I know, I know, it's about damned time!

When last we left our heroine (yeah, delusions of grandeur, I know), she was angsting over her Vernal Equinox shawl. A mistake had necessitated frogging the shawl back to the most recent lifeline. Not SUCH an arduous task, perhaps, but...(dun dun DUNNNNN!) the lifeline had slipped out of the last twenty or so stitches on the needle! Noooooo! With this yarn and this pattern, fixing this would be iffy at best. Would our heroine have to unravel to the PREVIOUS lifeline? Would the entirety of Chart 5 be lost?

Well, that's what I was afraid of, anyway. I put aside my knitting for a while. Like, um, a month. OK, more than a month. Five or six weeks. Stupid, really. I finally got my act together this evening and took a stab at replacing the lifeline. I seem to have gotten it! My work is now back on the needles! I even switched to a longer cable, to make my life easier as the shawl gets bigger. Now, I can attack this thing again and hopefully be able to wear it during the summer, as planned! It'll be my first full-size lace shawl, and I think it'll be perfect as an "in the air conditioning" layer. I'm so relieved. Now, I'm anxious to get going again. :)

It's funny...when I put my knitting aside like this, I get to the point where I'm reluctant to look at Ravelry. It's like, I feel like since I'm not knitting, reading and talking about knitting makes me a poseur. Silly, I know. it's not like I'm no longer a knitter. It's not like I've considered giving up on knitting for good. Still, though. I occasionally looked at the Bust Line group (because that's about bras and shirts and stuff, not just knitting), but only once or twice did I even glance at anything else. Hey, now I have another time waster again. :)

YARN!

Yarn yarn yarn yarn yarn!!!

I actually bounced in my chair. :)

Yes, the Sanguine Gryphon Skinny Bugga! in Honeybee has arrived! It's just what I was hoping for--a rich golden medley of ambers. I think it will make a beautiful Shipwreck shawl. I need to buy beads now, of course. And blocking boards, though I doubt I'll need those for at least another year...

Last night on my way home, I realized there was a big fuckup in my Vernal Equinox. I don't know how the hell I'm going to fix it without ripping back to the lifeline. >:( Then again, that's what lifelines are FOR, right? There go my first four or five rows of Clue 6A. Meh.

But...YARN. OMG. I would like to be able to take a good picture of it to show off. In the meantime, here's a crappy webcam shot at work:

Travel = knitting progress

Yay, TSA didn't give me a hard time about my knitting! I transported my shawl on the cable, but took the needle tips off and put them in a small compartment of my backpack to keep them safe. I had button ends on the cable. When I settled down somewhere, I'd take the buttons off and put the needle tips on and get to work. I ended up finishing Clue 5 and starting Clue 6a. The rows are starting to get loooong! I keep looking at the shawl and going, "Holy CRAP this thing is getting big." It might take me a while to get through the rest of this, but I will definitely be wearing it this summer.

My Skinny Bugga! should be coming in SOON! I got an e-mail saying it was shipping! *does happy dance*

Knitting at 20,000 feet

Don't modern planes fly higher than that, usually? Anyway, today will be the first time in ages that I'll be bringing my knitting on a plane, provided TSA doesn't mess with me. I've got my Vernal Equinox on the cable, with button-ends to keep it on. The needle tips are in a separate compartment of my bag, to keep them from getting damaged. I've got my cable key, my stitch markers, my dental floss for a lifeline, and my yarn needle, too. There's actually a Ravelry forum dedicated to flying with your knitting, and from what people there have said, it sounds like my departure and destination airports (Boston Logan and Washington National--I refuse to call it Reagan) are not usually problematic for knitters, nor is the airline I'll be using. Yay! Also, wooden or bamboo needles and circular needles seem to be less "threatening" to TSA agents than metal needles or straight needles. That's convenient, seeing as I'm using Knitpicks Harmony Options!

I'm terrified that my Skinny Bugga! yarn is going to arrive at my house while I'm away and get stolen. :( I hope that doesn't happen! Of course, I don't even know if it's shipped yet. The status says "processing" or something. We'll see.

I realize I haven't said much about how I feel about the Vernal Equinox pattern itself, yet. I'm enjoying it very much. The fact that there are seven charts to work through means there's a variety of different stitch patterns involved. Each of the patterns has so far been reasonably simple, but entertaining. The pattern is well-written, very clear. The half-pi shaping method seems very simple. I do have some experience with the pi method, since I made my cat a Kitty Pi bed, which is basically a very small and unlacy pi shawl knit in bulky yarn and felted. You know, maybe that Shipwreck won't be so difficult--after all, the biggest section is just faggoting stitch, which is quick and easy and mindless. So all the more complex work will be done in the smaller sections of the shawl.

Some thoughts

1. Holy CRAP, people who want Sanguine Gryphon yarn have fast fingers. True story: I was on their site this morning at 9:30, hitting "refresh" every couple minutes to catch when the Little Traveller in Hotel Tassel went on sale. The first time it refreshed to being on sale, there were only THREE SKEINS left. I thought, "Whew! JUST made it! I need three!" Then I put them in my cart, and by the time I hit the "check out" button, I got an error message saying they didn't have enough stock left. Yep. They were down to ONE. But Gryphon said they will re-dye these colors over the next six months, so I will wait and get it later, rather than buying the (much pricier) Skinny Bugga!

2. But oooooh, it's just SO pretty. I'm now really dying to make the Shipwreck shawl in that colorway, with gold, bronze, and amber beads. I know it will take forever and a day, but...damn. Gorgeousness and gorgeousity, as my little droog Alex would say.

3. Why is their other 100% superwash merino fingering weight yarn (Eidos) $25/skein for less yardage? I am confused. I'd have to buy FOUR skeins of that to make Shipwreck.

4. I'm really pleased with the progress I'm making on Vernal Equinox. I think it's going to turn out lovely. I'm almost done with my fifth row of Clue 5 now. The crochet bind-off is going to be challenging. I might have to ask a crochet-skilled friend for help. I can't wait to wear it later this spring/this summer!

5. I should still be able to block Vernal Equinox on the futon in Spare Oom, but when I do finally make Shipwreck, I'm going to need to get some foam tiles. That thing is BIG.

6. Annnnd now. I must edit this. Reason being, I broke down and bought the Skinny Bugga! I can still use just three skeins to make Shipwreck. If I'm careful. (There's a 30-yard bumper, but...) I think what finally did it for me was looking at reviews, trying to find out which base was better, and if it was that big a difference. I still don't know, but I do know that people said over and over again that Skinny Bugga! DOES NOT SPLIT, EVER. Considering that I am currently knitting Vernal Equinox with THE SPLITTIEST YARN IN THE WORLD, EVER, I think I am entitled to this nonsplitting wonder yarn. Yes. Thinking about my weak will with regards to this yarn, I came to a conclusion: they could have kept me from breaking down and getting it if they'd named it after some icky spider instead of the glorious honeybee. Really. The Honeybee name gave me just enough of a pull to the yarn. A spider's name would have given me just enough of a push away from it.

Buzzzzzzzzzzz....

Temptation

First, the progress report: I finished Clue 4 of the Vernal Equinox shawl! Yay! It's really coming along. I started Clue 5 today on my break. I took a couple pictures of the WIP the other day, but haven't yet had a chance to connect the camera to the computer and see how they came out. If they're any god, I'll share 'em!

Now...temptation! I think I need some Sanguine Gryphon yarn. I'm leaning towards getting enough of the Little Traveler in Hotel Tassel to make myself a Shipwreck Shawl. Gods help me. I love the sound of the Skinny Bugga! but the Little Traveler is SO much cheaper, and I'd have way more room for "oh no I screwed up!" because of the longer skeins. Nothing wrong with pure merino, right? Though I will still and always think of the color as "Honeybee," which is what it's called in Skinny Bugga! because I love honeybees. Think how gorgeous that would be with some amber, brown, gold, and bronze beads! *swoon*

OTOH, I do have a lot of yarn already.

I think...I think I need to have a stash swap or something. Or just say, "TAKE MY YARN, PLEASE" to my friends. I think my wool-averse friends will like my brightly colored acrylics bought for baby clothes. And there's just so much random stuff in my bins. I definitely want to keep my Sparkle, my Cherry Tree Hill Lace, my merino-silk-bamboo(?) blend of navy worsted that feels so nice...not sure what else, though. Some cheap stuff just for practice (I do, after all, need to practice knitting continental and then try fair isle, and also learn intarsia.) Time to purge! And make room for more!

Damn it all, lace has gotten me UTTERLY HOOKED on buying yarn. But I can't be mad. I love it too much. :)

Seasonally appropriate knitting

I finished Rhomylly's Marram hat on St. Patrick's Day. Being able to knit without fucking up is one big advantage to not getting drunk out of your mind on St. Patrick's Day. :) The following day, I frogged my Vernal Equinox shawl back to the last lifeline and put it back on the needles, so I could start the CORRECT chart (Clue 4). I worked on it over this Vernal Equinox weekend, particularly on Saturday morning while at my friends' house when they were chatting with an architect and I had nothing else to do. It's a pleasure to be knitting lace again. This chart has a very simple pattern with a short repeat, so it's not too taxing to the brain, and I feel like I'm making progress quickly. I am becoming very fond of the yarn color as time goes on, and this really is a lovely pattern. I still don't like the fact that the yarn is SO loosely spun, and so splitty as a result. I think that in future, I'll be more aware of that sort of thing. I didn't really know quite as much about yarn when I bought that stuff a year and a half ago.

Speaking of yarn, I'm really looking forward to Sanguine Gryphon's new releases! I hope they go on sale soon, AND that I don't forget about this and miss all the colors I like best. That happened with the last release. Their stuff is pretty pricey--$28/skein for most stuff, as far as I can tell. I think I'll stick with a single skein of sock yarn (they have the most yardage) to make a shawlette. Haruni, maybe? Oooh. Or Traveling Woman. Or something.

Hair today, gone tomorrow

My friend Rhomylly is undergoing chemo right now. She's a knitter herself, and has asked her fellow knitter friends to make hats for her, so that when she loses her hair (it's already getting brittle after her second dose), she can cover up with cute stuff. I volunteered to make one. I recently frogged a baby sweater I was working on: the baby is now too big for the size for which I bought the yarn, and I can't see myself getting back to the rather obnoxious pattern. The yarn is perfect for a chemo cap: a soft microfiber (Berocco Comfort DK). I selected grapey purple and screaming lime green to make a hat with a slip stitch color pattern, Marram. It's a lovely subtle pattern when you use subtle colors that are only slightly different from one another, but it's kind of funky and psychadelic when you use such bright and contrast-y yarns. Hopefully, it'll be nice and comfy and will cheer her up when she's feeling crappy.

The hat is simple to knit (so far), and it's a nice break from my shawls. I have to confess, I've been neglecting them. I don't want to rip out back to the last lifeline and then pick up all the stitches again on the Vernal Equinox (I did indeed skip a chart, damn it), and I apparently screwed something up on my Seascape that needs fixing, and gods, do I ever HATE undoing and fixing stuff in Kidsilk Haze! GAH! I love, love, love the way it knits up, but I think that in future, I will only do very, very simple lace in that kind of yarn. You know, the kind of stuff that has maybe a 12-stitch repeat that becomes rhythmic over time. I should make a point of fixing that up this week, though. One of the shawls, anyway.

Thank the gods for lifelines!

GAH!!!!! Moron! *smacks self in the head*

So, the past couple of days, I've been happily working away at my Vernal Equinox shawl. I started Clue 5 after I picked up the stitches on the lifeline. I had the right number of stitches on my needles to do it, and everything. Only, I didn't look carefully enough at the work I've done so far. I'm pretty damned sure I forgot to do Clue 4, which requires the same starting number of stitches. What an idiot. I want to check this very carefully one more time to make sure I'm correct, but I'm pretty damn sure I have to rip out the last six rows I've done (and these are 245 stitch rows, folks) and then start on Clue 4.

Note to self: you need to own more than one row counter if you have more than one project on the needles at a time, woman. Time to hit up the LYS.

Going green

I've been making decent progress on the Seascape stole. I finished the first repeat of Chart B, and have done six rows of the next repeat. Today, though, I decided to get my Vernal Equinox shawl back on the needles. Fortunately, it appears that I started picking up stitches with the Denise needles at the more difficult side of the row, so the hard part was out of the way already. I slipped all those stitches onto the Harmonies, and then finished picking up the rest of the row. Miraculously, I found I had exactly the right number of stitches on my needles when I was done. I'm now working on Chart 5 for that pattern. I'm finding that while I do love the Seascape and the Kidsilk Haze (oh, it makes such a pretty, frothy fabric!), it's none the worse for a change. I don't think there's any chance of my actually finishing this shawl by Ostara/the Vernal Equinox, but I should be able to finish it this spring.