Best Three on the Fives

I signed up a month ago for a Shawlette Swap with the Knitgirllls, which is my second favorite videocast (Carin still wins top spot).  I browsed through my stash as documented on Ravelry, browsed through patterns, debated with Sibling-the-Elder and tried to figure out what would be nice for my partner.

Yesterday morning I was headed out to a optometry appointment, lunch, and finally a knitting date a few miles from home. I knew my optometrist was going to require pupil dilation and while I understand the reasoning why, it is rather frustrating when a girl is trying to read a chart. As I would be on several buses and at least one train and would be having lots of conversations, it was time for simple knitting only.

I grabbed two projects: the Purple Pond socks, I'm through the gusset on Sock 2  and the yarn and needles for the shawlette. Only the pattern I'd settled on started immediately with the chart and see above for how much chart reading I was going to be capable of performing.

So I hastily rummaged through my Ravelry library and pulled out Lady Bertram's Shawlette.  I've never actually fully knit a WendyKnits pattern, though I own several and think they are lovely. I flung a skein of DIC Starry in November Muse along with the only size 5 circular needles I could find (16") and my pill case of stitch markers. On the back of a page with HIPAA information from said optometrist I scrawled the opening instructions of the pattern and ran for the Western bus. 

The bus, eye doctor, coffee after the eye doctor, my lunch date, and the bus over to my knitting date saw me working on the socks. The challenge of knitting on size 1 needles--socks take so much longer! There's a reason I love my size 2s and sport weight wool. I am about halfway down the foot though, so there may be hope for me yet!!


Finally at my knitting date I pulled out quickly compiled shawl pieces and cast on. I didn't get a massive amount done over the two hours but I chugged through stockinette increases. I also realized that I was going to need to move relatively soon to a longer needle. I came home, checked Ravelry again (it's my knitting brain-can you tell?) and saw that the color changing shawl that has been hibernating since the move was on size 5 needles. Excellent, I thought, and pulled out that project from where I'd most recently stuffed it. I started moving the pink shawl onto the 16s, with plans then to move the brown shawl onto the longer needle.

Then I saw it. The color changing shawl was on wooden needles and apparently at some point in the near recent past, I smashed the end of one of the needle tips. Smashed as in not going to be able to knit with these anymore. There was a moment of silence while I thought impolite words. I had already checked my Harmony Options set and knew that there were no 5s there either, so now I had two shawlettes on a size 16" circular.

This evening, after mounds of paperwork--the remnants of which I'm still ignoring, I decided I needed to locate those Options needles. They had to be in a project somewhere in the apartment. I pulled everything out that I could think of--no needles. I remembered a secret stash of half done projects--no needles. I drug out the stash and spent some time reorganizing it on the off chance I'd thrown a 24" cable with size 5 tips in the bin of "Blue Fingering Weight Yarn, Much of Which is Actually Sock Yarn, But Will Never Be Socks." What? You don't have a bin like that?

Finally, convinced I was losing my mind, I called AudioGirl and begged her to look around her stash to see if she had some 5s I could borrow. She was on her way home and promised me a text once she'd looked through her needles. Irritated with myself, how could I lose the needles?, I wandered into the bedroom to have one more look in the quilted project bag that is currently holding a pair of footies (not on my Rav page, I'm using up leftovers from another sock project). I yanked everything out of the bag, tidied up the yarn, and started working on a round. And then I noticed a ball band.

Suddenly I remembered a similar dilemma in the fall: a road trip and a dinner where I'd be able to knit and nothing easy enough on the needles. I'd grabbed a skein of yarn and started a shawlette! And that particular shawlette, I now recalled, had gotten thrown in the basket by the front door where I keep my hats and gloves and other winter accessories!

I threw things onto the floor and yanked out the project and tada! There were my 5s. I could move the projects around, get back to the brown shawl, and perhaps be done with it by the time I'm supposed to mail it out the door to my swap recipient.

Only, now I have 3 projects on size 5 needles and only 2 size 5 circulars.

But wait! I have straights. A pair was located in the vases in my bedroom and I sat down to move the shawlette over. What pattern was this? I flipped it open: Lady Bertram's Shawlette. I'm consistent at least. For a second I contemplated finishing it up and giving it to my swap partner instead but I restrained myself. I'd cast on the DIC for her and the DIC she will get.

Once I finish this shawlette though, I apparently have two more also on size 5 needles that would appreciate some time in the knitting rotation. For now though, I need to go put the stash away and work on that paperwork that really does still need my attention.