But I like to check things off

The problem with all this wonderful low-stress, just-for-fun, isn't-in-The-Schedule knitting I've been doing lately, on stuff like DD's Twizzle cardigan and my own Lotus Blossom Shawl, is that when the projects are done, I don't get to cross them off The Schedule. And I do so love crossing things off lists. It makes me feel productive and accomplished. So there is a downside to what I've been knitting lately.

Therefore, since I still don't have 5mm DPNs to continue the work on DH's mittens (which is starting to worry me a little bit, but so far I'm still on schedule, so the rising panic is entirely containable), I am planning to shift my focus this weekend towards projects that are on The Schedule. Socks, for example. There are five pairs on The Schedule and not one of them has a completed sock yet. (Socks that look complete but whose cast-off edges are impractically tight - and, sadly, there are now two of those - do not count.) Since my co-worker Ian is now 'out' about his impending fatherhood, I may also delve back into the train wreck Fafner baby blanket project and find out once and for all whether I have enough turquoise yarn to finish it. I may even do some test swatching and felting for my heraldic tabard.

But note the freewheeling spontaneity at work here. I haven't actually decided what I'm going to concentrate on, I've merely thrown out the names of about half a dozen possible projects and will be letting my whims this weekend determine what happens. Thus I am able to get back to The Schedule yet still retain the stress-free, knit-what-I-want approach that I've been happily coasting on all week. It'll be good.

Lotus Blossom Shawl for moi

Oh, it's getting closer. The end, that is. I can taste it.

(sort of an artistic shot - what you're seeing here is the shawl draped over the back of my living room futon, with the blossoms at the top and the stems falling away down the back of the seat)

I'm on the last chart. Hell, I'm almost finished the last chart. Just three more rows. until the cast-off. Now, the cast-off is, admittedly, going to take a while. Somewhere in the vicinity of two hours and twenty-five minutes, in fact, assuming my knitting speed is parallel with the Yarn Harlot's (which is probably a wild overestimation of my skills, but this is my quantitative chance to find out, isn't it). However, I am not daunted. I am not setting myself up for failure by expecting to finish this weekend, so I'm okay. But soon. Soon I shawl shall have in my hot little hands a garment of my very own made by me. Oooh.