Parting ways

I’ve been working on the same shawl since February.
You’d think it would be measured in feet, or tens of feet, by now, but the length from tip to working edge is a mere 25 inches.
It’s embarrassing to admit that I finished my last project in the first days of July.
“Why are you making a shawl,” my older boy chides me. “Aren’t they for grannies?”
Well, X, I might just be a grandma when I finish this thing and at last can drape it over my shoulders.
The time has come to diverge, dear shawl.
Not for lack of interest, or amour, but for dignity’s sake.
My own — this pattern is so difficult that I often knit three rows and tear back two because I made a mistake.
Which are very difficult to catch.
Another reason I have soldiered on is that it is easier to knit what you already know so well than get into a new pattern’s stitching. I don’t have to think as I watch the movies “Frida” or “Hotel Rwanda,” my fingers just move along in the established way.
Loop over, slip, knit, knit, slip slipped stitch over ...
Alas, dear shawl, it’s time to bid you adieu.



Momma’s found a short-sleeved sweater earlier in the summer that I must confess I long to begin.
It’s called Tomato, designed by Wendy Bernard, and uses worsted-weight Dyed Cotton in #619 tomato and Organic Cotton in #82 nut.
Interweave Press published the book "No Sheep For You," where it is found.
Find the free pattern at http://www.knittingdaily.com/blogs/ patterns/archive/2007/06/19/tomato.aspx.
I ordered the yarn online from Blue Sky Alpacas (www.blueskyalpacas.com) on a Sunday afternoon and it was in my mailbox the next day — at no extra charge.
My knitting bag was snug this morning as I packed both projects together in my carrying bag.
I’m sure the brown shawl felt jilted.
Breaking up — it’s so hard to do.