Time seems to be in a bit of a time warp around here. Thank you all for your kind words about my blog. Since I wrote my “not sure” post I feel a bit less stressed about the blog. Before I felt like I had to post something so people would read and thought there was almost no one reading. Then all of your comments and emails started to pour in and it made me realize I’m not just writing things and posting them in the great beyond that no one reads and no one cares about. It’s sort of the blog version of Sally Field’s “you like me, you really like me.” There have been times in the last few weeks where I’ve thought, I should post this on the blog but honestly do you really want to see each block of the Moderne Baby blanket finished? I think not.

In the last few weeks, Bryan has graduated and earned his MLS. Last Monday, it hit him he’d finally earned this degree that for so long had been so far away.

I’m enjoying my last summer of freedom for a few years. I’ve been knitting exclusively on the Moderne Baby blanket since I finished the Cat’s Paw shawl a few weeks ago. The shawl is beautiful and I wore it to Bryan’s graduation. Unfortunately, I think I’ll be ripping out the bound-off edge and knitting at least another inch or two onto it since it feels a bit short when I wear it. An easily fixed problem, thank goodness. I will post a better photo of the shawl soon. Back to the blanket, it’s amazing how much knitting you get done on one project when it’s your only project. I don’t remember the last time I had only one project in progress, I’m not counting the single sock that needs to be finished. I’m hoping to finish the blanket before the June heat rolls in. My goal for the blanket is to finish knitting it by June 1, that doesn’t include sewing in the ends.

The Moderne Baby blanket is coming along fabulously, it’s turning out beautifully and the Lorna’s Laces solid colors all have slight variations in color that are just magnificent.

The Cat’s Paw shawl is nearly complete, it just needs a border around the bottom.

My original intentions for May for my Knitting Almanac were to work on American Aran afghan squares, instead I’ve decided to focus on the various baby projects that need attention. I might even throw in another shawl too.

I’ve done a bit of spinning in the last few weeks and I just noticed that the yarn I’m spinning is very much in the same color family as the baby blanket.

The last week or so, I’ve been really struggling with whether or not I want to continue to write a blog. I don’t know if it was the five year mark or seeing that I’ve written over 620 posts or if it’s just spring fever? Part of it is feeling like I’m putting myself out there and getting very little response. Are people getting tired of reading blogs? Recently I read in American Libraries, a magazine put out by the American Library Association, that there are about 250,000 abandoned blogs. My original reason for blogging was to share what I was working on with other knitters, then it became a personal journal and recently it’s again become more of a place to share my projects. It’s a time of transition around here and I’ve been doing a lot of thinking anyway as I’m preparing to go to graduate school and have accepted an assistantship at a library on campus. It’s a very exciting time and also a bit scary as Bryan and I embark on another chapter in our lives.

Last Wednesday, I finished knitting the body of the Lace Nightie. With a severe case of startitis, I almost immediately set forth into figuring out which shawl to make for my April knitting almanac project. I liked the Flower Basket Shawl but was having a bit of a case of “everyone else has made that shawl,” the Diamond Fantasy shawl and Little Arrowhead shawl weren’t screaming to be worked on. Bryan told me on Wednesday before he left for class that I should design my own. As I poured through my Barbara Walker Treasury books, the cat’s paw pattern kept catching my eye. Finally, I realized exactly what I was going to do. After three hours of charting it all out in Excel, I printed out my chart. At knit night, I cast on and knit a “swatch” which then turned in to the shawl.

Currently, I’m about 172 rows into the pattern with another 60 or so rows to go to get to my goal length. At that point, I’ll measure and see if it’s as long as I’d like it and will start the edging. It feels like such a great sense of accomplishment to chart out the lace pattern and make it all work as a shawl with the help of Interweave Knits and other shawl patterns.

This weekend, we headed out to Bryan’s sister’s house to visit the niece and nephew. On the way, I knew that I couldn’t just knit on the shawl the entire time and wanted something a bit more mindless. I started the Moderne Baby Blanket from Mason-Dixon Knitting in Lorna’s Laces Worsted Weight Shepherd Sock yarn. The middle square is beautiful and the other “solid” colors are wonderful with their subtle hand-dyed varigations. The baby was born in February, so I’m a bit behind schedule but I’ve been waiting on the yarn since January.

March was lace month and the most productive month so far for my Knitting Almanac. Lace will definitely continue into April in a more defined project.

Here were my goals for March:

• Graft together the two pieces of the lace sampler scarf that I’ve already knitted.

• Finish the Go With the Flow socks (I finished the first of two socks)

• Swatch and knit the lace doily from A Gathering of Lace by Meg Swanson
• Swatch for the shawl to be knitted in April (will do once I figure out which shawl I’m making)
• Knit more swatches for the Walker Treasury Project (will try to do in April)
  

I only finished two of the goals but another lace project, the Lace Nightie from IK, caught my eye and demanded to be added the list. I’m about 85% of the way through the nightie. It’s the perfect spring lace project. It’s also in the perfect Project Spectrum colors for April and May. Too bad, I don’t have more spring green projects to work on. Since I’ve truly enjoyed the Rowan Cotton Glace, it’s very very tempting to make a cute little spring cardigan but I have to make myself stick to the stash.

April is going to be an interesting month. I had planned to knit a shawl but I’m not sure which shawl I would like to make.

Here are the three options I’m considering

1. Diamond Fantasy Shawl
2. Flower Basket Shawl
3. Arrowhead Shawl from Interweave Knits (Staff Project, Summer 2006) using my own Cobalt handspun yarn.
4. Being daring and make my own shawl pattern using the tips from Interweave Knits magazine. Maybe even using some of my own Pink handspun yarn.

Any suggestions or favorites?

This past week, I was busy sewing. Our fabric field trip was so inspiring that I really went to town on my Chelsea bag. Yesterday before work, I finished it and even took it to work with me. I learned so much from this little bag and despite a few frustrations, I’m excited about making another bag sometime. I really like the twig-handle tote in a Last Minute Fabric Gifts, new favorite book that’s a companion to Last Minute Knitted Gifts. It will be a while before I make another bag because I still have to make bedroom curtains and the skirt that I bought fabric for on our field trip. I think the curtains will be my next sewing project so that we can get the ugly grey blinds out of our bedroom window.