"Hatapalooza" hats from Great Yarns - Day 4

Charting my course...

Ah cables.  They require attention to detail between a lot of stitch patterns that look dangerously similar.   Cables to the front look dangerously close to cables to the back, and messing them up results in squiggles rather than clever cross-overs.

I’ve done cables in written directions, but this is the first time I’ve done complicated cables from a chart.  And I tell you, those pesky little squares with all those angles look far too much alike for me to be confident as I waffle back and forth between chart and key.

After making a significant gaff a few rows back, I decided it’s best to stack the chart in my favor.  I now go through each row before I start and write the stitch on top of the squares in question.  Hopefully this will keep my C4BPs from becoming C4FPs and other unfortunate slip-ups.

In to save my embattled confidence comes the simple but adorable KnitCol hat.  Stockinette and decreases are firmly within my skill set, and this self-striping yarn is doing all the work for me.  I’ve made it to the finished hat, and now I get to make all the silly curly-cues that give the hat its charm.

Brush Creek Cowlette from The Knitting Nest - Day 2

Color block and color progression…

Some days you can be really happy you have both charts and written directions to help you on your project.

Especially those days where you have to do row 59 three times in order to get it right.  It’s those times that you need the essential information that charts provide—mainly which stitches stack on others from the row below.  Then, and only then, can you see those two extra stitches in the third repeat that is messing everything up.  

I’m rather proud that I managed to find and correct my errant yarn-overs, even if it did take me three tries and my husband looked at me with one of those “isn’t that supposed to be fun?” glares when I started mumbling to myself.  When it’s me against the yarn--even beautiful yarn like this--I get really competitive.

In my defense, tiny dark stitches present many challenges.  While I’m sure I’m going to love the blue color progressions when it’s done, they are currently taxing my 50+ eyes.  The rolling ripples of blue remind me of my visit to the Blue Ridge Mountains one Thanksgiving—all that “purple mountains majesty” of patriotic song fame.  Very pretty.

And very assuring that this is going to be lovely when it’s done!

Darjeeling Shawl from Yarning for Ewe - Day 4

"Who ya gonna call?"

As predicted, things got a bit more complicated with the lace panel.  I’ve never worked with a magazine pattern before, so this was a new process for me.  Luckily, knitters today have many resources to find support when knitting a popular item like a magazine pattern.  I’ve learned to always read the Ravelry comments on any project before I start—it’s free advice and always useful.

I read the instructions and am no stranger to chart knitting.  Only I couldn't decipher the nature of the repeat on the chart—was it repeated all the way across the shawl?  Or was I just supposed to repeat the section once and duplicate the whole chart panel all the way across?  Rather than sit there and do the math of stitch count (what my engineer husband would have done, I’m sure), I dove in, repeating the full panel across my needles.  Guess what?  The stitches didn’t match up.  150 or so stitches is a lot of TINKing to do—good thing I was on a long car drive at the time.  

Once I got home, the friendly folks at Yarning for Ewe were more than ready to answer my questions and walk me through the chart.  While in the car, I used my beloved smartphone to access Ravelry and reach out to designer Joan Forgione.  In a flash, I had more detailed instructions direct from the pattern creator.  Ah, the wonders of technology!  I’d never realized magazines sometimes must edit for space and sometimes need to make instructions as succinct as possible.  Me, I like an avalanche of instructions.   Now I had them—that’s the beauty of knitting in the digital world.

With the new instructions in hand, the lace panel fit into place perfectly.  I even got to the point where I could read the stitches and not keep my eyes fixed on the print-out.  That’s always the most fun—where I’ve internalized the pattern and the artistry can come out.

There’s one more switch to go—the lace edging now turns to run perpendicular of the previous panel.  I predict great fun—especially now that I have lots of coaches to turn to for support.