I love Em to bits. But I sure am glad that school finally went back after our extended summer holiday yesterday.
She’s going to be 15 next month, and yet she still takes up a not-inconsiderable amount of my time and attention. Time and attention that I could spend knitting. After six weeks of holidays, we’re each happy to get back to our respective schedules. Or lack thereof!
So yesterday, I planted my butt on the couch and I knit. But then I had to stop, because it got far too hot and I couldn’t bear it any more. But today is much cooler, so I got going on the knitting again.

And the Shetland shawl is flying! I’m hoping that this birder will be done and grafted this weekend. I probably shouldn’t have said that. Sssh, don’t tell it, or something bad will happen.
So let’s change the subject.
Just in time for the 30C+ weather we’ve been having, I finished Em’s So Called Scarf.

Perfect for a heatwave with a cotton sundress! (She didn’t keep it on for long, trust me)
The yarn is Lorna’s Lace Shepherd Worsted in Child’s Play, purchased from The Point Knitting Cafe while we were in New York.
This really is a great pattern for variegated yarn, although if you look at this picture, you can see that the colours aren’t exactly random, and there’s an odd sort of cross hatch pattern going on.

I like it! The pattern is easy to remember, and travelled a lot with us while we were driving around in the USA. I love the yarn, too. It’s soft and not at all scratchy, but it’s very loosely spun, and did have a bit of a tendency to split.
I love to knit a sweater or cardi from it, though!
Hopefully, my next post will feature a three bordered Shetland shawl.

I’m already bored with blogging the Shetland shawl. I”m still ahead of target, so it’s going well. Here’s an updated picture.

Like I said, boring blogging. Even the Baudelaire’s haven’t seen much action, because I’ve been working so hard on the shawl.
So lets go back tot he second of the secret projects I was working on, back in December. Evelyn, who is a longtime commenter here, but who is sadly blogless, had a little baby girl named Audrey back in November. I wanted to knit something for her, so I ordered some Zara, and whipped up a February Baby Sweater from Elizabeth Zimmerman’s Knitters Almanac. I love the way it looks while it’s being constructed.
For anyone who hasn’t actually knit this (Am I the last?!?), you start with the round yoke and work down, adding in sleeves as you go.

The sleeves are knit flat, then you pick up all the body stitches again, and work down to the hem.

It’s a nifty little knit, at the end, the only seams you have are the sleeve and underarm seams, and it’s so pretty!


But the Zara knit up into a much larger cardi than I was expecting! I was aiming for a 3 months or so size, and ended up with something that may even fit a one year old! That’s okay, Audrey lives in San Francisco, and may need it then.
That’s it, all I have. Next time, another FO, I promise.

So far, so good! The Shetland Shawl is coming along nicely!

I took this picture yesterday, it’s come along a little more since then. In fact, yesterday I got 8 rows done, and so far today, I’ve managed 6 rows, so I’m 2 rows ahead of schedule.
Mind you, the 6 rows I did today I did at Stitch n Bitch, so I may need to rip them out yet! It certainly wouldn’t be the first time I’ve messed up my knitting there, but (fingers crossed) all seems to be going very well.
And I’ve also managed to do a healthy amount on the Baudelaire’s.

These are what I reach for when I can’t devote 100% attention to my knitting.
Just don’t ask about the state of my housework!!
And Lara achieved something else with Twinkie apart from the amazing weight loss.

While she still doesn’t particularly like it, we can actually pick her up now, without having our arms ripped off!

This year, I’ve entered the Shetland Shawl in the Royal Easter Show.
Last time we saw it (back in July), it looked like this.

And much as I hate to admit it, that’s how it still looks. Today I was thinking about the show and the shawl, and I realised that Easter is relatively early this year. So I checked the schedule, and entries need to be delivered on March 7 and 8.
42 days. I have to knit two borders, graft them to the shawl, dye it and block it. I figure I need to do at least 6 rows a day.
So I probably shouldn’t have started a pair of Baudelaire’s, should I?

So we’re home. And it’s back to reality with a thud. (A bit like the thud when I backed the car into the electrical box across the driveway this afternoon. Yay me!)
We arrived home on Saturday afternoon. It’s been a bit of a downer, really. I just want to go back to Hawaii! We were greeted by this lovely arrangement from the family, however.

Here’s a better look at the gorgeous flowers.

There was also some bubbly, chocolates and groceries, which made coming home a bit nicer!
Here’s a picture of our wedding flowers.

Rose bouquets, and pikake and rose lei’s for Emily and I. They smelt heavenly! Unfortunately, they didn’t last very long and we didn’t get to bring them home. We did bring home David’s lei, which is currently at quarantine being fumigated or whatever it is that they do.
We don’t have official wedding pictures yet, they weren’t ready before we left, so they’re being mailed out to us, so I guess it’ll be a week or so before we get them.
I did indeed wear my Fern Garden Stole. Emily wore the same dress as I, but in pink, with the Hanging Garden Stole.

It’s apple cider, I swear! (But it made her feel very grown up!)
We actually got married on Papailoa Beach, about 150 metres away from the Lost set. Yes, we’re geeks! It really was a lovely ceremony, and a beautiful day, thank you all for your good wishes!
I did actually manage to finish my socks in our last days in Hawaii. Here they are, reclining in hammock on the beach with my wedding bouquet.

(It’s a hard life!)
I also got quite a lot done on the So Called Scarf.

Now I really need to get to work on the Shetland Shawl. I’ve entered it into the Royal Easter Show, and I’m not sure yet if I can get it done before then!
And guess who came home last night?

It’s a slimmer, trimmer Twinkie! Lara’s house really was the equivalent of a bunny fat camp. Twinkie won’t admit it, but she’s feeling much better, she’s been running and playing in the yard all day, and it’s really been some time since we’ve seen her run much!!