Day Thirty-One

I have got to get this figured out.  If I don't, my brain will explode.  If that happens, I'll wind up taking the whole border out AGAIN! and starting it all over again.  Heaven help me!

Day Thirty

WOW! This is hard.  Every time I start a new round, it takes me a while to get it figured out.  Once again I find myself completely confused by this project.  When I went back to redo the round that confused me last night, I got it straightened out. Then I got a couple of rounds done and then came up against another confusing one.  So, I've put it away for the night and hope with fresh eyes and brain tomorrow, I can get it done.  Nevertheless, I'm still enjoying the process.  I just wish I could spend more time on it without getting so confused I have to stop.

Anyway, I spent about three and a half hours on it today, but I am not counting all that time because some of it was trying to figure it out and ultimately unknitting back to the start of the round.

Day Thirty knitting time...2.5 hours

Total knitting time...76 hours

Day Twenty-Nine

I came to a difficult point last night around seven.  The round I was working on just didn't seem to come together.  So I took all that round out and put it away.  Now, I'm procrastinating getting it out again because I'm not sure how to handle it.  But, I've got to see what I can do.  I'll keep you posted.

Day Twenty-Nine knitting time...1.5 hours

Total knitting time...73.5 hours

Day Twenty-Eight

I spent most of yesterday working on crocheted Easter eggs for two of my grandchildren.  This was at the request of my daughter.  After I finished six eggs, I was able to work on the shawl.

Day Twenty-Eight knitting time...2 hours

Total knitting time...72 hours

Day Twenty-Seven

Day Twenty-Seven knitting time...5 hours

Total knitting time...70 hours

Day Twenty-Six

I'm ba-ack!

Had a wonderful trip to Milwaukee to spend time with Rebekah's wonderful family.

Back at home nursing a bum knee.  The upside is that it gives me more time to knit as I am trying to stay off of it.

Day Twenty-Six was yesterday.

Day Twenty-Six knitting time...4.5 hours

Total knitting time...65 hours

Day Twenty-Five

Well, I am almost back to the same point where I discovered my big goof and had to start the border all over again.  It's going pretty well.  But, I am taking a break while I go visit Rebekah's family for about a week.

Day Twenty-Five knitting time...3.25 hours

Total knitting time...60.5 hours

Day Twenty-Four

This posting is for yesterday's knitting time.  I haven't gotten to knit today because I am getting ready for a trip to Milwaukee tomorrow.  I won't be taking the shawl with me as I will be visiting two small grandchildren and I want to spend my time with them.  Plus, I don't want to take any chances of any accidents happening.  As for today, don't you hate it when all you want to do is sit and knit but you need to clean and pack, etc.  Anyway, as for yesterday's time...

Day Twenty-Four knitting time...3.75 hours

Total knitting time...57.25 hours

Day Twenty-Three

I was going to count each day whether I knitted or not, but I've decided to only count the days I actually knit.  That being said, today was deja vu all over again.  I've been redoing what I had to take out because of my stupid mistake.  The positive is that I'm getting pretty good at this particular section.

Day Twenty-Three knitting time...5.5 hours

Total knitting time...53.5 hours

Day Twenty-Two

Well, I knew things were going too well.  I just figured out that I made a rookie mistake...I got my knitting twisted when knitting in the round on the borders.  So, I have to take all of that out and start the border over again.  That also takes me back to 46 hours of knitting time as I only want to keep track of the time I actually spend on the shawl.

Day Twenty-Two knitting time...2 hours

Total knitting time...48 hours

Day Twenty-One

Day Twenty-One knitting time...4 hours

Total knitting time...61.1 hours

Day Twenty

I really think I can do this.  It's going really well right now.  This is a picture taken earlier today.  I am working from the outside in on circular needles, so it doesn't look like a lot right now.  But it's actually coming along quite nicely.

Day Twenty knitting time...5.5 hours

Total knitting time...57.1

Day Nineteen

Day Nineteen knitting time...5.5 hours

Total knitting time...51.6

Day Eighteen

I think I'm ready to start knitting on the borders.  To me this is the scariest part of the whole project, not only because it's mitered, but because I had to chart the mitering by myself.  We'll see how many restarts I have to do before I get this mastered.

Day Eighteen knitting time...4 hours

Total knitting time...46.1 hours

Day Seventeen

I think I have the border pattern figured out.  I am using a Pineapple pattern because the pineapple is the symbol of hospitality in the South.  I learned that on a tour of Nottoway Plantation in Louisiana a long time ago.  I'm not quite ready to start knitting the border yet.  I have to sit down tomorrow and graph out the miters for the corners.

Day Sixteen

Wow, this is hard!  I'm still trying to master the pattern for the border.  After many...many...many restarts, I thought I had it going really well and then I got to some really bizarre stitch patterns that completely threw me.  So, put it away until tomorrow, Katherine.

Day Fifteen

Well, I've spent a good deal of time today trying to master the pattern I want to use for the borders.  So far without a lot of success.  Of course, for the last hour or two I haven't been heeding the warning of not trying to do it when tired.  So, I think I'll go to bed and start fresh in the morning.

Day Fourteen

I just finished the last edge.  Now is time to start on the border.  I'm going to work up some samples of different patterns to see what I like.  I'm not going to count the time I spend on the samples into the knitting time.

Day Fourteen knitting time...2.5

Total knitting time...42.1

Day Thirteen

Day Thirteen knitting time...3 hours

Total knitting time...39.6 hours

It looks like so far I've put in a full work week.

Day Twelve

Why does knitting get such a bad rap?  I mean, you hear people talk about little, gray-haired ladies sitting in rocking chairs knitting like they don't want to end up like that.  Well, I may be littler than I used to be, but I'm not little.  My hair is gray now, but I am not sitting in a rocking chair...it's a recliner, if you please.  And I knit because I chose to and I love doing it.  It certainly isn't the only thing I can do.  As you may have guessed, that's a pet peeve of mine.  Besides, research has shown that knitting has some of the same stress-reducing effects as yoga.

Day Twelve knitting time...6 hours

Total knitting time...36.6 hours