Yikes, Slow Down!

Too much is happening and it's all such a blur, you guys.  I'm finding the need to re-read my own blog to find out where I left off...  so what's up, you ask?

I had a fingernail snap completely in half while doing laundry, so that wasn't fun at all.  The picture is horrible and makes it look like I had been punching a wall immediately prior to snapping a photo:

My hands are "hard-working," it's true, but the blotchy redness is nowhere near this extreme in real life, and I am, in fact, a delicate flower (ha!).  I am also a former nail-biter, and other former biters will know what I mean when I say: this was an actual injury, with blood and pain and stuff, because I have a permanently damaged hyponychium on each nail.  SCIENCE!

On to knitting stuff:
Baby blanket is bigger!

This blanket is so not a baby anymore; in spite of Fingernail Pain with a Capital P slowing me down, I have now caught up and am going at my breakneck "ideal pace."  I'm on track to be halfway done by October 1 -- how's that for tempting fate!

Hey, let's look at some random Egypt-themed projects!

heavily modded Phone cozy [Rav$] by Kate Atherley; knit with some Wullenstudio Superwash Sock Merino Nylon in colorway Sister Golden Hair and a bit of Three Irish Girls Springvale Sock in colorway McNamara

Santa's Jolly Christmas Balls [Rav] by Helen Mathews; knit with some Bernat Satin Solids in colorways Navy and Amber

OK, I'm done for now.  More later.  -whoosh-

FOs: Dream Stripes Plus; This One Won't Hurt You

It's very rare that something turns out exactly how I pictured it... but it happened this time:

modified Dream Stripes [Rav] by Cailliau Berangere; knit with approx one full skein's worth (440yds) of fingering weight leftovers

The edging is Petal Trim, found in Betty Barnden’s Crochet Stitch Bible [Rav], and I think this shawl looks even better than the pattern as written.  It's just kinda swoopy and stripy and pretty... yay.

 Also pretty, but in a different way: yarn uterus!

Womb [Rav] by MK Carroll; knit with less than 20yds of Lion Brand Wool-Ease in colorway Rose Heather

MODS: worsted weight rather than bulky weight yarn; down 2 needles sizes (to US6); no pipe cleaners

...yeah, I really don't have much to add on that one.  :)

The green blanket hasn't really been touched since last week, so I'm going to get right on that, and... what else.  Sorry, I'm tired, yo.  Bed sounds amazing right now.  Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm okay g'night.

WIP Wednesday for realsies + FO: Autumn Dewdrops Cowl

Works in Progress on a Wednesday at Big Knitting Trouble?  Escandelo!

But first: a delicate FO:

Lacey Small Shell Cowl [Rav] by Teyani; knit with a quarter skein of Misti Alpaca Hand Paint Lace in colorway LP10 Red Rover

This uses up most of the leftover from the firework-looking shawl I finished earlier this year (the one that took forever and made me cry for several reasons) and the beads are a modification... I needed an excuse to keep using that beading gadget.  It really is genius.

I was trying to wait until September to cast on anything big, but this project couldn't wait:

This is meant for an excellent friend as she recovers from some excellent surgery (if you doubt that surgery can be excellent, then you don't know the kind of pain she's had to endure while waiting for it). It's a shawl, it's stripy, it's stashbusting, it's simple, it's soon-to-be-finished -- and not by me!  Another excellent friend, intrepid home-improver Jill Factotum, will be crocheting an edging (double the crafters, double the comfort) and we're doing the mathings today.

I won't get any HPKCHC points for it (started during break month, cowl already turned in for Detention points, only partially crafted by me), but that's kinda not the point at all, so I'm more than okay with it.

The blanket swatch has grown into this bowl-shaped beauty...

...and I can't believe I'm already halfway through the first (huge) chart.  My right arm can believe it, though; I'm getting some forearm twinges, and since my job is entirely computer-based, I need to slow the knitting down just a skosh to stay healthy enough to type.

The next three months are going to be slightly insane.
Insert self-pep-talk here.