WIP Wednesday: Piano Scarf

Knitting:
Since I have a pattern for this and I know how to juggle my yarn more effectively it's going much faster this time around. I've already finished the first repeat of 7. I should be able to get a lot done this weekend as weekends are high movie watching times for us.



Reading:

Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury. I'm not sure what I expected ... but this isn't it. It's not a bad book, it's a very well told story. I suspect I simply would have appreciated it more at a different time.

Circles ... Going in Circles

I finished my travel socks! These have traveled with me to various stores, 2 seperate geeky conventions, a movie, and 3 plays, not to mention uncountable hours in lines, doctor's waiting rooms, and driving around town (I was the passenger, promise).



The second one simply flew by as I worked Space City Con and ran around helping my amazing volunteers out as they assisted patrons with directions and played tour guide a couple of times. I even managed to get the stripes to line up almost exactly!



You can tell on the heels and toes that it was a bit off but I think that's partially because on the second heel I was trying to go by memory and didn't start the turning at exactly the same spot. Either way I don't care, I think they're perfect!



I don't think I'm a huge fan of the star toe, but I had to at least try it. The heels are eye of partridge and that doesn't really bother me, though I didn't get the slightly raised diagonals I read should appear .. perhaps I did it wrong. If I do this pattern again, which is a possibility, I'll change the numbers a bit and only add one repeat at cast on, decrease a bit before doing the heel, and do a different toe. This pair though? I'm in love! 

Pattern - Circle Socks by Anne Campbell
Yarn - Knit Picks Felici in Caprica
Ravelry Project Page
Modifications - Added 16 stiches to the cast on as the original was way too tight for me.

WIP Wednesday: Tri the Force

Yeah yeah .. horrible joke. Moving on ....

KnittingCrochet:
As I complained on FB earlier 1 pillow takes 1 skein of yellow and 1 of white but 2 takes 3 skeins of yellow and 1 of white? I'm confused. Though, in retrospect, because I did all the triangles first and semi sewed them together before I did the strip around the edge I could be wrong in that. It could require 1.5 skeins of yellow, which would make more sense honestly. I think my issue is desginers not being clear about how much yarn a project requires. But! Enough of that, on to the picture!



We have both front and back for 2 pillows and 1 full strip to go around the outside of them. The other strip is short by a third of the total length. And here you can see the locking markers I've used to hold the triangles together, since I didn't fully sew them together, I just used the ends to join together where available. On the plus side it's been a good (and enjoyable) lesson on peicing things together, getting things to line up, and making sure the right sides are all facing correctly.

Reading:

Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury Having just started reading this morning I have not read enough to have an opinion. It's certainly a different feel from the last book so I'm still trying to swtich gears

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: Triforce Power!

Knitting Crochet: No shawl! I'm hoping to get pictures here today or the next so I can share on Friday. Meanwhile, the next project on the lineup is two Triforce Pillows.I'm suddenly finding the appeal of modular projects as I managed to start and finish 4 yesterday. I get the quick cast on and finish lift really quick from these. I need 12 yellow and 4 white triangles and then 2 strips of yellow. I think these are going to move quickly.



Reading:

Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters by Ben H. Winters, with Jane Austen credited as co-author. I should have known I wouldn't finish this past weekend if only because of working Space City Con. Apparently, not being home for 4 days, other than to pass out, wake up, shower, and change clothes really slows down your reading speed. Who knew! (laugh) Still enjoying the book though and having fun seeing what calamity happens to the sisters Dashwood next.

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.

Air and Water Dreamcatcher

 

A 7in ring wrapped in dark blue thread and webbed with light blue. In the middle is a 3in ring wrapped in light blue thread and webbed in white. Freshwater pearls were used in both rings, white for the larger one and dark blue ones in the smaller one. A crystal like prism hangs in the very center of the duo. 

Gloves to Match

The pattern for these gloves are my default pattern, at least that's how it looks after I've made it 7 times. It's just such a great pattern, a fast knit and something I can easily make larger. They can either be ribbed all the way up or not, have multiple colors or not, and have longer or shorter fingers. I had hoped to do a bit of colorwork on the cuffs to make it look like piano keys but the yarn type just wasn't having it. I'll have to try it again with a different type of yarn at some point. 

Pattern Page: Ravelry

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. 

Blue Moon

     A small, 3in brass ring that I wrapped in light blue thread and webbed in dark blue.      

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.

Fi's Beret

I was thrilled to be asked to make this beret. Berets are always interesting to make, lace ones even more so. It's another case of blocking making something magically transform.

I absolutely love how the decreases come together to form the top of the beret and how the lace pattern looks. Now that it's off my needles I'm completely enchanted by it.

It's so soft and cuddly too. Even before blocking I wanted to just sit and pet the yarn. I hope it brings much happiness and joy to my friend.

Pattern: Wussypillows Beret
Project Page: Ravelry
Yarn: Knit Picks Stroll in Sapphire Heather

WIP Wednesday: Blue Dreams

Reading:

Dreadnought by Cherie Priest. I'm about halfway though and loving it. It's a continuation of the story she began in Boneshaker, but not as I expected it to be. I was thrown for a bit until I saw the connection and in this way she shows more of what's going on in this fictional America she's created. It's a very interesting and fun read.

Dreamcatcher:
I'm taking a couple days off from knitting so I can work on the two dreamcatchers that were ordered. I have the smallest one nearly done, though the hangings at the bottom are giving me fits since I didn't tie the knot right. I think I need to take it off and redo it. Other than that and cleaning up the stray threads, this one is done.



The larger one is further along than last week, but just barely. I still need to do the small one that will hang in the center of the 7inch ring after I web and bead the large ring. I always forget how much thread it takes to wrap a large ring ... and how long it takes.

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.

Gloves & Dreams

Reading:

Dreadnought by Cherie Priest. Okay, technically I'm not reading it since I finished my last book last night and haven't actually started this one, but it's next on the list and I'll start later today.

Knitting:
Once I managed to get it through my head that I just wasn't going to be able to do what I wanted with these and simply went back to the basic pattern it's nearly flown off the needles. This is mostly yesterday's work; I started the day with the cuff (white portion) only about half done. I'm already up to the fingers. I had wanted to do some colorwork on the cuff but that's just not possible with acrylic in such a small space. I have some plans for wool though. *grin*



Dreamcatcher:
I probably would have finished the wrapping on this one had I not ran out of thread. I need to dig in the thread box and see if I have more and get Lynn to help me unbury the sewing machine so I can spin it on to the bobbin. Otherwise I'll be making a trip to the store with the ring in hand to find the matching color.

Batty

I needed a present for a dear friend ... and I knew just the perfect thing for said friend. A Bat! Willingford to be exact. Don't look at me like that. A bat plushie for Dusti is perfect. Trust me.

He was sent along with the book I got signed for her and a small little art card of a bat that I picked up at Con a couple weeks ago. She reports that he arrived safely and I'm sure that he's busy protecting her while she sleeps.

Pattern Page: Ravelry

WIP Wednesday: Beret & Bloodshot

Reading:

Hellbent by Cherie Priest. I love reading about Raylene and how she gets herself into, and out of, various dangerous situations. I love Priest's writing style, it's almost like sitting down to chat with somebody. It's good to see the returning supporting cast as well and getting to know more about them. 

Knitting:
The beret finally settled down and allowed me to knit it correctly .. or I finally started following *gasp* the pattern. I thought I was to begin with but apparently I kept forgetting small details like change needle size. I'm up to (down to?) the decreases now and love how it's looking.

More Geek Love

The cliff I jumped off this time wasn't as high since I'd already done double knitting once before. I had some issues getting the chart to look the way I wanted so the Deception symbol would show up as accurate as possible but luckily I got a friend to help tweak that a bit.

I find that the hardest part for me is the parts where you have to knit for $inches. That seems to always be the part where I have the most trouble keeping my focus. If I know I have x rows left then it's a bit easier.  

Anyhow, I finished the scarf and I'm really happy with how it looks. Huge thanks to my husband for being willing to go stand in the sun in 90 degree weather while I drape wool around him and take pictures.

The pattern is now live and available for purchase, . It includes detailed instructions on double knitting, binding off one color while continuing in the other, and grafting knits to purls.