Doing too much

You know you're doing too much when you get up in the wee hours of the morning to go to an event 3 hours away and get halfway there before you realize the event is NEXT weekend.  So I've been doing a wee bit too much and I was hoping to slow down a bit this summer but somehow that doesn't seem to be happening.  It wouldn't be so bad if my day job weren't getting in my way. 

And in case I get bored this summer, the Lace Knitting class at Three Sisters Folk Art School  has been rescheduled for August 19-21.  We're going to be able to spend a whole weekend exploring the knitting of lace.  Whether you're ready to stick your toe into the pond or if you've been knitting lace and just want to take it a bit further, come join me for the class.

I have, however, been able to get a few things done. 

One thing I've done is found a new yarn shop in the Quad Cities area.  They've just had their grand opening and it's definitely worth popping in for a visit.  It's called 365 Days on a Farm.  They've got some really nice yarns and are also going to carry fiber and spinning equipment. I had a really nice visit with them and may, if we can get it scheduled, do a couple of classes with them later this year.  Their focus is going to be on American-made yarn and fibers.  They hope to be able to highlight fiber and yarn made from fiber from local farms as they build their inventory.  Really nice folks. (They're at 116 W Davenport St in Eldridge, IA.  Go.  You'll thank me later.)

While there, I saw the funniest thing I've ever seen.  A young local knitter decided she wanted to make her featherly-challenged chicken a sweater so Tammy decided to help.  She had pictures that she'd printed out from some blogs.  Have a look here...and here.  I laughed and laughed and laughed.  A chicken wearing a sweater.  You can't hear but even now I'm laughing.  A chicken wearing a sweater.  Sounds like the punchline of a joke, right!

Speaking of lace, I'm getting along with my lace doily.  The main section was 106 rounds of lace knitting.  With 576 stitches on the final section, that's a load of knitting.  I've been debating whether to continue on with the edging the pattern calls for...

As you can see, the edging is a ruffle.  But, honestly, can you ever see me getting it to ruffle properly?  In case you don't know, I'll tell you.  No, I wouldn't.  I was contemplating doing it.  Really I was.  But then I realized that to start the ruffle, you have to double the number of stitches and the thought of knitting 40 rounds of 1152 stitches made me realize that if you're never going to get it to ruffle properly, you probably shouldn't attempt it.  Plus I'd like to finish it before the end of the decade.

So I had a look through my other books and here's what I came up with...

I'm quite happy with how this edging goes with the pointy-ness of the doily pattern.  In fact, after it gets blocked, I think it will suit even better than the original pattern.  Even if it's not 1152 stitches around.