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. :)