Pages

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Work in Progress Wednesday v.34

I'm back!  And I've been both awake and upright all day -- for the first time since last week.  When last we met, I was getting ready for some dental surgery, complete with anesthesia, and I was -- let's face it -- a nervous wreck.

Friday morning rolled around and I went to the doctor's office, got hooked up to everything, chatted a bit about the latest round of March Madness, and then had someone tapping me on the shoulder saying I was done.  SO weird.  The recovery has been slightly less easy than the procedure.  I have 9 stitches in my mouth, had a bad reaction to the anesthesia (nausea, big time), a bad reaction to the painkillers (more nausea), and a bad reaction to the antibiotics (anyone wanna guess?  that's right -- more nausea).  I've been napping for days.  And I've been knitting a bunch, too.  That part has been fun, at least.

And so, I have a whole ton of progress to show you on my Super Secret Citron.  Ta da!
Does anyone else think it looks like some sort of fuzzy blue seashell at this point?  No?  Just me?  Must be the drugs...  Anywho, along those lines, I'm even smitten with the way the mostly-used yarn cake looks...

Isn't it pretty?
I'm about halfway through section 4 (out of 5 + ruffle) now, and still working through my first skein.  Here's what I've learned in this week's installment of My First Shawl:

  • Doubling laceweight yarn isn't terrible, but probably not a great idea for a first timer if it can be avoided
  • Pointy needles will make your life much, much, MUCH easier (this has one row that is Kfb every stitch, and purling back through those stitches takes f o r e v e r with blunt needle tips)
  • In a 5-section shawl (one that increases in size rather than decreases), you will use as much yarn for the last section and ruffle as you do for the first 4 sections.  Still trying to wrap my head around that one...
  • This pattern is totally, completely addictive.
In other news, I'm finishing up the last front of the vest this week. (Did you notice how I said "last front" as if there were 30 of them?  If sort of feels like there were...) This pattern was a bit much for my poor, drug-addled brain to handle while I was all doped up, but I've pulled it out again and am soldiering on.  Here's this week's very minor progress:

Almost there!  Kind of.  Just a few more rows, then we bind off and sew up the shoulders.  Yippee!  I'm cautiously optimistic about picking up stitches around both armholes and the whole front of the vest. Fingers crossed, as usual with this thing!

That's all for me at the moment, though I expect to be back later this week.  I've missed being here lately!  Until then, head over to Tami's for WIPW and see what everyone else is up to.  All the cool kids are doing it.

11 comments:

  1. Glad you're on the mend, it sure doesn't sound like it was fun. Nice though you were awake enough to get some knitting done. I agree with your assessment of both the wip and the almost gone cake. The cake looks like a snowflake sorta, and yes...I agree with seashell, so the drugs must be wearing off at your end. lol

    ReplyDelete
  2. glad you are doing better. Drugs or not, it does look like a seashell.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Glad to hear you are feeling better. Your fuzzy blue seashell is looking fabulous. I'm loving the lace tips. Any suggestions for needles that are pointy enough for lace work?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh no! KFB with yarn doubled and blunt tipped needles?! That sounds to awful!

    Take care- it sounds like you had a doozy of a week!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I'm glad you're feeling better! The citron is beautiful and TOTALLY looks like a shell.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Both the shawl and the yarn cake look fabulous! :) I use Knit Picks Harmony needles for pretty much everything because they are fairly pointy. Blunt needles are definitely a pain, especially when doing lace. I wish the Harmony's were just a tad pointier though sometimes.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I agree - the yarn cake looks very pretty! But so does the shawl, of course.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I'm glad you felt well enough to keep on knitting! The last time I had dental surgery I woke up with the dentist yelling, "Breathe! Breathe!" which was rather disconcerting :-)

    The Citron is moving along beautifully -- those rows get L O N G by the end, don't they?

    ReplyDelete
  9. Your Citron looks great. Love the photo of the yarn, too! Happy resting and knitting. Hope the nausea gets better.

    ReplyDelete
  10. seeing your citron, makes me want to knit Another one! it looks awesome, and you are right, it is an addicting pattern and pointy needles really help:) the vest looks like it is coming along:) I hope you get back to feeling your normal self soon:)

    ReplyDelete