August 12: Best laid plans

I finished my Pebble Beach shawlette just before midnight on Saturday. There's nothing like getting down on the floor to block a piece of wet lace in the middle of the night. So many pins! So much danger!

 

But it was worth the effort, and I was able to snap a few quick photos before I headed to work on Sunday. I love the way it looks with the light shining through, and the way that the ends curl around. I didn't end up having time to add extra repeats, but it blocked out so well that I don't miss them. I can't wait till it's cool enough outside to wear it.

Inspired by the percentage checklist style of this shawl, I took my favourite sock pattern and translated it into an Excel spreadsheet. I'm hoping that having the 5% milestones laid out on paper help me get motivated to make a move on those Christmas socks I keep talking about (but not knitting). I need to live down the infamy of last year's "everyone gets 1 sock and an IOU" experience. Ahem.

(According my math, each woman's size 9.5 fingering weight sock has just shy of 11,000 stitches in it – so probably about 14,000 stitches for a man's sock. That's a LOT of love, my friends. Phew!)