Progress Report on knitting and crocheting

Despite having a 60+ hour workweek (my timecard said 59, but we have to file it on Friday morning so I estimate eight hours on Fridays and adjust as needed - and this week, I need to do it) I managed to make some progress on the items I showed last week.

First, I had to un-do a lot of progress.  I took the shawl on a retreat last weekend.  And I realized I wasn't terribly happy with the result:

Oh, it was growing nicely and I liked the feel of the fabric, but I didn't like the contrast between the stockinette and garter spaces.  I thought it would look better with bigger stockinette.  So I ripped it back, to the shock of people around me, and started not quite over, but from the end of the first stockinette panel.  This is how it looks today:

 

It has about the same number of panels but is much bigger.  I do have some more yarn, that I will use for the applied I-cord border.  You can see the difference in these close-ups, before and after:

  

I do like the new version better.  As you can see, I've made some good progress on it this week, thanks to a lot of meetings that filled part of my days.  And with those hours, I didn't go out much in the evening, although I did knit on a chemo cap (just basic ribbing, hardly worth showing) for an organization called PatPat's Hats while I went to a movie and post-film discussion at the Wadsworth Atheneum on Thursday night.  A bit of a treat for me (almost-)after a LONG week of work.

In the evenings, I had time to make progress on the tunic, which required more focus than I could manage in the meetings, at least until I was well into the body:

Next stage will be the border, again requiring much focus, so I will work on it this afternoon.  I'm almost glad the rainy weather will keep me inside!  But I have to come up with something portable and simple to take with me to Manhattan tomorrow, where I will roam one or two museums and dine on Peking Duck with friends.  Maybe it will be a scarf for a veteran, I have some yarn in stash just for such purpose.  And I even know where it is!