With my first cup of coffee (oh, come on now…. I’m sure that you didn’t think I’d quit drinking the elixir of life forever….), I finished beading and binding off the Swallowtail.  She’s had her bath and is now lounging on the deck.  I’ve never been one for blocking. I don’t own any wires.  It IS time to put them on my list.  Maybe WITH proper blocking she’d be bigger, or her points, pointier.  This rendition is her first life.  Who knows, others may follow.  Glam shots, with accessories, will follow when she’s dry.

Just so you don’t think that I haven’t been taking advantage of my time on FAST internet,  I’ll let you in on what I have been doing.  Finally, I have a shopping cart attached to my Yarns for Sale page.  It’s taken quite a lot of time to get each picture updated and linked.  I’m working on getting the rest of my inventory photographed and up.  The new lace weight two ply merino/ silk that I used on my Swallowtail, has been added.  I’m cleaning up my sidebars, reading lists, alongs, etc.  It all takes time, indoor time, and this time of year is too nice to be indoors.   

Everyday, I think that this shawl that is the size of a head scarf will be finished.

E.V.E.R.Y.D.A.Y.   

I’m binding off and still I’m about to quit for another day.  Tomorrow will be the day.  The shawlette will be blocked tomorrow.   

Knitting from the swift.  Why waste time using the ball winder when this is so easy.

Just in case you were you wondering if you saw it right…yes, the magpie in me is at it again.  hmmmm……

The return to broadband and the land of plenty of everything hasn’t increased my time alloted to post.  It has increased my blog surfing, Pandora listening, Thai food consumption and a few other noteworthy pastimes.  (There has been lots of real work to catch up on, it hasn’t all been fun and games.) For instance, on Saturday night, there was a Waterfire performance.  It was a warm, light jacket evening.  C and I went downtown, mostly to walk, listen to music, eat Kettlecorn and see the hoards gathered at the riverbank mesmerized by the bonfires reflecting in the river.  Lovely evening.  This version of fire, continues to attract tens of thousands of people month after month, year after year. 

By late morning Monday  I really needed a beach fix.  As I sat working in my office dreaming of an afternoon escape, Cindy called.  An hour later we were on our way to an afternoon of sitting in beach chairs, toes digging in the sand, knitting away.  Perfect.  The beach was socked in, foggy.  By 1:30 it had mostly burned off.  I had packed a lunch of apples, cheese and nuts under my knitting.  This time of year is my favorite beach time.  The crowds are gone, taking with them the traffic, parking attendants and lifeguards.  Its quiet.  Most of the kids are in school.  You have the beach pretty much to yourself.  If it weren’t for the nupps,it would have been a completely relaxing afternoon. 

The nupps….. Finally. DONE.  I show you the two methods that I found to work for me. If I had come up with these two little additions on the first  nupp rows instead of the having to continually experiment, read that frustrate myself with my inability to pick up those nupps stitches on the returning purl row, maybe my feelings towards nuppiness would be different. 

The first, knitting with two needles in the right hand enabled me to keep the little yo’s loose enough (barely) to be able to pick up on the next purl row.

The second, the itsy bitsy crochet hook, discovered on the last two nupp rows, worked much faster for purling the nupps stitches off the needle than the #2 or even the #1 dp that I used on all the preceding rows.

That saying, if I were to make this shawl again, remember I am NOT finished yet, I would probably use an entirely different method of nupp / bobble making.