The Story of Icarus

...is well known. In spite of his father's warning not to get too close to the sun, Icarus, loving the thrill of flying, soars through the skies. Once he's up too high, the wax melts that keeps his wings' feathers together, and Icarus crashes into the sea. Although this wasn't the intended lesson, today the story is often interpreted to mean that we should know and respect our limits and listen to the advice of those more experienced.

Last week I proudly announced that I had completed all five pattern repeats of my Icarus shawl and was ready for the edging. Pride was my downfall. I hadn't been paying attention to the instructions. Between the five pattern repeats and the edging there were three more charts to complete. I was so excited about my progress I simply miscalculated! Rather than five, I had actually just completed four repeats, and since I was aiming at a total of six repeats, I had two more to do even before moving to the next chart. That was a difference of about 20,000 stitches! Only last night did I start with chart #2--the edging is still many hundreds (thousands, really) stitches away... I don't know if I'll meet my deadline, which is in one week: by then the shawl should be blocked so that I can take it on vacation with me. Don't know if I will make it... Hubs is conferencing all next week and is leaving today, which means I'll have extra time to knit by not making dinner, not talking to anyone at home, not doing dishes or laundry, not cleaning the house... I ordered heaps of movies from Netflix (all those "strong female lead character" movies Monsieur refuses to watch with me). Still, I'm worried. Will I be able to finish? (???)

Have I mentioned with just enough emphasis how much I love the yarn? J. Knits' Lace-a-licious!: I'm in love. It's fantastic to work with and cashmere-soft, the colors are gorgeous, and I'm particularly thrilled about the airy glow caused by very delicate fuzz. And I found it because I was looking for the most affordable lace weight yarn! (1,200 yards of hand-painted prettiness for just under 30 dollars; online it retails for about 25 dollars). Such a find!