Weak Entry

Not the weakest, but pretty crappy.
First I have a picture, such as it is, of the shawl for Gail during blocking. I will get a couple of more in the next couple of days of it on a person or on the dummy for Gail's use. I need to write the pattern today. It should be fairly quick and leave lots of time for vegetative knitting and watching of old movies purchashed at Christmas Tree Shops with my MIL on Tuesday. Girl found two sets; comedy and romance, 8 movies each, and not all garbage. But I digress - about the shawl. For the moment I am calling it the Cape May Shawl because it reminds me of a certain resort at a certain location that shall, for the sake of Betsy, remain nameless. It may be simply that I have that location on my brain this week in sheer desperation for a True Vacation, or it may be that the colors remind me of the place, I am unsure. Regardless, Cape May it shall be called, and I have no idea when or where it will be available, because it's going to be Gail's pattern. Kangaroo Dyer's pattern. I love it the more I look at it. Initially, during early blocking I was disgusted. It took patience. Once it was all pinned out and the ogees became more obvious, and the colors were doing what I'd wanted them to do - no pooling just drifting in and out like waves on the sand - I was pleased. Because there is not a huge dramatic difference in the colors the flow works. If it were a distinctly variegated yarn I think there's be too much competition. (ogee: a shape consisting of a concave arc flowing into a convex arc, forming an s-shape curve with vertical ends)
Gratuitous detail shot...taken just before Boo-Boo decided to move in for a nap. He just strolled up to the blocking board, stepped on and started to curl his tail under him to lay down. I stood in shock, motionless and speechless while Girl shouted at him. The lug. What an idiot. "Oh, look, pins and a shawl, I will rest here!" You should know that we've spent a lot of time trying to get him to lay down on approved dog beds and he is terrified of them all. But knitted lace, straight pins, and a very hot scunci? No problem. Sigh. I really like the color. It's not "my" colors at all, but I love them just the same. I am glad there is not a great deal of drama in the coloway so that your eye is not constantly flicking back and forth - ogee, color, ogee, color, what should I look at first? You can really only get away with this kind of pattern if the color shifts are subtle. For an example of why not to use rich patterns with deeply contrasting colorways, you can refer to MIL's shawl (that she does not know about, so SHHHH)in permanent time out. And it's much bigger now than it was then. It's about 18 inches long and I don't know how many inches wide. Too much diversity of color, to much shine from the silk, it must be Destroyed and ReKnit in simple purse stitch - let the yarn do the work.
In other stimulating news...Girl's cat has reached new levels of weirdness. He is obsessed with one sneaker of a pair that was heading for the trash. Now she won't let me throw it away. These are beat-down treadmill shoes and were replaced Tuesday with new Nike walkers. Apparently, just riding your bike is not good for your bones. Picky. So now I throw in a treadmill routine with ankle and wrist weights at least once a week for 1hr 20m. It's boring. I need a Runervals dvd so I have something to look at. Coach Troy, amusing me on the bike nad off the bike. It is possible that I have ADHD. Apparently so does Mel, and he's turning to old sneakers for friendship and amusement. Girl started college this week. Maybe the loneliness is driving him to sneaker-lust? He may need therapy. He gets weird when she leaves, lays by the door just like when she goes to work, and weird when she comes home too. He comes flitting from whatever space he's inhabiting, trotting to the door like a DOG. I just can't get over it.
I had a physical last Friday. The decision to schedule it well in advance of my birthday trip was a good one. Just get it all out of the way; pokes, prods, blood work, any associated bad or good news. That way when we go away I can just do what one does on vacation - rest, relax, and reflect. And para-sail, and have margaritas and go upside down on roller coasters and float in lazy rivers and play mini-golf and maybe rent a water mouse, and ride bikes and kayak a little. Part of me really wishes it were December already!!