Loving the Short Row Heel, Sock Frenzy, and Cool Weather

Ah, fall!  It's the time of cool weather, falling leaves, and Halloween!  I've been kind of slacking through the summer on actually finishing projects for the fall weather, which is probably going to come back to bite me on the butt.  On top of that, some other life situations got in the way of me accomplishing my knitting goals.  I've got a lot of work to do!  There's still Christmas knitting to be done!  I'm never going to finish it all on time!

With two shawls left to be blocked, it's gotten me thinking about other projects I really need to get done for fall.  This past Saturday, for example, it would have been nice to have a shawl to throw over my shoulders just for a little added warmth.  It's starting to get cool in the evenings and sometimes that little extra can help.  Of course, there are several other things I can do in order to get ready for the cool season.  The biggest one is finishing my socks.

I know just one pair of socks isn't going to make a huge difference in the warmth of my feet for the winter weather.  I can only wear one pair of socks for so long before they need to be washed again.  It's going to be even harder with socks that need to be hand washed and laid out to dry.  I've already got one pair of superwash that I made, and I love them.  Now I have the socks I've been struggling to get through.  Second sock syndrome stinks!  However, I can't cast on any more socks until I get these ones off the needles.  I guess that's one advantage of only having one set of needles in the size I need!

As a result, I've been struggling through my Vilai socks.  The second time through the pattern had become a familiar, though slightly annoying slog.  I've kind of gotten bored with it, admittedly.  I wanted to take a break and work on something new and refreshing.  I did that for a while with a shawl that I didn't get very far on, though I adore the pattern.  I just didn't have the time to work on it, much for the same reasons I haven't been able to knit my socks.  It's been hard to carve out time during the day and I kind of wish I had a vanilla sock to throw together pretty easily so all I'd have to do is measure and be done with it.  Then I could easily take it with me for knitting on the go, like at the co-op, appointments or events.  It would be something I could pull out, do a little work on, and toss aside, at least until I got to the heel and toe.  Those would require a bit more focus, but I'd at least be able to whip those up pretty quickly at home.

However, the saving grace for these socks is the short row heel.  It's made the heel turn something so easy and relaxing.  The hardest thing about it is counting, and even that's not much of a challenge.  It gives me a nice break from the whole slog of the pattern, something mostly mindless and zen.  I'm loving the way it's working out.  I love my short row heels!

Now I just need to cruise through the sock to the finish.  I'm sure if I make an effort, it won't be long now.  The foot and toe of the last sock seemed to go together pretty quickly (thankfully, I have small feet!) so I'm expecting this one will seem much the same.

Of course, with this weather we're having, I'm going to have to finish them and quick!  My feet are cold already and it's the first real cold evening of the year!  It's going to be a long, cold winter if I keep procrastinating!

Another Shawl, Wouldn't You Know It?

So, I've kind of had it on the socks.  They weren't as evil and challenging as I assumed, once I got the pattern down, so I'm starting to find them too easy.  As a result, what did I do?  I decided to move on and do something else with my time, at least for a little while.  The sock is kind of something I just pick up every day to struggle through it, even though I'm really kind of ready to stop working on it all together.

Just a couple of days ago I cast on another project.  This one is a shawl.  I got the yarn and the pattern a while back from a swap partner.  It was beautiful, and there was enough there to make a shawl for both my daughter and I.  Actually, I think there's enough there that I could probably make several shawls with it if I knit them to the size of the original shawlette.  The pattern is the Percy Shawl.  While I love it, it's got it's own evil measure.

See, as much as I've knit lace before, I've never really knit lace with lace weight yarn.  The Knit Picks kits I've gotten to this point are all worked with two strands of yarn held together, which makes it pretty much the same as sock yarn.  It's not on nearly such fine needles either.  That means it's going to be all around easier to work with.  I know some people have problems using two bits of yarn at once, and I have to admit, it did take me some time to get used to, but the truth is, it's really not all that bad.  Working with this super fine yarn, though, that's it's own challenge all together.  Not only are the needles tiny, which means each row is very tiny and fine, but I'm working with incredibly fine yarn.  I have a feeling this shawl is going to take a lot more hours of work than the other two.  I was hoping to get my daughter's done by Christmas, but now I'm not sure that's even realistic.  I'm just at the beginning and I feel like the rows are starting to take forever.

I can honestly say this is really my first big lace project.  I've never had a lace project quite like this before.  Though my internet is pretty unreliable, I'm going to try and get some pictures up of the progress and all of that. If there's one thing I can say about lace knitting, it's that the time it takes means there's plenty of opportunities for photos.  I think this is really going to be it for me, the point at which I either love or hate lace knitting.

The Evil Vilai Socks

It was February, just after the birth of my youngest, when I started knitting the Vilai socks by Cookie A.  I'd just received Cookie A's Sock Innovations for Christmas that year, and having heard so much about this book on various podcasts, I decided it was time.  I love sock knitting and the patterns didn't look that complex.  I know a lot of people had problems with the socks and found them too challenging, but I'm one of those knitters who thinks nothing is too challenging.  All of the other things I'd knit so far seemed easy.  I'd decided to use some Serenity Sock Yarn, which was pretty much the only yarn I'd had on hand.  I pulled out my needles, and off I went, knitting like a mad woman.

The first problem I came across was the darkness of the yarn in comparison to the darkness of my house.  Dark yarn, dark house, and complex knitting project can make for difficult pattern reading.  I was having a hard time actually seeing what I was doing half the time, which made it a challenging knit.  Every time I made a mistake I had a bear of a time with the yarn I'd undone.  The yarn just wasn't ideal for the project, yet I struggled through.

Then it was the pattern that made me want to rip my hair out.  If I wasn't knitting on the socks at every free moment, I got lost every time I put the pattern down.  I started to cry one day saying that these socks just didn't want to be made.  I called Cookie A evil and swore I'd never knit any of her socks again.  It was just too hard and it was so unfair.  Keep in mind, this was February.  I'd had my baby in the end of December.  I was an emotional train wreck!  I'm sure that and the distractions of a new baby weren't helping.  It wasn't exactly a good time for me.

About two months later I decided I was going to dedicate all my time to finishing the first sock.  I had finished one whole pattern repeat and was halfway through the next.  Unfortunately, the sock was not meant to be.  I took one look at the stretched out cuff and realized there was no way it would ever fit legs as thick as mine, and my legs aren't all that thick!  These socks were never going to fit, so I gave up.  The book was put away and I'd pretty much forgotten about it for a year and a half.

Lately I've been getting back into knitting.  I've finished the seasons shawl I knit, which was such a challenge that I feel I can take on everything.  I followed that up with another shawl that took near no time at all to knit. Then I threw in a couple small projects.  I've still got ends to weave in and blocking to do, but I feel pretty good about myself as a knitter lately.  Things have been moving off my needles with a quickness.

About a week or so ago I bought myself a new skein of sock yarn.  It was a Heritage Handpaints in beautiful pink and purple.  The color is called Azalea Blooms.  I'd found it at the LYS when I was conveniently looking for sock yarn.  I wasn't able to pick it up that day.  I just don't have the yarn budget to be a knitter (well, maybe if I used knitting as a substitute for enough store bought stuff!) so I don't have a huge amount to spend.  If I'm going to spend over $20 on a pair of socks, it had better be the best yarn in the world, at least in my perspective at the time.  By the time I'm done knitting my socks I know I'll have something beautiful, but it's just never seemed worth it unless I'm completely in love with the socks.  In this case I was so in love with the yarn that I actually asked the yarn store owner to hold on to it until I could get the money to her.

When I got the yarn home I refused to knit it.  I've never been one to stash yarn, not really.  My yarn stash is tinier than most yarn stashes are.  I like to get my yarn balled up right away so I don't have to go back to the yarn store to do it.  It also means I'm more likely to use the yarn right away.  I don't like having yarn sit around, neglected, unused.  It seems kind of pointless to have then, except in those days when we've really got no money for yarn, which is sadly frequent these days.  So with the yarn all balled up and ready to go, I had to find a pattern to knit.  I didn't just want to find a good pattern.  It had to be the perfect pattern.  I pulled out New Pathways for Sock Knitters, only to be disappointed.  My next choice was Cookie A.

Opening the book I told myself I could pick a simpler pattern this time.  I didn't have to go all out with something crazy.  I didn't have to go for the hardest pattern I could find.  Some of them seemed really pretty and simple, but I needed something that would work with this beautiful yarn.  It took some time before I could really find something that screamed out to me, the same pattern that screamed to me from the first time I picked the book up, the Vilai socks.  The beautiful combination of cables and lace screamed out to me.  The complexity of it all seemed the perfect challenge.  I'd managed the crazy lace of the season's shawl, and after that, anything seemed possible.  The pattern didn't look that hard to follow and I was pretty confident in my ability to read my own knitting so I wouldn't lose my place in the pattern.  These socks screamed that they needed to be knit with this beautiful new yarn.  It was a match made in heaven, and I was ready for it.

This time everything just seemed to work out.  It was as thought the yarn and the needles both knew exactly what I expected them and they all decided to get along.  The yarn looks so beautiful as I knit up each row.  It's a little more striped than I had hoped, but somehow it just works.  I'd decided I needed happy socks, and happy socks are what I'm getting.  These socks make me smile.  After all the hard work that will go into them, I know these will take a place in my favorite socks.  How could they not?  This is the most challenging pattern I've ever done.  (That being said, I've only made two pairs of socks for myself prior to this, one of which got felted, so it's not going to be hard to make that list right now.)  I can't wait to see them finished.  If nothing else, it'll be nice to tackle something I wasn't able to get through previously.  Maybe it's just one of those things where I needed the right yarn before I was able to make it work.  Here's hoping.

Thankfully, I've gotten further than I did last time.  Last time I wasn't able to complete the second pattern repeat.  This time I've managed to make it almost to the heel turn.  Yeah, there's been a lot of challenging problems, mostly due to me not paying attention while I'm knitting.  Isn't that what I get for knitting a challenging pattern while watching television?  Will I learn that lesson?  Probably not.  I just can't wait to see these the first sock finished!  Thankfully, it's complex and interesting enough that I think I'll be pretty eager to cast on the second sock almost as soon as I'm done with the first.  With a little luck I'll be done with the pair in no time!  Of course, this does make me wonder when exactly I became a one project at a time kind of knitter...

My First Piggy Warmers

When my littlest was just born he sounded like a little pig when he was upset.  He would grunt and snort like a little pig instead of cry.  Somehow that gave me a brilliant idea of something to knit for little babies.  I would call them "Piggy Warmers".  Why?  I'd already created a set of warmers I'd named after my older son, so now, since we've been calling my littlest Piggy, I decided Piggy Warmers were just to perfect.  I would be warming my little Piggy's piggies!

The idea for my older son's set were matching arm warmers and leg warmers.  Most patterns just include arm warmers or leg warmers, but my son liked wearing both at the same time.  Well, to keep in the same vein, Piggy Warmers were going to have to cover both hands and feet.  They would be little fingerless gloves and yoga socks, effectively.

I'd figured I'd start this project about the time Piggy started walking.  The little open heel and toe would be perfect for a new walker as it would allow him to really feel the floor under him.  Since are floors are made up of cheap linoleum tile in all rooms but the bedrooms, I figured this would also help him not go falling all over the place, but still be enough to keep him a bit on the warmer side when the weather turned cool.  They can also be pulled over socks for a little extra warmth when we go out, or his little leather shoes.  They would be the perfect addition to my littlest's wardrobe.

Not really knowing where to begin, I searched for a pattern.  Having no luck on finding baby yoga socks, I decided to get adventurous. I pulled out Cat Bordhi's New Pathways for Sock Knitters and got to work.  That book always inspires me.  I decided to base my idea very loosely on a combination of the Sky Sock pattern and the Sucky Thumb Mitts I'd knit not long before.  I used the same yarn as the mitts, doubled up so I could keep the same look and gauge.

In the end the pattern turned out to be more tricky than I imagined.  It's not easy to pick up stitches when knitting in the round.  All of the cast on methods I've seen seem to want to go the other way, except for long-tail, which I always cast on in the direction I knit.  Then there was the act of knowing how many increases would be enough, and at what rate.  Thankfully, on the first try it all came together, and I was able to repeat it all for a second sock.  I think I'm going to have to rethink the whole idea before I knit another pair, but that shouldn't be a problem.  I've got plenty of time!

As for the mitts and the socks, they match up perfectly.  I couldn't have asked for a better combination.  I can't wait to wrap them all up and stick them under the tree for Christmas.  Just seeing the way my littlest fought me on taking them off when I was done trying them on him, I know they're going to be a hit.  Maybe I'll be starting a trend.  Who knows?  Maybe babies everywhere will want to share in his stunning sense of style.  If not, at least I know his little piggies will be nice and toasty all winter long.  What more can a mama ask?

Sucky Thumb Mitts for Christmas

Yes, that's right.  I'm starting my Christmas knitting early for once.  It all started with a little pair of mitts for my littlest one, the one that still sucks his thumb when he's tired.

When I saw this pattern, I immediately thought of my littlest.  The mitts were designed with the idea of little kids who suck their thumb in mind, but they're also fingerless gloves for very small children.  I'd been planning on making a set for him when he was still pretty little, just in time for him to start walking.  I was going to match them with a pair of socks.  This pattern, of course, made things so much easier.  Apparently I'm not the only one with the brilliant idea of making gloves like this for my little guy!

The pattern is fantastic and they went up in no time!  I just can't wait to make more.  I just wish  I had more yarn to work with so I could make him a whole bunch of them.  Unfortunately, I don't use a lot of DK or sport weight yarn.  I doubled mine up with sock yarn from my Cheshire cat socks I made a few months back. I accidentally made them with what I thought were size three needles, but apparently were size twos.  Even so, the gauge was perfect and the mitts fit perfectly!  The only problem was getting them off his hands so I could put them away for Christmas!

Cruising through Another Shawl

I'm starting to wonder if perhaps this should have been my first full sized shawl.  This one is so much easier.  The pattern is easy to memorize, so row after row I'm able to cruise through without too many corrections or looking back for more information.  It's quick and easy.

I'm already loving this shawl.  Soft alpaca circles the neck and shoulder area at the top, so the section that would contact the skin in a tank top or camisole will be nice and soft.  Then from there it blends into the tonal, which...I'll be honest, I'm not in love with.  I'm not much of one for variegated yarns, so the color changes really don't suit me well.  It creates this strange striping image to it and I'm not much of a fan of the way it looks.  Of course, everyone else likes it, so I suppose I shouldn't complain too much.

If I keep up at this rate this shawl is going to be done in no time.  I guess that's a good thing where my Christmas knitting is concerned.  I've got a lot of work to do between now and then, and that's assuming I'm just knitting for the immediate family!

This shawl has really gotten me thinking about how much I love shawl knitting.  I'm trying to come up with excuses on why I need a new shawl.  I need something in a different color.  I need it in a different weight.  There's a million reasons why I need another shawl.  I mean, I could have one to go with every outfit and every occasion, right?  Now if only I had the resources to make that many shawls!

Here We Go Again...The Chinook Shawl...

One could imagine after the last shawl I did I would want to go a good long while before picking up another shawl.  Shawls are big, long, time consuming projects and those last few repeats are pretty much penance.  The cast off at the end seems to take an eternity.  One would think I'd be on to smaller, more manageable projects, like mittens for winter, socks, or hats.  Heaven knows I could always use a few more berets!  I'm addicted to those things.  It would only seem logical to take a break from long and tedious.

Yet here I am, once again diving into the shores of a shawl.  Right now I'm in the early stages, that new romance.  It's those brief, fast and furious knitting, those rows that fly off the needles with reckless abandon and the insatiable desire for nothing but that project.  Isn't that the way all new projects go, all romances for that matter? In the beginning it's all craziness and passion.  Then, over time the passion, shiny, and new fades, and then you're left with the long, hard slog for the duration of the relationship.  When everything is over you look back upon what you've done, and more often than not you're looking back in joy at the beauty of it all, and then take it with you into whatever you do next.

Well, here I am, fresh off the high from finishing the previous shawl and casting another one on.  It's like the success of having the first one come off the needles helped me forget about all the craziness that comes with the long wait and I'm just left with the shiny and new.

No, relationships aren't it at all.  It's pregnancy.  When you first find out you're pregnant, most women are overjoyed.  They're excited for their new life, and for the next few weeks they can do nothing but focus on that little creature inside of them.  Then as time goes on, the pregnancy starts to wear on you.  You're starting to feel uncomfortable and tired all the time.  Man, babies take forever to be born!  Then as you reach those last final days you're begging every moment for it to end.  Just come out already!  Meet the world!  Stop torturing your mama!  Then labor starts.  It's that long, hard slog, but the finish line is in sight.  Then the baby is there, and before long you're looking at your significant other thinking that was so worth it, and now you want to have another one.  You forget about how long and hard the pregnancy was, and how painful childbirth is.  All you see is that there's this precious baby and you want another one.

That's what shawl knitting is, but unlike having babies, with a shawl you can jump right back into one.  Very few people consider that they've already got two shawls in their closet.  Two are enough.  Unlike kids, you could have so many shawls that they're coming out your ears and they're not too much of a problem.  Well...maybe storing them...  Unlike kids you don't have to feed them or raise them.  They don't require much care.  This makes them perfectly ideal.  And, unlike kids, if you find you have to many, or absolutely want one that you can't justify having, you can always give it away!  Also, unlike with kids, you don't have to wonder what they're going to turn out like.  Most times you have a pattern and you just have to follow along.  The pattern comes with a picture of the end result, so you've got everything to know, with some minor possibilities for change here and there, exactly what the outcome should be.

So, here I am, sitting with my little basket of yarn, my previous shawl in my hand as I'm about to toss it on top of the basket.  It looked so pretty, that yarn.  It was so tempting.  How could I resist casting on?  It all just looked so irresistable there, so beautiful.  I couldn't help but touch it.  Once I had it in my hands I couldn't help but want to work with it.  It is, after all, a logical conclusion.  The soft yarn in my hands, I tell you, it was truly an impossibility to resist!

Into the basket went the shawl.  Out of the basket came the yarn.  I pulled out the correct needles and away I went.  The cast on was quick as ever and I was into the rows, listening to podcasts as I went.  It seemed easy enough.  I put it down for the night, determined that first thing the next morning I would pick it up and continue where I left off.  This shawl would be done in no time if I had my way!

That's when the trouble started.  I realized that my count was off.  All the other sections had five stitches.  Why did this one have four?  It took me a while to figure out exactly where the mistake had been made, but I did it!  Several rows back I forgot to yarn over and that's where all the trouble started!  At first I tried to pick up the stitch and work it through to the current working row.  I wanted to preserve my beautiful shawl!  Unfortunately, that just turned into even more of a mess of things.  Next I went at it, tinking back to try and keep the shawl together.  I realized it was going to take forever.  I had to tink back almost ten rows!

Defeated, I gave up.  I decided to rip it all out and start over again.  It was depressing, but I knew with all the yarn overs and all of that I wasn't a talented enough knitter to rip back and salvage it without a life-line, something I've never had the brains to use.

Thankfully, a miracle happened!  The yarn somehow naturally preserved the cast on and the row after it!  I was able to save a little bit of time after all!  There was one less step to catch back up.

I picked up the stitches and ran with it, this time slower and more carefully.  I counted everything as though I somehow thought the count was going to escape me.  It was all carefully, slowly, and methodically done.  As if I'm not a slow enough knitter in the first place, now I've got to deal with even slower knitting formed of paranoia that I'm going to screw it up again.

So, here I was, in love with my shawl again, enamored with my shawl again.  Again the stitches began to fly off my needles, at their turtle-slow pace, that is.  I'm well on my way.  The only question that remains is how long it's going to take me to finish this one.  I'm just glad it's on size 8 needles this time...and those are going to be quicker to knit with, and break much less easily.

The Shawl Is Done! Well...Mostly....

So, the incredible journey of my shawl is complete.  No longer do I need to struggle with the long burdensome rows that took on average an hour to complete.  No longer must I look at it and think, "When, oh when will you be done!"  Now all I have to do is look at it and wonder how I'm going to manage to block it...and when I'm going to feel motivated to weave in all the ends.  At least that part's easy.  And if I could ever get use of the bed, I could block it out on there pretty quick.  Unfortunately, the bed is being taken up...which I'm not happy about...but I digress...

Anyhow, after this whole incredible journey the shawl is finally done!  I'm finally able to say that I'll be able to wear it!  It's not going to take long for the shawl to be blocked out with all the ends taken care of.  It's not going to take long before I can wrap it around my shoulders and show off it's beauty.  Unfortunately, it just might be a while before the weather calls for it.

I definitely understand the thinking I had.  If I knit the shawl going into fall, it should be done by winter.  It seems like a fantastic idea.  Unfortunately, I overestimated my knitting skills.  I didn't think about exactly how long it would take to knit that shawl, and exactly how many hours I could dedicate to it.  I didn't think about the needles breaking.  I didn't think about most of what got in the way.

I've learned my lesson.  From now on I should only knit shawls I'll need by winter in the summer and spring.  That way I have a prayer of having it done by fall!  Then I should have a couple months before I need to start thinking about wearing it for winter, and if disaster strikes?  Well, I've got some wiggle room.

Two Rows and a Cast-Off Away!!!

I'm almost there on this infernal shawl!  As the title kind of gives away, I'm two rows and a cast-off away from being finished.  That means I'm almost there!  I'll get this shawl done sooner or later.  It's been a journey, but I'm into the home stretch.  I just can't wait until I'm finally done with it!

It's been quite a journey with this shawl.  I've been through so much with it.  I started it with friends and it seemed to cruise along.  Then I put it down for a while due to stress, and back it came, my faithful companion as always.  I worked on it until I had a problem with the first needle.  Knit Picks was great in sending me a new set, but it went to the wrong address, so I had to wait.  Eventually I decided to pick it up again, getting a new set of needles at the local yarn shop.  I love that place and it really pleases me that they now carry Knit Picks stuff!  I might just have to start buying all of my Knit Picks stuff there, needles, cables, all of that.  Now if only they would carry the yarn!  Actually, I don't terribly care for the yarn so much, as the shawl kits.  I don't know how I ended up on this whole shawl kit kick.

At this point, I have no idea how I'm going to block my shawl.  It's so big that I might be able to block it on the bed, if no one is going to be sitting or laying on the bed for a good long while.  That might just work.  In all honesty, I just need to suck it up, get some blocking pads, some blocking pins, and be prepared for big projects like this.  With our new baby gate I can keep the kids out of the living room long enough to block the shawl, which means I'll definitely have a way to do it!

I'm just so excited to see this shawl done!  I almost wish I still had my natural hair color too.  I look so good in earth tones when I've got my natural brown hair.  The shawl I'm making after this is earth tones too.  I can't wait to see them all done up!  They're going to be beautiful!  Now I just need to get some garments for my wardrobe to match.  Good thing jeans and black go with everything...

I Love Him...but He Can't Touch My Knits!

I love my boyfriend, I really do.  He has his moments, but what man doesn't.  I've come to the conclusion that it's part of the male condition.  They just don't think sometimes.  They throw tantrums.  They yell.  That's just how they deal with things.  However, when I'm about ready to have a meltdown, he's almost always there to keep me from falling apart too badly.

Unfortunately, this is where the story gets sad.  Remember how I was making that entrelac hat?  Well, I finally finished it.  I was so proud of myself.  The end of the pattern was a nightmare.  The hat just didn't want to come together the way it should.  I was pretty miserable.  I couldn't wait until it was done so I could start wearing it.

Of course, I did finish it.  I wore it a pretty good deal.  My boyfriend thought it was cute enough, though, I have to admit, it didn't match anything I had.  Still, I was going to wear it until the end of time.  I'd made it.  It was my first entrelac project and I adored it.  It lived on the floor beside the bed so I could scoop it up and throw it on.  Yes, it was a little too big, since it was made with the wool dreads in mind, but I didn't have them anymore.  Even so, it was perfect and made me happy.  I kind of liked to over-sized feel of it.

One day, unbeknownst to me, my darling boyfriend pulled the laundry together, completely forgetting that I have items that need to be hand washed only.  He threw the hat in there and it went through the wash and the dryer.  This hat went from being just a bit too big to being absolutely massive...as in, out of control massive.  I can't wear the hat anymore.  I don't think I can find a way to make that hat wearable by anyone!  It just exploded!  The hat band is almost twice it's original size!

I have no idea whether it was the bamboo yarn or the washing process.  I don't know what did it to my beautiful hat, but when I realized it, I almost cried.  I loved my hat.  I spent so many hours working on it!  It was absolutely traumatizing.

This isn't the first time my love has destroyed my beloved knit goods.  He felted the outfit I made for my son's first day of life.  He felted a pair of longies too.  It's frustrating.  It's infuriating!  I've come to the conclusion that I need to hide my knitting come laundry day, at least until I can get a washer and dryer so I can start doing it all myself!

Zephyr Needles and the Fall/Winter Shawl

Okay, I'm finally back on track with knitting.  This shawl has been put on hold more times than I can count.  This time the needle broke again and it wasn't my fault.  I've come to learn with these needles, I've got to be careful with them.  If I get too angry and rough with them, they break.  I think a set of wooden needles would be a little bit easier to work with, but I love my acrylic zephyr needles.  They're so nice on my poor hands.

This shawl is going to be the death of me.  I'm finding I need to bribe myself through pattern repeats in order to get anything done.  If I do a couple pattern repeats, I can write.  If I do a couple pattern repeats, I can go chat online with a friend for ten minutes.  If I do a couple pattern repeats, I can have a snack.  It's horrible to think of the way I have to bribe myself to get through just a couple more patterns of this infernal shawl!

I feel bad saying that.  The start of this shawl was so fantastic!  Granted, it was almost a year ago now that I started, or at least the better part of a year.  I spent all my time working away at it, without a care in the world, like I had nothing better to do with my time.  While homeschooling my kids, I knit.  While talking with my room mates, I knit.  It didn't matter what I was doing, I had that shawl, and it seemed to be positively flying off the needles.

Somewhere around the last couple repeats of the falling leaves chart I started to realize I was getting bored with the pattern.  I tried to convince myself that I could get through it.  I would be on to a new pattern soon enough.  I could make it through this long, hard slog!  It seemed to be enough to keep me going, because I made it out of the falling leaves chart, and on to the snowflakes chart.

The next two charts worked up fairly quickly.  The fields of blue for the snowflakes chart had enough variety that it was challenging and engaging.  I have to admit, more than a few times I just gave up on making sure the pattern was perfect because I just got confused.  It's not flawless, but I don't think anyone will look that close to notice.  There's a lot of repeats of that chart across.

The snowdrifts chart was like a little piece of heaven.  It was simple, easy, and delightful.  It reminded me of the feather and fan shawls I made for my daughter years back.  The alternating colors kept it interesting enough and it seemed to make the pattern fly by that much quicker.  Once that was over it was all of eleven rows to the finish.  I was convinced I would be done in no time.

Of course, my needle had to break on the first row of the icicle chart.  My house mate moved my knitting back to the floor, then forgot it was there and tripped over it.  He heard something snap and the needle broke.  He didn't have the heart to look at the damage, so I didn't know until a day later, after having moved my knitting bag around.  Thankfully the damage wasn't too bad and I was able to salvage it pretty well.  It wasn't exactly perfect through the section dropped off the broken needles, but I could work with it.  I think if it had been in any other section I would have cried.

So here I am, two rows and about a third of the way through the third row and I'm realizing what hell this is.  The chart is so incredibly long across that it's painful.  I keep finding myself thinking, "Can't I just cast off now?  It'll look fine with a short gray section.  I'm sure it will be fine!"  Of course, knowing the kind of perfectionist I am, maybe no one else would know, but anyone who looked at the pattern would know instantly that the last section was far too shallow.  I couldn't have that.  I have to finish it out to the end.  Of course, now I'm realizing just what a slog is!

You would think this would put me off of shawl knitting.  I'd be staring at the new shawl, finally all balled up and in it's box, waiting to be started.  The yarn looks so enticing, but I'd know exactly what I was in for.  I would put it off for a couple of years until I got to the point where I'd have the patience to sit through those long last rows, when I could work the shawl from start to finish.  Instead, I'm overjoyed at the next shawl and can't wait to pull it out of the bag and cast it on.  I have to remind myself that I'm not allowed to cast on another shawl until this one is finished.  I find myself lusting over other shawls.  There's the shipwreck shawl on Knitty that I adore.  There's another Seasons shawl on Knit Picks.  I find myself wanting more and more to knit more shawls.  They're the perfect garment.  You can wrap them over any garment for a little extra warmth, and no matter what you do, they always make a classy accessory.  I'm becoming a shawl addict.

Of course, in order to have these shawls, in order to wear them, I have to actually finish them.  That means I need to take enough time out of my busy life to work on these endless rows that seem to take an eternity.  I have to work through the long, challenging portions at the end.  And then, when all is said and done...I still need to figure out where to block them...

The Tragedy of Knit Picks and my Shawl

I'm finally back at it, the Fall/Winter shawl by Knit Picks.  I was beginning to think I'd never pick it up again, but, sure enough, it called to me.  I finally replaced the broken needle at the yarn shop and had to start off where I left off.  I was determined I'd get through it this time.  There wasn't that much left!

It wasn't long before I hit my next stand-still.  I broke a needle again, and then I needed to wait for another set of replacements.  Thankfully when I broke the next needle I still had one on hand.  Knitting with thin needles when I'm stressed is apparently a bad idea.  I hadn't even thought size 5 was all that thin!  Apparently it really is and I just didn't know it.  It didn't help that the infernal field of blue just didn't want to be finished.  The first couple rows of the gray are riddled with problems as well, but at this point, I don't care!  It's too much work to rip out and fix so I just made do and moved on.  Who's going to notice anyway?  I'm just going to be glad to get this project finished with!  It's certainly taken me long enough, you know?

Today I was back to listening to Craft Lit while knitting away.  Now that I'm on to the snow drifts portion I'm feeling pretty confident in my ability to finish this shawl some time this year, possibly even some time this season. I'm about half way through the chart and feeling pretty good about it.  The pattern is a very simple feather and fan kind of thing and is working up pretty quickly, well, quickly if you consider exactly how far of a distance that is to knit across.  I can knit a whole hour at this point and not make it end to end when I'm working in pattern!  The straight knitting and purling between pattern rows seems like endless, mindless torture, but I know if I don't pay attention I'll end up doing something crazy with this very fine yarn and ruin it all.  This shawl has got me focusing more than I have on any other project to date.

Of course, what happens next?  The cable on the cable needle breaks!  It broke right at the point where it's joined to a cable extender and I had to pick up a bunch of the dropped stitches.  I'm actually glad I'm at the portion of the pattern I'm in or I think I might have lost my mind.  At least during this section the stitches were easy enough to pick up.  It won't be long before I'm mixing that pale gray with the midnight, then diving in to the icicle pattern for a brave and daring finish, so I have to remind myself I'm in the home stretch.  This little setback can't hold me up forever.  I know I have some other cables laying around somewhere!

In all of this I think I'm learning something.  I know I try to paint every project as a lesson, but in this case it's not just about technique.  I've had to have a lot of patience in this project.  I've had to let go of my sense of perfectionism or I would never finish this whole thing.  I doubt I'd be as far along as I am!  I also had to accept the problems that occur when things go wrong, like needles and cables breaking.  Now that I'm about twenty or so rows away from finishing, I'm feeling pretty good about this project.  It's not exactly perfect, but with the amount of yarn and the number of hours put into it, I'm looking at it and thinking how it was definitely worth it.  Once it's all blocked out that shawl is definitely going to be something I'm proud of.

Process Knitting Versus Product Knitting

I've never really much known the difference between product knitting and process knitting.  I mean, it's easy to say that for some knitters are all about the process while caring little about the end product.  Other knitters care more about the end result than the process itself.  I'm not sure I fit in with either of those categories.  Maybe I'm somehow lost between the two.

I love the process of knitting in most cases, but sometimes I really get bored.  I know my work in progress pile will honestly never get finished if I haven't finished them yet.  In one case, yeah, I broke my needle, so I had to wait to replace it.  That's a good reason for exception.  However, once it's been put down, I may as well call it forgotten for the rest of time.

Don't get me wrong, there are pieces I do eventually go back and finish.  There's a hat I had stuffed into hibernation for near forever.  I'd tossed aside a blanket for a while and eventually pulled it out again to finish it.  I do like going through every once in a while to rediscover old projects that have been forgotten.  It's refreshing to revive them.  They don't seem to be as painfully boring then, especially if I'd been doing the same repetitive pattern for what seemed like forever.  My fall/winter seasons shawl by Knit Picks is a perfect example.  I remember looking at that shawl, praying for the point I could finish knitting that stupid falling leaves pattern and move on to the next chart.  By the time I was up to twenty-two repeats across and had already worked through five ever expanding layers of that blasted chart, it's not surprising I was sick of knitting it.  It just got repetitive.  Going back at that point is refreshing.  It's like starting over new again.

Even so, I do have to be honest with myself.  The reason I knit is for the finished product.  I really can't wait to have it done so I can wear the project around and show it off.  It's something I'm proud of and I want the whole world to fawn over it.  I love those moments when people mention how beautiful things I made are and ask where I got it, or if I made it myself.  I have to admit, when people ask where I got it, that's the best moment.  It's so satisfying to say, "Oh, I made it."  I toss it out there so casually, as though it took me no time to make, as if it didn't take hours on end of cursing as that stupid pattern tripped me up.

I have to say, knitting a shawl has taught me one thing.  when you're knitting three rows at nearly three hundred stitches across each row the idea of tinking back a couple of rows to fix it is all the more unappealing.  I'm not a fan of frogging back unless I have a life line because I don't have confidence in picking up my stitches in pattern.  I'm too afraid of screwing it up more.  As a result I find myself finding ways to leave it or "fix it" so that only someone truly inspecting the details can notice.  I justify this in reminding myself of something I heard once about Persian rug makers.  The makers of oriental rugs always deliberately include one mistake in their rugs, no matter how flawless the rest of it might be.  They do this because no one can create something perfect unless they are God.  Because of this, they have to honor God and always leave one small mistake as evidence that they recognize they are only mortal.  I guess that's what the little flaws in my knitting are, signs that, just like everyone else, I'm mortal.

In truth, I have to wonder if I could be considered a product knitter.  I don't have a huge list of UFOs.  Those that I do have are simply because I realized that the project simply didn't fit my needs and wouldn't get used.  What's the point in making something if it will never get used?  I suppose I could always give it away to someone who would appreciate it, but the idea of that breaks my heart.  I like having something at the end of it all that I'll wear or use.  There's really something to be said for useful things.

Perhaps this has to do with my whole thing with clutter as of late.  Our apartment has very little storage space.  The storage space we do have is filled with Magic cards, clothing we're holding on to for one of my kids to grow into, dance costumes, and a yarn stash.  I suppose some day we'll upgrade in space.  I'd love to have a four bedroom so each of our kids can have their own room.  A five bedroom would be even nicer so each kid could have their own room and I could still have an office, but for now that's just dreaming.  Now we need to think on conserving space, and probably getting more useful furniture, like a couple of dressers for my bedroom!  We've been spending a lot of time downsizing and decluttering over the past few years, so I can't justify making things that really aren't going to be used.  I only want stuff in my house that has purpose, that's useful.

A lot of people seem to think useful items are very limiting.  When I tell people I tend to keep my crafting to useful things I generally get the response, "So you only knit sweaters, socks, and hats then, huh?"  Well, for the most part that's true.  I mostly knit things that we can wear, but that doesn't mean I don't like home decor items.  As we get more organized and less cluttered I'm finding that I like to sprinkle our empty spaces with a few nice things to decorate.  I'm starting to find that I like seasonal decorations.  I love to have things I can put up, hang on the walls, and set out on display.  I get jealous of those beautiful houses with all matching furniture in each room, living room sets, a matching dining room set complete with a hutch to store the china.  I love matching bedroom sets and would love to have all of my rooms decorated from matching furniture to having sheets, blankets, and curtains that all coordinate.  I'd love to have art on every wall, decorative vases with flowers in them, and other nice things.  However, my knitting has been pretty limited to useful things.  I like things that I can wear and show off, and I honestly don't have enough people over to make it work decorating my house all that much.  Of course, if my house were beautifully decorated, coordinated, and lovely I would probably have a lot more people over, even in the neighborhood I live in!

One of these days I'm going to break through my financial barrier with knitting and make a real investment.  I look forward to the day when I can drop over a hundred dollars in yarn just to make myself a nice sweater.  I've already got my eyes on a few nice sweaters that don't match my style at all, but I love them.  I think they would look flattering on me, even if I don't tend to dress nice enough to wear those sorts of things on a regular basis.  I think if I ever made myself a beautiful sweater I'd have to run right out and get pants or a skirt and a shirt or blouse that would go with it well.  I'd probably have to look for a cute beret or something to match with it.  Yes, I like to be coordinated like that as well.  Perhaps I should start smaller and knit sweaters for my kids first!

Then again, I'm also the kind of person who will only knit each project once.  Once I've made something, that's it.  I'm done.  I don't use that pattern again.  I might do it under the right circumstances for something cute like a mother/daughter project, but even then that's something that I can make in two different sizes, which makes it different.  I like knitting projects that are going to be challenging as simple knitting tends to bore me.  I'm a little afraid that one day I'm going to find I've got nothing left to knit because I will have done everything that could possibly challenge me, no matter how crazy that might sound.

From the way it looks, I still can't tell if I'm a process knitter or a project knitter.  Perhaps I'm a bit of both, or maybe I just don't understand the terminology all that well yet.  I'll admit it.  I'm still kind of new at this.  I haven't made all that much yet.

Of course, I'm feeling inspired for sweaters right now.  Maybe I'll go check out Knit Picks, Knitty, and some of my other favorites to see what they've got to offer this time of year.  While I'm sure there won't be many sweaters coming into summer, I'm always curious as to what's new out there!

Entrelac...It's So...

When I first decided to make this hat, I thought I was crazy.  It's entrelac!  I wanted to try a new technique and challenge myself!  I didn't really have enough yarn to make a solid color hat in any one color, so I figured this would be perfect!  It would go wonderfully with my dreads (which are undertaking a whole new journey right now...) and it's coming into winter.  A hat is just what I needed!

So I started knitting.  The beginning was rocky, but it very quickly started to turn around.  that first row of triangles I had to wonder what I was thinking, then I started onto the next row and things really started to cruise!  I was making some significant progress, and it was starting to make so much sense!

Taking a look at all I've done so far, I've come to the conclusion that I'm never going to finish that hat.  It's not that it's particularly hard.  It's just that, well, the pattern is easy...  Dare I actually say it's a little too easy?  For the most part, it's just really short rows of back and forth knitting.  The whole hat is broken up into 7 stitch segments to be knit back and forth again and again.  Each round adds about an inch to the total length of the project, but with the way it likes to gather up and bunch, it doesn't even look like that much.  Each round takes forever with all the back and forth knitting.  I think straight knitting around would be quicker to cover the distance!

However, it does look really nice and I know I'm going to be so happy with the finished project.  I really do need a hat, and part of the reason it's so much to knit is the sheer quantity of head space it's going to have to cover over the dreads.  Actually, I probably could have made it a little smaller, but I wanted to be on the safe side.  While the hat band is going to be a bit loose, it actually fits with the kind of drape and flop I like in a hat.  I actually prefer my hats a little too big.  Plus, when the woolies go in every winter, it will leave plenty of room that the hat will still fit.

Still, I have to wonder if the hat will even be finished to wear this year.  It's pretty enough and all, but the pattern just isn't engaging.  I'm finding myself getting sidetracked and looking for something more challenging to do.  I'm stuck on my hair, finishing dance costumes, and wasting large amounts of time on the internet!  If I keep up like this, it might not even be done for next winter!

Finally Back...and a Present from my Swap Partner!

So, I'm finally getting to send a thank you to my swap partner.  We've had to move again...yes, I know...again...so I'm just now getting to send a thank you.  I can't wait to try out that felting kit!  It should be so much fun!

Well, not much time to write, but I'm sure you'll be seeing a lot of this stuff again!  Now to set up my calendar...