Nope, she still isn’t done. Yep, I feel bad about it.  Not so bad that I’m willing to ignore everything else and work on just my Mary Lennox Shawl. Obviously, or it would have been done weeks months years ago.

I’ve gotten to the third “garden section” which looks like an adaptation of Bleeding Hearts to me.

The pattern has options for fourth and fifth gardens but this shawl is already big enough for me. It’s wider than the needles so I can’t stretch it out and show you the whole thing and it’s deep enough that it hangs down to my butt. With blocking it will just get bigger, of course.  So nope, no more gardens. I’ll finish this section up and then it’s on to the border and done.

Let’s be honest though, this shawl should have been finished ages ago.  I know that. It’s a project that has gone from being a joy to a source of guilt. It nags at me. It whispers from inside its pretty flowery print project bag where I keep it stuffed and out of sight. I think about My Mary Lennox every day but … I don’t work on it every day. Sometimes I ignore Mary for two or three days in a row. I’m a bad knitter.  Instead of giving my main WIP all my love and attention, I’ve been cheating.

I’ve been cheating Big Time.

I’ve been working on the Cherries and Chocolate handspun which I started during Spinzilla. It’s a Corriedale/Alpaca blend. I’m spinning it as a DK weight two ply and its a joy to work with. The fiber feel so good in my hands that I have trouble stopping and put it away at night.   I started with two pounds of fiber and what you see here is about half of it. Plenty more to go on that!

Add-A-Booties! This is a wonderful, brainless knit from The Godmother of Garter Stitch, Elizabeth Zimmermann. Try the pattern. You’ll like it.

There was also an all-black, ribbed beanie that I started, finished, and gave away before I even thought to snap a picture. It went to a friendly officer at the ACC campus we go to for craft night. Since Old Crazy Hooks and I have been yarn bombing the campus here and there, I figured bribing a campus officer with a handknit is a good idea! Wish I had gotten a picture of the hat though.

I had to make a Dorest button for a friend to match the crocheted shawl she had finished. It’s just a button, I know. It took me nearly a day to make, lol. I don’t get nearly enough practice at making these things and had to restart twice. I finally got it looking respectable but I was rushing at the end because that little baby had to be sewn on and the shawl delivered. Sorry for the blurry pic (stupid cell phone camera!). As I said, I was rushed.

There was one more thing that kept distracting me. Hmmm… What was that again?

Oh yeah. Her.

So there you go. I’m a cheater. There is nothing wrong with Mary and I love her and I’ll love wearing her when she’s done. I should recommit myself and finish her by the end of the week. It would be the honorable thing to do.

I ain’t gonna though.

You see, a box of new roving from Louet arrived this week.

Oh yes. That is two bags with 8 ounces each of scrumptious, yummy roving. The powers that be over there noticed my blog posts during Spinzilla and sent me (free) stuff to try out, review, and write about. I can’t say no to that, now can I?

Poor Mary.