Oooch, oooch, ouch!

I'm going to whine a bit. My right thumb hurts, my back aches, it's been humid and hot outside and it seems as if all the allergens in the world are holding their annual convention in our backyard. Just about each day that entity that supposedly speaks for the weather forecasts showers; all we get, however, is five minutes of dark sky and then the sun comes out again. And it doesn't seem to cool down much over night. (I'm complaining about the heat and the air conditioning is working and no longer work in a non-air conditioned environment since retirement. My working life was strange: The more education I got, the higher the pay, the lousier the working environment became. Go figure! OK enough qvetsching and on to knitting.


Rectangle Lorna's Lace Shawl: Despite my aching back I finally got the rectangle shawl blocked. It should be dry by the time I go to bed which is a good thing since I would have to sleep in my chair, and my chair is reserved for my morning nap. So I should have pictures tomorrow.

In the meantime, I have started a new scarf. The yarn is fingering weight Brown Sheep wool. I got a couple of cones of it some time ago. It has an oatmeal coloring and looks like it is the natural color of the fleece. It's a pretty rugged wool and should make a warm scarf for someone despite the lace pattern. I found the pattern through http://www.slaaom.net/web/opskrifter/sjaler.html . This URL leads you to all kinds of free patterns for shawls and scarfs found on the Internet. I was surprised it even has the link for my Amethyst shawl. The basic pattern for the shawl comes from http://www.millharrow.com/weblog/front_content.php?idart=146&idsel=181 , or Dipsy Doodle, an Austrian who writes his or her blog in English. I haven't roamed through the blog yet, but it looks interesting enough that I am going to go back to visit when I have a new mouse for my computer (the reason for my sore thumb). I have killed two "mieces." in the last few days. It's time to buy a new one for my lap top.
I changed the pattern a little, instead of putting fringe on it, I have added a garter stitch border. I have also added an extra cable pattern to the left hand side of the shawl. The actual pattern repeat starts with the cable and ends with the lace pattern. I like things more symmetrical. I had knitted two repeats and decided I could not live without adding the cable at the left side of the shawl. As you can see I also have added a 6-stitch garter border and a selvage stitch to each side. Another thing I found out is I have difficulty following written instructions . And, thus, I frogged three times. The first time because I made a mistake (and, of course, attributed it to a problem with the pattern); the second time was also because I made mistakes and the third one was because I didn't like it without the cable on the left side.

Wonder of wonders once I charted out the pattern, all of a sudden the pattern was correct. Don't you just hate that? I really ought to buy myself a charting program one of these days, preferably one that translates text into symbols.

Well it's after 9 p.m. The chickens should have put themselves to bed by now, so I need to go and close the coop door on them. So I can settle in and watch the rest of Ghost Hunters.

"Knit on!"