Round 4

Well, today was the fourth round of the Knit-Off. What a trial! Yes, I am done, but I wouldn't be a good blogger if I didn't share the day with you.

I got up at 3:30 a.m., since the pattern has so far come out about 4:15 to 4:30 in the morning, in the last three rounds. I made coffee, pulled out my needles and DK yarn, and settled in for the long haul. And it was a long haul! My competition, Michelle, logged on about an hour after I, and we chatted as we waited for the pattern to come up. What a nice person she is! In Blogland, you can make a friend pretty quickly, and we were soon emailing pics of our kids to each other. We discussed ballet and sports, and it was fun. But time went on, and on, and finally the pattern was posted, at 8:00! That's four and a half hours after I got up. Ouch.

The pattern was an entrelac scarf, that Yarn Monkey had made up herself, and she suggested we learn to knit backwards. Heh. These were two totally new techniques for me, which was, actually, great fun. I loved knitting backwards, and since I'd been kicking around taking an entrelac class, I was pretty happy with the pattern, too. But I mucked it up and ripped five times before I got the side triangles right. Yikes! I was sure I had just knocked myself out of the running, right there. But you know what? My husband is willing to watch all three kids all day long, so I can knit. I did not give up. I think I would have knitted if my competitor had posted after five hours. It's just such a nice way to spend the day.

There were a couple of distractions, of course. My wrists and fingers were killing me, so I made use of a necessary bathroom break to grab some aspirin. I even washed my hands with hot water, so they wouldn't get cold and slow me down! HeeHee. About 3:00 in the afternoon, the sun came out, and I started knitting faster. I think the sun just cheered me up and everything got easier. Yay! I enjoyed the pattern, once I memorized it, and it was just - well, enjoyable. I'm going to find a Thesaurus after this, honestly. My brother brought his seven-week-old puppy over after that. So cute! He had just picked her up. She doesn't even have a name yet. She is the calmest little pooch you would ever want to meet. She'd play, but really wanted to cuddle. My kinda dog, but he wouldn't give her up, so I had to content myself with sending toys and whispering, "If you ever need a place to stay..."



And at the end of the day, the baby had had enough, and insisted that I dance with her. What could I do? Of course I danced, and if I lost because I did, that was cool. Then I had to figure out how to end the scarf, which was a bit confusing, a bit more ripping. Then - success! Huzzah! I love the scarf. It only came out at 10 inches by 32 inches, so my gauge was off, I'm guessing. But I honestly had just a yard or two of the contrasting color left, and I came out with the right number of rows, so that was that. I'll figure out if I'm adding to it or using it as a tuck-in under my coat later. It's very softy... I will definitely knit entrelac again. I can't believe what a beautiful baby blanket this would make.



And that's my day! Hop on over to Michelle and say hi. She's nice as pie. And cross your fingers that I did what I was supposed to, because I couldn't get ahold of the Yarn Monkey all day, and she hasn't actually accepted my entry yet. But I appreciate all the work she's done to hold this Knit-Off. I can't imagine how much coordinating effort it must take. Well, good night all! I owe my husband a little movie time.