Blue Eggs Complete

It took quite a bit longer than expected but in the end, as with most things that take effort, I think it came out gorgeous and simply amazing. Now that it's off the needles and blocked I find myself in love with it again ... though not enough to instantly cast on another one. That might have to wait just a little bit so that I can work on a couple other things first.



I am in love with the points ... and how it's so soft and wrappable and yet, the points, they stay. They don't fade back into the shawl to become lost in the pattern.



Pattern: Omelet by Joyce Fassbender
Yarn: Knit Picks Palette in Celesial
Modifications: Did 6.5 repeats of chart B instead of 4.5
Project Page: Ravelry

WIP Wednesday: Eggy Edging

Knitting:
With only 10 rows left on the shawl I'm well and truly into the edge of the piece. I suspect I will get it finished this weekend (yep, along with herding cats, er volunteers at Space City Con).



Reading:

Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters by Ben H. Winters, with Jane Austen credited as co-author. I'm about halfway through and still just loving the story. It has amusing pictures scattered through it. Sea life grows bigger in this world with lobsters that can easily kill a man and jellyfish that find women to be a tasty treat. I'd really recommend it for anybody that enjoys whimsy in their Lovecraft ... or Lovecraft in their whimsy.

WIP Wednesday: Finish Line in Sight

Knitting: It won't be this Friday, since I have physical therapy today and a full check up with the doctor tomorrow. But I'm only a couple rows away from finishing Chart D and then just 37 rows of Chart E and I'll be binding off so I'm hoping for next Friday. I'm really thrilled with how the edge is coming along. I love the pattern that's appearing and I love that I can somewhat predict what my next stitches should be. It's so good to feel like I have a handle on the pattern again.


Reading:

Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters by Ben H. Winters, with Jane Austen credited as co-author. This is such a fun read! The feel of Austen has been captured and alongside it is a twist of Lovecraftian quirkiness that's delightful. I'm really looking forward to seeing where the twists take us in the story.

WIP Wednesday: Blues over the Blue

Knitting:
I skipped posting last week because I was just so frustrated with this pattern and myself. I took the shawl with us to the park to watch 4th of July festivities 2 weeks ago. After a long day of knitting I found several counting mistakes that I simply couldn't brain my way around. For the rest of the evening I worked on my travel socks. Once home I realized that I'd made mistakes so far back that there was simply no answer but to rip everything out and start over. So, by the time last Wednesday rolled around, I was just a little past where I'd previously been the week before.

This Monday I finally gave into my feeling of "there's something not right about this" and counted my stitches. I'd just finished 6 repeats of chart b and a full chart c. I know I'm not the only one to occasionally ignore the inner knitter when something doesn't feel right, even the Yarn Harlot has posted about it. I'd had that niggling feeling since repeat 2 of chart b and yet I'd kept on going. So I give in and count my stitches. 155. Wait ... what? The pattern says that if I did 4.5 repeats of B then I should have 269 stitches and I did 6.5 repeats.  

I'm looking at the pattern, at the charts, at my knitting and slowly I realize my mistake. I'd read each line of the chart (with it's repeated block in the center of each line) as though it went all the way across the row rather than as what to do with the stitches in each of the 4 sections of the shawl. That explained why the outer sides had grown and the two inner sections hadn't. That explained why I wasn't using the yardage I'd expected to use.

Gods bless my poor Husband. He held me, offered me chocolate, and helped to unravel all my hard work and wind it back into a ball. Had this been for myself I would have tossed it into a corner, buried it under yarn, and never spoken of it again until I was ready to deal with it.

The pattern really isn't that hard. I don't want to scare off anybody that's kind of looked at the pattern and thought about knitting it. It's really not that hard. I promise. The reason it's been so difficult for me? I started this in a time of high stress and new medication for pain management, the two combined meant that I didn't eat for practically 3 weeks and I was so brain fogged that I couldn't think straight. I'd been clearer when I started the pattern the second time but I just kind of blindly followed what I'd done previously, thinking that I'd just lost count somewhere along the way. I probably had ... I would have been hard pressed to tell you my name a few of those days.  So, here I am, 3 weeks later, basically exactly where I was before. I'm going to knit my fingers to the bone to get this finished soon as I feel bad about it taking so long when I know it's been eagerly looked for.



The purple line marks the end of Chart A. Previously I did a lifeline for the end of each Chart B repeat .... I think I'll do every other one this time. Please ..... if you see a mistake in the knitting now ... Tell Me. Be gentle though.

Reading:

Stephen King's The Dark Tower Graphic Novel: The Fall of Gilead as written by Peter David. I am a huge Stephen King fan girl. I've been collecting these for a bit now and waiting to read them. Because of their location on the shelves I seemed to always miss them so I started keeping a To Read List that held only the next 4 - 6 books I was going to read. Each of these graphic novels have only taken a couple days to read. I'm in awe of the gorgeous coloring of the art, the fantastically done writing, and the faithfulness to the feel of the original works. I would have loved them for being a part of the Dark Tower world, but it's a delight to also love them for being so incredibly good.

WIP Wednesday: Blue Shawl

Reading:

Ganymede by Cherie Priest. I've been really enjoying the Clockwork Century books and the world they're set in. My 'only' problem with them is the referencing of people from Texas as "Texian(s)". I've always heard people of Texas labeled as "Texan". I know there was an Texan army during the time of the Alamo and Civil War that was called the Texians, so I think that's where it's coming from as most of the people in the books we meet from Texas are military. All in all I can deal, it's just a little jarring at times. And really, that's the only nit I have with the stories, everything else has been an incredibly fun read.

Knitting:
It's grown so much! I think this'll be the last spread out on the needles picture I have since it was barely on the needles this time. I almost have 3 of the 4.5 repeats of chart B completed ... and I think I need to add a couple repeats to that for size. I'm looking forward to new charts though, and seeing a new pattern develop in the lace. 

WIP Wednesday: Blue Eggs

Reading:

Ganymede by Cherie Priest. I'm only a couple of chapters into this one but I'm already enjoying it. There's been new characters added and a glimpse of some old ones that we didn't get to see as much of in older books in the series. I'm sure it's going to be a fun read, just like the others have been.

Knitting:
The first time I started this pattern I got to Row 3 of Chart B and then became convinced that I had a counting issue. This is standard since I numbers and I aren't exactly best buds. So I ripped the row back and started over. That changed nothing. I ripped back to the last row of Chart A since I 'knew' that one was correct, nope. I counted and recounted my stitches ... that didn't give any insights. I even slid stitches over as I verbally worked through the pattern, no change.

Sighing in defeat I ripped it all out and started over since by then I'd convinced myself that I didn't really like the density of the yarn and went up a needle size, plus my 4 has a smoother join than my 3. Two days later I was back to Chart B. Huh .. I hadn't had a counting problem, it just looked different than I expected. Last night when I finally reached  row 7 I did have a counting problem. (I should probably not knit as much when I'm tired.) Soon the end of the shawl looked like this:



And 40 long minutes later .....



After that though it went to time out while I took a break.

Miss Kid's Shawl

It took nearly two years, a ton of restarts, and a lot of frustration, but Miss Kid (my step daughter, 11) finally finished her shawl that she wanted so much. Because of it she's gotten quite good at reading her stitches, picking up dropped stitches, and correcting small mistakes. She's also learned how to knit while walking.



She's incredibly proud of her finished shawl, as she should be. She hasn't decided just yet what she'll work on next, other than it be something small.

A Shawl Complete Round 2

The third time around this pattern was still fun to work up and watch come together. I think it's the different colors each time and the way they blend together.



The colors in this one make me think of spring and bright gardens to while away the hours in. The last few rows seemed to take longer than before but in all fairness that's because it was sitting next to me while I thought about knitting them instead of actually knitting them. Funny how that makes a difference.



Pattern: Chinook Shawl
Yarn: Knit Picks Alpaca Cloud and Shadow Tonal
Ravelry Page

WIP Wednesday: Chinook 2 & Magic Balance Part 3

Writing:

Magic Balance (Working Title) - Rewrites

Previous Word Count: 7,141

Current Word Count: 11,214 (Up 4,073)

Holy ... wow! Yeah, I'm very happy and pleased with that number. A quiet house, the music I want to listen to, and no interruptions means I can get a lot done. A secret world's been found and the group has talked a very closed community into accepting them, for a time.

Reading:
 
Deceive Not my Heart by Shirlee Busbee Yep, still on mindless romance and considering where I'm staying lately it's the perfect companion.  I'm getting more time to read these days as I've been taking lunch in the backyard and reading there for a bit each day. It's wonderful! 

Knitting: It's not done yet ... but it's getting much closer. I had hoped to have it done by Friday to get pictures and all but it's not looking terribly likely, it may have to be put off for a week. As Dragon says, "we'll see". On the plus side, if I do manage to get it all done ... he's agreed to help with pictures. Win! I have made a lot of progress on it though. I'm on my next to last color and have only 2 more color changes to go. 

WIP Wednesday: Chinook Shawl 2 and Finding Magic Round 2

Writing:

Magic Balance (Working Title) - Rewrites

Previous Word Count: 6,261

Current Word Count: 7,141 (Up 880)

That's up more words than last week! Win! The house was empty for a large chunk of morning the other day and I got a good bit cleaned up. The main group is about to finally find the people they've been looking for. I can't wait! Of course that's just because I know what else happens.

Reading:

Deceive Not My Heart by Shirlee Busbee Yes, yes, I know, trashy romance. Trust me, my brain requires it now and again, especially when I feel really busy. It's a nice little break for a bit while I deal with a lot of other stuff going on. Plus, this one actually has a fairly decent plot and a nice strong female lead.

Knitting:
I haven't gotten quite as far on this shawl as I'd originally hoped. Part of that is the whole I leave in 2 days and I completely forgot how the days of the week work apparently. I have a secret project that I need to also get done, blocked, and photographed before I leave. I believe I can but it takes a bit of rearranging. Anyhow, here's current progress on the shawl, look for the secret project in a couple weeks when I can share it.

A Shawl Complete

When agreeing to a giant project I was a little scared. I mean, what if my personal one was a fluke and this came out horribly? What if I wasn't able to finish it in a reasonable amount of time? What if I did finish it and the customer hated it? My brain, it's so terribly helpful with the panic moments.

I did it though.



I was stunned at just beautiful it came out. I'd been in love with the colors when I got them and more so with each one as I worked it into the pattern. It's one thing to see the scrunched up lace on the needles ... a whole different thing to spread it out and see the lace open up. I even went row by row to smooth out the yarn overs and keep the stitches on either side from opening too much. The colors in sunlight are beautiful and impressive.



Pattern: Chinook Shawl
Yarn: Knit Picks Shimmer
Project Page: Ravelry
Mods: None intended

WIP Wednesday: Chinook 2 & Finding Magic

Writing:

Magic Balance (Working Title) - Rewrites

Previous Word Count: 5,519

Current Word Count: 6,261 (Up 742)

I'd have added more to the count this morning but apparently we need to stop by the store before Miss Kid gets here.

Reading:

The Road to Memphis by Mildred D. Taylor I'm nearly done with this one. So far I've loved it, enjoyed seeing how Cassie's changed, and not, as she's grown up. The US has just joined the war in the book, making it December 1941, so it'll be interesting to see how that affects her and her family.

Knitting:
I know it's been all Chinook Shawl around here for a few weeks and that's why today I bring you ....... another Chinook Shawl. I finished the last one just last night and instantly cast on for the 2nd one that's been requested. Completely different colors though, it's what keeps this a fun knit. I'm of the opinion that unblocked lace doesn't look all that great or interesting so I tried to give it a little interest. Check back on Friday for finished pictures of the other shawl.

WIP Wednesday: Chinook & Finding Magic

Writing:

Magic Balance (Working Title) - Rewrites

Previous Word Count: 5,175

Current Word Count: 5,519 (Up 344)

I managed to figure out how I wanted to write the meeting of the 4 main and got past that. Hopefully it'll flow a bit easier now.

Reading:

The Road to Memphis by Mildred D. Taylor. Here we read about an older Cassie, in her teens, who's going away to school and dealing with the affections of a long time friend. So far I love it and really enjoy reading about the family and how they've aged.

Knitting:
I am simply amazed at this point. I've flashed through the first 5 color changes and I'm currently in the middle of the 6th one with 5 more to go. Look at how much it's grown! It's folded in half to more easily fit into the frame, so it's much wider than it appears.



I've currently put in 34 hours on this shawl and I've got 42% of the pattern left to do. I am simply thrilled at how smoothly it's going and how well the yarn is behaving. It's not adding stitches or dropping stitches. It's not randomly tangling or being willful about being knit up. It's lovely when yarn agrees about how it should be used. Here's a closer shot of the last color change because I love the way the blues and greens look.

WIP Wednesday: Shawl, Gloves, & Magic Balance

Writing:

Magic Balance (Working Title) - Rewrites

Previous Word Count: 5,175

Current Word Count: 5,175 (Up 0)

I decided to rework how the two main meet the third and ... I'm stuck. I've been letting them argue it out while I dye yarn and knit. Hopefully they'll figure it out and I'll be able to just write it down already.

Reading:


Let the Circle Be Unbroken by Mildred D. Taylor. I'm closing in on the end and the story lines are getting wrapped up. It's still as wonderful of a story as I remember it being.

Knitting: The shawl and I have had ... words. Somehow it snuck an extra yarn over in a line and I didn't see it until I went back across the row so I unpicked quite a bit before realizing I could just take up the slack and use a sharp needle to tighten all the stitches back across. A row and a half later and I was back on track. I'm only a few rows away from a color change so that should be interesting. I love watching how this shifts through the chosen colors. It's knitting up quite a bit faster than my first one did. Part of that is going and buying sharper needles for the lace work. Now I have no clue how I managed the whole shawl the first time on such blunt tips. *laugh*



Designing:
It looks like mostly nothing so far since it's only 5 rows but it's a design that's been poking at me. It's something I can work on in the car or other times when I can't focus on a pattern (so far) so it's probably not going to grow very fast since I'm still putting most of my time into customer stuff.



Dyeing:
Another experiment ... this time with kool-aid rather than food dye. If nothing else the yarn now smells of grape. If the yarn turns out the way I'd like then it'll be made into one set of mitts, if not then I have a different pattern in mind for it.



It's no wonder I'm tired ... wow.

WIP Wednesday: Gloves, Chinook, & Magic Balance

Writing:

Magic Balance (Working Title) - Rewrites

Previous Word Count: 4,892

Current Word Count: 5,175 (Up 283)

I tried. So hard. I managed to get some work done on Thursday. I could blame Dragon, I mean, it's him I was so excited to be able to see .. but no. I'm a big girl, I choose when to work and when not to. Besides, I'll not attach blame and sully such a lovely weekend.

Reading:

Let the Circle Be Unbroken by Mildred D. Taylor. I actually made more progress on this since I took a long bath on Friday and was able to soak and read for a bit. It was sinfully delightful and so needed.

Knitting:
You get two pictures today .. and neither of them is a baby blanket. Perhaps you'll see that on Friday. First up is a sad lonely cuff of a glove. There can only be one. See, one of Dragon's fingerless gloves that I knit him jumped out of his jacket pocket and ran away. Its poor mate is crying. We can't have that. Luckily I 'think' I have enough of the grey to reknit a cuff and plenty of the black to do the rest of the glove. At least Dragon has something to wear, should he need it since I pulled out the fingers on his other gloves and reknit them longer this weekend. The man has 'very' long fingers.



Second we have a Chinook Shawl. I only started it last night but I'm already up to row 7. Pretty impressive considering that my brain was a wee bit broke. This whole "start my own business" thing is hard. Nothing like a little lace to soothe my beleaguered mind. You know ... if anybody ever needs proof of my insanity, I think I just gave it to them. Lace is not calming to most people, and given the anguished whimper I let out at nearly midnight it wasn't very calming when I realized I'd knit the wrong row and had to undo it. At least I'm working the shawl on straights for a little bit, long enough to get the pattern established before I put it onto circulars and the yarn over start floating over the stitch markers and I lose where they belong.




Also?

Blue Fireworks

It's always amazing to me how changing yarn or color can really change the look of something you've done before. Somebody wanted the Firework Mitts that I'd just finished and shown off ... but they wanted them in the same color as my Blue Leaves Shawl. I looked at the computer screen funny for a moment but decided that since the yarns were 'very' close in thickness I could easily do it. We settled on the exact same yarn that I'd used in my shawl and I got to work.

First the yarn is super soft and squishy. I kept wanting to just sit and squeeze it because that's what you do with yarn like that. Actually wearing the gloves is a treat because it's so soft. Miss Kid modeled for the pictures ... and then didn't want to take them off.

Second, the yarn being one color means the detail fades back a little but I think that's still pretty cool as it gives an awesome texture that's a little subtle and interesting. Of course now I want to play with various other stitch patterns and see what else I could come up with to use in place of that particular stitch pattern.

I always worry when I mail something off. I'm on pins and needles until I hear back from somebody to let me know they got what I sent and it's the right fit / color / look. The happy recipient has received them and says they fit perfectly. All is right with the world.

Pattern: Fireworks Mitts by Megan Bayonet
Yarn: Plymouth Dreambaby DK in 109 / Royal
Ravelry Page
Mods: Same as before

Also, since I'm here:
Day 17 in A Month of Craft Photos by is Last FO You Used.

Speaking of the Blue Leaves Shawl, this was my most recently used Finished Object. Since the Nox Puppy was crashed out on the bed I decided she'd be a good model for pictures. Of course then when I tried to hang the shawl up afterward she wasn't too willing to get off it; she was both laying on it and resting her head on part of it.

Many Finished

Day 3 in A Month of Craft Photos by Untangling Knots is An Old FO.

Pictured are Chinook Shawl, Shrug This, Chastain Park Shawl, Traveling Woman, Clara's Cowl, and Triangular Leaf Shawl.

This is a hanger by our front door that holds lots of scarves and shawls for when we head out to the cold.

The Morphing Shawl

I started this shawl with the full intent of following the pattern and having a gorgeous piece of lace knitting done in plenty of time for gift giving. It's funny how our brains work.

The pattern? Lovely! The yarn? So scrumptious! The following of the pattern? Not a chance.



Perhaps I would have had fewer problems had I used the suggested weight for this but you know how it goes. Instead I used a lace yarn, something much thinner than suggested. I quickly realized that I'd have to change the needle size too because that solid portion was looking mighty lacy already and I was only about 5 rows in. Then I realized that I'd be better off if I could make the solid portion much larger but I still needed to hit the required number of stitches before getting to the lace sections. So I changed my increases.

After getting through the charted out lace, all 3 charts of it I realized it still was going to be way too small. Time to poke at the charts again. I figured I'd be okay if I kept doing the lace (and extrapolating what the edges should be like since it didn't quite line up as before) until I'd doubled the lace section before doing the edging.

Still not large enough but by then time was growing short and I was sick of the lace portion. I poked at the charts a bit more. There was a solid portion between the last lace section and the edging. I could simply make that quite a bit larger to match the stitches needed for the edging and it'd look intentional. So back to the calculator (I normally call him Husband) and I had my next goal. I flew through that and began the edging. Once more I had to somewhat make up what happened at the edges as it didn't line up exactly perfectly but I kept the pattern extending outward.

Then it was time to take a really deep breath and block it. If it all fell apart now I had only 2 days to find a replacement gift. I strongly considered pictures of the attempted shawl and a promise to remake it if it did disintegrate in the blocking process. It wouldn't have been a great solution but I had nothing left in the brain reserves at this point.

Luckily it blocked out beautifully and the recipient loved it. Good thing Miss Kid is always glad to help out on showing off the pretties that her step mother makes  so it can be photographed, I couldn't ask for a better model. And look! The little points stayed pointy and OMG it's awesome! *squee*



Pattern: Lingonberry Shawlette by Andrea Arbour
Yarn: Knit Picks Shimmer in Bayou
Project Page: Ravelry

WIP Wednesday: Secret Shawl & Fey Led 3

Writing:
Fey Led (Working Title) - Rewrites
Previous Word Count: 46,533
Current Word Count: 48,731 (Up 2,198)

And done, done, done!! Who wants to beta it? I know it has issues but I'm to close to see them at this point.

Knitting:
Speaking of done ... only 2 more rows and the bind off!! I'll totally have this done and blocked by Sunday with no problem!

Chinook Shawl Complete!

I ordered the kit for this shawl sometime back in March. I wasn't able to get around to opening it until September. I had a brief moment of "omg Gods what am I thinking I can't do this" before I shushed myself. One Stitch at a Time, that's the rule.

Winding the yarn up into a ball each time was a delight, knitting with it was fantastic, seeing the pattern emerge was enthralling. I was in love with this shawl. Little things kept coming up and I'd set it aside to finish something else along the way (money has this particular draw) but I always kept coming back to it as quickly as possible.

And then? Sitting on the couch at Dragon's house after my November novel was done, while watching my yearly viewing of Star Wars, the final stitch was bound off. It was done. I scrunched it up in my hands and buried my face in it. Blocking it was going to be a problem but I left that for when I returned home. I was even more glad that I'd woven ends in as I went along so all I had left to weave in was the final end.



I'm not sure I'm fully done with it. I may perhaps block it again, but it's already huge. I don't know if it really needs to be larger or if the thought has appeal just because "I can". However it is warm, gorgeous, and cuddly soft. I am beyond delighted at the results of months of knitting. I'm now dreaming of more shawls in various gradients of blue, purple, and green.



Pattern: Chinook Shawl by Nina Isaacson
Yarn: Various Knit Picks
Project Page: Ravelry
Mods: None