Basket Of Flower Basket Shawl

I'm in that unenviable place of being obsessed by a slow growing project that takes up all of my knitting time, but leaves little to show for itself. I'm well under way having completed the seven called for pattern repeats. That's the good news. The bad news is that after seven pattern repeats what I have doesn't look anywhere near shawl size. However, I've been frequenting the local Post Office and using the scale in the lobby. According to my latest calculations using said scale (apparently I've only used 4/10ths of my yarn so far) and the wondrous Shawl Progress Calculator found here, I have enough yarn remaining to do at least two and maybe three extra repeats. I'm cautiously optimistic that the finished shawl will be, while not exactly big, big enough.


I had whole days this week when I unknit more than I knit. I had long hours when I'm sure my SPH* rate was slower than the surgeon's who worked on Lee Ann's head. (Have you all sent her your good wishes?) I was grateful that I had employed a lifeline as I needed to reach out and grab it, more than once. But in the last few days I made peace with the pattern. I've found if I can work without interruption** all the while chanting that row's pattern iteration aloud, and if I compulsively count my stitches after each and every row so that I can quickly catch and fix any forgotten yarn over or errant double decrease, I can make forward progress.

*Stitch per hour
** This is, of course, laughable. I share my home with one husband, two sons and a dog "with issues."