Let's Have a Little Catch Up

Hello from sunny and cool Philadelphia, where everyone is disappointed in our Phillies, because they not only didn't win their division series in baseball, but they sucked the whole way! Sigh. And for most of the year, they had the best record in baseball. (Cue the popular saying, "We'll get them next year.")

Anyway, I thought I'd do a little catch up on how things are going with the yarns and projects discussed in this post a little while ago.

I started first with this yarn:

Dutifully knitted a swatch, and even after blocking, it was spot-on for gauge - YAY!

So I started working on the project and ... my gauge was way off. I suspected that it was partly because I had missed a few rows in the pattern, counting-wise, so I started over and ... nope.

So this will need for me to learn and apply some math to determine what I can do to make it fit. I am so terrible at that stuff - I can't keep straight when to use bigger or smaller needles, when to knit another size, etc. So I am going to have to devote a day to not just figuring it all out, but writing it down for myself so I can start again and hopefully get it right this time. 

So for now, that project is set aside.

Next, this sock yarn set:

This is a happier story, in that I started on a pair of socks for myself:

And at this point, one sock is finished and I think it looks great! But the second sock will have to wait a few weeks, because I wanted to start using the next yarn for a pair of Halloween socks:

I started using a pattern that I liked, which was written for more stitches than I usually cast on. But after finishing the cuff, I decided that instead of making them for me, that I would make them for The Tim for an anniversary gift. Because I liked the way the colors knit up just in plain ribbing.

And I was already knitting the number of stitches I generally do for a pair of socks for him. Now I just need to see if I can get a pair knit before October 28.  I think it's doable, if I spend most of my time working on them.

The other two projects that I had wound the yarn for were delayed when  realized I didn't have the proper size needles.  I have them now, and will knit a swatch later for the sweater I am planning for the cream and green yarns. 

The shawl I was hoping to knit with he other yarns now has the needle size it wants, so I can start on it whenever I like. But at the moment, the Halloween socks and the sweater I want to knit will take precedence. I'd like to feel like both of them were not just well underway, but able to meet the deadline before I start the shawl or return to my other projects. It's doable, I know - I just have to pay attention! (Easier said than done.)

In other news, a friend I have made through knitting is not just a knitter, she is one of those people who also weaves, spins, and does about ten other things.  Last week she posted a photo on Instagram showing some Halloween-themed pins she had made. I commented how much I loved them, particularly ones she had made featuring black cats. So imagine my happy surprise when I opened the mail yesterday.

Adorable, right?? It was such a nice thing for her to do, and a wonderful and unexpected gift.  I showed it to the kitties, who were - as is mostly always the case - unimpressed.

So now you up-to-date on things in my knitting life. What are you up to these days? Let me know in the comments!

FO Post: Amanda's Christmas Gift

Hello all! I hope your week has been going well. My work week is over, and I'm glad for that. Today is my niece Amanda's birthday, so I thought I'd (finally) do an FO post for her Christmas gift.

You may remember it all started here:

And then I started, only after I'd made progress, realizing that I had inadvertently switched the colors; but I kept going, because Amanda's favorite color is pink, so it all works out. 😊

Project: Amanda Needs A Martini

Pattern: Martini Party Shawlette, by Erika Flory (Rav link)

Yarn: Plucky Feet, by the Plucky Knitter. Pink colorway is Cosmo, green colorway is Appletini.

Needles: US size 5

Modifications: Only swapping the colors inadvertently!

Blocking with Pat's hat

 

Folded and ready to go!

Notes: I've had this yarn and pattern for years, as part of a kit that came in a subscription to some club or another that I no longer remember. But I remember that when I got it and saw the names of the pattern and the yarns, I thought it would be perfect for Amanda, who is a martini lover. And finally this year, I got to knitting it.

The yarn is lovely to work with - no splitting, no tangles, and very soft. The pattern is really well-written, and fun to knit once you get the hang of it. 

I was so pleased that I finished it in mid-November, in plenty of time to send for Christmas. Did I remember to take an FO photo? Why no! This of course I only realized once it was in the mail. Sigh.

So I asked Amanda to take a photo of it for me once she said the package was opened. So yes, it's a bit wrinkled because it was folded in the package for a while, but here it is in completed form:

Christmas morning, we got this photo with a text that said, "We love our Christmas gifts!"

It doesn't get much better than that when you give knitted gifts. ❤

I think you could do a lot with this pattern, as far as color combinations, and you of course could also make it larger; but I like the small cozy size of it, and think it would be comfy on its own or under a coat/jacket.

So it's all good - and as an extra bonus, it was in my stash, so I was able to reduce the size of that - win-win!

P.S. Never fear - I also sent Amanda a birthday gift. December birthdays always get a separate birthday gift from me, because that is how I think it should be.

An FO For a Monday

Hello to all of you!  I hope your Thanksgiving was a lovely one if you celebrate, and that in any case, you had a good weekend.  

Today I have another FO for you:

Project: Birthday Cake Close to You

Pattern: Close to You, by Justyna Lorkowska (Ravelry link)

Yarn: Dye Is Cast Squish Wish Sock, in the colorway Sweet Sixteen

Needles: US size 6

Modifications: The pattern calls for a total of 19 eyelet rows, and I did 20, because a) I had enough yarn, and b) I could not do 19 when I had enough to get to a nice, round, even number.

Comments: First of all, the yarn.  This yarn was specifically dyed for the sixteenth anniversary of my LYS, Loop.  You can't really tell from my photos, but it is a cream base, with flecks of various colors, to resemble Funfetti cake and frosting (remember that?).  It's lovely yarn, and really really really nice to use for knitting - soft, squishy (truth in advertising), and it shows the pattern detail nicely.

You may recall this this yarn was originally for a Hipster Shawl for my niece Julie - well, I got a bit into that pattern, and there was just too much going on for my brain.  Plus, I realized that I knit things for Julie and family last year for Christmas, so I decided to switch gears altogether and knit something for her sister, Liz.  Liz was born on December 25 - so they celebrate Christmas on the morning of that day, and "Lizmas" (as the family calls it) in the afternoon.  I wanted to find something special, because Liz is a wonderful and sweet person, but given what her other sisters are usually up to, she is often in the background.  When I saw this pattern, I knew I wanted to knit it for her - and even better, the pattern is a freebie!

This is a well-written pattern, and once you do one or two of the pattern repeats, it's in your head, which is always nice, so you don't have to keep stopping to look every once in a while.  It was truly a joyful knitting experience, because as you go along, it just keeps looking prettier and prettier.  I can't wait to send it to her because I think she will be genuinely surprised, and hopefully pleased.

(In the above photo, it reminds me of a bird's wings in flight.)

I can highly recommend this pattern.  If you are a person who cannot use Ravelry, you might want to ask someone who doesn't have issues to print it for you, because I don't see that she has another place where it's available (truth alert: I didn't spend a ton of time looking, sorry!).  Anyway, you should get it one way or another and knit away - you will NOT be disappointed!

In Which There Are Many Shawl Photos

You may recall that over the summer, I took part in the Stillness Shawl MKAL organized by Helen Stewart, and knit a truly lovely (but very large) shawl.  Here is the FO post, though at the time it wasn't blocked.  I thought of, and tried, a few different possibilities, but the real problem was that I had no place where I could safely block it and leave it to dry and even more importantly, I didn't have enough blocking materials in the first place!  

Lorette mentioned in the comments that I should send it to her, and she would be happy to block it for me.  I thought that seemed really nice, but figured that I would somehow finagle something.  Long story short, I didn't.  So a few weeks ago, I checked to see if she was willing to give it a shot, and she enthusiastically said to send it to her.  I know she does lots of lace knitting, so it didn't surprise me to think she had someplace to block lace without meaning she had to move everyone out of her house to do so.  I packed it up and sent it on a visit to Washington State (a place I have always wanted to visit, but no, the shawl went instead.  Of course).  I told her there was no hurry, and whenever she had the time and inclination was find with me.

When it was returned, I could not believe how amazing it looked - and that I had actually knit it!  So I took a bunch of photos, and here they are.  I liked the shawl before, but now - WOW!

THANK YOU LORETTE!!!  I cannot tell you how much I appreciate the offer of help in the first place, and then the time you clearly spent getting every part of it to look so nice.  

I love these close-ups - some of these patterns and stitches were completely new to me, and it was so exciting when they worked out!

I have no idea if I will ever join another MKAL and actually participate again, or if I'll ever tackle another project at this level.  But I learned so many new things, and enjoyed this one so much, it was worth all of the time spent figuring it out.

Look how big it is - my arms really started to hurt while The Tim was taking photos!

An FO for Friday - Not Blocked and No Longer a Secret

I'm glad that today is Friday, because this has been a rough week in so many ways, and since today (at least so far is rainy and dreary) I can just stay home and do what I want - or not do anything.

I have an FO for you today.  I almost waited to share it until it was completely finished - meaning blocked - but that will likely take a while, so you are getting an FO post anyway.

As mentioned during July, I decided to join the Stillness Shawl MKAL hosted by Helen Stewart.  To be honest, I'm not sure why, except that I'd seen the finished projects on several podcasts from previous MKALs and they were always lovely.  It could also be because at the time I was knitting a pair of socks designed by her and really enjoying it.  Anyway, I signed up.  More amazingly, I actually participated, in that I decided on yarn, wound it up, and not only downloaded the clues each week, but actually kept up with the knitting.  WHAT????

Project:  Stillness Shawl

Pattern:  Stillness Shawl MKAL, by Helen Stewart

Yarns (from left to right):  Indigodragonfly Tough Lester Sock, in the Dark Lord Bob colorway; Plucky Knitter Plucky Feet, in the colorway Good Ol' Pip; and, Sweet Swallow Yarns Nuthatch in the Shy Violets colorway

Needles:  US size 6

Modifications:  None, since I was flying blind here!

Notes:  First of all, I was pleased because I used all stash yarn for this project, and since that has been something I've been really trying to do, it was nice to use three skeins in one project.  Also, I was pleased because I got to learn two things that were new to me, which is something I have also been trying to do.  This pattern included an i-cord cast on; one of the sections was the Star Stitch, which frankly I was worried about since it looked rather complicated, but as it turns out, it's fairly simple to execute.

After finishing the first clue, I was feeling quite proud of myself, I must admit:

I think the fact that I was able to do this without [many] problems kept me motivated.  I will say now that the project is finished, that I feel confident that I can trust any pattern written by Helen Stewart to be not just well-written and understandable, but very easy to follow.  Even when I would mess up, it was my mess, not because of anything to do with the pattern.

The finished shawl is a really BIG one - so big that I do not have the space nor the pins to block it!  I mean, even before blocking, there's a whole lotta shawl here:

As a point of reference, this is across a double bed!

I do think it is pretty, and when I talked about my blocking issues on Facebook, Lorette offered to block it for me if I wanted to sent it to her.  I have to say, I'm giving that some serious consideration.  I know she does a lot of both shawl and lace knitting, so she knows much more about blocking this kind of item that I do.  I'll keep you posted.

In any case, this was actually fun to knit, and though I didn't really do a lot of the chatter, etc. type of stuff on Ravelry, I did enjoy seeing others' projects.  I think the reason that all of the planets or whatever aligned and I ended up finishing this was because at first it seemed a good distraction and a way to use stash, and then it became a personal challenge to me to keep up.  This is not to say that I'm likely to sign up for any KALs again anytime soon, but it was a good feeling to sign up and then actually *do* something!

 I guess sometimes you can still surprise yourself in a good way.  

******

Not a lot else worth reporting.  This morning I walked up to the Post Office, and finally mailed out all of the prizes for Christmas in July.  Why do I think I'll mail each one as it happens?  From here forward, if you win a prize, just assume it will go out all at one time with the others.  Geez.

I did feel bad because the woman who helped me was so apologetic, saying, "I just want to let you know that in the current situation, I can't guarantee that any of these will get there right away, or as soon as they probably should.  The Post Office is under attack, you know."  I told her that it was OK, I'm a big supporter of the P.O., and between the virus and the administration, they were getting hit everywhere.  She looked at me and smiled and I hope it made her day at least .000001% better.

Hamlet is recovering from a bad bout of hemorrhagic gastroenteritis, which has really knocked him (and by extension, all of us) for a loop.  Fortunately, the vet took x-rays and it wasn't caused by any blockages, tumors, etc. - just probably from something he picked up and ate off the street.  We watch him like a hawk, but sometimes things get past us.  He is starting to seem more like his usual sweet self though, so that's good.  The cats have been very annoyed because they can't sleep on/next to him because he smells bad and that is a real inconvenience for them ...

Next weekend we had scheduled a trip to Baltimore to visit my niece and her husband (we made the plans back in April).  Now my sister and brother-in-law are planning to be there as well, which means most of the family will show up to visit also.  I had been leaning towards cancelling even if it would just be the four of us, but the addition of even more people has made me certain that I don't want us to go.  It just seems irresponsible, and though I know they are all careful people, I just think we have been so conscientious about things, why stop now?  Having to go into work two days a week has been making me anxious enough.  It is disappointing, since we haven't seen anyone for such a long time, but I'm not willing to take the chance, particularly when things are taking an uptick again.  Why can't people wear a mask? (Rhetorical, I know why and so do you.)

Anyway, it's Friday, and it's the weekend, and we have wine, and The Tim just informed me that he made some chocolate pudding!  All's well that ends well, right?  😃

Have a lovely weekend yourself, and take care.

It's Monday, and It's Too Hot, and I'm Already Over It

Not that it matters, of course.  Summer weather is gonna do what it wants, no matter what I care.  It was a pretty awful weekend - heat, major humidity, and mosquito-fest.  In spite of the fact that I practically poured mosquito repellent on my entire person when heading out to water our flowers, those evil creatures feasted as if nothing was different.  Grrrrrrrr.

Which is why other than taking Hamlet out for walks, we both pretty much stayed put.  Things were done around the house, so it wasn't a complete loss, but no real garden time which was disappointing, since that had become a lovely way to spend the mornings.

In the continuing list of things that seem to make the world feel like it's working against us, our oven died a week ago.  The Tim thought that it just needed a part that he could likely install to work again - or at least to buy time - so he ordered it, and spent about an hour trying to install it before realizing that it would mean tearing out part of a wall.  And even then, as mentioned above, it would only be buying us time, since our stove is about 20 years old.  Since like most everyone, we have SO much extra money coming in while not being at work (one of us is laid off, one of us is getting paid 30% less of our salary), we bit the bullet and ordered a new one.  The good part here (and there is one) is that we ordered it from the manufacturer, so not only was it on sale for July 4th, but they had a payment plan where if you paid it off monthly in 12 months, there was no finance charge, so that at least will work out.  Supposedly it will be delivered sometime this week.  That would be nice.

I did finish knitting The Tim's shortie slipper socks, and though they look weird (yes, I did run out of the yarn I was using!) he is thrilled with them.   It's nice when someone goes with the flow like that.  It's also nice when yarn chicken happens on something that you are only going to wear around the house.  😌 I'll do an FO post this week so you can see how they turned out.

I also wound yarn for another project, and got started.  For reasons that even I can't really explain or understand, I decided to try the Stillness Shawl MKL.

Who am I???  I no longer know, apparently.  The first clue came out last Thursday, and yesterday I actually sat down and got going on it.  So far, I have learned the i-cord cast on, which is nice and pretty when it works, but meant that I started over about 8 times before I decided it was OK-looking and moved along.

Here are the yarns I've chosen:

Side view

Top view

Yesterday, while we were watching some things we had recorded, I finally got my cast on to be acceptable to me, and managed by the end of the day to knit ~70 rows.  So far, it's pretty reasonable, with a few rows where you have to pay attention, and then more rows where you just knit or purl, depending what side you are knitting.  

The Tim (when I was trying to get the cast-on to work):  Is that going to be a shawl?

Me:  Yep.  It's a Mystery Knit-Along, you get one clue a week.

The Tim (laughing):  Oh that sounds so exciting.

Half an hour later, after I had a nice amount done:

Me:  See, I'm about halfway through Clue #1, and this is what it looks like.

The Tim:  Oh cool, now I'm invested.

*****

So that's the news from here.  Summer is making itself known, mosquitoes are feasting on my person, I've not only joined a KAL, but have actually started knitting the project, and June is nearly over.  

BUT.

Something is getting ready to start again.

Stay tuned!

Here is a Friday FO!

Hi all - today I have a very happy FO to share with you.

My Down the Shore Shawl is finished - and it's a big one!

Project:  Down the Shore Shawl
Pattern:  Beachcomber, by Chelsea Berkompas
Yarn:  I used the yarn suggested in the pattern, but changed colorways with the blue shade.  All are Knit Picks CotLin, and the colorways are:  Linen (beige), Conch (coral), and Marina (blue).
Needles:  US size 8
Modifications:  As previously mentioned, I changed the shade of blue to Marina (more of a turquoise, a color I love) instead of Surf, which is a lovely blue, but lighter in shade.  I wanted the color to pop more, to make it seem more summery.

(folded in half)

Notes:  I LOVE LOVE LOVE this shawl and this pattern!  It is also going to be the perfect thing for cool summer evenings (if there are any), and/or when the A/C is just making it way too cool as is the case in some places.

This is a fun and easy shawl to knit - mostly garter, but the stripes keep it interesting.  And the occasional lace panel needs you to concentrate, but only shows up three times, and is very straightforward (and I am a crummy lace knitter, so that means most lace knitters would think it was easy).  It goes quickly, because other than the lace, the pattern consists of only 2 pattern rows which are easily memorizable.  I had a lot of fun knitting this one!  It took me longer than it probably should have, for a couple of reasons:  a) there was a 10-day period when I didn't knit on any of my projects, because I just wasn't feeling it, and b) the CotLin could be hard on my hands when I would knit for too long, so at times I needed to take a day off to rest.

Of course, you could knit this in another yarn, but when I saw it, I decided that yes, I wanted a shawl for the summer, and CotLin is very reasonably priced, so it was a no-brainer.

Also, it fulfilled my desire to try and learn new things, as it has a picot bind off, which was a new thing for me.  It took me a few times to get started properly, but once it all clicked in my brain, I really liked it!

When we went out into the garden to take most of these photos, Hamlet had to be sure to remind anyone reading this that he was there as well.  😊

This is a project that just "hit" me when I saw the pattern (and I don't really remember where/how/why I came across it), and I'm glad I just let myself go with the flow and even actually buy some yarn!  It was worth every penny in the end, in that it was pretty inexpensive to knit, and the end result is just how I wanted it to be.

******

Tomorrow is of course the summer solstice here in the northern hemisphere, and I came across a poem the other day that I decided to post on my other blog.  I don't write there as often as here, though I am planning to change that, but in any case I shared the poem there yesterday, because I feel that it is something worth reading, given people's concerns about body types, and particularly wearing a swimsuit.  So I hope if you read it, I hope it gives you something to consider.

Have a wonderful weekend, and if you are someplace where summer is starting, I hope you find a way to keep cool!

Quarantine Projects

Before I head off to my work dept Zoom meeting, I thought I'd write this post, because after those, I am always so sad and depressed, it might never happen!  And since it's Three on Thursday, and I currently have three projects underway, it means I could have a post that is kinda sorta a no-brainer.  😉

Thus I give you my Quarantine Projects, in their current states.

1.  Social Distance Sweater - this is something I've had the yarn to make for a while, and finally cast on.  The pattern is the Pavement, and though it's a basic item, the people I know who have knit it have ended up with lovely sweaters. 

As you can see, I have most of the body knit - I'm nearly to the bottom edging, then it will be sleeve time.  This photo doesn't show the color properly, but it's a tough color to photograph - a very dark gray/green.  Once I got past the neckline start, it's been an enjoyable knit.  I started this in the first week in quarantine, and am hoping to have it finished soon, since I've thought about knitting this for a long time.  I don't know if I'll have many chances to wear it before it gets too warm, but even so, it will be waiting for me as a perfect transition piece next fall.

2.  Easter Egg Scrappy Shortie Socks - I showed you the finished first sock the other day, and have been making good progress on the second.  As of yesterday, I am onto the foot, so these should be finished soon.  The pattern is just a vanilla sock pattern, turned into shortie socks.

3.  Down the Shore Shawl - as a reminder, this is the Beachcomber pattern.  I have finished the first two sections, and just barely started on the third.  This is not a hard knit per se, but the Knit Picks CotLin yarn is not as easy to work with though it is not unpleasant.  Because it's not wool or other more elastic fabric, it can be hard to maneuver stitches in the lace sections.

It's an enjoyable knit and not difficult in and of itself, and I am just really loving the way it's turning out.  Right now, I am about 2 rows into the third section, and then will be doing a picot bindoff, which will be a new thing for me.  Hopefully I'll be successful, as I do like the look of that bindoff.

Normally, other than socks, I would not be this far along on the larger projects, but I'll take it!  Especially when I lost my reading mojo for a while, these kept me good company.  They are all things I wanted to knit, and are all enjoyable for different reasons.  And right now, given the way things are going as far as reopening things around here (not happening  any big way in Philadelphia anytime soon), they may all truly turn out to be quarantine projects - started AND finished before all of this is in the past.  I guess I may very well end up all dressed up with no place to go ... 

Six Months Later, an FO Post!

Oh 2019, you will be the year of so few projects!  But that's OK, I'm not in a contest to get a certain number of things finished to win a prize.  But I have two recent FOs and after so long, it's a nice feeling to have things FINISHED.

First up is my Sweet Tart Shawl. 

Not difficult - it just takes a long time when you can't knit due to a broken wrist!

Project:  Sweet Tart Shawl

Pattern:  Drea's Shawl by Craig Rosenfeld

Yarn:  MadelineTosh Sock, colorway Tart; and Koigu Painter's Palette Premium Merino (no colorway listed)

Needles:  US 5

Modifications:  None

Notes:  This was an enjoyable knit.  Once I got the hang of things and remembered where to start the alternating yarn for the stripes, it was something that was easily able to done while watching TV, or talking to someone at a knitting group.  The stripes make it fun to watch grow, and by the time you get to the solid part, there's not that much more to go.  Now I just have to decide if it's for me, or if it will be a gift for someone.  The photo above shows the truest version of the colors, but the photo below of it being modeled by the Molly hanger, shows how nice it looks when you wear it.

This was my first time using Koigu yarn, and it was lovely to work with.  And I know that currently MadelineTosh yarn is controversial, but I have had this in my stash for a while, and it is my favorite colorway of that line.  When I worked at Rosie's Yarn Cellar, I was able to add a bit of MadelineTosh yarn to my stash because I got an employee discount.  Come to think of it, that's how I was able to accumulate most of my stash ... it was lovely yarn to use, and I am looking forward to using what is in my stash for other projects.  

I think I'll put this shawl away with the gifts, since I'd be putting my other shawls away until fall anyway, and if I am not inspired to think of it as the perfect gift for anyone, I'll keep it.  

If you enjoy making something that has some interest during the knitting, but is also an easy project, this pattern is for you - and it's free!  It's a win-win situation.  :-)

*****

We had a wonderful Easter weekend, and enjoyed our usual visit from my niece Amanda and her husband Patrick.  As is our tradition, we made our Inappropriate Easter Eggs, which I will share in another post.  But it made for a lot of laughs, and along with good food and drink, as well as perfect weather, we couldn't have wanted anything more.  I hope your holiday weekend was a good one as well.  I have to say that Hamlet and the cats were completely worn out today, as they had quite a good time, eating the treats that were brought for them, and getting all kinds of extra attention.  Apparently, being popular and good hosts can wear one out ...

FO Post (Finally!)

Hello all!  I hope you had a good weekend.  Mine was great, particularly Saturday, when I spent the day with Dee. We had a wonderful time, walking around in Philadelphia, having some lunch, and checking out what was new at Loop.  Then her husband Steve drove into town to join us, and along with The Tim we went out for a really nice dinner, and then back home for a bit before they had to head back to the hotel to see Giroux and pack, since they were leaving to go home yesterday.  It was so nice to have a knitterly, kitty-loving, funny friend to hang out with and laugh.  

Yesterday was a day of catching up with laundry, bills, and that kind of thing.  Also a nice day, just not as busy as Saturday.  :-)

In any event, I can *finally* share my Finished Object post for my Scattered Wishes shawl that I finished knitting and then blocked about a month ago!  I wanted some nice pictures of the finished item not just blocking but looking like a shawl!  The Tim was kind enough to take a few, but they were all too blurry.  So I'd been trying to think of how/where to get some other photos.

Then on Saturday morning, before I left the house, I decided if we were going to stop at Loop, I at least wanted to take the finished shawl to show them, since I'd purchased the yarn there.  Laura, who works there, wanted to take some shots to put on their Facebook page, so I was able to get some really nice photos of the shawl there, and they are at the end of the post.

So here goes.

Project:  Scattered Wishes (Ravelry page link)

Pattern:  Sonora, by Kirsten Kapur

Yarn:  Hedgehog Fibres Sock; Construct (grayish) and Wish (teal)

Needles:  US 7

Modifications:  None (at least not on purpose!)

Notes:  Below after some of the photos

This is the lace border as it is supposed to look, and how it does look for most of the top part.  It was the last part knitted, and threw me for a loop, as lace is not a particular skill of mine.  At certain points, I just fudged things, because I didn't know what I had/had not done to cause problems.  

Fortunately, the fudging kinda sorta worked just fine.  I was both surprised and happy about the result!

The bands of color are created by regular garter stitch for the borders, and slip stitch for the "colorwork."

This is a great pattern, and it is also really fun to knit.  I would definitely make another one, and I would love sometime to try the yarn that the pattern uses.  It has a more lofty appearance than the Hedgehog Fibres, and so I think the end result would look somewhat different.

I can tell you that Kirsten Kapur, the designer, is very responsive to questions sent to her on Ravelry.  When I was getting started, I just couldn't quite "get" the pattern, and wrote to her a couple of times.  She responded really quickly and very thoroughly.  She may have been at her computer rolling her eyes and tearing her hair out at my questions, but I never got that sense when reading what she had written.

Here are the photos I took at Loop.  (Dee has seen these ad nauseum, and I have posted them on Facebook, so apologies if you are seeing these for the umpteenth time!)

This is the back of the shawl.

And here is the front view, which is just especially pleasing to me.

I cannot recommend this pattern highly enough.  It's all garter stitch, and the slip stitch bands are interspersed well enough to keep it from being just a plain old boring knit.  Only in the slip stitch bands are you using two colors, and once you get the hang of it, you're not really even "knitting" with both in a row.  Even I was able to read my knitting once I got things going, and that's saying something!

I'm really happy with how this turned out.  It's probably one of the most elaborate things I've ever knit, and I surprised myself (in a good way, of course). 

I'll be back soon with another FO post about another knit that took me a truly ridiculous amount of time, all of it due to me and my inability to focus.  In the meantime, I hope your week goes well!

OK Here Is an FO Post for You

Hello Friends.  And I mean Friends - you guys are really the best.  Words cannot express how much your kind, sweet, and heartfelt comments to my post about having to say goodbye to our Jetsam meant to all of us.  It's still awful, and all of us are still hurting.  But life is for the living, cliche though that his, and to use another cliche, it does go on.  It only makes sense to continue and keep going.  I am also firmly of the belief that none of our loved ones would ever want their loss to be the complete and total end to our worlds.  I know that for myself, when I depart this mortal coil, I want my friends and family to miss me, yes, but not stop living and enjoying their lives.  Even though it sucks.

So in the interest of that, I'm doing an FO post.  After what seems like a long time, I have finally finished my shortie socks, which are "shortie" only in descriptive terms!

Project:  Berry Mixed Up Bashful Socks
Pattern:  Not really a pattern - just made a plain pair of socks much shorter ...
Yarn:  Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in the Mixed Berries colorway (leftover from these); cuff/heel/toe is Knitted Wit Gumballs Fingering in the Bashful colorway that I bought in a mini-skein to try.
Needles:  Size 1US
Modifications: Well, I modified a plain sock to make it shorter, but otherwise just kept knitting.
Notes: I like these.  And the end of the second sock was nice enough to keep my brain occupied after the events of last week. so that was good.  The Knitted Wit yarn is really nice, and comes in lovely colors, it was nice to be able to try it without breaking the bank.

I'm still a pair behind on my sock quest for 12 pairs for this year, but if that's how it turns out. I'll survive, you know?

In other news, my Scattered Wishes Shawl (aka Sonora) is growing and is now just about too large to fit in the project bag where it has been living.  It's also too big to photograph easily, so I shmushed it for a photo.

I continue to really enjoy knitting this, and am loving the way it's looking.  I *think* I'm about 2/3 of the way through the pattern.  I'm not in any hurry, but it is becoming a bit unwieldy!

This weekend I am hoping to cast on another pair of socks, and wind some yarn for another project I'd like to start.  It's supposed to be really rainy here starting tonight into tomorrow, so one or both of those may actually happen. :-)

I hope all of you have a good weekend!  And thanks again for being such wonderful and kind friends.