New and improved

I was admiring a FO Shipwreck someone had posted on the Sanguine Gryphon forum on Ravelry (also done with Skinny Bugga, but in a different shade). She told me that from row 29 of the Madeira pattern on, she'd used an improved pattern developed by another Ravelry user that produces a more symmetrical-looking lace. I was on row 34 and had been following the pattern as written, but taking a look at my work, I decided that yeah, it WAS kind of off-looking, in spite of being technically correct. I had a lifeline in at row 31. This morning, while my boyfriend was driving me to work, I ripped back to that lifeline and started picking up stitches. When I finish that, I'll tink back to the beginning of row 29 and use the improved pattern.

Amusingly enough, when I went to look at the pattern improvement as described by its creator, I read this in her project notes: "Got to round 34 of the Madiera chart, didn’t like the way it was looking (fix from yesterday wasn’t a fix). Tinked back to end of round 29 and knit as follows[...]" Heh. Looks like we came to that decision in the same place!

Oh, the beads!!! The beads came in yesterday. They look lovely! I got two boxes each of the medium gold and light gold, and one box of the root beer. I figure I'll dump them all in a bag together and mix them up well for maximum randomness. They're going to look like little droplets of honey in a knitted honeycomb! (That's what this yarn looks like. It doesn't actually look so much like a bee, but it does seem to contain all the many amber-gold shades of honey. Beautiful.) I can't wait to start using the beads. I think I might even try just stringing some onto my next ball of yarn (ooh, I actually have to wind that skein into a ball, don't I?) this evening if I get a chance, just to see what they look like on the yarn. :)

So much progress while on vacation!

(This bit actually written on Saturday, 11/26)

I've come a really long way so far on the Shipwreck shawl! I've just put a lifeline through, halfway through the Madeira pattern. Vacations are good for my knitting. I'm finding this shawl a really enjoyable knit so far. The lace patterns have short repeats, which means I don't have to have the focus of a hunting eagle to zip through them. I can look at the pattern, memorize the repeat in a second, and just go. It's so much easier than the Aeolian shawl. It keeps my attention, but doesn't punish me if I let my thoughts wander for a moment. I haven't been doing it while watching TV, but I have been chatting a little with people as I go, and it's good that I can do that. The edging is going to be a lot more mindless, so it'll be a good settle-in-with-a-movie project.

I should plan out how I'm going to string my beads. I might see about asking my friend M if I can borrow her bead stringer. I think she'll know where it is. She usually tends to keep her jewelry supplies a bit more organized than the rest of her house. If that fails, it's possible my friend J has one too. If that fails as well, I guess I'll just have to buy my own. Fire Mountain Gems has them for cheaper than Amazon.com does.

(and this bit written today)

So yeah, still banging away at the Madeira. I'm only a few rows from the end. *searches frantically for wood to knock* I'd better start hunting down a bead spinner. I won't be seeing M for at least a week and a half, and I'm going to want to get started before then. Hmm. Well, it's not as though I even HAVE the beads yet. They'll be coming early this week, though. I wonder how difficult it would be to break the yarn and rejoin it, and have beads go over the join. Would they fit over a Russian join? I might need to try that when I get them.

The leap of faith

The second charted lace pattern in Shipwreck is "Bleeding Heart." It's a ten-row pattern, repeated twice. On that tenth row, there's a note in the pattern saying, "Move marker one stitch to the left before beginning this row." This was the source, for me, of much confusion.

First, I attempted it while I was working on DPNs. When using DPNs, I can't put a marker between the last and first stitches of the round, because that's generally at the end of a needle. So, I put it after the first stitch. Was it already in the right place? Who knew? But before I could actually get to that round, I bollixed up something badly enough that I had to start over. OK. I figured that in the absence of specific directions about where to place a marker initially, it made sense to put it between the last and first stitches, and that would be easier if I switched to circulars before beginning the Bleeding Heart chart. On Take 2, that's what I did.

Then, I understood about moving the marker one stitch over. I didn't understand, though, whether I was supposed to start row 10 AFTER the marker, or before. Before didn't really make sense, and looking at some forum posts on Ravelry confirmed this: I was actually changing the starting place of the row by one stitch. Good enough. But...what was I to do with the stitch that had been the first stitch and was now, thanks to the movement of the marker, the last stitch? It wasn't part of the previous row's pattern repeat, it was just extra. Did I knit it? Slip it? I elected to take off the marker, slip that first stitch onto the right needle, then put the marker on again. I took a deep breath, and took the leap of faith. Round 10 worked up in perfect alignment. Yay!

Next, I was faced with the question of whether or not I was supposed to put the marker back where it had been before beginning the next round. It was not stated to do so in the directions. To be certain, I counted stitches, and sure enough--I needed to just leave it where it was! No need to replace it. Fine by me. I'm in the middle of that second set of Bleeding Heart now. I just wanted to make sure to note down all this stuff so that maybe someone else who's as confused as I was might see it someday on Ravelry!

Bees! Bees! Bees!

Two posts in one day, wow!

Upon finishing Memere's Multnomah, I decided to cast on for Shipwreck. I took out my swift and ball winder, and turned one of the skeins of Skinny Bugga! into a perfect little yarn cake. These guys wind their skeins nicely: this one didn't give me any trouble at all with tangles or knots or breaks or anything.

I started out trying to cast on as instructed in the link provided in the pattern, but many attempts confused the FUCK out of me, so I decided to try a regular knitted cast-on. Well, that left a big and un-fixable hole right in the middle. So, I started digging around. Hey, I'm a researcher. It's what I do. Anyway, in one forum on Ravelry, I found a few links to similar cast-ons. Eventually, I got the hang of one of them, and started knitting. Then, I realized I'd not been paying attention, and had blithely skipped a number of rows. Oops. I frogged (it was only about 10 rows), and cast on again. This time, I've gotten up to row 29, where I'm about to start the second lace pattern. It being after 11 p.m., I've decided to save that for later. I know my limits.

I admit I'm mostly a product knitter. I see stuff and think, "Ooh, that's pretty. I want that." But it's also nice to have some variety in a pattern, and to learn new skills while knitting a new pattern. This one has already taught me that very nice cast-on for circular shawls. I'm really pleased with how it turns out. The process of doing it is a bit of a pain in the arse, requiring some serious twisting around of the hands, but it works.


The yarn is just beautiful to work with, and I can't wait until I have it on my nice Harmony Options needles. So far, at 144 stitches, I'm still on DPNs. It's looking nice, though. I'd LIKE to knit more tonight, but it probably wouldn't be a good idea. I'll pick it up again tomorrow--maybe even while I'm at the Knitting Kumquat's birthday party (a.k.a. Comfy Cozy Kumquat Day). I'll at least have to show her the yarn and the pattern, because I KNOW she's a Sanguine Gryphon fan, same as I am. It's sad that they had to split into two companies just as I was getting to know them, but I'll get to know the two new companies, too. :)

Finished Memere's shawl

I finished the large-size Multnomah I made for my Memere today. After binding off last night, I steam-blocked/killed it today. Turned out nicely. I didn't melt it, and it did keep its shape. Yay! I hope she likes it. The three balls of Wool-Ease were plenty for ten repeats of the F&F pattern, though I was pretty sure it wouldn't be enough for eleven AND a bind-off. I quit while I was ahead, and trusted that blocking would help. It did. Man, I'm so glad I blocked it. The difference is night and day! I'm going to throw it in the washer and dryer to soften it up and fluff it a bit, as well as to give it a nice scent from the fabric softener (because it smells of wet sheep now). I'm going to wait until Christmas to get pictures, on Memere. Oh, except...I won't BE at Christmas this year, with my family. I should ask Papa to take a few. His will be better than mine would be anyway. Maybe I can convince my sister to buy a shawl pin to go with it. Romi's cat-shaped one might be a good choice--the non-sterling ones are only about $30 each.

Bees and beads!

I just bought some beads for a Shipwreck Shawl! I ended up getting them from Fire Mountain Gems, which sells 8/0 round seed beads in 40-gram bags. I bought five of them. That should be enough, even given that the brand I bought seems to have fewer beads per gram than other Japanese 8/0s. I got transparent glass beads with silver lining, in light gold, medium gold, and root beer (a medium brown). I think they'll be great with the Honeybee yarn!

Chances are I'm going to start Shipwreck over Thanksgiving. I think it's likely I'll finish Mémère's Multnomah before then. I'm on repeat #9 of the F&F pattern, I believe. I hope it'll be big enough! I wonder, if I DID block it, how much would it stretch?

Moving on...

I finished my hat on Thursday night, just in time for some cool and windy weather. It's good and warm, and looks pretty cute! Tonight, I picked up the large-size Multnomah I'm making for my Memere again. I had been a bit irked by the fact that I had somehow messed up a few rows back, but I tinked back and re-knit those rows with no problems or confusion. Awesome. It's good to make progress. It's supposed to rain tomorrow, but I think I'll bring my knitting to work with me anyway. I would like to get this done. The hat was a nice break, I admit, but I'm looking forward to something a bit more delicate. Question is, do I start talking to my mom about doing a shawl for her? Maybe get it done for her birthday? Or do I start something for me? Maybe both. Maybe having two projects on the needles at once isn't such a bad thing. You know, like having two boyfriends at once. :)

I think my mother wants a rectangular stole. She'll probably want a biggish one so that there's plenty of wrap room. My Seascape would be too small for her. I'll poke around and see what I can see.

Oh, and by the way, here's the hat!

Hat trick!

OK, so there's no trick. But I've started a hat. I chose the South End Knitter's Hat pattern. It's a nice cabled-and-ribbed one, and it's knit long and with the cables on the inside. That way, you can fold up the bottom so that there's an extra layer of warmth. Nice! I'm using stashed Lamb's Pride, left over from the still-unzippered Samus cardi I made lo, these many years ago. I was going to use the Nuna (that's the merino/silk/bamboo blend) I had, but when I realized that 1) it was sport weight, not worsted, and 2) it didn't actually include alpaca as I thought it did, I decided it wouldn't be quite warm enough if a wind happened to blow. Also, the red is a color I'm more likely to want to wear frequently. I'll find something to do with that pretty Nuna, though. Maybe a lace scarf?

I started the hat on Friday night. I'm making good progress on it. With luck, it'll be finished before the end of the week. I'll post pics when I have 'em!

Frustrations, daring, and warm ears

Yesterday, I realized I might have messed up in adding a repeat of the F&F pattern on my Mémère's shawl a few rows back. It's frustrating! I need to figure out what I did, but I may well have to tink back 5 rows. And these rows are getting big. *grumble*

So, I really need a new knitted hat. The Fur Hat Of Doom will have its day again, oh yes, but it's not quite cold enough yet for that. I l do love my Corona (MALABRIIIIIIGO!), but it's really too big, and it's starting to get slightly ratty. I keep saying, "Maybe I'll try felting it just to see what happens," but I haven't yet dared. Maybe when I actually have a new hat to wear, I might work up the courage! I'm pretty sure I'm going to use this pattern. The large section that gets doubled over means a double layer of warmth, and I like the cables. I may end up using that skein of navy blue yarn I've been keeping forever--the one that's merino, and...alpaca and silk? Alpaca and bamboo? Something like that. Cozy and soft, anyway. I'm fairly sure that one skein will be enough. If it's not quite, I might add another color near the crown. I might want to take a brief break from the shawl to get started on this hat, or I won't have it while the weather is right to wear it. I have until Christmas to finish the shawl, anyway.

My cousin's wife sent me a thank-you card today for the sweater I knit her baby-to-be. She was really happy to get something handmade. I think the design of that little cardi is good for babies--it's just one button, so it's easy to get on and off.

Man, I'd rather be knitting right now than working...