Mysterious Objects Identified

You'll recall the last photo from yesterday's post? The Tsarina twigged immediately on what it was, though the extensive conversations we've been having on the subject probably helped. Those hunks of PVC are the ingredients for Part I of my latest unvention, a modular blocking frame for my lace. There are still bugs in the system, as the photo below will demonstrate:

The center bows severely, and will need, as I had half-thought it would, some cross-bracing. Assembling this simple shape was a major comedy. I'd get 3 sides of the thing assembled with, I swear, all the piping seated fully into the couplings, then try to add the fourth side. At which point, at least two of the joints on the first three sides would come apart again. This happened more than once before I got it all together to stay. But I persevered.

It is possible, I suppose, that my most current physical ailment wasn't of much help. It would appear that I am suffering from a surfeit of computer twaddling. Yesterday I was tippy-tapping away on the keyboard, when I very suddenly became extremely dizzy. So dizzy that I nearly fell out of my chair, in fact. I abandoned my tapping, and laid down, which helped a bit. Watched TV and knit in the evening, still spinning, and awakened this morning feeling considerably better. Went to the computer, and the first time I had to scroll down, wham! Full dizzy returned. Turned off computer, and went and vegged on the Saturday gardening/woodworking/home improvment fodder on PBS. Came time for Pebble Beach, and I'm still somewhat dizzy, but thought it would be splendid background video for the genteel process of assembling the frame. HAH!

My blocking skills are also somewhat rudimentary, I fear. I fully intend to reblock this (MS3, the symmetrical version, if you were wondering) when I have the next group of pieces for the frame.

I did discover, though, as I was standing back admiring the look of the finished stole finally spread out so that it could be seen, that I also really should reknit the last three rows of the right hand side, and the center panel (not that there's anything wrong with the center panel, except that it's knit integral with the right side of the stole - grrrrr). My grevious error will not pass the galloping horse test, I fear. It rather jumps out at one, doesn't it? You can see it better in the next pic, which also shows the neat angle of the welding rods that form the point.

And what, you may ask, was I knitting this morning? Why, the first two swatches for the Spring Surprice Shawl, of course! The first one I only needed three rows of the swatch on the size 2 needles to know that they were going to be too small, but the second swatch, on size 3 needles, is looking much better. I'll post a pic when a) the swatch is finished, and b) I can get back to playing on the computer, after the dizziness passes.

And, by the way, the move to the great new house? Did Not And Is Not Gonna Happen, dad-rat it. Seems the putative landlord's wife put her foot down and said "No, we will not rent the house. We will sell the house!" Force majeur, so we're staying put here. I'm gonna miss that butler's pantry.