Caution! Slow Knitter Ahead

Top five excuses for not blogging:

1. Maurice took the camera on two long overseas trips.
2. Working on long term project with no finished objects to show.
3. Busy with driving across town 42,000 times a day (see #1)
4. Facebook (and Carey beating me 19 times at Pathwords)
5. Kindle software on the iPod, making reading a new mega-portable hobby

Those are my excuses - and a good summary of what I've been up to.

My main excuse is that after Stitches I started on a lace veil for Grace's First Communion. I am using the Second Book of Modern Lace Knitting's Altar Lace pattern for the center panel and then doing a knitted on border from Victorian Lace Today. Sounds complicated, and it is. The center panel is done,

and wasn't really hard, lots of repetition on the lace by the cross, and easy to see if you've gone astray. I've never knitted a border on after the fact, and there is where I am now. Thankfully, VLT has a very nice back section on how to do this, and that is what I'm doing. Or at least trying to do, as I am on row 7 after starting and ripping a few times.

That leaves precious little time to finish Marlene, my sock by Cookie A., sock knitting hero. I really like this sock, but I have set it aside a lot, first to do the Feb Lady Sweater for Stitches wearing, and then to work on the veil. Every time I pick it up again I have to refresh my memory on what I'm doing and that usually involves messing up a few times before I get going again, and about that time I put it down for awhile. Not good in progress department.

I have, however, turned the heel, so I'm hoping progress will start to pick up soon.


Next on the agenda is knitting a sock out of the new Cookie A. book. LOVELY. And in general, cranking out a few projects to boost the knitting self-esteem. I really wanted to knit 12 pair of socks this year, but so far I don't even have one sock, much less one pair to show for myself.

Living with traveling husband means I'm the single mom at home a lot. And the kids aren't slowing down any, so I am running around in high stress mode frequently. And next on our family agenda includes First Communion, graduation from 8th grade, and two birthdays. Not to mention Easter, Alex and Maurice's trip to Washington DC etc.......Yikes. June is looking pretty inviting.

I'm finally getting to tag along on one of those business trips, so the end of this week I'll get to go with Maurice on a quicky trip to Vancouver. Brrrr, I realize, but this year seems to be the year of being cold. And Canada promises some yarn stores, right? I really love Vancouver, and haven't been there since Emily was little and chasing pigeons in the park, so this should be a fun trip. We are staying at the same hotel we stayed in a lot back then, so it should be nice.

Now, should I take the sock along, or download a new book on my iPod?