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Brave or foolish?

For months now one of my knitting projects has been languishing in it’s project bag, untouched. This isn’t so much because I didn’t want to work on it, as that I feared working on it. It’s a lace shawl with a heavily beaded edging. I’m still working on the edging, and last time I tried to work on it at home, Sylvia jumped on my desk and set one of the little bead needle stoppers flying.

This both showed that beaded shawls at home was dangerous and made it even harder to work on it since my bead needle couldn’t be secured quickly with the stopper.

While tidying up my desk to make room for my new needle felting supplies, I found the stopper! It had lodged in a small corner of my computer stand, unseen until I did a thorough clean-up. So this weekend, I pulled out the shawl and started working on it again. With two kitties to keep each other entertained, I hoped I could work on it in peace for a bit.

The edge to a lace shawl in a lavender/gray laceweight yarn, knit with small beads.

I finished two more points, so I’m up to 11 of the 20+ points I need, depending on what size I decide to do. Progress! Also, see my bead needle in the left hand photo with both stoppers intact? So happy!

Since even I was not foolish enough to think that knitting a beaded shawl was the right choice at all crafting moments this weekend, I also put in a bit of time on some other things.

First, my little bag is up to the top, and I’m now working on the oh-so-tedious chains for the closure:

A small bag being crocheted in blue and pink crochet cotton.

I love how the little misers’ purses work, but I must admit all those stupid crochet chains which are so critical to how it works are not my favorite part in the making.

Lastly, did you think the pomegranate 3ply was gone for good, never to be foisted on you again? Nope! I finally wound my ply ball so I can do a little plying here and there:

Bottom whorl drop spindle with a cake of unplied singles wound together. Singles are a deep red. Cake and spindle are sitting on a cotton bag from John Arbon textiles, source of the fiber. A bright African print project bag sits nearby.

Once I get this skein done, I think I’ll wash the two I have in red, and then wind the balls of the pale color and the red to start knitting the scarf I have planned.