On my list of things to finish this month was Shirley Shrugs — again.  Late last week, I pulled out my cast-off edge and "shortened" it by several rows and bound off again, but a little looser this time.  I took it over for a fitting yesterday to determine the most comfortable seam length, then finished that off during the football game.  Mom had been having a hard time telling top from bottom.  With the addition of short-row shoulders, there’s definitely a difference, though it is fairly subtle.  I’d shown her the tell-tale "design feature," the double-crossed cable marking the first short-row shoulder, but apparently it isn’t as apparent to her as it is to me, or maybe she needs her glasses on in order to see it.  I tied a small bit of yarn on the inside at each shoulder, but that’s not so pretty and is still a mostly visual clue, so I also attached a vintage mother-of-pearl & Bakelite button to the inside left.

Time is running out!  I’m heading to Madison for the day on Wednesday to finally see New School Knitting: The Influence of Elizabeth Zimmermann and Schoolhouse Press!  There may also be blogging and fiber fun, a little shopping, perhaps a sighting of my niece, and definitely dinner meet-up with the Mackster.  ; )

I snapped these bathroom pics on Sunday night.  I worked on "Shirley Shrugs" during every spare moment of the weekend.  At the lunch break on Saturday, I ran to Zuppa’s for lunch, then walked down to the shop to buy two hanks of Lorna’s Laces Shepherd’s Sock for my Socktoberfest socks (my only purchase of the weekend!), and went straight back to the seminar venue and got right to work.  I sat out the break between end of Saturday classes and dinner in the "hospitality room" doing the same, and lunch on Sunday was a rinse-and-repeat of Saturday (except for Zuppa’s and the yarn).  I was asked about it on occasion and I’d roll my eyes and called it "my penance."  It’s all paid off, though, and there are fewer than 20 rows to go as of last night.  Margene’s words have been echoing in my head: "…do what you can do… want to do it all… it’s still only one stitch at a time."  She might have said something about some sort of process, too.  ; )

Oh, my, is this ever nice around the shoulders.  The short rows worked wonderfully, just as I’d hoped, and I’m excited to finish the knitting and fool around with the closures — probably from cuff to elbow or just above.  What I’ve got cooking in my mind’s eye — an optional closure at each end so that it may be worn closed as a shrug or open as a shawl, but without looking "unbuttoned," so that the closures have to be a decorative element, or… this makes me laugh… you might even say an "embellishment."  You know, I’m going to have to admit that I’ve had a few fuzzy thoughts about what I might like to do, but the inspirational clarity comes from one of Fiona’s swatches.

Did I mention that I love Fiona Ellis?  ; )

If I wasn’t so bored, I’d knit another one of these for myself.  Perhaps I will one day — I actually have a start on one because it wasn’t long after getting going on this that I could see the writing on the wall — lots of writing (longhand) on a very big wall — so I started another in a bulkier, woolier yarn and I really tried to sell it to Mom as being more preferable, but she didn’t buy it.  I sometimes think that she might have gone for it if I’d made a larger swatch, but actually… I know my mother… she would have said, "Knit both and I’ll choose," or (more likely) "Knit both and I’ll take both!"  Heh.  Katie wants one, too.  I love her dearly, but she can knit her own.  I’ve learned many things by knitting Shirley Shrugs, and probably the most important is that I won’t be knitting anything for anyone (except perhaps wee Mack) for Christmas this year — and maybe not next year, either.  ; )

So it wasn’t a very happy day for Packers fans yesterday.  I gambled in the Fantasy game and lost big.  I’ll tell you who I’m happy for today, though, and it’s Charlie Pena.  I cried my way through the pre-game feature on "Coach Charlie" last night — my eyes weren’t truly clear and dry ’til mid-way through the first quarter — and I had the same feeling that I did during Super Bowl XXXII.  If we lost, it would be okay in a cosmic sense because Charlie would be so happy, the perfect seal for his wish, just as it was "right" that John Elway won that Super Bowl game.  Sometimes, it’s all about the warm-fuzzies — yeah, is my competitive streak showing?  ; )

As found at Mason-Dixon Knitting:  I’ve sent my foot measurements to Cat Bordhi, have you?

Still to come:  Katie’s "new" car.  Socktoberfest details.

Shirley — shot on the kitchen floor.  If you see any spills or spots or crumbs, please keep it to yourself — floors are not on my list today.  In fact, as soon as I’m finished with a few little things here on the computer, I’m taking the morning to knit.  I have the house to myself ’til noon-ish — that’s been a rare occurrence of late — and I’m taking full advantage to do whatever I please, without guilt.

My foot was the handiest (or footiest) thing around for scale — there’s a weird Birkie tan pattern this year due to the new style.  ; )  I haven’t had a pedicure in a couple of years, though I’d rather like one.  Be that as it may, my big, unpolished toe seems to be pointing in the direction of the first short-row shoulder — can you make it out?  And the second?  It’s basically short rows done to accommodate the deletion of one full diamond repeat at the edge (in this photo, it’s the upper edge).  It makes a slight curve and a bit of a pucker where the shoulders will be when worn.  Neither was done flawlessly, but I rather like the "markers" I left behind.  I’m working down the arm — I could probably have left off one repeat at each end, but Mom does like to roll up her sleeves.  ; )  It makes a little more to cuddle into.

I perched atop a pergola "bench" to try and capture the color of my favorite ash in the back yard.  I just love the soft purpleyellowgreenishness.  The color changes have been pretty dramatic over the past few days — the maple two doors down that can set my bedroom afire on a sunny morning has been lit!  The ash will be bare in a few more days — one of the first to drop its leaves.  The walnuts are falling fast in the lower yard, too.  I collected them last year, but it turns out I misread the directions about how to store them and I ended up with a mess.  I might try it again.

Progress continues on Shirley Shrugs. I did a lot of knitting in the car — and fixing, too, because it was a pretty drive on Saturday.  We even saw a full rainbow in the evening.  I have worked the second short-row shoulder and in some ways it’s better than the first, and in other ways not, but it is what it is and it does what it’s supposed to do.  I showed Mom yesterday and she lit up.  That will help me with this long march down the arm.  ; )

The Packers won their first game!  My fantasy team didn’t do badly either — I have running backs on both sides of the ball in tonight’s game — should be exciting.

Meanwhile…

Katie’s been knitting!  She knit some leg-warmers recently and this scarf.  The scarf was knit length-wise on a circular needle — I don’t remember what size — using scrips and scraps from the stash and self-fringing at both ends.  She used everything from sock yarn to worsted to bulky, down-home wool to stuff with a little glitz and glam (but no fur, thanks).  It’s about 20 miles long, as you can see from the number of times it’s wrapped around her neck, but she likes to wrap ’em so it’s good.  She made the button necklace, too, using fishing line and mostly buttons from the nearly full drawer in her great great grandma’s sewing machine — plus a few large coat buttons found at a recent antique stop.

Long live the pincurl.

There was always a box of Constant Comment Tea in the cupboard when I was growing up.  Mom didn’t drink much tea, that I remember, but she always had some on-hand.  While I certainly don’t have "constant comments" around here, I get a few now and then and they sure do add up!  I noticed this morning that the number is nearing 6000 and that’s a good enough reason for a contest, no?  All you have to do is leave a comment and if you’re #6000, I will send you a yet-to-be-determined prize.

*Please allow me to clarify that those 6000 comments are on 750 posts!  I can’t believe I’ve been blogging for 2-1/2 years and have written seven hundred and fifty posts!!  Anyway, that’s an average of 8 comments per post, which isn’t bad, but we’re definitely not setting the world on fire with the "constant comments" over here.  ; )

Having finished the Very Fab Fib, it’s been all Shirley Shrugs around here this week. Another inspired project, this time by Shirley Paden’s Cabled Shrug in the Fall 2005 Interweave Knits, it was to be a Christmas 2005 gift for my mom.  I’m ashamed to say that these pictures are over six months old and, at the time, the shrug was already overdue by more than a month.  I’ve changed most of the cables, removed the bobbles, and am making short-row "shoulders" with the hope that this will sit on and hug the shoulders.  I try to forget that I’m actually knitting a very, very, very wide scarf — that’s also quite long — with lots of cables.  Oy.  I’ve completed one of the shoulders already (right side pictured in middle, wrong side at right) and I will confess that I keep admiring it, trying it on various shoulders in the household, using it as motivation to keep.on.knitting…  Oh, I’ve got to get this done!  (Reminder to self: No Christmas Knitting this year — with possible exception for Mack!)

Thanks for the piratey chin-ups yesterday — I had some good laughs!  More than anythin’, "yo ho ho" be a good replacement fer th’ smokes — nay poop decks or walkin’ planks fer me!  Yo ho.