Flower Basket Shawl OR "Fun With a Scale"

I had dyed 1/2 pound of this periwinkle sock yarn, and had made one and a half socks when I decided to make the Flower Basket Shawl also. I had (what seemed like) a TON of this yarn, and the plan was: finish the pair, and make a shawl with whatever I had left over. Just keep knitting and knitting on the shawl until the yarn ran out.

It wasn't until I started repeat #12 that I realized: big shawls take A LOT of yarn. And I started to worry about running out. Here is what I had left in the current ball:

6 grams.

So I gathered up all the rest of the yarn and weighed it.

A small skein, 25 gms:


A ball attached to sock #2: 39 gms. I calculated that I would need about 19 gms for the sock, so, say, 20 gms leftover for the shawl.


And took these weights just for reference: sock partially knit, 15 gms.


Sock #1, already finished, 34 gms:


Then, as I knit the 12th repeat, I made notes of how much yarn I used. I used 5 gms of the ball still attached, and 12 gms of the next skein. 17 gms total. With 28 "flower baskets" in that repeat, that meant: .61 gms per basket. (I calculated per basket, because there are more baskets in each repeat, therefore you will use more yarn with each repeat.)

Projections:
Repeat 13: 18 gms
Repeat 14: 19.4 gms
Repeat 15: 20.6 gms
Border: approx 2o-something gms.

All this gobbledygook boils down to this: if I wanted to do 15 repeats, then by repeat 15 I would have finished off the ball attached to the sock and be cannibalizing the sock already 1/2 knit, and for the border I'd have to start frogging the sock already finished.

I was imagining all sorts of scenarios for saving the socks, mostly involving a pair of shortie socks with contrasting heels and toes.

Here I am, ready to start eating into the partial sock:


Here, I'm on the 15th repeat, and that tiny amount of yarn attached is what's left of the partial sock:


It was painful. I really liked that sock. But I didn't want to come this far on the shawl and not have the big shawl I wanted. In case you don't recognize it, that ball is a former sock:


And here it is, finished and unblocked, resting on the sofa.


Fully blocked shots coming shortly!

On a personal note, I'm taking my oldest to first grade tomorrow. My first one to be gone the full day. I thought that I had been eagerly anticipating this (for years!) but the past couple of weeks, I've been a mess. My baby cub. Eating lunch with his friends instead of at home with the rest of us. Sob.

Hopefully, after the milestone of dropping him off the first time, I'll be fine. One thing I know I am looking forward to (besides the obvious having time to myself and my projects) is having a lot more one-on-one time with my middle child, who I sometimes feel gets the shaft.

And a good friend reminded me tonight that there are many other moms in the same boat. So, my thoughts are with all you moms this time of year, whether it's dropping off preschoolers, elementary schoolers, high schoolers, or those college kids!

Hugs!