A cloud in my blue sky

Dear Blog,

In an attempt to speed up the knitting process, I've been taking the sunshine shawl to class with me. I knit on it during my ten minute breaks, and during my lunch break. Managed to finish chart D and this past week I finished the first row of chart E, only to discover that I was missing a stitch.

My row needs to end with 3 knit stitches and a YO, but I only have 2 stitches. Where is my other stitch? I've looked over the row for extra decreases, double checked that I knit 5 and not 6 in various places in the chart... but with upwards 600+stitches in one row, it really is like looking for a needle in a hay stack. Whats more, there is no guarantee that the mistake is in this row. The previous row was K1 YO around, I could have just as easily skipped a YO there. So what do I do? The perfectionist in me wants to completely tink back and start over..... but the practical side of me says I shouldn't work backwards unless I can actually find the place where the mistake is. If this were a normal project I would just increase a stitch and keep going as if nothing had happened, but lace isn't always as forgiving...... What should I do?

Wishful WIPS

Dear Blog,

Welcome to a new line of mini-posts designed to hide the fact that I don't have much actual knitting news to report. This new series 'Wishful WIPS' will feature a new pattern each week that I wish I was knitting, and why. I'm gonna start off with a few socks, mittens, and hats, before switching it up to some truly fantasy level projects like shawls, sweaters, and blankets. That way I can pretend that my knitting is cooler than it actually is.

The first pattern is new, designed by one of my favorite knitters Glenna. C :

Kaywinnit!

These socks are so cute! The perfect combination of dainty and practical, with a pretty easy stitch pattern. In my mind, I imagine knitting these up in a fun variegated yarn, possibly a yellow-pink, pink-blue, or pink/yellow/orange combination.

I think those colors match pefectly the personality of Kaylee, the character that inspired this pattern. There's nothing more fun (or geekier) than fire-fly inspired foot-ware. Let's set that on fire! ^_-

August update

Dear blog,

What's on the needles right now?

I'm still working on the sunshine shawl, and by that I mean that I haven't touched it since my last post. I love the pattern, but all I have is a PDF version, and a combination of me desperately avoiding the internet during the week, and hating the school laptop have definitely slowed the process down. My goal for this week is to find a printer.

Also, I realize I'm running out of time, especially if I'm still delusional enough to think I can finish this and two other lace projects by Christmas. Just to confirm my insanity I went ahead and ordered the yarn for shawl number two today. In my head I'll be knitting the Peacock Shawlette, in the near future.

I have managed to produce a new FO, however. Picture pending, it's the Eyelet and feather socks from the book sock yarn one-skien wonders. I'm actually starting to really love knitting socks, in fact I've already got my eye on a potential next pattern, but one thing I didn't love so much about this sock was the yarn. Patons stretch sock. ugg. It's stretchy and stringy and it feels more like knitting with thin rope then with yarn. Not at all a pleasant experience. So as far as Patons sock yarn goes, my advice is to stick to kroy. It's soft and yummy ^^;; The one good thing I can say about stretch is that there was no pooling and the two socks almost match up perfectly stripe-wise.

I'll edit this post later to include a picture, when I find the time.

Also, just for kicks, I'm knitting a Ravenclaw house scarf. I'm sort of tossing around halloween ideas for this year, and I haven't really decided how committed I am to the costume thing, so I'm knitting this up 'just in case' I don't get around to doing something cooler.

Sunshine Chart C

Dear Blog,

Progress continues.

Sunshine

Dear blog,

Do you know that feeling where you want something really bad, and you can't stop thinking about it, and then once you get it it turns out to be not-that-great? That is not what knitting the Girasole shawl is like at all.

I've been waiting to knit this pattern for years, literally. It went into my queue mere hours after it was published on ravelry and I've been drooling over it ever since, and last week I finally cast on. It was wonderful. I've got four skeins of Malabrigo lace weight in exactly the color I'd always imagined knitting in my dreams and knitting has been.... amazing, and wonderful. Soothing, relaxing, and totally enticing.

For lace knitters, the most intimidating part of the project is how each row gets incrementally bigger, each step has increasingly more stitches, the end seems like it will never come. But with this project, each row, each yarn over, makes me smile. Instead of being daunted, the growing size inspires me. I love knitting it so much that instead of a doomed since that I'll never ever cast off this project, I feel confident that I will be knitting this shawl for a long time. And I am going to savor every moment of it.

Eyelet sock

Dear blog.

These past two weeks have been really busy. Class went from being snore-worthy with HW I could do in my sleep, to challenging over night, so the leap-of-faith sweater hasn't gotten much play yet. Don't worry, I don't quit that easy!

What has been seeing a lot of action is the eyelet sock

Mainly because it's portable and simple, and I can knit it in class/during my lunch break. This photo is actually pretty old, in real life I'm just about done with the gusset on this thing! ^__^;;

And the best news? I finally got my yellow malabrigo laceweight! look forward to casting that on in the near future :)

Leap of faith

Dear blog,

I am about to take a giant leap of faith. My knitpicks order came in the mail - 900 yards of Wool of the Andes in the 'Winter Night' colorway, destined to become The sideway spencer sweater. I have to admit, I do not have good feelings about this sweater. I purchased the pattern ages ago, and it has sat pretty close to the top of my queue ever since. From a process knitter's perspective, it's perfect: It's full of wonderful, interesting cables, and it's knit sideways! What could be cooler? But the product knitter inside me looks at ravelry and sees how every single project is a completely different shape and size, which means I have no-way to predict what mine will look like finished. Plus, it's a cropped sweater, and those only flatter certain body types. Not to mention the bunchy bulky HORIZONTAL cables..... So yeah, I'm not convinced that even if I did everything totally right and this sweater came out perfect and in my size that I would actually wear it.

With all that said. I still really want to knit this pattern. And trust me, I've spent three days on ravelry with cold feet, looking at every other possible sweater I could knit instead. I still come back to this one. Which brings us to the real problems.

Gauge. Oh Gauge, why do you hate me so? This sweater is supposed to be knit on US8 needles with a gauge of 4sts =1 inch. I knit my swatch on US4 needles and am obtaining that gauge only in my imagination. (Depending on where on the swatch I measure, I get 5 sts or 4 1/2 sts. ) I tell myself that I have a 32 inch bust, and that surely by knitting the size 28 It'll more than make up for my loose gauge, right?

I'm doing the ribbing on the cuff on US2 needles, and it just doesn't feel right. It feels.....lacy and droopy.

The other problem is the pattern itself.... I'm used to knitting patterns that hold your hand for every single step, and while this pattern is well written, it says things like "Increase 6 sts evenly in this row." Without spelling out exactly how and where. I mean, I'm a smart person and I can figure out it, but it does not give me a warm fuzzy feeling inside. I especially don't like the part in the sleeve instructions where it says : "Begin with stitch 14, work 1 row of cable pattern across all stitches ending with stitch 13." I'm not sure, but I think these numbers refer to places in the cable chart.....but why not just start with the beginning of the chart? And the chart itself says that it's a repeat of 18 stitches + 8, but I can't find any reference to where those extra 8 stitches come in. There are also increases that happen... and all the pattern says is to include the new stitches into the cable pattern, without explaining how to do that. I'm sure a more experienced knitter doesn't need these kinds of prompts, but I do! I get a sick feeling in my gut every time I look at these instructions, but I'm casting on anyway. What's the worst that can happen?

Keep your eyes focused here. This is going to be an epic WIP.