Finishing the Catamaran Shawl!

Well, it's done!  I've finished the Catamaran Shawl.  It looks really pretty, and the extra repeats make all the difference in the length of the shawl.  It's actually kind of perfect for me, though I can't quite get over the asymmetrical shape.  It doesn't seem to want to block out the way it was intended too, but I did the best I could, so that's something.

Aside from the odd shape, which doesn't truly bother me that much in the long run, I really love the colors.  My daughter said it looks like Christmas colors, but I'm not so much in agreement, though I can see where she would get that idea.  I love the colors, the shape, and the lace work, so much more so now that it's blocked.

And that's another new and exciting thing for me, I've finally got proper equipment to block with!  I really could have used one more blocking pad for the shawl, maybe two, but they were sold in packs of a dozen.  Maybe I'll pick up another dozen for Christmas or something, if I really feel the need.  For the time being, this will work for most of the projects I've got going, at least the ones that need blocking.

This pattern not only was fun to knit, but introduced a new technique I'd never tried before.  The edges were bound over in an i-cord style binding, which I had never done before.  I wasn't surprised to see this was also the style of binding used for the cast off.  The technique wasn't as difficult as I feared it would be and actually worked up pretty quickly in the scheme of things.  I like the final look.  It looks sharp and matches so well with the other edges of the shawl.  It looks complete, like it was designed properly.

I'm not sure how much use I'm going to get out of this shawl, given it's not winter weight, so I won't be using it when the months get cooler, but I love it.  It seems like it will be just enough for a breezy summer day, one that's not too hot, just to keep the sun off of me and to provide the slightest layer of extra warmth.  The yarn is nice and light, so it won't be too hot.  I can see myself having plenty of opportunities for it come spring, and maybe early next summer, when the weather is still cool.  I can even see me using this shawl in the first few weeks of autumn, when the weather is just cool enough to want for something, but not enough that one of my wool shawls will do the trick.  If nothing else, I can see myself looking for an excuse to wear this shawl, just because it's lovely and I really want to wear it.

Catamaran, Hue Shift Afghan, and the Cardigan

I finished the cardigan!  I don't have a picture of it yet, but it's done.  I'm going to try and get a picture of it with my dress for the wedding, but we'll see how that works out.  I figure it would be a good way to show it off.  I'll probably even get all dolled up to do it, if I can ever find what I did with my makeup.  I guess I'm not that feminine after all, even if my taste in knits tends that way.

Just after I finished the sweater I started a new shawl, the Catamaran Shawl from Knit Picks.  Let me first say that this is the strangest yarn I've ever knit with.  The name "Lindy Chain" is totally appropriate.  It seems like it's one thin thread that's looped in on itself to form one long chain.  It was a little disconcerting when I started the project because the texture was so weird.  I was beginning to think I would hate this project, but I think I start out all my projects with this attitude of "This isn't what I expected."

All knit up it looks like any other yarn.  On the knit side it even feels like any other yarn.  The purl side has a strange texture, but I'm finding as I work with it I don't dislike it.  I can't say I love it and this is my new favorite yarn ever (that goes to the yarn for the sweater), but I think I'm going to be pretty happy with it in the long run.  It's not a gooshy yarn, so it doesn't attract every piece of dog hair in the house either,which is nice.  It's nice to have one garment in the house that's not going to need to be hit with a lint brush every time I want to leave the house, especially for something nice and summery like this.

I wasn't totally sure about the contrast of colors either.  When I picked the kit I got, the white and green just called to me.  The original gray tones were nice, but I kind of felt like gray would just be lost on me.  I wanted something with a bit more fun.  That's why I chose the white and green.  I just had second thoughts for a moment when I saw the two in my hands and realized just how dark the green really was.

Thankfully, seeing the two colors worked together I felt a lot more comfortable with what I was knitting up.  The green and white go really well together.  I just wish I had a picture with the two in the sunlight because it's a really flattering combination.  It actually makes me think of Ireland, though I'm not sure why.  It didn't take much to restore my confidence in these colors.  They look absolutely fantastic together.

And the more I knit with this yarn, the more I realize I was exactly right when I decided to get this shawl.  It's going to be a wonderful piece for when the weather starts to change, or even with the weather we've had lately, where I want a little bit of something, but I don't want to put on a full sweater or anything.  The colors will be nice in the spring and throughout the summer, which means I'll get a lot of wear out of this.  I've already got a sunflower shawl for late summer and the fall/winter shawl from Knit Picks all those years ago for fall.  This will be great for the seasons where I've got nothing for the weather.

As for the project list, I'm slowly making way on the Hue Shift Afghan again too!  I have to admit, I like Section 2 much more than I like Section 1.  That means I'll have two sections that I like this much.  I think I'll like Section 3 even more.  I guess I just have a thing for cool colors, which is what Section 3 will be, but the blend I've got going on now is actually pretty cool.  I'm not liking all of the colors blended together, but it's coming along pretty well.  I don't have a more recent photo, but I've started the third row on this section, which lightens up the whole piece.  There's going to be a pale green and yellow after this, and then the section will be finished.  It's working up pretty quickly.

I have to say, I've started to work into a rhythm with this blanket.  Every time I knit a square I weave in the ends right away.  I hate weaving in the ends at the points of the squares, so this saves me from having to do a bunch of them all at once.  It also leaves my work nice and neat, which definitely helps.  I like being able to pull my work out and not have a bunch of strands hanging off of it.  It's also nicer to show off to people when it looks so much more complete.  Best of all, I get the hassle of weaving in the ends done right away, so I don't have it sitting over me for later.

I've really been on a binge knitting spree lately.  I've had a lot of time to sit and work on projects, and the extra money available to pick up a few project kits.  I'm hoping I can keep up the routine, though I have to admit, it was kind skip a pay period for ordering because I still had too much work to do on the projects I was working on.  The sweater and the shawl, even considering the cost of needles, were both pretty inexpensive projects, which is nice.  It means my money goes that much further.

Knitting is an expensive hobby.  I've got to eventually pick up a ball winder and swift, though I have to say, there is something meditative about hand balling yarn.  It's time consuming, but it isn't as much of a hassle as I would have imagined.  I kind of like it.  I guess that means the joy of knitting consumes that many more hours.  Then I need to get blocking pads and pins at some point.  Of course, there's the cost of yarn and patterns, though there are a number of patterns available for free.  The best ones are still paid patterns, or in books, at least where the larger projects are concerned.  If I want to get into sweater knitting, I'm going to have to face purchasing patterns.  It's just something I'm going to have to do.

At least the projects I'm getting are lasting for some time.  I can't imagine how people who crank out knit goods like they're nothing manage to have the money for it all!  I'm sure it's a decent chunk of their budget, plus they look for good deals.  I guess I'll learn to be more thrifty with my knitting as time goes on.  For now, I'm happy with knitting the projects I'm working on and getting the most out of them.  A little knitting seems to go a long way in my life!

The Beachcomber Shawl

I haven't been doing much knitting, to be honest.  I finished the Chilly Podsters and kind of lost interest in doing anything else.  My Nutkins are still not finished.  I started some Carousel socks, but lost interest in that.  Something about the new job had me not knitting very much.

That is, until I decided to check out what Knit Picks had to offer.  I have no idea why, but I started combing through their pattern kits.  I was hoping to find a shawl, as I've knit up a couple of the shawl kits they've put out before, but I was really up for just about anything.

When I first saw the Beachcomber Shawl, I was in love.  I was a little saddened by the fact that they didn't have any kits in the original color scheme, so I picked the only one they had available.  I wasn't thrilled with the colors, but I figured I could always give it away if I didn't like it.  But I wanted to take a chance on it.  The colors might not actually be that bad.  I don't tend to go for yellow, but I do a like my gray tones.

The start of the shawl went well.  It's an easy enough, basic garter stitch with some increases thrown in on one side, decreasing on the other.  It worked up fairly quick in the beginning, the short rows and simple color changes making it pretty easy to work through.  I have to be honest, when it was just gray I wasn't loving it so much.  I thought I would give it a chance, but I wasn't expecting much.  My daughter loved the way it was working up, so maybe I would give it to her.  That wouldn't be a half bad idea.  It was a little disheartening that I didn't like the way it was knitting up, but I figured I enjoyed knitting it, so I may as well stick it out to finish it.

When the yellow first came in I was even less thrilled with the look.  It was such a shocking departure from the subtle gray tones.  I really didn't like it.  I had built up in my mind that no one could possibly like these colors together.  They just didn't flow well.  I was starting to think this shawl would end up sitting around somewhere, unused and ignored.

Much to my surprise, my daughter came in and said how much she loved it.  She thought it looked cool and the colors looked really good together.  Then Chesh came in and said he thought it looked awesome.  I felt a lot better knowing this project would be loved and used by someone, even if it wasn't used by me.  I was knitting with a purpose again, and made good progress too, until I had to go to work and put it down for the better part of two days.  Even so, with new determination, I worked my way through this shawl like it was the best thing I'd ever knit.  I was excited to see the finished project and I was looking forward to having it go to a good home.  I knew people were excited to see it done, which made it that much easier to knit.  It flew off my needles (all considering) and was done in no time.  The lace sections were simple and pretty, which made it that much nicer to knit.  The only thing that was kind of a pain was the cast off, which was more time consuming than anything.

That's when something happened.  As I was working through the cast off I started to reconsider my thoughts on this shawl.  After I was finished my opinion became that much more firm.  I was not going to give this shawl away, not unless my daughter asked really, really nicely.  I mean, I've got a few shawls, so it's not like I would be lacking any to give this one away, but I did like it enough that, without being begged, I'm not going to part with it.

I still have my thoughts on this shawl.  Perhaps I would have liked the original colors better.  They may have even been more wearable in my mind, but this shawl suited me.  The yellow is bright and cheery, and the gray makes it something I can wear with just about anything I own.  It's not nearly as summery as the original colors, but I think summery isn't really a look I tend to do.  I tend to stick with my very neutral tones, and this yellow would really break up my wardrobe, which tends to have a lot of black, perhaps too much if you ask some.  I really love the way it turned out and I can't wait to get some good wear out of it, something that will undoubtedly happen when they days get a little less brutally hot and muggy.  It's perfect and light and I'm going to love wearing it!

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.

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...

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.

Progress Slowing...

I'm starting to remember why I don't make more shawls.  The rectangular shawls are pretty easy.  Yes, it can get long, tedious, and boring, but at least the rows are pretty regular.  Triangle shawls just seem to get more and more endless.  It seems like I'm knitting forever and no progress was ever made.  I can imagine round shawls are the same, or similar at least.

This shawl is so pretty.  I'm really going to enjoy it.  I can't wait until it's done so I can wear it around.  Still, I'm wondering if it's ever going to be finished.  There's just so much work to be done on it.  I've got to admit, I don't have as much time to knit as I may like these days.  I've really been distracted with moving and all of that.  Even if I did, I don't think I'd be done by Christmas!  Knowing my luck, it won't be done until it's getting too warm for a shawl and the colors are totally in the wrong season!

Frustrated and Ripping my Yarn Out!

This is infuriating!  I realized that I somehow managed to miss knitting one of the strands of yarn a few rows back.  It wouldn't be so bad if I hadn't just broken the yarn and started on the next section.  I was so proud of myself!  Two sections were already down!

I had thought to myself, "This will be easy.  I'll just drop the stitch, unravel it all the way down, and fix it.  I've done it a million times.  It's my common solution when I don't want to rip back several rows, or there are just too many stitches in each row to make it worth it.  I don't want to spend hours undoing my work just to knit it all back up again the right way.  That's pretty pointless, right?

Everything started pretty well.  I unraveled everything, picked up the lost strand, and was on my way again.  Things seemed okay.  There were a couple odd spots, but I was making progress.  It would look a little funny because of the way the stitches get pulled up, but that's normal.  I've kind of come to expect that.  It's better than always noticing the spot where it's wrong to the point where I can't tolerate to wear the thing.  That's a lot of yarn to put towards something I'll never wear, so fixing it was definitely better than leaving it.

Things don't always work as well as they seem to, and I've learned I can't fix garter stitch to save my life, especially with the row of eyelets beside the stitch I was focused on.  I pulled up all the stitches finding that, when I got to the top, I had done something wrong, and I couldn't see where.  The top stitch should have been a purl!  Why was it a knit?  I found the culprit, a stitch that never got picked up.  I dropped back and fixed it again, once more turning out with a knit stitch.  After the fourth time I decided I was giving up and I was going to undo it all to the point it was wrong and work it all up again, not only wasting my valuable knitting time, but frustrating the heck out of me in the process!

As if that wasn't bad enough, when I started working from both the center and the outside of the ball, the yarn tangled so badly that I wanted to cry in trying to work it all out.  I had my Chesh help me with it, but it still wasn't enough.  It's still a huge mess as we speak.  I'm trying to figure out if I have the patience to work it out.  I may never have the patience, to be perfectly honest.  Cutting it out might just be in order.  I just hope to avoid that at all costs.

It seems like my yarn is determined to make me angry.  It doesn't want me to ever be happy again, I swear.  Well, this shawl is not going to get the best of me.  I'm going to finish it if it kills me!

By the way, small edit to note that I did manage to get it all out without cutting the yarn in the end, but I had to knit with the yarn all wrapped up around my hand until I got back to the ball to keep it from getting tangled.  This is how I had to work:

Feeling Homesick

Is it bad when your knitting makes you miss home?  It makes me want to move back up to New England today!  I'd love to be back in beautiful, scenic, historic Salem.  That's the place I truly call home.  Why is it that my knitting wants to be one more reminder?

The shawl I'm working on is beautiful.  It's fall colors into winter.  I'd worked through the whole solid green section with no issue.  The little leaves were coming out so beautifully!  Then I moved on to the two colored orange and green.  At first I thought it was pretty.  The color combination was surprisingly beautiful.  I loved it!  I couldn't wait to see it blend into the next color, straight orange, and on as it progressed.

Not all things can be as simple and wonderful as that.  In this case, I realized that the colors reminded me of fall.  The almost dappled appearance of the yarn reminds me of a mix of fall leaves.  It reminds me of pumpkins.  I think of Halloween and Thanksgiving.  It makes me homesick for the colors on real leaves.  It makes me wish I could feel the clear, crisp air.  It makes me think of the one place I want to be, Salem.

I love this project, and I think once I get over this little inconvenience of homesickness, I think I'll adore it.  I'm loving the patterning on it and the way the yarn blends.  I just wish I could live in a place where the season change would be perfect for such a garment.  I wish I was living back home.

Note to Self: Check for Errata, Dumby!

The Knit Picks Seasons Shawl: Fall/Winter...  I love you!  You're made of such pretty yarn.  It's soft and smooth in my hands.  For being made of scratchy stuff (otherwise known as wool), you are so delightful to work with!  I absolutely adore the very idea of you!  Why must you scorn me like this?  Why?

It all began with the cast-on.  Things were going well.  I knit through my first six rows like they were nothing.  Things got a little hazy on the seventh row.  I needed to knit across all three stitches and then pick up and knit three more down the side and then again down the cast-on edge.  Picking up stitches is generally a messy process for me.  The stitches picked up are never as pretty as the rest of the stitches.  I should have known then that you would be such a challenge, but I didn't.  I didn't anticipate having near any problems at all!  I'm a good knitter, and though I'm still new in the grand scheme of things, I find myself flying through projects, always looking for something harder, always looking for a challenge.  I think I over-estimated my readiness for a challenge.

When I first saw your picture staring at me from the Knit Picks website, I thought to myself, "Now there's a lovely shawl!  You were gorgeous!  You were everything I wanted.  The colors were delightful.  The drape over the model was stunning.  I could already see you wrapped around me, keeping me warm on a cool night.  I'll be perfectly honest, a shawl isn't of much use in Texas weather.  If it's cool enough to put something on, you actually throw on a layer.  A shawl won't likely do much.  This isn't New England, where those first cool nights of the year are perfectly met with a little something to wrap around you.  Texas is too fickle for that.  However, in the anticipation of saving money on our electricity, I know the heat will be low in the house, unbearably low for someone who can't hold on to their own warmth like me.  While I have socks to combat my heat seeking feet, there's nothing to keep the rest of me snug.  A shawl might just prove to be practical!

The day the box arrived, I darted around the house like a mad woman, looking for a knife, scissors, anything to get me through that tape!  Upon finding it, I tore into the box, not like a child on Christmas (that might risk damaging the contents), but delicately, carefully, and as fast as I could possibly manage.  The packing list, of course, was on top.  It was tossed carelessly aside.  If everything was there, then why did I care about the packing slip?  I'd know if it was all there.  I was anticipating it every day from the moment I knew you were on your way.  First were the Zephyr Acrylic Needle Tips.  I will admit, I did take pause at these to pull them out, bend them a few times, see if they were everything the advertising video promised.  I know it distracted me from your glory, but I'm not about to lie.  I know you saw I was distracted.  How could you not?  Then out came the needle cables, tossed aside with the needle tips as if they were no longer important.  They couldn't be, because there you were!  I pulled you out, and my expression changed instantly.  I'm sure it was so dramatic you could have seen it miles away.

I'm not going to say I was entirely unhappy.  Let's just say I was a little disappointed.  The photos on the web were so incredibly enticing.  The blend between them was just so perfect.  It was everything a girl could want, especially one such as myself that adores fall colors so.  Seeing the cover of the kit in person, I wasn't so inspired.  The green was a garish clash from the rest of the colors, completely out of place.  The green and orange blend looked atrocious, in my eyes.  I didn't know what I was thinking.  It just wasn't me.  Perhaps I could fold the shawl over just so to hide that far-to-bright green.  The blue, black, and gray didn't seem to appeal either.  It just clashed!  I feared it was awful!  Then again, I had plenty of friends who would adore a hand-knit shawl, and I know some of my friends would adore your colors.  I took a passing glance at the yarn bundled in back, but didn't really give it a proper look, knowing that green would be in there, and that blue.  Oh well...  Back in the box you went.  Sadly, I didn't have the time to look at you then, especially if I wasn't thrilled.  There were things I needed to get done.  Besides, I couldn't take you out and knit you.  I needed a ball winder before I could do that.  I wasn't about to wind all those balls by hand!  I'd be insane to do that!  That's a lot of yarn!

It was a good long while before I could take you out again.  You were misplaced during the move by my husband, who clearly didn't understand your value.  It took him forever to pull you out again.  Besides, I couldn't work on you!  I didn't have a ball winder!  When he did find you, it was the same excuse, and that I needed to finish the Clapotis first.  I couldn't possibly start another project yet!  At least I did you one small justice.  I looked you over and took a better look.  Maybe the yarn wasn't so bad after all.  Still, I didn't want to open the bag and spill everything out.  That could be a disaster.  I'd do it another day.

Today I was planning to go to the yarn shop.  I needed to pick up some more wool for longies.  It was as good of an excuse as any.  I had finished my Clapotis.  I had started knitting a pair of longies, but I know how I am.  They wouldn't take me long.  I'd be done and out of things to work with in no time.  I'm sure you already know how I feel about socks right now.  I'm just not in the mood to knit them!  Besides, I can't find the pattern book and eight million other excuses.  I have to apologize.  I'm horrible about all the excuses.  It's not that I don't want to knit all my fantastic projects, it's just that the timing needs to be right.  I want to give each project my full attention, and I can't do that if my mind is wrapped up in something else entirely.  No, today was not a good day for socks, so I grabbed you up instead and off we went.

While I did buy more yarn and balled that up first, you did get wound into your own neat balls, all eight skeins.  One after another was done, though I was beginning to think I'd never stop turning that crank.  I considered leaving the rest for later, but no, that wouldn't be fair to either of us.  I know myself well enough to know that I would forget to wind the next ball until I needed it, and, with no ball winder on hand for immediate satisfaction, I would put you aside and get lost on something else, taking months to finally get the next skein wound.  No, I had to do it all.  Besides, seeing all your colors laid out on the table before me, I realized just how lovely you were.  That green was more of a beautiful forest color.  The black was really more of a midnight blue.  The bright blue I hated so much before was darker than I imagined, and the perfect compliment to the purple and midnight it shared it's borders with.  The transition would be amazing!  The gray still seemed a bit off, but that's what made it's elegance stand out so incredibly much!  The fall leaf colors were deep and rustic, not as brilliantly bright as I had seemed to get it in my head.  You really were everything I wanted in a shawl!  I was only too happy to get you started.  Unfortunately, in the middle of the day when I knew I'd have to run soon was hardly the time to dedicate, so I waited until I was home.  I would have the time to focus on you then.  Besides, I wanted a picture of all your lovely yarn before the project started for my Ravelry page.  Who could blame me?  It was perfect!

Being a smart little knitter (read that as "having learned from my past mistakes), I read through the pattern carefully.  I didn't want any surprises.  It's actually a good thing I didn't decide to hand wind the balls of yarn because I would have been in quite the sorry state.  I didn't anticipate needing two strands of yarn to knit with, just the one.  As you can well imagine, if I had just wound your average ball, knitting with two strands would have been impossible, unless I'd made a second ball.  I never hand-wind center pull these days.  It's just too challenging!  With that happy thought of doing the right thing by waiting in mind, I continued on.  I made sure not to miss a single detail.  I even read over the abbreviations, even though I was certain I could figure them all out with a little logic.  I read over the charts.  Everything looked as it should be.

At this I was off to a roaring start!  Well, perhaps a turtle's pace would be a better description.  I cast on four different times just to figure out whether I would work in the tail from the start or leave it to weave in later.  I finally decided on leaving it, but in hindsight I have to wonder if I made the wrong choice.  Perhaps picking up stitches would have been easier if I had worked the ends in.  However, I think I may have made the right choice.  Picking up and knitting the stitches was a nightmare.  I couldn't figure out if I was actually supposed to knit each stitch as I picked it up, but that's what I did.  Because of your loose and unstructured nature at that point, I had a miserable time discerning where each picked up stitch should come from.  Where did the selvage end?  Where did the cast-on edge begin?  I made do (perhaps a little sloppier than I would have liked) and got on to the good stuff.

From here it was smooth sailing!  That's right, I cruised through the first twelve rows like they were nothing!  Of course, they were pretty much just knitting, so it wasn't to bad, a couple yarn overs tossed in to create expansion and the right shape.  This was all cake.  I had built up quite the confidence, but that's when you got tricky.  I guess you thought I needed a bigger challenge early on, you know, to prepare me for the worse stuff to come later.  I had already anticipated you would do this.  I was being extra careful with each stitch, as I've never worked with two strands together as one before.  I thought I was doing alright, until the first row of the pattern took a giant bite out of my pride!  Boy did that one hurt!

From here on out, it was problems.  First it was my stitch count being off.  I couldn't figure out where I was going wrong.  I knit from the third marker on two or three times, but it always ended up the same.  Apparently I was missing a stitch?  I counted.  I calculated.  I did everything I could manage.  Finally, frustrated, I tinked back the other side to see if I could figure out where I'd gone wrong on this half, and right on the one before.  I don't know how I managed it, nor what I was doing wrong before, but this time you went by flawlessly!  I'll admit, I my confidence was shake, but not yet shot.  I know these mistakes happen.  I notice them all the time.  When I go back and try to fix them, they somehow disappear, as though they never existed and I was really just crazy the whole time.  I'm sadly used to it by now.

Unfortunately, that was not the last of the rocky section.  I managed to make it through row one of the chart with no further incident!  Now it was on to row two, and that is where disaster struck!  I knit up the rows.  At first, I was reading the rows entirely wrong.  I was knitting where I should purl, purling where I should knit.  I thankfully caught on before I got too far, but it was frustrating and embarrassing, even if no one was here to see but my rabbit.

I sorted that out, then realized I was reading row two from right to left, just like I'd read the previous chart, blissfully ignorant that it doesn't work that way!  I knit through almost the entire chart across this way before I realized that I was doing it wrong.  Row two was supposed to be read left to right!  That could make sense of a good deal!  I tinked back again, this time only the part that needed to be altered, did it right, and once again moved on.

One would imagine that I would be the observant type.  When I see things line up on the chart, they should also line up in the knitting, right?  It should all be stacked up just the way it should, and it would all look spectacular!  Well, I didn't take note of that small detail.  If I did, I think I would have found my problem sooner.  It may have just stopped me from going so insane!  I counted the blocks on the chart, then counted my stitches for the section.  I expected it all to match, but frustratingly, it didn't.  Of course it didn't!  That would make my life easier.  I read the chart again, seeing two yarn overs and only one decrease for the row below, yet both the sections were the same size.  I wanted to yell at that yarn over instruction.  Clearly it was the problem.  If it weren't for that one extra yarn over, the whole thing would line up perfectly!  (I'm not going to mention that I should have known this would be impossible as the count was off by two, not one.)  Then I realized I just needed to add something somewhere, maybe another block to each end of the chart so it would match the one above!  That would be perfect!

Now, my brain cells finally did do their job on this one.  As much as I could anticipate likely changes to the pattern, I somehow thought I might want to check into the problem first.  Perhaps this wasn't as easy of a fix as I thought it would be.  Everything else has been a disaster thus far.  Maybe I was doing something wrong.  I would go see if they had an errata!

Well, I did, and the company did.  It seemed my instincts were right on adding the extra box.  The chart was simply published wrong, and the correct chart was online.  Saving myself a good deal of aggravation, I undid the mistake and corrected it.  I was finally feeling back on track.

So, what did I learn in all of this?  I could have prevented the whole problem by checking for an errata before I even considered picking up the needles to knit.  If I had, this problem could have been avoided.  It would have been one less frustration from the start.

Lesson learned, always check for an errata.  If I find a problem, see if anyone else has had the same, or write the designer if there is none.  All of this could have been avoided if I had.

I love you, my soon-to-be beautiful shawl.  I can't wait to have you finished.  I know I scorned you, neglecting you for other things, but I promise, I'm always going to come back to you until you're done.  After that, you join my wardrobe as "my favorite shawl".  That being said, please, no more problems!  I'm starting to think I'm allergic to lace!

Oh, and before I forget, lesson learned on the donuts too.  No powdered sugar will so much as enter the room when you're in the room, and I'll be smart enough to wash my hands before touching you after eating those infernal powdered things!  I didn't mean to get sugar on you, but I assure you, were it not for me writing it now, no one would be any the wiser...

It's Done!

The clapotis is finished!  It's taken a good while longer than I thought it would.  It's turned out to be quite the lengthy project!  Down to those last decrease rows I was beginning to wonder if it would ever end.  Of course, I was also in anticipation of finally being finished.  I couldn't wait to have it all done so I could wear it out somewhere.  I wanted to know just what it would look like, as if I didn't already have a pretty good idea.  I wanted to see it done!  I wanted that finished product in my hand.

Well, I finished it.  It looks stunning, in my opinion.  I've already worn it out once.  I plan to wear it as often as I can manage.  I absolutely adore it!

In thinking about the whole project, I've decided not to block it.  I was thinking I might, just so that it could have that finished and complete look, but I'm not going to do it yet, at least.  I know I probably should block it, but with this project, it at least looks fine the way it is.  I quite like it unblocked.

Of course, a part of this is my fear of blocking.  I've never had to block anything before, so I'm not entirely sure on the technique to do so.  I know you lay it flat, stretch it into shape, and pin it, but that's about it.  I know you can spray it down to dampen it.  Some people block their garments wet.  Others use steam.  I'm not entirely sure what process works best for what kind of yarn or garment, but I'm curious to try.

All of this work with the clapotis has got me thinking, if I can work on this kind of long-term project, maybe I'm ready for one with a bigger challenge to it all.  Maybe I'm ready for...dare I say it...?  A sweater!

Disappearing Designs

Two years ago, nearly, I started working on this shawl.  It was a beautiful shawl.  I wanted to have it ready for the maypole celebration in the spring.  It was exactly the right pattern.  I purchased beautiful yarn that I adored.  I was ready to go.  This was going to be the perfect shawl ever, or so I thought.  If only I'd known what I was in for!  Maybe I never would have started at all.

The shawl started off simple enough.  There were a few rough patches, but once I got into the swing of things, I was flying.  The pattern was easy to read and it was coming together beautifully.  I was thrilled.  The small images were starting to come out and I couldn't wait to be done.  That's when my stitches were off on the count.  I couldn't figure out where I'd lost count and I wasn't about to tink back and find where it was wrong to fix it, so I started over.  I was sure this time I would get it right.

Unfortunately, it wasn't that simple.  Nearly ten times I frogged this shawl and started over due to the count being off.  I could have just tossed in an increase to correct the count and be done with it, but that would have been too easy.  Whether or not anyone else noticed, I would know.  It would be staring me in the face every time I looked at it.  It wasn't that the pattern was wrong because it would have shown up in all the repeats and always on the same row.  This was the chaotic missed stitch that seemed to like to jump in at unexpected times, which is pretty daunting when you're working across 200 stitches or more in each row!  Yet even though this shawl was laughing at me (I swear, I could hear it!), I soldiered on.  I was determined to finish and wear this thing to the may pole.

Wouldn't it figure that another stumbling block would get in my way.  The interchangeable needles I had used for this project seemed to have a problem with the 8 gauge tips.  The wooden needle kept falling off of the metal part that screws into the connecting cable.  Try as I might, it just kept falling apart.  Worse still, it would always fall apart in the middle of a row, making me drop a massive amount of stitches and have to struggle to pick them all up.  As if it wasn't hard enough to keep the count correct before, now I had to contend with picking up a bunch of dropped stitches!  This was just too much.  I tossed the yarn and shawl, needles and all, into a bag and shoved it in my closet.  I would come back to it eventually.

I did come back to it eventually.  It had been stuffed in the closet, and in this house, the closet is just where you stuff anything you don't want to deal with.  I uncovered it just before Christmas when I tried to clean out the closet and get the house in order.  Some people say it was that whole pregnancy nesting thing.  In truth, I just got sick of not being able to find anything and everyone complaining that my house was a bit chaotic.  The bag was unearthed and I pulled out the yarn, thinking I should order new tips and start the project again.

Out came the bag and I dumped it out, spilling yarn and shawl on the floor.  The lavender yarn formed a puddle on the linoleum floor, but something clicked against the ground and skittered away.  I gave the yarn an inquisitive look, but ignored it.  In my house, the chances of something else ending up in the bag of yarn are pretty great.  Anyone with kids would understand.  I picked up the piece of shawl to see if it was salvageable.  As I was investigating, I noticed something was wrong.  The needles were broken again.  The interchangeable had popped out, reminding me, once again, why I dropped the project.  I looked around the ground to find the piece that had run off.  Perhaps I could glue it.  Perhaps there was some way to make it work.  Maybe I could just order a new one and be done with it.  I was determined to finish.  That's when I saw it, laying on the floor almost under the couch, my rogue needle.

When I picked it up, I was filled with sadness.  This needle definitely could not be salvaged.  Perhaps something heavy was stacked on top of it, because it had been broken in two!  It was traumatic, heart-breaking, and a reminder why my house and wood needles do not make fast friends.  With a saddened sigh, I resolved to buy a different kind of needle next time.  Maybe it would be best to stick to metal.  I put the project back in it's bag, cable, broken needle, and all, and went about my day.  I'd pick it up later when the sight disheartened me less.

A good six months and two moves later, I've realized I had just the needles for the job all along in my knitting box!  Why hadn't I thought of that?  I pulled the needles out for a friend when I started teaching her to knit.  She uses them all the time now, but I was certain I could get them back long enough to finish the shawl.  With new excitement, I began to look for the pattern, which was long gone.  Given it was a free pattern, I decided to hop online and print out a new copy.  That's when things got bad.

Once on the web I went back through Ravelry to find the pattern.  The pattern came up right away and I clicked on it to follow the link to the actual pattern.  I was excited, but my heart broke just slightly when I saw the disclaimer on the bottom of the pattern stating it was taken down and replaced by a new pattern in fingering weight.  I wanted to cry!

Then I started thinking, perhaps I could modify the fingering weight pattern.  I could use that to finish my shawl and all would be good.  I searched and searched for the pattern, but I wasn't able to find it.  It was just gone, spit off into the void.  Even the re-write of the pattern on Ravelry lead to nowhere as that pattern seems to have been discontinued as well.  I just can't win.

So now I've learned my lesson.  From now on I'll print up a copy of the pattern and keep it with the project at all times.  You never know when it might be gone for good.  And as much as I love some of the patterns from that site's free pattern listing, I'm not sure if I'll ever trust them again.  To save myself heartbreak, if I do end up knitting one of their shawls, then that's wonderful.  If not, well, I won't get too attached.  I'd rather not suffer the heartbreak of having it gone before I finish and having to start over from scratch yet again.