My First Shawl!

I sent my update on learning to knit over to daughter Erica's blog, but wanted to put something up here, too. I actually finished my very first shawl, which also happened to be my very first knitting project. I promised myself I would have it done by the end of October and I am happy to report I met my own deadline. After all the initial excitement of learning how to actually knit, I kind of fell behind in reporting how I was faring because of Hurricane Sandy. We didn't have any major damage at our house -- we were very lucky -- but we did have a few large trees come down and lots of branches and twigs, all of which needed to be chopped and bundled and dragged down to the street for pick up. To read more about that, please visit my other blog.

No sooner had we cleared it all up then Winter Storm Athena (since when do they name Nor' Easters??) decided to come roaring into town. The rain and wind were almost as bad as the hurricane, and at times actually seemed worse. Since so many trees were compromised in the hurricane, Rick and I were wondering if we should sleep in the bedroom, which is surrounded by some very tall trees. Opportunities for photographing the shawl were slim with everything else that needed getting done, so my shawl sat on the rocking chair where I could exclaim "Aren't you proud of me?" quite loudly several times a day to anyone within earshot. I tried the shawl on everyone (except the cat, but including my husband) and admired my handiwork. I was pretty darn proud of myself. I always thought knitting was sort of impossible to learn. Kind of like trying to learn a foreign language (at least for me). It was some mysterious thing that made my eyes glaze over whenever Erica tried to explain it before. Knitters were strange fanatics with weird yarn addictions. I wasn't tempted to join the club, although I must admit a soft spot for squishy yarn. I'm not sure why it sunk in this time, but I know my knit and purl stitches now and don't mix up the front and back anymore. How amazing is that? Anyway, the shawl was actually finished in mid-October, after which Erica kindly took it home and blocked it for me making it nice and even. While she was blocking it, I looked through a bunch of my crochet books for an edging. I crocheted the edging on and was completely done with the shawl a few days before the hurricane. Then things got a little crazy for a bit.

My first knitting project -- a simple shawl.

But yesterday was absolutely gorgeous and I was determined to get Rick to take my picture. Had Erica been around she would have had me changing my clothes and brushing my hair, making a big to-do of this very important moment. Rick was more into getting a good shot of the shawl and didn't notice my outift or disheveled hair. After 33 years of marriage I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not. Does it mean he loves me no matter how I look, or that he doesn't "see" me anymore? Hmmm . . . anyway, I suppose I should be happy I've lost twenty pounds -- another amazing feat I can't believe I accomplished! -- but I looked pretty damn ridiculous. I looked, gasp, like Dopey. So here I am, shown from the back so you can't see my very baggy unbecoming shirt, wearing my very own mystery shawl. I've already gotten another skein of yarn from Erica (I think it was Zombies Ate Barbie, love the name) and am happily in the beginning stages of knitting a cowl. I also didn't return her Knit Picks circular needles. I may hold them permanently hostage!