The Home Stretch

If you look closely, you will see a line of green double crochet stitches that represents the beginning of the blanket border. Oh, yeah, baby. The body is done. Time for the border.

I spent most of the weekend eating advil and drinking tea and working on the blanket in front of the television. The body measures between 28 and 29 inches wide, depending on how I smooth it out before measuring it. And depending on where I measure it. Let's just say that thanks to my unique gauge, it's about a quarter inch (maybe 3/8 inch) longer on one side. This, I can live with.

I'm ahead of schedule, thanks to two factors. First, the oh-so-delightful foundation repair crew made it impossible for me to do much besides crochet and cry last week. Second, Trish at Nana's Knits convinced me I could shave a couple inches off my planned width and still have a darn fine blanket. mwah, Trish! I do love the way your mind works!

So, the plan is to do a two-color border of alternating rows of single shells, but first I'm adding a single row of double crochets to stabilize the work at the sides. (Because I worked the blanket sideways, crocheting up and down the length instead of side to side across the width, the side of the raw work will actually be the top and bottom of the finished blanket. It needs a little more stability there.)

With luck and a healthy wrist, this thing could be done in the next few days, certainly by the end of the week. We'll see. My wrist aches and could very likely swell overnight. But I'm hoping if I sleep in the brace, it will be okay.

In any event, the end is in sight. This thing might actually be finished before the June 1 shower date. Imagine that! A gift done on time without having to lose sleep the night before the party! And -- oh, praise heaven -- I might be back to knitting as soon as this weekend! Woohoo!