Counting

How far am I on the Shelter Shawl? I'd put up a picture except that it's at the point where it's impossible to get a decent picture of it due to the number of stitches on the needle. Besides, the picture wouldn't have told you much compared to this.

The stockinette spiral section started out at 288 stitches per round. To complete it, I'm planning on doing 80 rounds. I hear you experienced knitters going tsk tsk, why doesn't she have a pattern in there instead of row upon row of dull boring stockinette? Because this is a speed knitting project and a pattern would mean I would have to devote more attention to what I am doing instead of doing the knitting while I'm doing something else. I can knit stockinette without looking at my hands. The points where the spiral increases are going in are marked with markers so I don't miss those points.

So 80 rounds of stockinette. What does that mean stitchwise? It means that the final round will end up being 768 stitches. I'm at 606 stitches now. If I do a little over 1500 stitches a day, I'll have that section done in time to do the edging, which is a 12 row repeat (I'm doing it sidewise). I have 12 days of knitting left (not including the day of blocking).

What about tendonitis?

If you're a regular reader, you probably recall that I have problems at times with tendonitis in my hands. A speed knitting endeavor like this could do some major damage if not done right. But proper care and maintenance helps keep my tendons from being damaged. It's like an athlete taking care of his/her body, only in this case I'm working with just my shoulders, arms and hands. I've done enough knitting to have developed my muscles in my arms to the point where I have pretty good tone for someone who overall is in poor athletic shape. Muscular enough to scare my boss *BEG*. So far I'm doing well.