Giant Expectations

Every time you see a giant, you must know that that giant might be just a dwarf somewhere else! ― Mehmet Murat ildan

Foot update: My foot is feeling good enough to walk around now, and I'm slowly and carefully strengthening it. I went swimming a couple of times last week, and it felt so good. I'm looking forward to doing a bit more of that this week. It's funny... every time someone asks me how my foot is, I tell them how it's feeling better, and no matter how much I assure anyone how careful I'm being, I'm constantly being told that I shouldn't rush it.

I assure you: only snails would accuse me of speeding right now.

But I am moving quickly in other ways: I finished my Fucshia Nouveau Petite Shawl earlier this week. I can't believe how quickly I finished this shawl. It seemed to fly off my needles:

I chose this pattern for a couple of reasons. I loved the petal-like motifs, and I'm currently into shawls that you can be blocked with points on the edge. Mostly, I liked the size of it... if you visit the Ravelry pattern page, the photos show how it drapes over the model's shoulders and down her back.

There are several charts in this pattern, and each time I moved on to a new chart, I glanced over at my ball of yarn, and wondered if I would have enough.

As I neared the end, I wondered if I should try to add another repeat to somehow make it longer. The memories of all the shawls I've knitted from the top-down in the past bubbled up and warned me, though. "Don't do it!" they said, "It's always near the end of a shawl when the yarn starts to get eaten up."

Well, maybe not always.

When I bound off, I looked over at my ball of yarn again, and well... there was a lot of it left. I weighed it and discovered I'd only used just over half of the skein. Hmph.

I soaked the shawl and blocked it as hard as I could... but it wasn't doing any magical stretching.

And when I put it on... well... it's so small.

Either I'm a giant, or I should have thought this through a bit more.

There is another version on Ravelry that is larger, but I wasn't all that thrilled with the double-layered look of it. After investigating some of the projects, there are a few people who modified it to be one layer, and long enough to wrap around your back.

I'm more annoyed that I have just under half the skein left. After constantly running out of yarn in the past, I think I'm having the opposite problem. Just what the heck am I going to do with 50 grams of yarn?

I suppose I could make a second one. Heh.

Oh well. I'll wear it somehow, if only as a shawlette that I drape around my neck when it's cool outside... which is not today, by the way, It's soooo hot out there today, totally not a day for wearing any kind of cover up. I'm changing back into a sun dress and flaking out in front of a fan. Maybe I'll get lucky and shrink somehow...

I know, I know... there's only one way to get smaller, and it involves much more than lying around. Thank goodness my stupid foot is coming around. And yes, I am being careful, and no I am not rushing it.

And yes, I'm tired of it. I'm packing my swimsuit now. Happy Sunday!