Some Days...

You know the kind - the ones where one small glitch occurs, and then it cascades, and snowballs, and before you know it, you're facing utter disaster.

It happened like this - I finished Mouse Tracks last night, after one final marathon day of knitting my brains out, and saving just a tiny bit of the yarn because I have faced my inner demons and I AM going to take Swan Lake apart again, fix the damned mistake (which may necessitate the additional yarn), and reblock it. But I digress already!

Today I ventured into blocking Mouse Tracks. I got the frame assembled with no problems this time, six foot by one, and started to thread the wires and lace it to the frame. Note "started" - I kept dropping the wires because I started at the narrow ends, THEN did the length. Actually, this did work out better than doing it the other way around, but dropsies are the pits! The REAL comedy started when I had it all done to my satisfaction. It blocked out beautifully at just short of six feet long, and seven inches wide.

Note that the frame is 12" wide, the scarf is 7" wide, but the blocking wires are 36" long. This necessitates that the two wires on the short ends of the scarf must lie on TOP of the frame, rather than nestled into the frame. However, this causes the length of the scarf, weighted down with a total of six wires, to sag more than a little bit in the frame. This is not acceptable! The fix seems simple enough on the surface - just put more wires crosswise under the scarf, but laying on top of the frame, like this:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2091/2330411488_4e07c9e26a.jpg (sorry, you're going to have to click the link to see the pic - my right mouse button has gone west.)

Then they had to be tied down, so they wouldn't shift. Forty miles of nylon cord later, voila!

Now comes the fun part. A bit of background first, though. You may recall I have mentioned that this house is TINY! I have one room that is supposedly my "studio/office", but also serves as a storage area for all the impedimentia that for one reason or another needs such. This cuts down on space something FIERCE. Then, recall that in addition to knitting, I also stash for embroidery, quilting, and just plain sewing. The computer and all ITS peripherals and supplies is also in this space, which means that there isn't room to swing even a small cat in here.

Next, the fact that I am quite possibly one of the klutziest people on the planet comes into play. The frame has to lie flat because of all the wires sticking out on either side of the frame, so I am maneuvering this six foot long, effectively 3 foot wide awkward menace. The plan, such as it is, is to lay it with one end on top of the armoire to the left of the computer, across above the monitor, with the other end on top of the data disk case, which in turn is atop the tower case.

Can you say 'domino effect'? One of the wires hit the disk case, knocking it over into the next stack of stash, which is, from the bottom up, one large three-drawer chest containing embroidery fabrics and kitted projects awaiting attention, two of those little three-drawer plastic thingies from Wal-Mart containing sequins and beads and charms in the bottom one, and my small collection of hand-painted cotton and silk embroidery flosses, my silk embroidery ribbons, and my assorted fine embroidery braids and blending filaments, and on top of THOSE, a small box containing my blank stationery notecards and postage supplies. There is then a six-inch "air space" between all this and the large gate-leg table that is my all-purpose crafts and sewing table, which is against the wall perpendicular to the wall containing the computer desk and the aforementioned stacks of drawers. BTW, the computer desk is in the middle of that wall. I haven't mentioned the similar stacks of drawers on the OTHER side of the desk. Aren't you glad?

Anyway, when all the dust settled, there I am with the frame in my hot little hands, staring at this huge pile of CD/ROMs, baggies full of threads and ribbons, spools of more threads, bags of sequins and small beads and charms, and notecards and envelopes, all shoehorned into that tiny six inch space between the leaf of the gate-leg and the side of the large chest.

So that's why I'm not casting on for a new pair of socks tonight. And yes, I am actually going to finish this pair, and I am going to follow one single pattern, no modifications or changes. Just to make it challenging, though, I'm learning on this pair how to do the Magic Toe Up Cast On from Judy Becker, AND knitting two at once on two circular needles - just to keep from being bored, you understand.

SHIP! THE! YARN! SHIP!! THE!! YARN!! SHIP!!!! THE!!!! YARN!!!!