Blue MondayThe Next Blue Shawl Edition

What's new?  Nothing in my life.  If there was anything worth writing about, well, you'd think I would have written it by now.  Except that, maybe you know me and know that I am inconsistent, at best, at keeping up with the whole virtual life thing.  So much has been written about the virtual life taking time away from living a real life and I believe it is true.  That isn't what I want to talk about right now, not really.  I just find that I want to talk about things, like books and movies and kids and people and knitting and all of life and I really want to do it in person.  Truthfully, there are main three reasons.  First, I like the immediacy of human contact in conversation.  Waiting for an email or a comment or a facebook response, then getting back to read them and respond and then waiting again puts a serious drag on a conversation.  Second is the necessity for concise entry, especially on facebook, where only some of your "friends" will get what you are talking about in most cases.  A facebook update that reads, "UGH!  A quadruple cliff-hanger!?  What a let down!" will only be understood by some of my "friends" and only a couple will comment, a few more will "like" and where is the give and take in that?  (I'll admit to being a reader of facebook and, like blogs and emails, an infrequent commenter or liker.  I am at fault.)  Third, I am the worst typist EV.ER!  I mistype every other word and am constantly hitting the delete button to fix my errors.  This is a new thing.  I used to be a fast and reliable typist, my fingers hitting the correct keys more often than not.  Now it feels as if the connection between the muscle memory in my brain to the actual muscles in my fingers has been damaged in some way.  I think the words and the keys and the space bar, but my fingers are being controlled by something other than my mind and while I sometimes get it right, more often I get it nearly right.  And sometimes I get something that doesn't come close to resembling the word that formed in my brain.  It is frustrating even on my best days and on others I quit soon after I start.  So, while I do believe we are living in a time that change is happening faster than humans are able to really comprehend it, I am looking forward to the day when voice recognition is the norm and I can speak my blog posts and facebook updates and email responses. 

Until then, I knit.

• Pattern: Swallowtail Shawl by Evelyn Clark
  (free pattern pdf link)
• Yarn: Spirit Trail Fiberworks Clotho in Bluebells
• Needles: size 4
• Cast On: June 2, 2010
• Bound Off:  June 19, 2010
• Blocked: June 28, 2010

I've mentioned before that I signed on with a bunch of other nuts to knit 10 Shawls in 2010.  This little shawl is reveal number six of seven completed shawls.  Of the seven only two have been for me, which in itself it okay, I have a lot of shawls, but does not show me in an appropriate light.  The selfish me.  At the start I had planned to knit most of the shawls for me! me! me!  Maybe the second ten in 2010 will be for me! me! me!  We'll see.

I knit this shawl for a friend who did the alterations on Erin's prom dress.  I know, you are wondering why I didn't do them myself (so was Pete), but I would seriously be happier making a dress from scratch and then sending that to be hemmed (the hemming, it stresses me beyond reasonable belief).  There is a story about the dress and the alterations which will make a blog post all in itself, and might later this week, but this friend took a dress that looked pretty good to start and nipped, tucked and hemmed it to look fabulous.  She did things to the dress that I didn't even notice needed to be done.  And on top of all that, she hemmed it.  Wait until you see it.  The dress was entirely beaded and had a little train thing which was lopped off in the hemming and needed a ton of re-beading and I'm having a hot flash just thinking about it.  I'm not joking (about the hot flash, which may or may not be attributed to the thought of hemming, or the anxiety I feel just thinking about the hemming).  I love sewing and am a fair to good seamstress that can make a dress that fits well and looks better, but I cannot pin up a hem without tears.  Mine and the victim's.  Lots of tears.  Even I didn't know the depth of my hemming fear until I had a mini panic attack watching Norma (that's the friend-slash-alteration goddess) pin up the dress.  The room spun a little, there was some shortness of breath (mine) and I had to get up and get a breath of fresh air.  I am not exaggerating for dramatic emphasis, either.  It really happened.  So, while Norma did charge me an amount that most people would think was a lot, I also know that she didn't charge for all of her time spent hand sewing and re-beading that dress.  I'm a seamstress, so I know.  On top of that is the saving of my marriage, mother-daughter relationship and years of therapy.  The woman deserves a little gift, so I knit her a little shawl.  With beads, which seemed not only appropriate considering, also saved me the stress of wondering if I had enough yarn to work the nupps.  It would have been close.

Thanks to Smiling Sally for hosting Blue Monday!

2010. Sixty-two. Something seems to be up with the settings on my camera. These photos are kinda crappy, but I am not inclined to reset the camera and retake them. Too bad, the shawl is much purtier than my photography shows.

Comments

[Pie]

It's beautiful! Happy Blue Monday.

My Blue Monday.

[Diann @ The Thrifty Groove]

That is absolutely beautiful!

[Nora]

Gorgeous! You're inspiring me to finish the one I have on the needles.

[Laurie]

Oh, that's right! Blue Monday. THat is beautiful. I like the subtlety of the beading.

It's sunspots on thet typing thing. Happening to me too. STuff comes out from the keyboard that I didn't put there.

I need to do another Swallowtail. When I finish FeatherDuster, Onerva, Volt, Annis and Andrea's Shawl.

[Sally]

I like that pattern, Teresa, and of course, it looks great in blue!

Happy Blue Monday.

[Lynn]

That's really beautiful!

[Carole]

It's a beautiful little shawl. Having a friend that can help with alterations is such a gift - I have one, too, and I'm constantly amazed at how she can fix a dress.

[margene]

Face to face is the best way to communicate, but it's hard to stay friends with someone who is 1000s of miles away if that's the criteria. I am so thankful for spell check it isn't even funny. Your blue shawl looks elegant and your friend will be very pleased to wear it as a thank you. I need to knit a shawl for a s-i-l and I'm full of angst about which to do. Our talents keep up sane.

[Kim]

Terry it's SO beeutiful!!!

[Manise]

I love your shawls! This one is a beauty too! The beads perfect.
Cracking up at Laurie's "sunspot" comment. I totally agree. I suffer the same and I use the "hunt and peck" method for typing.

[Brenda]

Gorgeous!

[LaVoice]

That is a lovely blue shawl. You are doing a really great job.

[Mrs. Magpie]

Wow! That is such an amazing shade of blue, and I can't believe you signed up to do so many! No wonder your fingers are hitting the wrong buttons. It's amazing you have fingers left at all. But for every missed key, you are hitting the right notes with your knitting. I mean, it's beautiful. Great job!

Happy Blue Monday to you (and I look forward to voice activated technology, too)!

XO,

Sheila :-)

[Vicki]

I'm with Margene... it's the curse of the internet to be able to make so many wonderful friends from all over the world with whom I'd love to sit and knit and chat on a regular basis, but until I'm able to twitch my nose to get from here to there...

[CyndiG]

We're back -- and I love the shawl ... and I love the story more! I could feel your panic a the thought of working on Erin's beautiful dress!

I bought some gorgeous yarn in Alaska -- can't wait to show it to you and get your opinion on an appropriate shawl!

[Tall Kate]

I just found your blog, and I have to tell you I have had a window open to this post all day just so I can keep coming back and gaze at this stunning blue beaded shawl. Exquisite. Thanks for sharing.

[Lucia]

Holy guacamole, that's a gorgeous shawl. I don't know what it is with me and blues lately -- I love blue to begin with, of course, but right now I can't get enough.

I was interested in your remarks on superwash in the previous post. I haven't really caught the shawl bug myself yet, but now I think of it you are right, nearly all merino fingering I see is superwash. It doesn't bother me, since I'm mostly thinking of socks, but it would be annoying if you wanted it for something else.