Things are heating up in our preparation for our week in the mountains. I did steam Annabelle's shawl. It seems so kismet. I bought the yarn for the shawl (it's even more beautiful than the picture shows) at Silver Threads and Golden Needles in Franklin, NC last year. Now I am taking it back south as a going away gift for Annabelle. I have named the shawl "Sunrise in the Desert" partly because of the color and partly because Annabelle is starting a new life in New Mexico. I just found out that the Western North Carolina Yarn Crawl will be while we're in the mountains. I hope I'll be able to crawl along to at least a few LYSs.
Working on this blog has made me realize some things I wish I would have done during my life of knitting.
1. I wish I would have kept a knitting journal from the beginning analyzing the positives, the negatives, the changes made to the pattern, needle size, changes in yarn, etc. What a hoot to look back and remember the journey.
2. I wish I would have saved every gage swatch from every project for the journal. I always make a gage swatch but I usually am kind of freaky about running around of yarn. I just unravel and use the yarn in the project. I can't say enough about the importance of a gage swatch particularly if you are changing yarns.
3. I wish I would have taken a picture of every finished project no matter how awful it turned out to include in the journal. I really think I've learned more from projects which weren't perfect.
4. I wish I would have kept track of knitted gifts I have given to people.
Better late than never on my knitting wishes.