Tuesday, March 10, 2015

A Tale of 2 Purples: Almost but not quite


First of all I had a great weekend. I hope you did too. I had family time, alone time, exercise time and relaxing time.

I was feeling the knits and divided my time between the neon socks and the end of a shawl.


I always forget how long those last rows take. The pattern is easy breezy fun, so it wasn't a problem. But I also forgot while I was casting off (ever so confidently) that I had gone up a needle size, maybe 2. (Details really, who can be bothered, when you're just knitting for your life?)

I ran out of yarn.

Monday night, I skipped the gym, and had a great night with the Big and The Kid. We had dinner, together, at the kitchen table (our only shared eating table -- yet still we aren't there together enough), we shared laundry chores and all the latest Middle School news (which for my son is approximately 3 or 4 sentences about what he's doing at school, but that's like a novel for me, I'll take it.)

I spent  the rest of the evening backing out a row or two for a clean cast off. This was fine. This is par for the course for a late night knitter.

I even managed to start blocking it. I took this picture this morning after I had to "reblock" it. See, that old ottoman (that my husband has threatened to get rid of for 2 years) is not big enough  to block it's full size. So I focused on one half of the triangle over night and re-pinned it today. She's really opening up, now :)

In most photos and light the yarn is very grape jelly. I tried to take a close up for you though, so you could see some of the true color.



I admit the Old Navy camoflague beach towel underneath isn't helping. I'll try to get a proper photo later this week for you when I've finished blocking it and can get some natural light.

And to all the knitters with the great posts on books and audio books, thanks. You are all inspiring. I read a bit this weekend. Not much, but enough to remind me how much I like it. Reading Queue as of now: A Spectacle of Corruption and To Kill a Mockingbird (it's time to revisit).

Mysteries have been my escapism the past 5 years or so. My husband tends to like the ones with the crazy people in it like Girl On a Train, etc. It will probably take me until the summer to catch up with my other reading wishes, but please let me know if you have any recommendations.

13 comments:

  1. Some colours are just really tricky to photograph - purple is definitely one of them!

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  2. Have I missed a post? I'll have to go back and check. My ears have pricked up at the word audiobook, I am trying one at the moment. Not sure if I get on with them or not. But I never seem to have enough time for reading, so I though I might like to listen to a book or two. The shawl is looking lovely, great job. CJ xx

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  3. I just hate it when I overknit the blocking mat. From what I can see, that shawl is going to be amazing whatever color it is. Perfect for spring.

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  4. Ellen I LOVE YOUR shawl color. You knit a beautiful garment. It will go with anything.
    Im amiss for Mysteries. I just never read them. There. I'm useless!

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  5. Gorgeous color in any kind of light. Well done!

    I need to revisit To Kill a Mockingbird. I taught it every April and loved seeing how even reluctant readers devoured the story. Scout is my hero! Can't wait to see what she's like in the second Harper Lee book to be released this summer.

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  6. Congrats on finishing the shawl. It's beautiful.

    I just purchased Girl on the Train. It's my first mystery. ;-)

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  7. beautiful shawl and I'm glad that you were able to do the cast off after unknitting a few rows. Phew! Gorgeous gorgeous purple!!

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  8. I think your grape jelly shale is looking fantastic, even with the camouflage towel under it. I just listened to The Cuckoo's Calling on audio book, it was very good. Recently finished Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng and All The Light We Never See by Anthony Doerr, both very good.
    Hugs to you,
    Meredith

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  9. The shawl looks fabulous. That is a gorgeous color.
    When it comes to mysteries, I find that Laura Lippman is dependably good. Harlan Coban's books are real page-turners.

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  10. That is one awesome shawl. I love it. The simple lace is eye interest. Girlfriend, go to Daiso and get some cheap mats to block with.

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  11. beautiful knitting ellen! i'm reading "wild" by cheryl strayed...very interesting but not a mystery~ hope you have a nice weekend!

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  12. Purple is super hard to photograph! Lovely shawl, what pattern is it?? There are some cozy mysteries I really like for LIGHT, easy reading: Janet Evanovich (Stephanie Plum series), Rita Lakin (Getting Old series - super funny); Cleo Coyle (Coffehouse Mysteries).

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  13. What a pretty shawl, Ellen! Looks like that purple has 2 shades to it, whatever, it's really nice. I'd suggest Wild also plus the movie. There's a guy from our choir in it!

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