The Joyful Ferocity is our major design project.  Even with our pink distractions, we have been
plugging away faithfully at the sleeves (Sarah) and the jacket skirt (me). 

On Monday, we had both come to “okay, what’s the next step?”  (Explanation: 
even though we plan out the piece in detail at the beginning of the
design process, we have to work out the techniques, make adjustments, swatch
for stitch numbers, etc. as we go along) 
So we reached into the appropriate knitting bags and dug out notes, swatches,
photocopies of stitch patterns, needles, balls of yarn –and began the
archeological process.

Hmmmm.  A
partially-knit sleeve gusset.  A ball of
gold silk/wool.  Size 5 needles – double-pointed,
2 sets of circulars.  A diagram with
numbers (and a lot of arithmetic on the back). 
Several pristine copies of lace patterns – all pretty similar.  It gets a little dicey if vital clues (needle
size or a page number reference without a book title) are missing.  Or if there is some unexplained artifact in
the bag – a tube of beads or a ball of yarn that is not on the design chart.

It takes a while, but we can usually re-construct our
intentions.  And then we might shift
things around anyhow – add a color, switch to a different stitch pattern. 

It is always sort of aggravating to go through
the archeological stage – and I make all sorts of resolutions to complete
projects (or, at least, stages of major projects) in a timely fashion.  But I confess that I get a little triumphant when
I resurrect a project and am able to move on as if the lapse had never happened.