Happiness is....finishing two projects in one day!

Sometimes the world works in mysteriously clockwork ways.  On days like that, works in progress (WIP's) are completed.  The heavens seemed to move on Friday, and I finished not only one, but two projects in the same day.  And yet I'm just posting about it today?   There's a story behind that, but that's for later. And just in case you're wondering, blocking is not required for a project to be considered 'finished.'  It's true - check a knitting handbook if you don't believe me!

Finished project #1:

Clown Vomit

Ghastly yellow tank top sample for the shop. The yarn is Online Tequila in yellow. It's a stranded cotton that's bound with a multicolored thread that makes it look pretty much like clown vomit. It's ok, I can say I hate the yarn because Kay (the shop owner) does too. That's why it's done in a size extra-teeny-tiny-I-couldn't-fit-a-leg-in-there. Neither of us want to wear it when the yarn is sold out!









Finished project #2:

Beaded Not-A-Drop shawl.  I had completed one of these for my mother in law as a thank you gift for her coming to take care of me the week after surgery.  She isn't wearing it of course.  Instead she made it into some kind of quasi-shrine in her office by draping it over a statue that her other son bought for her.  I love her dearly, but sometimes, she's just odd.   I'm trying not to be hurt by her not dying to wear it, though.

The Shrine

Blocked Swatch

The second one, the one I finished on Friday, is a birthday gift for my sister, Nancy.  I decided to take the pattern and add beading to it.  Someone else in one of the Ravelry groups that I belong to had suggested wanting to try the idea, and I'm in a bit of a beading phase lately, so I decided to try it before her.  I ended up not liking the yarn I'd chosen.  Something happened when I dyed it the color my sister wanted that made it seem a bit more bumpy than it was before hand, but it ended up looking nice.  It was just not as nice to work with.   I ended up adding two beads to every beaded stitch in the middle of the leaves, because the shawl is reversible and I wanted the beads to be seen from both sides.  This was a bit tedious, and between that and the yarn I ended up struggling to want to work on it.  It's done now though, and I still love the pattern.  I'm toying with two ideas.  One is to make another using a smoother yarn and beading it and seeing if it's more enjoyable.  The second is to alter the pattern to make it into a skirt. It would need to be lined, but adding increases would be simple enough.  Ideas....

Unblocked-but-beaded-and-finished

As to the reason I haven't mentioned my momentous day yet... 

Reason #1:

I had to completely frog a shawl I had been knitting after getting half way through the yarn and deciding there just wouldn't be enough.  I knew when I started it that there wouldn't be enough, but I didn't listen to myself.  I distinctly remember picking the skein of yarn and thinking, "Hmm... this is 50 yards less yardage, but it will still be enough!"  This was a completely silly thought, because I used all but 5 yards of the skein for the first sample.  It's an OK thing though, because it has in turn lead me to write a sister pattern to the shawl pattern that is a thinner scarf, has more beading and smaller panels of alternating pattern.

Second sample shawl, before the frog

First sample shawl.

It's turning out quite lovely, and I'm completely stoked that there are at least 3 people who are sitting and waiting for me to finish it so they can test knit it because they like the pattern so much.    It contains 3 techniques that are not common, though.  I need to take "how to" pictures to illustrate my pattern with.  I must confess that this is part of what's keeping me from actually finishing writing up the pattern.  If I was smart, I would take pictures of them while I'm working on this sample.  The problem is that knitting takes two hands, and I forgot where I put my third and fourth to take the pictures with!    Maybe John will help me out this weekend.

Reason #2:

When I got in the car to take my swap packages to the post office and then head to Chamblee to pick up John, the car wouldn't start.  This in itself, beyond the annoyance and cost, isn't really that big a deal.  When I was on the phone with the wrecker, though, a mammoth turtle decided to cross my driveway.  It was at least 2 feet long!  I managed to pick up my chin and get my wits back quickly enough to nab a picture of it just before it disappeaered.  I can't even imagine how old a turtle that size must be, surely older than my mother!   I feel very special that it chose to visit us, and rather much like I nabbed a picture of Bigfoot.   I do hope that I have another opportunity to see it again before it moves on.