Extravayarnza

So, I've once again been very busy since you last heard from me.
Robin had his Obedience class Monday night. We unfortunately found out we have 2 more classes rather than one. Robin is acting more and more skiddish with this teacher. The teacher actually asked if he was abused by his last owner & accused me of not working with him enough. Those of you who know Robin, you know those accusations are ridiculous. Luckily I was on my game that night & snapped right back at him & told the Dick (conveniently that's his name) that Robin just doesn't like him & that I'd appreciate it if he didn't directly address or ever touch my dog again.
Next week I'm breaking my no hotdog rule & making sure Robin has an extra special treat for the class.

The next day brought a visitor to my yarn, Hedwig!

Hedwig was knit with 2 balls of Debbie Bliss Astrakhan & 1 ball of Anny Blatt Fine Kid. The pattern can be found in Charmed Knits (patterns inspired by the Harry Potter books/movies).
The pattern was fun to knit. I did run into a rather large issue when sewing it up though. The base of the body was 3 times larger around than the bottom edge of the body. I ended up folding it in 4ths to make it fit. I emailed Alison to find out what was up & I'm still waiting to hear back from her, I'll let you know if I find out what's up with the Errol pattern.

Tonight I was finally able to finish binding off my Spider's-Web Shawl!
It's currently soaking wet, blocking on the only bit of floor that is big enough to hold it (and only because I moved some rather large pieces of furniture).
The room it's in has vaulted ceilings, I'm standing on top of a large desk & holding the camera over my head (near the highest part of the ceiling) & I still couldn't get the whole thing in the frame. ...


Pattern: Miss Lambert's Spider's-web Shawl from Victorian Lace Today (Full Hexagon)
Yarn: Inspiration from SWTC, color 388, 21 Balls!
This shawl was a real needle killer! My size 2 Bamboo survived, my size 4 Bamboo had the metal casing on the join bent way out of shape so it started cutting the yarn, the size 6 Denise had the ends snapped off the cable, finally I relented & when I moved up to the biggest needle I used a size 9 Addi Turbo, those are indestructible.
I'll do a better photo shoot once the shawl/blanket is dry. At 2.3 pounds & 7.5 feet across (lightly blocked) I think this has definitely moved into the blanket range.

So what's the next shawl for me?
Well, I'm test knitting this shawl for Sharon Winsauer (designer of the dragon shawl)
This is proving to be just as challenging of a knit. I'm about half way through chart 1 of 15 & and really loving it! I'll start posting photos as soon as it looks like something.

Okay, lets end on a super happy note!
In fact it's a happy puppy!

Tonight Robin graduated from his Intro to Agility class!
For "Finals" they set up an actual full course for us to run that included all the standard obstacles except the teeter totter & the weave poles.
Robin did super well. The only thing we would have gotten marked down for on our second run was a refusal of the dog walk, but we backed up a bit and he went right over it on take 2. This was done all off leash, with a couple dozen dogs near by,and someone on a big riding mower right next to the park. He listened to me the whole time! I'm so proud of him.
Now I need to decided if we want to jump into the next class up or take this one again to help build his confidence. The instructors said they'd support me either way. I'm leaning toward taking this one again since it would be Wednesday nights again & I would have to really rearrange things at the shop to free up my Thursday nights.

So, I've once again been very busy since you last heard from me.
Robin had his Obedience class Monday night. We unfortunately found out we have 2 more classes rather than one. Robin is acting more and more skiddish with this teacher. The teacher actually asked if he was abused by his last owner & accused me of not working with him enough. Those of you who know Robin, you know those accusations are ridiculous. Luckily I was on my game that night & snapped right back at him & told the Dick (conveniently that's his name) that Robin just doesn't like him & that I'd appreciate it if he didn't directly address or ever touch my dog again.
Next week I'm breaking my no hotdog rule & making sure Robin has an extra special treat for the class.

The next day brought a visitor to my yarn, Hedwig!

Hedwig was knit with 2 balls of Debbie Bliss Astrakhan & 1 ball of Anny Blatt Fine Kid. The pattern can be found in Charmed Knits (patterns inspired by the Harry Potter books/movies).
The pattern was fun to knit. I did run into a rather large issue when sewing it up though. The base of the body was 3 times larger around than the bottom edge of the body. I ended up folding it in 4ths to make it fit. I emailed Alison to find out what was up & I'm still waiting to hear back from her, I'll let you know if I find out what's up with the Errol pattern.

Tonight I was finally able to finish binding off my Spider's-Web Shawl!
It's currently soaking wet, blocking on the only bit of floor that is big enough to hold it (and only because I moved some rather large pieces of furniture).
The room it's in has vaulted ceilings, I'm standing on top of a large desk & holding the camera over my head (near the highest part of the ceiling) & I still couldn't get the whole thing in the frame. ...


Pattern: Miss Lambert's Spider's-web Shawl from Victorian Lace Today (Full Hexagon)
Yarn: Inspiration from SWTC, color 388, 21 Balls!
This shawl was a real needle killer! My size 2 Bamboo survived, my size 4 Bamboo had the metal casing on the join bent way out of shape so it started cutting the yarn, the size 6 Denise had the ends snapped off the cable, finally I relented & when I moved up to the biggest needle I used a size 9 Addi Turbo, those are indestructible.
I'll do a better photo shoot once the shawl/blanket is dry. At 2.3 pounds & 7.5 feet across (lightly blocked) I think this has definitely moved into the blanket range.

So what's the next shawl for me?
Well, I'm test knitting this shawl for Sharon Winsauer (designer of the dragon shawl)
This is proving to be just as challenging of a knit. I'm about half way through chart 1 of 15 & and really loving it! I'll start posting photos as soon as it looks like something.

Okay, lets end on a super happy note!
In fact it's a happy puppy!

Tonight Robin graduated from his Intro to Agility class!
For "Finals" they set up an actual full course for us to run that included all the standard obstacles except the teeter totter & the weave poles.
Robin did super well. The only thing we would have gotten marked down for on our second run was a refusal of the dog walk, but we backed up a bit and he went right over it on take 2. This was done all off leash, with a couple dozen dogs near by,and someone on a big riding mower right next to the park. He listened to me the whole time! I'm so proud of him.
Now I need to decided if we want to jump into the next class up or take this one again to help build his confidence. The instructors said they'd support me either way. I'm leaning toward taking this one again since it would be Wednesday nights again & I would have to really rearrange things at the shop to free up my Thursday nights.

I'm about half way through chart 2 (of 15) now on my Pegasus shawl. It still doesn't look like much, but I'm really enjoying knitting this project!
Luckily, many of the unusual stitch patterns that Sharon uses were also in the Dragon shawl, so that does give me a bit of a leg up in knitting this shawl.
Here's a snippet of a cloud & the line dividing 2 clouds:

& this is the main background stitch. This was also the stitch used for the wings on the dragon. I think it was my favorite stitch in that shawl so I'm glad to be doing lots of it this time around!

So, many of you may have picked up that I've been pretty grumpy this week. That class Monday just really brought me down & then things just seemed to be going wrong since then.
I had myself a little pity party after work last night & between that and 2 other things I hope I can help myself change my mood.
1: Last night was the new moon, perhaps that brings out the crazies like a full moon does (sure seemed like it), but I'm hoping that a new moon also leads to a new outlook.
2: Both sets of my new glasses were ready today & I totally love them!

They fit my face really well & are just what I was looking for. The blue & black striped pair are my everyday pair with transitions lenses in them. I actually picked those up yesterday, but the first day was mainly for adjusting to the new prescription & I was sick to my stomach all day because things were moving differently than I was used to. I'm calling today the first official new day because my eyes are used to them now & I can just enjoy being able to see.
The red pair below is my new super cool sunglasses with polarized lenses. I really need these for driving! The transitions don't darken in the car (due to UV blocking glass) so a pair of prescription sun glasses is a must for me. Plus I can be amused easily at red lights by tilting my head back and forth & watching the glare change on the car in front of me. Life is all about the simple pleasures...

Despite today not being my dream of relaxing at home all day, I had a lovely day.
The sun was out. I had a nice brunch with my Grand Parents. Then I managed an hour long nap before meeting up with the Yarn Tails Group.
Robin & Annie even managed to both be still enough for me to manage a photo (my camera is awful with movement, so getting 2 dogs clear in the same photo is quite a rarity).

My Dad then treated me to a movie. We went to see Knocked Up (I don't recommend seeing this with your father & little brother BTW). It was everything the critics claimed it was & more, if you liked 40 year old virgin then you will love this movie. It gets beyond the college bathroom humor & turns into a genuinely sweet movie at the end. My only real warning is there is just enough shown during the birth scene to make many people uncomfortable (I'm not sure I really ever wanted to see a baby crowning, especially on the big screen).
Then Dad did his usual thing & told our good looking and totally charming waiter really dirty jokes and managed to completely embarrass me.
I forgive him because it's father's day.

Oh, & the Pegasus shawl is now up to row 52. I took a few minutes & spread the whole thing out on my blocking wires to get a good look at it.

It is hot here. Hot & humid. Neither Robin or I have had any desire to go outside for our usual walk in over a week. (with the exception of the one decent day we had, we walked that day) That means that Robin is bored & hyper. Plus he just won't stop barking. This pretty much is adding injury to insult at this point where I'm already uncomfortably warm & every bark is pulsating in my head. I just want him to shut up at this point. He wants me to throw his squeaky toy for the 1000th time tonight. If I put him outside he just sits by the door & barks to come in.
This would be the main reason for not blogging the last few nights. He's just frayed me down to my last nerve.
Despite my lack of blogging I've been plugging away on my lace knitting. I've rediscovered my love of the Pegasus Shawl.

Okay this is going to be an abriviated post because despite me letting him out 4 times in the last hour (and him sitting at the door barking to be let back in) Robin has just piddled all over the floor. That was my last nerve.

This is Pegasus yesterday half way through chart 5.

This is my new "mindless shawl" Alberta from Stahman's Shawls & Scarves. I'm knitting it in Harmony from Jojoland.

Here's the a pic from the book on what the shawl will sort of look like when it's finished.

I'm going to take a couple of Aspirin & put myself to bed now...

I'm now about 70% of the way done with the main part of the Pegasus Shawl.
This is just the sort of knitting challenge I really enjoy. This time around it's been a particular challenge because I'm the test knitter of the pattern & am attempting to smooth out the bumps and catch any errors that might have slipped through.
Due to the challenging nature of the shawl there are a lot of pages to keep track of & I have two sets because I need one to work from & one to take notes on.
Enter the Lace Case~

The Lace Case is one of my secret weapons for lace knitting. It's probably better known as a clip board box.
I love these for so many reasons.
They are a bit bigger than a standard clip board, so my charts easily fit on them, but the ones I get are still small enough to fit in my messenger bag.
It has a low profile clip which I find to be stronger than the old fashion big clips & doesn't tangle up in the rest of my projects when I put it in my bag.
My Go Knit Pouch can hang right off of the clip. This holds my yarn when I'm knitting (keeping it away from harms way aka the cat) and holds the whole shawl when I'm not working on it.
I also add a giant (purple) rubber band to hold down the other edge of the chart.

The best thing though is when it gets opened up~

Yep, it holds all 50 pages of chart/pattern. Plus my highlighter & Pen for making notes. As a bonus there is still room to hold my roll of highlighter tape. I highly recommend highlighter tape for working on knitting charts. It's removable, so one piece can be simply moved up the chart for quite some time.

These are the tools I use to make knitting these kinds of shawls as easy as possible. The only thing I'd recommend that most people add is a thing of dental floss to be used as lifelines. I guess I still like to walk a little on the dangerous side & go without lifelines.

But wait, you all came here because I promised a good shot of the shawl so far didn't you?...

She's really coming along isn't she? I've still got quite a bit more wing to add, but I'm feeling pretty great seeing so much of the Pegasus taking shape. I'm tempted to name her, but since she isn't with me to stay I'm not sure if I should.

Maybe if a good name comes to me I'll just go ahead & name her...