Monday morning

This morning I started by sending DH off to work, turning off the TV, putting the dog to bed, Not turning on the computer, and picking up my lacy shawl knitting. It took me 1 hour to knit 4 rows (this thing is going to take forever!) but I was successful on those four rows. Here you can see my progress.

I have stitch markers between the motifs, and the white line is my rescue row; I stitched some pearl cotton on to my needles after the border and before I started my lace knitting, then if I mess up I only have to take it out to that point.

The lace pattern is 4 rows, repeated 3 times, then a different 4 rows, repeated 3 times. I finished the first 4 row repeat before I put it down this morning.

I also am going to give this gift tonight, so I will show it now:

It is a square piece of flannel with the corners rounded and a nice little edging. The green gingham pattern is printed, and you can hardly see the blue paint spatter design over that. We do not know if it is for a boy or a girl, but I thought this would work for either. The fabric color is neutral, the blue edging would work for a boy, with a little bit of laciness in case it is a girl. I enjoyed this project so much that I am making 2 more blankets for the daughter of a friend who is expecting twin girls... two pink blankets with more laciness, one with white lace, and one with pink.

Here is a picture of my kumihimo braid:

The first one has the ends trimmed, but the second one does not, yet. I am very pleased with how these turned out. Here is a close-up:

I used DMC floss without stripping out the threads, but 4 colors in 2 families. The colors inside the families were close enough that the over-all pattern shows up (the spiral) but the extra colors added a richness and complexity that I did not expect, but really love.

This should be a quiet week, hopefully I can get a lot done. We are planning a family outing in a couple of weeks so that will be something to look forward to as well.