you go, Joe?
On that endless, senseless, demented drift
Where did you go, Joe?
Into the woods, into the trees, where you move and shift
Where did you go, Joe?
All dressed up in your ridiculous seersucker suit
Where did you go, Joe?
With that strew of wreckage
Forever at the heel of your boot

I had a dream
I had a dream
I had a dream, Joe
I had a dream
I had a dream
I had a dream, Joe

---

Pride and Prejudice ramblings

28.11.11:

I got my 1995 BBC Pride And Prejudice DVD
today (if you don’t ask where I got the copy I was watching beforehand, I shall tell you no lies). The remastered/restored DVD is amazing - the actors, the clothes, the sound and the surroundings are so crisp and clear. So, I started P&P from the beginning again this afternoon.

I had nearly watched 3 episodes when Wolf came home from work. He has never read a Jane Austen book nor seen any of the TV/movie reproductions of her books. I urged him just to give it a chance and he acquiesced.

Wolf: How long does an episode go for?
Me: Usual BBC length - about 40 minutes I guess. (I knew I was mis-guessing by 10 or so minutes)
Wolf: Okay, I’ll try watching part of the first episode while I have my dinner.

2 episodes later:
Wolf: I have to stop watching it. I need to go to sleep for my early shift tomorrow.
Me: Well?
Wolf: Want to watch more tomorrow?

He loved it - devoured the whole show in 2 nights. VICTORY IS MINE!