A Thousand Words

...but still no pictures. I'm sorry!!!

I did a lot of shopping this week. I have been very good about not buying more yarn, but I had excuses to fall down and I fell hard.

Purchase the first: Sweet Lace in Snow Squall for the Whispering Pines triangle shawl.

Purchase the second: Fiddlesticks Knitting Zephyr Laceweight Wool Silk in Marine

Purchase the third: Lots of beads

Purchase the first is for a Christmas present. Purchase the second and third are for Mystery Shawl 4. Since I didn't have the yarn in person and I wasn't looking at beads in person, I ordered several options for beads, figuring that beads are inexpensive and that I would likely end up using them for something eventually. Also, I am indecisive.

I wanted a silk blend for the mystery stole because the instructions say stitch definition will be important, so I wanted something with a little sheen. I chose Marine because Scheherazade is burgandy, the Moonlight Sonata shawl I am working on is dark dark navy, and I have some green Lacey Lamb in the stash that I plan to use for an Icarus shawl, so I figured Marine was a color category I hadn't gotten yet. I really wavered between picking Marine or Pewter, though - to me, Pewter would have been a safe choice because I could have worn it with a lot and I could have picked any color bead. However, picking a color bead would have made it wearable with less, and I couldn't find any silver or metalic type beads that I was really happy with. But, really, the kicker is that safe is boring and I didn't want to be bored.

I really could have gone about this whole process better, I know - the knitalong doesn't even start for a month and I had plenty of time to mull it over, pick a yarn, wait for it to arrive, find a local bead shop, try out combos, etc - but, half the fun of a mystery stole is the uncertainty, and a) if you're going to gamble, why not gamble big? b) Might as well go with your first instinct because thinking it over too hard really can't do you that much good when you're working with limited instructions anyway.

Now my only problem is finding a size 13 crochet hook for the beads. My LYS didn't have one even close to that size, and the smallest Michael's had was a size 10 (and, having looked at it, I'm kind of freaked out to think that's too big).

I am aware, at this point, that I am kind of spiraling into WIP hell - I get nervous when I have too many things on the needles for too long. I don't think there's anything wrong with having multiple projects, but there is some kind of malfunction in my brain that puts me in an absolute panic if I have a bunch of things going on for too long. There's a little timer in my brain that starts running when I hit a certain number of projects, and if I haven't checked off some boxes before it runs out, I start to freak and it's not pretty.

One consolation is that I'm not finished shopping yet. One of my friends has requested, for Christmas, a pair of fingerless mitts for use in her office. I'm thinking I'm going to do the Orchid Lace mits from knitspot for her in a really decadent yarn. I'm looking at a silk-cashmere blend that I think would be perfect, if only I could get it in a color I think would suit her. The mitts take so little yarn I can afford to splurge on something nice for her - especially since it will come out of my Christmas fund so it doesn't count as being bad.

Now I just have to wait for my purchases to arrive...that's always the hardest part. I plan to use this time to try and get some stuff off my needles so that I don't feel too overwhelmed when I get ready to start the Christmas shawl and the mystery stole.

Lurv

I haven't been blogging because I haven't had any photos to blog. I've been TAKING them, they just never make it from the camera to the computer. Then I have to take more because the ones I just took are out of date.

I got a LOT of knitting done at the amusement park. Unfortunately, a huge chunk of it had to get ripped out and reknit. DANGIT. I did successfully finish the socks I started at MD Sheep and Wool in the car on the way to the park...only to find that somehow I had experienced a guage change and while the first sock I knit does fit, the second sock is much too big. My stitch guage went from 8.5 st/in to 7.5 st/in. I think I started knitting further down on the needle. I'm unhappy, but not about to rip and reknit.

I finished most of the toe of my soldier socks, but later had to rip it out because I didn't have the pattern with me and read the instructions wrong. So, I spent Sunday undoing that bit and reknitting it. Then I triumphantly wove in the ends, put the socks in the laundry, and triumphantly came out with...a pair of socks approximately 1/2 in different in length. ARGH. I'm nervous about unpicking reknitting now that it has been washed, but I don't see that I have much choice.

Also in the car, I cast on and knit the first couple rows of the socks I planned to knit actually at the park. I'm using the embossed stitch pattern from More Sensational Knitted Socks. The yarn is the C*eye*ber Fiber merino-tencel sock blend I got at Maryland Sheep & Wool. The colorway is Periwinkle and I LOVE it. It's so shiny and pretty and it is turning into a gorgeous sock. It's pretty enough in the pattern stitch but then I started doing the heel flap and it is striping in beautiful even stripes that have me tickled so much that I am afraid there may be something wrong with me. I also switched down a needle size for these socks, since I really haven't been happy with the fit on all my previous socks, and I'm much happier with the tighter fabric I've been getting. My only sadness is that I fear these socks will wear out rather quickly since they have no nylon content. I'm not into darning.

However, it hasn't all been roses and happiness...I messed up the stitch pattern for the first few repeats. I couldn't figure out why it wasn't looking right and eventually I found the bit I had been reading incorrectly...and I had to rip out all the progress I made while standing in the 2 hour plus line for one of the rides. I was really unhappy about that since making so much sock progress was the only thing that made that line bearable (it was not my idea to stand in it). Fortunately, I was out of the line by the time I discovered the mistake, or I might have stabbed someone. By the time we got back to the car that evening, I had almost won back all that progress.

A lot of people in the line did kind of the nudge-point-whisper thing at my knitting, but by the end of the line, after passing the same people in the cattle gates fifty-bajillion times, people were starting to actually talk to me about it, to ask what I was making and voice their wish that they had something to do. It was kinda neat!

Amusement Park Knitting

I love the SO. We're going to Hershey Park this weekend, and I mentioned that I needed to pick my trip knitting, and I said something about socks, and he said, the sweetheart, "It's a long trip. Are you sure socks are enough?"

^_^ Isn't he cute?

I don't think there is really any danger of me running out of stuff to knit. First of all, I plan to take both my socks for soldiers socks and the socks I started at MD Sheep and Wool, in the hopes that I can finish both in the car. Then, I want something to knit in line, and socks are definitely on the menu for that (don't worry, I will leave them at the loading area when I get on a ride, so that I do not get punctured). I'm thinking I'm going to wind up the C*eye*ber Fyber I got at MD Sheep & Wool, and xerox the Embossed Stitch pattern from my copy of More Sensational Knitted socks. I think a 4 stitch pattern SHOULD be easy enough to not mess up.

I have the skein of Casbah in Peacock all wound up and ready to go for the Caledonian Mist socks from Pink Lemon, but I think the merino-tencel blend will be more pleasant to work with the the hot weather.

I will probably also take along a shawl project of some sort, just in case - I have all that Jojoland sitting around for a Wrapped in Comfort Shawl. I think I've decided on the Water Turtles Shawl, but "decided" is always a moving target with me.

There is, of course, always the chance that I will fall asleep or something and get no knitting done at all, but I'm hopeful.

Getting there

The first repeat was a huge struggle. I couldn't knit from the chart at all, because I just couldn't wrap my mind around it, so I ended up using the written instructions, which worked out fine. However, I still had a lot of problems. What really threw me is the way the starting point for the 12 stitch repeat moves when you turn the work. Thankfully, now that I have completed a repeat I think I have it kind of figured out. I just wasn't expecting it. It took me forever to get through the first repeat, but the first half of the second repeat has flown, so I think I am past the learning curve (knock on wood). I can also see how the pattern works and flows now, so I think if I screw up I will catch it faster. Here's hoping!!

A Hazy Shade of Moonlight

Normally I post once a week or so, so that I have pictures to post - but, it's been a busy week and it makes me feel better to blog, so we have a bunch of small pictureless posts instead. Actually looking back - there have been a lot of pictureless posts lately. Oops. I promise, the pictures will return shortly.

I have, of course, started some new things since finishing Scheherazade. Or at least, I've attempted to. It's...not going well. I first tried to tackle the Jojoland Harmony scarf I was planning, Elm Row from Knitspot...but the yarn has gotten hopelessly tangled. I'm not sure what I did - I must've wound it too fast? Is there some type of rule about winding laceweight? I don't know, but it tangled badly right off the ball and I didn't make it more than a couple of rows in before I gave up in frustration. Not sure how I plan to resolve that problem, since rewinding it will still mean dealing with the tangles.

I put the yarn in time out and fetched out the Kidsilk Haze I've had squirreled away for the Moonlight Sonata shawl. That one's giving me trouble too...I've never worked with mohair before, and I really had a lot of trouble with the pattern instructions at first. I am trying not to lose hope - this frequently happens to me at the beginning of a pattern. It takes a while to get into the rhythm. Anyway, I have the collar plus two rows done. I'm really struggling with doubting my choices - doubting the yarn, doubting the color, doubting whether I should even have attempted this whole mess at all - but I'm trying to have a little faith. I'll give it a few more rows and pretty soon I'll be sailing along...hopefully. I did worry about guage and whether the pattern would show up as it should, but I checked out a few Moonlight Sonatas made out of KSH on Ravelry and it seems to have worked out for them. The color is "Nightly" and it is one of those navy blues so deep it is almost black. I keep worrying about whether it is TOO close to black, but one of the first things the SO said when he saw me making the collar was "That's a pretty color" so it must not be too bad. When I set it down and step back a bit, I feel better, so I think it's just new project anxiety. It'll be fine. (or am I in knitter's denial? always a possibility).

The Longest Mile

That last repeat seemed like it took forever, but - it's finally done! It looks like crap because it hasn't been blocked so I didn't photograph it (also, I had to work late and I was tired) but it is, in fact, finished!!

Disappointment

I didn't finish Scheherazade this weekend. I was so close!! I finished the second edging, successfully ripped out the first one, and I am ONE PATTERN REPEAT AWAY. 28 rows!! But it was after 10 p.m. and I just had to quit because I have found that after 10 the number of errors I make skyrockets, and I'd rather not have to rip out again.

So, I am nearly done, but not actually done.

I did start working on the heel flap for my sock, but that was the only other knitting progress made.

28 rows! So close, so close!