Finished Object Dance

As promised yesterday, at the right is the blocking photo of the surprise I've been working on for a co-worker who covered for me on vacation, when things needing to be done weren't ready for me to work on before I left, so she wound up doing a whole lot more than usual. I had hoped to have it finished to give to her last Monday when I went back, but that turned out to be too ambitious of a timeline.

Project details:
Pattern: Shapely Shawlette by Judy Pascale
Yarn: Flames of Heck colorway, from the Mind's Eye Yarns Etsy Shop full skein used
Started Wednesday, October 18th, finished Saturday October 28th, with other projects worked on during that timeframe.
Size -- not measured, but those are standard size bathtowels, there's a stitch marker about 1/3 of the way from the point I can claim wasn't forgotten but instead was deliberately left in for size reference.

I've talked about how even small shawls have this puppy-like atmosphere to them -- they tend to start small and cute and easily manageable and the next thing you know you've got this relatively big project that requires a lot of time (per row) if you're going to make progress and have a finished object. This one is intended to be just a covering for the shoulders and be small enough to stay out of the way. I still tend to take mine off if I'm going to be running things into the shredder at work. By the end the rows were taking a while, but it's just a simple garter pattern with increases. I'm not ordinarily a big fan of yellows and oranges, but I really like how the colors came together in this. There are just enough incidences where bits of color laid right on top of each other to create patches, without being overwhelming big puddles.

Finishing that allowed me to get to work on socks for my brother, since I need gifts for him coming up soon. I had started just a few rows of ribbing when I cast on Monday night, and last night got the leg as far as the 1 p.m. (formerly 2 p.m.) width of sunlight on the shelf of Himself's big picture window. I've borrowed a pair from Himself to take numbers from, and for future reference (self) the ribbing is 30 rows and the leg is then 45 rows down to the heel flap. Foot notes in future posts.

I also took some time this morning to work on the nascent Pirate Hat. I've had a bit of difficulty in that only one 16" size 13 needle was readily available, so things are rather cramped, and I've only just finished the part where you're working double stands each of worsted weight and eyelash together, so it's a bit thick. But, I'm now into the part where the eyelash is discontinued and the decreases have started, so things should start to improve for ease of manipulation. I find I'm so used to working at smaller gauges, that just holding and using larger needles takes a bit of getting used to, and they tend to make my hands hurt more than usual. On the other hand, winter hat weather is coming, so it's justified to work on this more.