Just a little

The Roses and Diamonds wrap is done! Hooray!

I have yet to weave in the ends, and there is still blocking that must occur. I will be using blocking wires for the very first time for this piece, so we’ll see how that goes (Rumor has it that it is much easier to use blocking wires than my previous method involving dental floss, a metric ton of pins, and a whole lot of swearing. I hope rumor is right). But I did at least want to mark the occasion, as well as the giant sigh of relief I felt once the last stitch was off the needles.

The aforementioned sigh of relief was not just because it was finally done, mind you, it was also because I was starting to really worry about whether or not I would have enough yarn. The pattern calls for 38 repeats of the center pattern and I decided to walk on the wild side and do 40. I didn’t start to really get nervous until about midway through the first of the final three border diamond motifs, when the little pile of yarn beside me started shrinking at an alarming rate.

Naturally, when faced with the possibility of running out of yarn, I did what every other knitter does in this situation – I knit as fast as I could and prayed to all the knitting gods and goddesses and tried to psych myself up for the possibility that I might have to rip back upwards of half a foot of knitted lace (and wondered if this would be the day that my refusal to use lifelines would finally bite me in the rump). But miracle of miracles, I had enough after all. Phew.

I’ll wash it and block it tonight, and then get some pictures up here once that’s done. And in the meantime I think I will focus on something nice and simple and use up some odds and ends of cotton from my stash whipping up a few reusable cleaning pads for the Swiffer WetJet we recently acquired. Big fat yarn (well, at least compared to laceweight) and nice, brainless garter stitch. You have no idea how much I am looking forward to that.