The end, and the beginning, of big projects

Yesterday was the day.

I bound off my Shipwreck shawl on Friday afternoon. On Saturday evening, I soaked the shawl, then put together nine 24" interlocking rubber mats on the basement floor, and pinned it out. I followed the directions that told me to pin the center medallion, but to simply spread out the mesh. Yesterday, I took out the pins.

It. Is. BEAUTIFUL.

I'm so thrilled. I really want to be able to photograph it, but it's been so grey and gloomy that I wouldn't be able to take any pictures that would do it justice. Hopefully, the sun will come back out this afternoon, and I can take a few shots when I get home. I also want to be able to wear it, but given the size of it, it's not the kind of thing you can easily wear under a coat. When it gets warmer again, it'll be perfect on its own.

This thing took me from before Thanksgiving until after the Spring Equinox. It's a little overwhelming to think that it's done.

Yesterday, I also started something new. This will also be a very long project--much longer than the Shipwreck. On the other hand, it will be FULL of little bits of instant hexagonal gratification. Yes, that's right: I've started the Beekeeper's Quilt! It looks like a great way of using up bits of leftover sock yarn. I'm almost done with my first hexipuff (using the Honeybee Skinny Bugga that I used for the Shipwreck). I like the fact that I can just whip up one of these in very little time, and that I don't need to carry the whole thing around with me at any given time: just my working yarn and the current hexipuff on the needles. I estimate that this may take several years, especially if I ONLY use leftover yarn, and don't buy skeins just for this. It's nice to know that I'll have something easy to do between projects, though, for the foreseeable future!

Sooooo close!

Wow. I am now on Row 157 of my Shipwreck! This is the very last pattern row. When I finish it, the next round is doubling every stitch (K, YO repeat to end). Then it's time to bind off. How many stitches am I going to have to bind off, you ask? 1160. Eeep.

I'm glad I have my spiffy new blocking tiles! I'll be putting them to good use soon. I think I may also consider re-blocking the two shawls I knit in Dream in Color Stardust (Aeolian and Multnomah), because they seem to have shrunk up a bit since their original blocking. That will be AFTER blocking my Shipwreck, naturally.

Gosh. It won't be long before I'm faced with the question of, "what next?" Some ideas:

* Start Gail/Nightsongs with the skein of Sea Silk I bought this winter
* Start talking to my mom more in-depth about what she wants in a shawl, so I can start planning what I'm going to make her (though it might be a while before I start actually knitting that)
* Start the Beekeeper's Quilt with some of my leftover sock yarn

I might do #2 and #3 at the same time. The Beekeeper's Quilt will be easy to do just a bit of it and then go do a "real" project (as opposed to an "in-between-projects" project. I suppose another thing I ought to do is take some damn PICTURES of my Shipwreck, to show it off in all its golden-brown glory. :)

By the way, if you're reading my blog but haven't checked out my projects yet (and I doubt many people are actually reading this), I have recently posted pictures of my sweet little Mémère wearing the big worsted Multnomah I made her for Christmas. It was her birthday a couple weeks ago, and while I was too sick to go see her, I asked my parents to take a picture. My dad took three great ones. She's so cute! Go look at the pictures!