Extreme KIPing!

Kendra here coming to you from fabulous California! I'm taking this KAL on the road and so far I have a finished Homin shawl to show for it! It proved to be an extreme knitting challenge, however, because I was determined to have it done and ready to wear for the wedding we attended last Saturday in Lake Tahoe (at the top of the Heavenly gondola to be exact - beautiful!)

The challenge? I'd finished the edging but now had less than a day to pick up the stitches along the side and knit the body of the shawl using short rows. I knit all day on the planes from NYC to Reno, with the help of The Pink Elephant. Turns out the clip for the tray table is a perfect pattern holder!

We landed and had a two-hour car ride to Tahoe which I knit through as well. I was getting down to only 6 rows left, but at just under 300 stitches those rows took forever! I had to pause my frantic knitting at the hotel to get ready for the wedding but was back at it in the car - I got to the bind-off but it was taking forever! We parked the car and I still wasn't done so I pulled out a long length of yarn, cut it from the ball, and threw it in my little purse with scissors and a darning needle. The only way to the ceremony was up the mountain in the gondola, so I kept working on the shawl while we waited to go up!
Once at the top we found our seats and (luckily!) had time before the ceremony started. I finished the bind-off (with many curious on-lookers) and wove in my ends just in time to throw it over my shoulders as the ceremony was getting going. Phew! Talk about adventures in extreme knitting in public! But now I've got my gorgeous shawl to use in the chilly California evenings, although it is in desperate need of a good blocking when I get home to really make it shine :)

As an aside, we made a stop this week at a yarn store in Petaluma called Knitterly and they had a pretty awesome MadTosh selection so I had to snap a picture for you girls! I'm also bringing back some presents but you'll have to wait to see what they are!