Success!!!

The score was tied, there were two outs and the count was 3 balls, 2 strikes when the last batter smashed a home run out of the park. Yup, I finished the shawl but only by the skin of my teeth.

I finished weaving the shawl at exactly 5 pm, which was when we were supposed to leave for our anniversary dinner. I was knotting the fringe in the car on the way. Whew! What a marathon weaving session it was!

I have discovered that red is so hard to photograph. After several tries, this cropped photo is the best I can do. It doesn't begin to do justice to the beautiful texture and sheen of the finished project but I'm very pleased with how the shawl turned out and the way it looked with the dress.

My DH and I had a lovely dinner at Santorini's Taverna & Grill in St. Louis Park. Since my DH entertains out-of-town clients frequently, he's become quite the expert on outstanding restaurants in the greater Twin Cities area. Because he is a vegetarian and many of those he entertains are as well, he goes to great lengths to find restaurants that have exceptional vegetarian dishes and this restaurant is one of his favorites.

Of course, being a homeschool mom, the closest thing to gourmet food in my daily life is going to Subway instead of McDonalds. What a delightful treat to have a quiet, romantic dinner with my favorite guy in a fine restaurant.

To top it off, the ol' man gave me permission to just go spend some cash on whatever I want. Being a total knitting muggle, he was at a loss to even know where to buy a gift certificate. Which rocks, because I can shop Etsy or look for clearance sales and get the biggest bang for the buck. I'm going to take my time and explore some new knitting stores and do some online searching for great stuff. More details to come later . . .