Emergency Surgery!

No...not mine.

My Valkyrie Seraphim Shawl
(why yes, that photo IS from before I lost weight)

I decided to wear it to the Roanoke Symphony matinee concert today. As I was sitting and listening to the first 1/2 of the performance, the a/c was on and I was chilly, and went to pull the shawl over my arms a bit, only to have my finger go thru what felt like a lot bigger hole than is normally made in knitted lace. I waited until the intermission, and investigated and sure enough, there was a hole and several stitches had come loose. I took a deep breath and dropped the hem back where it was and went back to the concert. And sat thru an amazing second half. Once the standing ovations for the Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto #2 were complete (it really was excellent), we went back up the aisle, and I stood outside the theatre in the hallway and located the hole, and carefully folded the shawl with the hole on top. The shawl stayed that way on the backseat of the car while we had dinner. Once home, I took safety pins, dpns, crochet hook, and finally needle and thread. As best I can tell, either the stress point of a s1 k2tog psso gave way or (a more likely occurrence) The Tonk was able to take a chomp out of two rows of stitching, because it was clear thru on one strand, and most of the way thru another. I can't imagine when Tonk got it, of course, as it stays in the shawl drawer safely when not in use. But those ends looked bitten, not frayed.

And we all know how much The Tonk dearly LOVES sock yarn? Well, this is premo stuff: Blue Moon Fiber Arts lightweight Socks That Rock! Can you see the two peaks on this photo? The one directly under my index finger (on the left) is the peak that was completely pulled apart:

I was able to form the psso again, but there was no way short of tying a knot in the yarn, that I could pull the other rows into place. Sewing came to my rescue, and I wove black thread back and forth thru the four ends of yarn that were broken/cut, and then thru and back thru several times on the psso.

Does the sewing show? I don't really think so, and it looks pretty close to what it's supposed to look like. It might not be the best way to repair lace, but considering I really didn't want to spend months ripping it back and reknitting it, I think it's satisfactory!
Whew.