Blocking the Shawl

IT'S DONE!!! Had to learn the "Russian Lace Bind Off." I don't know if I am ever knitting a lace shawl ever again. That's all I have to say about that right now.

Muppet Scarf Debut

So, the Muppet Scarf is finally done. And by done, I mean, I finally got to the end of the second skein of dark orange Sirdar Snowflake, bound off, weaved in, and called it a day. Well, I called it a scarf, anyway:

The odd thing is, as it grew in length - to a whopping 136 inches - it also sort of grew on me. This yarn that I thought was so tacky and horrible when I first laid eyes on it, slowly began to put thoughts in my head like, "My, wouldn't this look nice against denim?" and "Well, orange *is* very autumny after all..."

So, having finished it last night, I wore it to work today, and actually got lots of compliments on it! The kids were especially impressed by how surprisingly lightweight it is. My own lovely assistant John took this picture out by our field.

Perseverance

I'm down to just a little over four weeks. That might seem like plenty, but I'm not even half way done with this shawl. As the rows get longer, it just takes so long to do even one. And I'm pushing really hard to get it done ASAP because I have other projects that I'd like to get done before Christmas.

So, I'm working on it for HOURS every night, and I feel kind of guilty taking breaks to blog about it.

Guess I should keep this short, and get back to work.

Lacy Frustrations

I nearly had a complete meltdown yesterday evening. There were tears; there was muffled screaming; there were unforgivable thoughts of knitticide. (o)ribbit(o)

I've been working on a lace shawl. I know there are people who whip these things up regularly and never think twice about it, but I've never done anything even remotely so complex and difficult, and I'm having a hell of a time with it. The most frustrating part is that the stitches are NOT EVEN difficult. Yarn-overs, k2tog's and ssk's, with the occasional s1k2togpsso thrown in for neatness. Nothing I can't handle. I can even read charts with zero confusion. Heck, I make my own charts!

So what's the problem?

Honestly, I don't know if it's simply a concentration issue or what, but I keep making very simple mistakes - usually it's forgetting a yarn-over - and then I don't notice it until two rows later when I suddenly realize I don't have the correct number of stitches to finish this new row of the chart. Since my lifeline is usually several rows below that, I wind up carefully tinking back, one stitch at a time, down two whole rows, which at this point are just over 100 stitches each. I'm making more progress backward than forward. And so, this shawl that I gave myself seven weeks to make (now six), is perhaps only 10% done.

The only reason I'm even sticking with it is that I told my mom I'd make something fabulous and periodish for this Victorian Holiday Party she and my stepdad have been invited to, and to which they're bringing me. The guests at this party are encouraged to present some sort of performance - a song, a reading, a dramatic interpretation, or, as in my case, a brief talk on a craft or hobby, the accompanying display being, of course, this goddamn shawl. I said I would do it, I want everyone to admire it, so dammit, I'm going to make this farking thing and I'm going to make it on time.

Stubborn pride can be an excellent motivator.

Cheap Reads

Just picked these up for 40% off at JoAnn!

Also, got this through a book swap club:

Can't wait to dig in! Has anyone read them? Favorite bits? Comments?

UPDATE 11/19/09 - Finished TFNKC a little while ago and it is a lovely book with lots of fun moments but ultimately VERY SAD! You are warned!

Interweave Loves Me

So, I'm pretty damn excited. I got a message on Ravelry from one of the editors of Interweave Crochet indicating that I have been chosen to be a part of their Reader's Gallery in the next issue. This particular reader's gallery will apparently focus on hats.

For those of you who aren't regular readers - the Reader's Gallery is a collection of something like four to six photos of finished projects made from patterns published in previous issues. I've always been mildly jealous of the people who get featured, but I never thought my stuff was nice enough to submit.

Turns out, I didn't even have to! They contacted me! The nice editor lady - one Toni Rexroat - asked if she could use a photo of my Chullo Hat, which I made last winter. I asked, of course, if I could take some truly nice pictures of the hat to send her so that she wouldn't publish the rather half-handed pics I snapped back when I made the hat. Those pictures were merely for Ravelry and Facebook. THESE pictures will be going in a nationally distributed magazine in all its full-color glossy glory.

This afternoon it turned unexpectedly sunny, and with the trees in our yard turning some pretty rad colors, we whipped out the camera and I posed my yarnie heart out on the back deck. In the best pics my eyes are either downcast or closed entirely, since, of course, to get the good light, the sun needs to be shining right in my eyes.

So, without further ado, here are my submissions, the two best of the lot:

Speed Crochet

So, my birthday was this Saturday. (Pause for cheering.)

Among the various things the boy and I did that day was to visit The Naked Sheep, one of my favorite places in North Portland, which is now, sadly, quite a long way away from where I live. But we had to be in that part of the city for other reasons that morning, and so, knowing that I would get a birthday discount, we headed over. He decided that whatever I wanted to purchase there that day (within reason, of course) would be my birthday present. Isn't he sweet?

I walked away with the Harmony Guide for Cables & Arans (which I've wanted for ages, along with the Lace & Eyelets Guide) and a single skein of blue-and-copper self striping Wisdom Yarns Limerick. I would have gotten more - it's a nice, soft dk merino - but this lonely skein was all there was left in the sale basket, and I just knew I could do something small and lovely with it.

After riffling through and discarding several ideas, most of which got discarded because they contained interesting and beautiful cables which would have been totally lost in the striping, I finally settled on the Clapochet by Crochet Kitten. This crocheted version of the very popular Clapotis Scarf is, like its knitted counterpart, designed to be shawl width, and therefore normally requires something in the neighborhood of 800 yards of fiber. Having only 175 to work with, I narrowed it down a great deal, and only made it about 60" long.

I chose the crochet version over the knitted one, not because I haven't learned how to do drop stitches (how hard can it be to learn?), but for the much more important reason that the crocheted version stripes with the grain of the diagonal, rather than across it, and I much prefer this look. Cross-grain striping, in my humble opinion, distracts the eye and obscures the stitchwork.

The most amazing thing about this project, though, is that - and anyone who has done one-skein projects will understand - I did the entire project in one afternoon, the very afternoon after I bought the yarn, which means this project wins the prize for fastest progression from yarn purchase to project blocking I've ever accomplished. And the weather is just perfect to wear it to work today!