a life line

I used a life line for the first time recently in completing this shawl -- Amethyst Wrap by Chrissy Gardiner. The wrap is made with Abstract Fiber Mighty Sock yarn in Broadway Bridge, using size 5 needles. (I sample knitted the wrap for Abstract Fiber.)

The pattern has a 24 row repeat. I wasn't sure whether there was enough yarn to work another last repeat. So, I threaded some dental floss through the tightening hole of one of my Knit Picks interchangeable needles and worked the pattern across and then broke off the dental floss. Then I started to knit another pattern repeat. I came up a few rows too short. But, it was surprisingly easy to frog back to the life line and start the edging from there.

I left the life line in while blocking the scarf. To my amazement, it helped in the blocking process. The edge with the dental floss didn't flare out at all. Plus it turned out perfectly even across. The other edge flared out slightly and showed the effects of the lace pattern in that the edge had definite peaks and valleys.

early May 2009

The other day when I went out to get the mail and also bring the trash bins back into the garage, I glanced at the front porch and wondered to myself "why is there a duck decoy on the front porch?" I stared at it a bit and then saw it move slightly and realized that it wasn't a fake duck but a real one. After getting the mail and trash bins inside, I took my camera and shot this picture of the duck, now on the walk in front of the porch.

I got some lovely flowers for Mother's Day. Here they are on our dining room table. In back are some forced bulbs that I'll be able to plant in the garden this fall (or maybe earlier). I also got seasons 1 and 2 of "The Office" on dvd and an ice cream cake.

Finally, for now, here's a pic of the May 2009 "dishcloth" from the Yahoo! Monthly Dishcloth Group. The local knitting group is making squares for a blanket or two to donate to Habitat for Humanity. So, this "dishcloth" is made from acrylic. And since it's going to be in a blanket, I didn't make as large a margin as usual. In fact, I started out with a knitted cast on and just knit 2 rows before starting the pattern. The side margins are slip 1, k1 to start and k2 to end. It's supposed to be 9" x 7", but it ended up only 8 1/2" wide.