Barbie Boobs, Birdies, Cantalope and Treasure

I've been working on Wendy Johnson's Fir Cone Shawl pattern in an effort to conquer lace knitting. I'm having much more success with it than I had with 198 Yards of Heaven and it's building my confidence quite a bit. It's a repetitive pattern; 8 rows the same, move the lace over one motif and repeat-purl the back. I'm using some yarn I got up at the MKG Knit-In this spring and it's wonderful to work with. It's Lace Weight 100% Merino by htNEVEL (from right here in Madison!) in the Bloom colorway.

Now that I am nearing the end though, I'm nervous about blocking the thing. I blocked 198 Yards of Heaven with approximately 14 bahgiggatrillion pins. And this bugger is 12 bahgiggatrillion times bigger that that one....so I'm fishing around at The Sow's Ear for help. If all else fails, I believe I'll buy some welding rods and attempt it myself this weekend.

How badly does it need to be blocked you ask? Well I'll tell you. I had about 6 inches done and was working on it one evening at the Ear when the Fabulous Amy Detjen said, "Oh look, she's knitting Barbie boobs!"

(This is the back side of the shawl...and I have to admit...it does look like Barbie Boobs.)

Thanks Amy! Now that's all I've been able the think of for the last 10,00 miles of knitting, so I aim to block that sucker until every last Barbie boob is squished FLAT! Mammo-blocking! Found another wee birdy this week. This little robin was hunkered down in the grass in the dooryard. He is a little older than Grumpy McFeatherbutt so I left him be and checked on him for a couple of days. Mum and Dad were feeding him and caring for him. Since today is lawn mowing day however, I fashioned a little nest from the sweet grass that grows down by the pond, nestled him in it and moved him to the base of a spruce tree about 5 feet from where he was 'hiding'. They never mow under the boughs so he'll be safe and I noticed Mum and Dad had found him already. Good deed accomplished.

I bought a cantaloupe yesterday at Millers the likes of which I have never seen in my life. It was as big as a seedless watermelon. You know how you can order a half a cantaloupe with a scoop of cottage cheese in it some restaurants. Picture what that looks like. I put a huge peach in one half so you can see by comparison. I KNOW! And this is the smaller half! The sign on the melon bin said 'From Indiana'. Yeah! From the fields downwind of the nuclear reactor!! I gave the other half to the new neighbors since there was no way I could eat it all myself before it went bad. I ate so much of it last night that I had 'After Thanksgiving' belly and sloshed when I walked!

Speaking of the new neighbors, Rob stopped me the other day and asked me if I wanted to look through a box of 'stuff' he was going to donate to Goodwill. 'Stuff'. Yeah. Seems Rob just left his old job at The Field Museum in Chicago. The 'stuff' in question was trinkets that the museum staff had brought back to him as gifts from their excursions all over the world-wonderful carved, painted and beaded tribal and folk art objects. I had the best time going through it all. I was a good girl, resisted my magpie tendencies and only took one small hand-carved picture frame, in the interest of keeping the knickknacks in the nest down, but it was all beautiful! So if you're a Goodwill treasure hunter keep your eyes open! Good 'stuff' may be coming your way!