Spruce Forest

This shawl was definitely my most ambitious project to date, and I think it would have taken me about a year if I hadn’t been on modified bedrest (took a quick break for some photos in the yard!) As it was, I finished it in a couple of weeks. Like my Levenwick and my Rockaway, this was a pattern put out by Brooklyn Tweed and has the evocative name of Spruce Forest. I tried this pattern about a year ago, but I didn’t have the skill level at the time, so it ended up frogged. Looking at the acres of fingering weight yarn I’ve accumulated, especially the spruce green one, I decided to give it another shot. I think the Lacy Socks were good preparation, because once I got through the first bit of it, I got the hang of it quickly, learned to “read” my stitches, and made relatively few mistakes. I put in lifelines every 20 rows or so but only had to frog back to them once.

Spruce Forest Shawl

I LOVE this garment! Why aren’t shawls more popular? I think I’m going to need at least one more… although I will do a slightly smaller, heavier-weight one. But this is going to be perfect for summer evenings, or for nursing in the summer time. (Ravelry project link here.)

And just for you guys, a nice big 28 and a half week belly shot! Everyone’s still hanging in there, and we’re trying to make every day count. I had a little scare earlier this week with one of my non-stress tests. Baby B had a long deceleration which alarmed the nurse, so I hung out in labour and delivery at the hospital for five hours while they did some monitoring. All seemed reasonably well, so they sent me home again. I think the stress kicked up a bunch of contractions (or maybe the contractions kicked up the decelerations), but I was very strict with my bedrest yesterday and things seemed to settle down again.

Spruce Forest Shawl

Labour and delivery is such a fascinating place – there are little tragedies and miracles happening all the time. The woman next to me was told her baby had intrauterine growth restriction – which is usually a sign the placenta is not working well and the babe will need to come early. Like me, she’d had a bad non-stress test so she was there for longer monitoring, and they urged her to come back the next day so they could keep an eye on things. Another woman came in laughing and smiling announcing she was in labour then stood there for ten minutes chatting with someone she’d run into. Listening, I wanted to pull back the curtain and say “Girl, you are NOT in labour! Go home because this baby is not coming until at least tomorrow.” I resisted the urge, but I think someone else eventually sent her home. There was another twin mom there too, but I couldn’t figure out what was going on with her. And then there’s me, applying more ultrasound gel to my belly, and quietly adjusting the settings on the monitor while untangling a big ball of yarn for my next project… a baby blanket.

One thought on “Spruce Forest”

  1. The shawl looks fabulous and so do you! 🙂 you are a pro knitter, there’s no way I could do that! Gad everything is maintaining status quo!

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