Shin Splints

So, I think I've given myself shin splints.  I decided I needed more yarn purchasing power so I decided to get a job for the summer at the local theme park.  Yesterday was my first day & let's just say that being on my feet for 8 hours, on concrete, uses a totally different set of muscles than sitting on the porch swing knitting for 8 hours.  Despite the fact that my lower legs feel like they may shatter with every step, I really like the job.  The people are great, the atmosphere is fun, and the work is simple but fast paced.  And best of all, I lost two pounds yesterday!  Weight loss beats shin splints every time.

As for knitting news, I hope I haven't made a grievous mistake.

An unblocked Christmas tree skirt that is knit using Elizabeth Zimmerman's Pie R Squared shawl formula, except I knit it flat instead of in the round.  I KNOW I did it correctly, except after looking at it off the needles, it sure does look like I only made half a pie.  Boy, I hope the magic of blocking works on this one!

I also knit this shawl using Sparkle from Haute Knit Yarn.  The yarn, my swift & my ball winder had a bit of a disagreement but all parties report it was due to user error, not material error.  The fight did leave me spending almost 18 hours untangling knotted yarn & winding it by hand, but again, it was user error, not the yarn's fault.  It's also a testimony to the yarn's yumminess that I spent 18 hours detangling it rather than simply tossing it in the trash can.  I really did make a mess of it.  It was the first time using the ball winder since I'd moved it from one side of the swift to the other.  Much to my dismay, I discovered, after winding probably 100 yards, that I didn't have the yarn feed thing latched into place & as I wound, the yarn feed thing was pulled closer & closer to the forming ball of yarn.  When I noticed it & attempted to properly lock it into place, I couldn't because it caused the yarn being fed from the swift to rub against the skein being formed.  Okay, that probably makes no sense, but trust me, it wasn't going to work.  I took the little skein I'd created off the winder & attempted to wind it from the opposite end of the loop of yarn hanging out on the swift.  All that did was cause the little skein I'd already created to wrap tightly around the base of the swift.  Next, I attempted to unwind the the second little skein I'd created & rewind it by hand but all that happened was a horrible, tangled mess.  Eighteen hours of horrible, tangled mess.  But again, the yarn was so pretty I stuck with it and spent those long 18 hours cursing and detangling.

Currently, for the first time in probably 30 years, I have nothing on the needles.  Well, nothing that I actually plan to finish that is.  I knit the last stitch on the Christmas tree skirt just minutes before I had to leave for the new job yesterday and since I'm working the night shift and didn't get home until almost 3 a.m., I didn't start anything new last night.  But today is a whole new day.  Which means, I'm off to play in the stash pile.