I Am Weak

Last week I dutifully worked on the Albatross Shawl. Every night. By Friday I had to admit that the Albatross was sucking all of the joy out of knitting. My diligence had not made a dent. The shawl had not noticeably grown in length, nor had the cake of yarn shrunk.

Knitting is supposed to be fun, right? I finally gave up. For awhile at least. I resovled to work on projects that give me pleasure and have a prayer of becoming FOs. To wit: John's Scarf and the Dream In Color socks.

The weather was sunny and mild on Saturday, so Dave and I took a drive in the country to visit the Ball and Skein. After we parked in charming Germantown, Dave wandered down the street to check out an auction. I popped into the B&S and explained to Susan, the proprietor, that I had to be quick before Dave came back. She was amused.

Susan is one of the most gracious yarn shop owners I've ever met. Seriously. She pulled out of all different colorways of the Dream In Color Smooshy so I could contrast and compare. It was heaven - sort of. It was tough to make a decision. It got tougher when I saw the Fleece Artist sock yarn.

In the end I bought a hank of DIC in the Ruby River colorway,



a second hank of the DIC in the Nightwatch colorway,



and a hank of Fleece Artist. I can't identify the colorway. Sorry. It's gorgeous, though.



No matter the temptation, I resolved to finish John's Scarf before working on anything else. I cast off last night, and after a good soak, pinned it to the blocking board.



John asked for a long scarf. I decided to go the distance and aim for 84 inches. From previous experience, I know that Malabrigo knit up in the woven stitch stretches quite a bit, so I cast off at 79 inches. Turns out I overshot a little. Once it was pinned out, it measured 86 inches.

This week is all about instant gratification. The minute John's Scarf was on the blocking board I picked up the second DIC sock in the Deep Seaflower colorway. This week it's all about socks and scarves. I wasn't kidding when I said I need a break from the dreaded Albatross.