Anticipation Is Keeping Me Waiting

Thanks, Carly Simon, for that reminder.  Anticipation is exciting, but it is keeping me waiting for that little bundle due in December.  One way that waiting plays out, of course, is in my knitting.
I recently finished a Baby Sophisticate in the 12 month size.  (The link will direct you to my Ravelry project page.  You can see the project details and pictures taken while the knitting was in progress.  I will try to use this feature more often to share updates.  Now that I know how to do it.)
This sweater is all done but the buttons and weaving in of the loose ends.  I took a good look at it and as I mentioned before, I immediately cast on the six month size.  It is coming along nicely.
I have only one more sleeve and then the front bands and collar on the 6 inch size.  But because I was nearing the end of the first sleeve just before Knit Nite Tuesday, I decided on taking other things with me.

 One of those things was an old project that is suddenly new again.
I refer to my Pi Shawl that I started in 2010 for Elizabeth Zimmermann's birthday.  The lace patterns meant that it was a project requiring more concentration than I wanted to give it at the time, and it fell woefully behind.  The reason I turned to it now was that I had tripped and fallen into that vast time suck called the Ravelry Patterns database.  It shows whatever pattern you want to search for.  And not only that, but versions of the pattern knit by others.  If people post a picture they have knit of the pattern, as I did for the two links above.  So between looking at all the patterns, and the Pi Shawl pattern in general, I had to dig out my Pi.
It was either that, or cast on something new.
And I really didn't want that to happen.  Since at the beginning of the year, one of my knitting resolutions was to "rethink" about some of my forgotten projects, I decided to pull out the started Pi shawl.
Non-knitters may not realize the significance of either Elizabeth Zimmermann or the Pi shawl.  She is a British born knitter, who married a German beer-maker who came to America, settled in Wisconsin and became a knitting genius and guru to legions of knitters.  She has written several books that are well loved by her fans.  I proudly call myself one of them.  She had a no-nonsense approach to knitting that appealed to me: There are no knitting police, or if you make a mistake and can't or don't want to go back to re-knit it, call it a design element and go forth boldly.  I date my beginning as a real Knitter as opposed to casual knitter from the time I discovered her.  The Pi Shawl is one of her classic patterns, and a very adaptable one.  It can be knit plain.  It can be knit with oodles of lace.  If any of you remember my shawl/blanket that I made in 2012 with a strand of black sock yarn, knit together with a strand of various left over sock yarn scraps.  ( I am really liking this linking to projects.  Here is the Leftover Pi.)
In the case of Boysenberry Pi, it is going to be knit in the classic simpler lace pattern that EZ first envisioned.  It is very intuitive, as long as it is set up correctly.  Of course I may make some changes.  I was considering adding a row of hearts around the final edge, before adding the lace edging.  That heart pattern is part of the lace of the pattern I just ripped back, but maybe I can face one repeat.  We will see what happens when I get that far.  That will be many, many rows from now.   Because I did rip back a couple inches, salvaging the inside rows, I was able to avoid casting on again.  And I was able to salvage some of the original knitting.
And of course, there is still much knitting for babies going on.  I need a Wallaby (hoodie) for the new great-nephew, and one for Whose It.  As well as the rainbow sweater kit I bought last year for my grandchild, and oh, so much more.  I gotta keep my grandbaby warm after all.  Probably a blankie too.  I think I have some wool to use for that.
Babies sure do change knitting plans. But I love the anticipation.