So much progress while on vacation!

(This bit actually written on Saturday, 11/26)

I've come a really long way so far on the Shipwreck shawl! I've just put a lifeline through, halfway through the Madeira pattern. Vacations are good for my knitting. I'm finding this shawl a really enjoyable knit so far. The lace patterns have short repeats, which means I don't have to have the focus of a hunting eagle to zip through them. I can look at the pattern, memorize the repeat in a second, and just go. It's so much easier than the Aeolian shawl. It keeps my attention, but doesn't punish me if I let my thoughts wander for a moment. I haven't been doing it while watching TV, but I have been chatting a little with people as I go, and it's good that I can do that. The edging is going to be a lot more mindless, so it'll be a good settle-in-with-a-movie project.

I should plan out how I'm going to string my beads. I might see about asking my friend M if I can borrow her bead stringer. I think she'll know where it is. She usually tends to keep her jewelry supplies a bit more organized than the rest of her house. If that fails, it's possible my friend J has one too. If that fails as well, I guess I'll just have to buy my own. Fire Mountain Gems has them for cheaper than Amazon.com does.

(and this bit written today)

So yeah, still banging away at the Madeira. I'm only a few rows from the end. *searches frantically for wood to knock* I'd better start hunting down a bead spinner. I won't be seeing M for at least a week and a half, and I'm going to want to get started before then. Hmm. Well, it's not as though I even HAVE the beads yet. They'll be coming early this week, though. I wonder how difficult it would be to break the yarn and rejoin it, and have beads go over the join. Would they fit over a Russian join? I might need to try that when I get them.