Leftie Shawl from Knot Just Knits - Day 5

It always takes longer...

Sigh.  This is going to take a while.  I thought I had it plotted out into six equal segments, but I didn't take into consideration that these last rows are three times as long as my first rows--and as such take three times as long to complete.  I'm working hard here.

I don't know what it is about these short row "leaf" trims, but I only get them right about half time.  I know enough about short rows to make them all look reasonably similar, but I have to say it really bugs me that I can't  manage a 14-row repeat accurately.  I should be able to handle this, you know? I like to think of myself as having a decent level of competency.

One thing is for sure:  this is a show-stopper.

 I'm asked about it every time I pull it out of my knitting bag in public, and I've run across several people who have either made one or have one on their needles.  Invariably, the comments run to, "Oh, I could do that in _____ [insert yarn here]."  

It's true.  I've dreamed up half a dozen yarn combinations myself from stuff I own just in the time I was knitting.  With the Color Affection shawl, I kept seeing yarn I wanted to buy to make another.  Somehow--maybe it's just the subliminal suggestion of the name (leftie, leftovers, etc)--I keep thinking of yarn I already own to make another Leftie.  

Intentional?  Who knows.  Welcome?  You bet.  Anything that eats into my massive stash is a positive project!

Leftie Shawl from Knot Just Knits - Day 4

Delayed gratification...

It’s happening again.

The rows just keep getting longer.

On a logical level, I know this to be a good thing.  I know I will enjoy this shawl when it is done, and that I will wear it often with all these lovely colors.  If I love the act of knitting, then knitting more is a good thing, right?

I figured out yesterday that while I can completely and happily immerse myself in the process of knitting, I also am energized and gratified by the accomplishment of knitting.  I’m a “to-do list” kind of gal—I get jazzed by progress.  So as the rows get longer, my gratification gets more and more delayed.

I rot at delayed gratification.  I’ve got the waistline and the impulse purchases and the unthawed-yet-eaten frozen cookie dough to prove it.  Plus, the more time it takes to finish the row progress I plan for each episode of this blog, the more my “deadline stress” goes up.  I don’t want to keep you all waiting while I find time to finish the longer-and-longer rows it takes to get to my next installment.

Still, I don’t think you could do this one backwards—long end to short. I thought about it last night, and either I’m just not that smart, or it’s not possible to predict the correct length and width on the outset.  If any of you could figure it out, by all means let me know.

Because I don’t have time to work on such a problem.  I have a lot of knitting to do….

Leftie Shawl from Knot Just Knits - Day 3

Working within my limitations...

I am not known for my ability to get things finished.  When clearing the table, I always, always leave "one last thing" that my husband has to clean off.  I leave cabinet doors open, I get the wash done but fail to fold it, and a dozen other things that seem to showcase my inability to do the last step of any task.  It's why writing is such a good profession for me--God gives me editors to clean up my final drafts.

This shawl goes right to the heart of my problem.  There are a boatload of ends to weave in.  As I began this project, I realized it'd be a huge problem if I left the weaving in of the ends to the last step.  Knowing me, this lovely piece would sit in some basket for months on end waiting for me to accomplish the one final task.

I opted for a pre-emptive strike:  I made a promise to myself that every two stripes, I would stop and weave those sets of ends in before going on.  So far, this has worked, and I'm proud of facing up to my limitations.  It helps that the dangling ends are annoying, so that provides incentive to stop and weave so I'm not constantly pushing them out of the way.

Who knows where this will lead?  Closed cabinet doors?  Hey, it could happen...

Leftie Shawl from Knot Just Knits - Day 2

Faking it and making it...

The design element that sets this shawlette apart is the stripes.  And not just the stripes, but the leafy short row trim that peeks out from every stripe.  Now, I’m no stranger to short rows as the Color Affection Shawl can attest, and I can wrap-and-turn with the best of them.  These short rows, however, had a new twist that eluded me for the first few leaves.

You are stacking short rows on top of each other here, so that by the top half of the leaf you are asked to pick up two wraps.  For the life of me, I couldn’t see where the two wraps were.  Part of it was that I was not following the pattern closely (my husband would insert a knowing chuckle here).  The other part was that I wasn’t exactly sure what to look for.

This is where knitting in community has its highest value.  Flummoxed, I brought it to my library open knitting morning, where a young knitting friend quickly showed me which little bits of yarn I needed to catch with my needles.  I’ve included a photo here, but I think this may be one of those times where you really do need a live human being looking over your shoulder.

I felt better once I mastered this technique.  Truth be told, however, I don’t think you can tell a bit of difference between the leaves where I just was guessing my way through it and the ones where I mastered the directions.  The stitches are tiny enough that you can get away with just about any wrap-and-turn.  Still, I’m glad to have added a new skill to my toolbox.  The fact that I learned it from someone less than half my age?  Well that just shows the glory of the craft.

Leftie Shawl from Knot Just Knits - Day 1

Leftie colors...

Every year there seems to be a shawl that is "this year's darling."  It shows up all over Facebook, assorted knitting blogs, and Ravelry.  You pull it out of your knitting bag someplace public and everyone goes "Oh, I'm working on one of those."

Leftie is just such a project--rather like the Color Affection shawl was for me last year and Barb's Koigu Ruffle Scarf before that.  In my opinion, projects gain popularity like this for three reasons:  1) they are endlessly clever, 2) they are distinctive and 3) they're technically simple.  This means a wide variety of knitters with a wide variety of skill sets still get a big artistic bang for their buck.

Leftie, aptly named, I assume, for its ability to eat up all the small balls of leftover yarn in your stash, is just such a project.  You could easily plan this shawl based on what's in your remnant drawer.  That'd be hard for someone like me who can't combine colors well.  If I tried this unsupervised, I don't think any of us would welcome the result.  As it was, I was given a skein of Malabrigo Sock in Terracota and a nifty little multi-pack of Wonderland Yarns' Cheshire Cat.

That didn't get me completely off the color-plotting hook.  I still had to decide the order of the leafy little stripes that give this shawl its sense of panache.  Not being particularly artsy, I went for the obvious:  dark to light.

Another note about color here:  I love it when the knitting juju lines up nicely.  Without any foreknowledge, Elizabeth happened to hand me the base color of "Terracota"--or as I will come to know and love it, "Burnt Orange."  I will come to love this color, so they tell me, because my offspring now is a Longhorn, attending University of Texas at Austin.  Longhorns, so they say, “bleed burnt orange” (excuse the eye candy image, but I couldn't resist). 

Now, being a "winter" in complexion, such warm colors are not my thing.  Before this, I did not own  single piece of clothing in this hue.  How lovely that my knitting adventures have brought me into the Longhorn universe! I think I may like it here. 

I've said it before and I'll say it again:  the yarn knows.