I promise that I’ll stop whining about Daylight Saving Time. Eventually.

When I got home from work today I plucked the pins out of Agatha (sounds like I was torturing a famous mystery writer, doesn’t it?) and picked her up off the floor.

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Colleen asked why I didn’t use my foam blocks when I blocked this shawl. Why? Because I forgot I had them.

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See what happens to my brain when I’m sleep-deprived? (Well, I have to blame it on something other than encroaching senility, don’t I?)

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And I am getting ready to embark on a new lace project.

I’ll be using Dream in Color Baby laceweight yarn, this in the “Punky Fuschia” colorway. I’ve doodled up my own design, so will be trying that out.

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Here’s a video the KOARC did of Miss Lucy, showing that she is still enjoying her new wind-up toy:

Bloglines Readers, there’s a video embedded there!Lucy sez:

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“Is DST over yet?”

Frigging Daylight Saving Time, that’s what.

I resent the fact that I am losing an hour out of this weekend. If we have to set the stupid clocks forward, why can’t we do it at, say, Monday at 1pm?

Of course, the KOARC pointed out to me that if we lost an hour on a Monday afternoon in March, we’d have to gain an hour on a Monday afternoon in the autumn. So I guess that wouldn’t work.

Even given the loss of one precious golden hour, I finished knitting my Agatha Shawl. Here it is unblocked.

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I used Dream in Color Classy worsted weight in the “Blue Lagoon” colorway, purchased from The Loopy Ewe and knit my shawl with a 4.5mm needle. The pattern came from “That Logan Chick” and I purchased my copy here.

I used almost all of 4 skeins of yarn, so close to 1000 yards.

I soaked the completed shawl in warm water with some Soak wool wash, then spun it in my washer to get all the excess moisture out. Here it is blocking:

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I made mine quite a bit larger than the pattern directs, and I probably spread it out a little more in the blocking. The onlyplaces I pinned, though, are the points of the edging, so it’s really not stretched at all. The wingspan is close to 80 inches.

As I said while knitting this, it’s a lovely well-written pattern and was great fun to knit.

Here is what Lucy thinks of the time change:

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. . . balancing your checkbook and discovering that, because you cannot subtract worth beans, there is $100 more than you thought in your checking account.

. . . spending some of that found money at The Loopy Ewe on Dream in Color Baby laceweight.

. . . being more than halfway done with the stealth project you are knitting.

. . . having a major crush on your current lace project.

. . . plotting and scheming and thinking about a new lace project to start when you complete your current lace project.

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. . . dreaming about the laceweight yarn you just ordered for your new lace project.

. . . Peach Fresca.

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. . . looking forward to watching The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, which is being shown on TCM tonight. “Badges? We ain’t got no badges. We don’t need no badges! I don’t have to show you any stinkin’ badges!”

. . . a purring kitty friend.

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What makes you happy?

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Yep, here in Virginia we have relatively low gasoline prices. There really is a wide range of prices in this area, though. I’m fortunate that the gas station closest to my home (2 blocks away) is the one with the consistently lowest prices in my area. It used to be a Mobil station, but a couple of years ago it morphed into a Sunoco. And back when it was a Mobil station it always had the lowest prices, too.

I’m fortunate that there is public transportation I can take to work (though I do have to either take a bus or drive to the train station). So my monthly bill for gasoline is always under $30. However, the cost of my daily commute (including the cost of parking at the train station) is $10.95. So I guess it all evens out.

What does this have to do with knitting? Absolutely nothing.

Speaking of knitting . . .

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I don’t have a lot of progress on the Agatha shawl — the past two nights I’ve knit maybe 4 rows per evening. But I am still happily knitting along. I’m nearing the end of my second skein (250 yards) so it’s time to wind up a third one.

Tammy asked:

Are you alternating between 2 skeins of DC Classy at once to avoid color chunks?

No, I am not. My reasons are two-fold.

Reason Number One: If I were to alternate skeins of yarn, I’d have to carry the yarn from the skein not currently in use up the side of the shawl, and that would be very unsightly, because it would show in the finished shawl. It it were a sweater, I might do so, because the carrying of the yarn would be hidden in a seam. But I probably wouldn’t because of:

Reason Number Two: I am lazy.

Anyhow, you cannot tell where the first skein ends and the second one begins in what I’ve knit so far. At least I can’t. And that’s good enough for me.

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Cathy commented:

I love the shawl pattern; tell me, do you like the dream in color yarn?

Yes I do — it’s lovely stuff. As I said, I’m near the end of my second skein and so far no knots or anomalies.

Peggy asked:

Do you have a favorite needle for lace? I find k3tog difficult with what I have. I am looking to upgrade.

Two good choices: Knitpicks Options needles and Addi Lace Needles. Both have nice sharp points, smooth joins, and flexible cables. Some people have had problems with the cable unscrewing from the needle tip on the Knitpicks Options needles (these come in an interchangeable set), but I’ve used them for several projects and have had no problems.

WendyT asked why I wasn’t using my Knitpicks needles for this project. It’s simple: when I was ready to start, the Addis were in reach and the Knitpicks were not, being in the next room.

Much of my life is governed by inertia. I’d think about that, but I don’t have the energy.

Lucy sees nothing wrong with embracing her inertia.

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I am knitting along on Agatha — see?

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In yesterday’s photo, it was on a 32″ needle. In this photo I have switched to a 40″ needle. It’s a regular Addi Turbo, not a lace needle. Partly because when I am knitting lace with worsted weight yarn I find I don’t need a particularly pointy needle, but mostly because I don’t have an Addi Lace needle in size 7.

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So that’s pretty much it. Nothing much else going on here . . .

So I’m reduced to taking photos of gas station signs. This Exxon station:

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is directly across the street from this Shell station:

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Why would anybody buy gas at the Exxon station?

Oh, and this Sunoco station is two blocks away:

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Just sayin’.

Lucy sez:

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Stretch!