Finished!

One down with two more to go! I give you a finished shawl that I started in May. Seven months of knitting and ripping back and reknitting. Three of those months had to have been spent in time out though. 

I learned it is far better to have good tools to help you, than it is to have a "I can do this" attitude. I knew I could do it, so I ended up doing it in small pieces over and over again. Work smarter not harder!

My old and new tools that I discovered? First, stitch markers help so much when your brain keeps messing with you. Now I am not a big proponent of stitch markers but in this case they proved to be essential to me getting it right and keeping it right. I used every color I own, and was thankful for them all. 

My new tool is magnetic place keepers from Slipped Stitch Studios. Have you seen these things in action yet? They're ribbon covered and joined magnets that slip over a pattern and keep your place. No sticky tape to move, no noting which line you're on after you finish a row. Freedom in the form of magnets, ever so brilliant!

My second new tool is a new bind off from the book Cast On Bind Off by Leslie Ann Bestor. Who knew a book of beginnings and endings only could be so useful? I'd already used it on D's toe up socks and found it very clear and precise in the directions and photos. I am thinking I will be learning many more ways to start and finish my knitting in the coming year. 

So finally here she is. My Eggplant Holden. Don't the ridges look like waves crashing in on the shores?

I don't know if I'm keeping her myself or continuing the Christmas love since this was yarn I bought with a Christmas gift certificate in 2010. I went stash diving for this one.

Pattern: Holden Shawlette by Mindy Wilkes
Yarn: Malabrigo Sock in Eggplant

I said stop it!

Stop messing around and settle down OR ELSE!

Oh sorry, I was not talking to you I was threatening talking to my shawl. You remember my Holden Eggplant shawl? Well it seems I should forget it in a closet somewhere. With as many times as I've knit and ripped it back, I should have three shawls by now.

I started it back in May thinking I would have plenty of time to finish it and block it properly before a wedding in mid August. Well I was wrong, so very wrong. There is something about the yarn and pattern combo that makes me forget how to knit and count properly. 

I took it to South Dakota with me as a good on the plane knitting project. Many people talk about how lace is a great thing to knit while flying because it holds your attention and concentration. I now know I am not one of those people because I like to fly early in the morning and am still mostly groggy. I managed to knit a few lace rows before I gave up and gave into some sleeping.

I also knew that it was not a sit and visit with the relatives project either, so I did not even try that. I may have made some headway in the car but now we all know that I prefer to drive so the shawl made a meaningless trip to SD.

So I'm finally home and have an opportunity to do some meaningful lace knitting and the shawl is not working with me. After knitting, unknitting, knitting, ripping back and reknitting the same section this weekend I am throwing in the towel and have now accepted the fact I will not be wearing a new shawl next weekend.

So take that Eggplant, I'm going to go find a nice sock to knit on! Anybody on the needles have any Cashmere content? I need some comfort!

What I'm knitting

It is summer and a hot one so far. My knitting has slowed down considerably. This means I have a few things on the needles but they're not going anywhere fast.

First up we have a lovely sock that I talked about before but now have a better picture. It is Stepping Stones from the Knitter's Book of Socks. The yarn is from a local dyer, The Periwinkle Sheep. I was grooving on this one till I hit the heel. Since I added a few repeats my count is off if I do my standard heel. I love my standard heel it fits me so well that I am now unwilling to experiment with other heels. So I need to sit down with the pattern and figure out how to fix my problem, I'm leaning towards just adding a couple of stitches, seems like the easiest route, but is it the best one? So this sock is sitting in time out. 

Now my first sport weight socks are not in time out. They got to go to the movies and see The Avengers with their knitter and their future wearer. The were so pumped that they behaved and finished up lickity split. Since these were made with my non standard weight yarn I changed things up a bit. I bought three balls of yarn and knit one sock till I ran out of yarn. They were put on hold and I knit to the same point on the second sock. I finished up a couple of toes and before I knew what happened he had a pair of socks that he can not wear till it cools down. OK so my timing is a bit off, but they are lovely thick socks that I'm sure he will appreciate in the winter.

Also sitting in time out because I misplaced the pattern is my Holden Eggplant shawl. I can not tell you how many times I've had to rip back and redo portions because I kept screwing up the center line of stitches. If I could just find that pattern...

Once I finished D's socks, my purse went without knitting for a week, can you believe it? Good thing I had my Kindle or I would have been a very impatient person. Don't worry I have a new sock started that should be a good purse project. I was questioning my sanity for a time.

Gus update: We started him on insulin injections this weekend and except for a tiny bobble he has been responding very well. I think he may be getting sick of getting checked on frequently. String was fun the first 20 times now he just looks at me as if to say I'm fine go back to your knitting/sleeping/whatever you were doing! It is tough having a Mommy some days.

Eggplant and me

Springtime must mean I need a new shawl to wear. Well that and that basket of sock yarn sitting in the living room is getting antsy. The Malabrigo Eggplant sock yarn got the drop on me and forced me to cast it on. I was a bit surprised since it had been sitting quietly in my stash for a year or more every once in a while it would peep to me and I would take it out and hold it and think about making socks but then it would burrow its way back to the bottom of the stash for another couple of months because really it did not want to be socks. It dreamed of being a shawl but the right pattern had not yet hit my radar so it kept reminding me the it was there...

Then I found the Holden Shawlette pattern by Mindy Wilkes. And I started thinking I need another shawl, I have a wedding to attend this fall and the bride is a part time knitter so a new shawl would certainly jazz up an outfit. Plus air conditioning can be set a bit too low for my tastes and a shawl allows you to adjust your clothing without mussing up your hair. 

So Eggplant and I printed off the pattern and found some needles and we cast on and knit for a while. I was considering going up a needle size to make a tad more draping fabric and a slightly larger shawl but then I just knit on.

Wait do you see it? I made a mistake. How about down below?

My center line of stitches veers off. I think I missed a yarn over or something. I just know it looks wrong and I will fix it. But first let's do a little needle size experiment. I have moved up to 5 mm needles to see what fabric I get with a looser gauge. This way I when I frog it I will be able to tell if I need to start over completely using the larger needles or if I need to rip back to the mistake and continue on with the 4.5 mm needles. 

I think Eggplant just wants to spend more time with me and did that veer itself. It is not like I make mistakes nope knot me. What do you mean that is knot the right not? I am telling you I rarely make mistakes. Oh wait that is not me I make mistakes all the time. Well live and learn!