This is the prayer shawl, being modeled by a toy sheep sitting on a piano. It hardly matters, because basically it is just a blue rectangle, gradually getting bigger.
This is being done in blue Homespun on needles too large for my knitting gauge to measure — maybe 13s. It is in the special prayer shawl stitch (here is more information about the project) of K3, P3 over 57 stitches, beginning every row with K3. And it is a nice, fluffy shawl. About 2/3 finished.
Homespun is not a yarn I usually use, and not the thing I would have chosen for a shawl, either, but I think it was a good choice. It is forgiving, so knitters of different ability levels can succeed with it. It is inexpensive, so lots of shawls can be made. It is machine wash and dry, so people don’t have to be careful with it. You don’t have to worry about allergies. And it comes in lots of colors and is readily available in most communities.
Knitting a large rectangle does not afford many thrills and chills, so I haven’t written much about it. But I am knitting it.
#2 daughter and I have added an abs class to our morning workout. This involves large beach ball things, big enough to sit on. Then, once you are sitting on it and giggling slightly, you have to roll down so that your back is on the ball and your legs out in front of you. At once you have to concentrate more so you don’t fall off the ball. Now, you have to flail around with your extremities in various surprising ways while music filled with indecent suggestions plays loudly.
After a bit, you lie down on the ground. Do not get carried away with relief, because at this point you are expected to lift this enormous ball with your feet, continuing the flailing about with other objects. There is no way to accomplish this with dignity.
I am the oldest person in the class, though comfortingly not the least fit.The instructor is an extremely perky blonde. All parts of her body are perky. Her knees are perky. She has us do The Plank with no apparent sense of remorse.
After two days of this, #2 daughter and I have discovered that you use your abs in all kinds of situations in which we had not before realized it. Like laughing, shifting gears, lifting boxes, and sitting forward in your chair at choir rehearsal. Little stabs of pain accompany us through our days. We are thinking about how strong we will be by the end of the summer. We are thinking of skipping it this morning.
neat shawl…careful on those abs…
I once had a boyfriend who worked out everyday. At the time I was doing … ten-ish crunches a day – feel amazed. When I asked my he only ever worked out his arms he had said, “Everything else is hard to do.” I scoffed. With my ten crunches a day I was feeling superior and in shape. Now, I see what he means.
That shawl is lovely. I’ve always wanted to use Homespun – it’s so soft and the colors are so pretty. Plus it has the most ironic name in all yarndom!
I have never understood how abs, which are almost constantly in use, are so hard to tone. It defies logic.
Perhaps the Californians use “back East” in a historical sense, since the colonization began on the East coast and worked it’s way west. Or maybe they heard someone from back East say it once, and it just sort of stuck.
Yep, it gives me a headache, that’s why I’m glad Ohio’s out of the debate 🙂
20 fast minutes of Pilates just before an hour of jazz dancing will remind you of the existence of your abs as well. The Swedish Ball sounds fun – every now and then I see them in shops, consider getting myself one – and then re-consider it.