Silk Moon Crescent shawl from KnitCircus - Day 5

Bound(off) to please...

I know I keep repeating myself, but oh, the color. 

And not just the color, but the color progression. KnitCircus does color gradients like no one else—gorgeous! 

It makes me wish that I had a huge, generous shawl of this to wrap around myself instead of a shawlette.  But then, of course, who knows how long those final rows would be? As it was, that bind off took me the entire 2-hour premiere of this season’s Agents of Shield to complete. Granted, it was Jenny’s Surprisingly Stretchy Bind Off, which is always extra work but always 100% worth it. Jenny’s is my bind off of choice these days, no matter what the project.

I’m curious to see how much this increases with blocking. Sometimes these things stretch out quite a bit, other times not so much.  I’d like it if it spread out and became a bit lighter in weight, but considering how lovely it is at the moment, I expect I’ll be pleased with any result.

Great Prismatic Cowl from Spinnin' Yarns--Day 5

The penultimate step...

This was a very long bind off.  

A can’t finish it all in one day my fingers are cramping long bind off. Made even longer by the fact that I chose to use my favorite bind off, Jenny’s Surprisingly Stretchy Bind Off, so each of the nearly 300 stitches had to be worked through three separate steps.  A total of 834 steps, by my count.

I’m always impatient with bind-offs.  I never like the last step of anything.  I don’t mind putting wash in the washing machine or transferring it to the dryer, but I loathe taking it out of the dryer and folding it.  I don’t mind loading the dishwasher (too much) but find it a much more unpleasant task to unload it.  I love to make plans but find the execution wearisome.  I love Mondays but am often frustrated by the unsatisfying closure of a Friday where I didn’t get everything done.  I’m forever leaving cabinet doors open, things on the table, items out instead of neatly put away.  A friend believes this is a peculiar form of ADHD, but I think this is just the unique character of ALLIE.

On the upside, one of my frustrations with bind-offs is that they frequently don’t quite match the cast-on, either in appearance or tension.  Since the one continuous bind-off means it’s all bind-off, that’s not an issue here—everything matches.  I have to admit, that’s nice.

I find the cowl a bit rustic and bumpy at the moment, but it hasn’t been blocked, so that’s not a fair assessment.  There’s the final step to go.  

This could be one last step I really do enjoy.  Stay tuned.

The Fog Shawl from The Fiber Universe--Day 4

Feelings...

I’ve decided.  I’m done.  

If the criteria is “you can’t stomach it any more,” I’m there.  I’ve been knitting through so many back loops my eyes are blurring.  It’s time.  If this goes on how I feel, I feel ready to be done.  Of course, this is a top-down shawl, so I would have felt ready to be done long before I was truly done. And for me, the only thing that would feel worse than “not done” would be the feeling I’d get if the thing ended up too small for my liking.

Wow, I really am feeling all the feels on this one, aren’t I?

Of course, Bella had to inspect

Time for some science.  Or at least some theoretical visuals.  I laid the shawl out overtop a finished shawl I already own, whose size I like very much.  This Fog is currently is about two-thirds the size of the finished right-sized Phoenix shawl.  To me, this affirms that I’m at a safe enough place to stop.  If it doubles in size, I’ll have a lovely big shawl.  If it grows less than that, I should still be okay.  Only I do know how to block a shawl within a inch of its life, so I’m feeling confident I can stretch this one to an ideal size.  At this point, I don’t think it can come out too small.

I’ve learned a lot about my control-freak nature on this project.  I need directions.  Specific directions.  I can punt in many areas of my life, but in knitting, I need to know it will turn out right.  I want to have solid trust that the directions I follow will produce the outcome I desire.  

As such, this “recipe” has taught me the limits of my knitting improvisation.  And those limits are rather small.  Then again, my life calls for a great deal of creativity in other areas, so being able to depend on my knitting makes a kind of compensatory sense.  Were I an accountant, maybe I could go hog wild with my knitting.  Goodness, wouldn’t that be a thing to see?

In any case, I’m settling in tonight for a very long stint of Jenny’s Incredibly Stretchy bind off to ensure I can stretch this baby out.  Stay tuned—I’m feeling like it’s going to be wonderful.

Island Knits Shoulder Wrap from Island Knits - Done!

I settled on no fringe, and I’m pleased with my decision.  I’m just not a fringe person.

I am considering, however, maybe a little bit of silver or glass beading on the end.  The shawl is so light and airy that it often doesn’t stay in place.  I’m thinking a small bit of weight will help it hold the right shape.  Nothing too western or even southwestern, though—I’m going to keep my eye open for something to call to me as the perfect touch.

If I had to do it over again, I think I’d continue on with a second skein of yarn.  That’s just my personal opinion—I like my shawls on the big side.  This project goes so fast, it wouldn’t be such a challenge to add the additional yardage.

One note on the bind-off:  while you need it to be stretchy, it can’t be too stretchy.  I tried Jenny’s Surprisingly Stretchy Bind Off and had to take it back out.  I ended up doing a standard bind off but adding a yarn over every two or three stitches as the directions state.   If you are a tight knitter, you may need to experiment to get just the right tension.  Otherwise the top edge overpowers the curve of the bottom edge and you loose the necessary arc.

No matter what the bind off, this is an eye-catching summer shawl.  Thanks, Island Knits!

Darjeeling Shawl from Yarning for Ewe - Day 3

Switching gears...

I have to say, I am really liking the construction of this shawl.  So many times a knitter starts at one end of a shawl and slogs on through the pattern—either top to bottom or side to side—until they reach the other end.  It’s a linear process.  That’s not without its benefits, but it’s a long straight line even if the pattern stitches change.

Not so with the Darjeeling.  It is constructed in three distinct pieces that build one onto the other.  I hadn’t realized how refreshing I would find that until I finished the initial garter stitch triangle and found myself switching gears entirely for the next segment.  Great fun! This is the first time I can remember that the bind-off wasn’t the final step in a piece.

After I pulled out my new favorite tool, the stretchy bind off, I found myself picking up stitches all around those loops that bookended each row of the triangle.  Suddenly, I wasn’t working from the bottom up anymore, I was humming around the two sides.  Next thing I know, I’m turning the bottom corner in a straight line—which felt odd but actually worked.  Now, I have a lace chart to challenge me for the middle section, and then a I’ll change directions one last time for the final lace edging. 

While I’m sure this will be a stunning finished piece, the process has been the best part of the Darjeeling Shawl so far.

Hiawassee Handwarmers from The Needle Nook - Done!

Well.  It just goes to show you how wrong a knitter can be.

They fit beautifully!  Nicely snug—not a bit too snug—around the wrists where the lovely cable pattern pulls it in a smidge.  Perfectly stretchy around the arms and hands, thanks to the new skill of Jenny’s stretchy bind off that I learned back with the Arroyo Shawl.  They still look tiny off my hands, but that will make them easy to stash in my coat pocket.

Of course, they’re more decorative than warm—at least by Chicago standards.  Where my daughter lives in Charleston, they might be just the right touch for a chilly fall or winter morning.  That doesn’t mean she’s definitely getting them…I admit it, I’m a selfish knitter not especially prone to giving things away, especially something with this much time invested in the making.  

Of course, I just might have enough yarn for a second pair.  Now, all I have to do is find two weeks of free time to knit them!

Arroyo Shawl from Yarn Shop and More - Day 5

I’m in love...

...With a bind off!  Who’d have thunk it?

Truly, if this project never does anything else for me (which is unlikely since I’ve already had to resist casting it on in another yarn), it will forever be near and dear to me as The Project That Introduced Me to Jenny’s Surprisingly Stretchy Bind Off. Enchantment!

Pre-blocking

It’s awesomeness cannot be overstated.  Bind offs have long been my nemesis, tanking otherwise lovely projects or requiring blocking interventions that might qualify as “heroic measures.”  Now, all of that fades as a distant memory while I stare at the lovely, springy final edge (which in this case is the top) of my Arroyo shawl.  Bliss!

There are multiple videos online documenting this nifty two-step technique, but I finally just printed off some written directions and sat down with a cup of coffee.  Like many knitting techniques, its complications dissolve once you get it into your fingers.  My future toe-up socks are shouting with joy.  Genius!

Blocked--what a difference!

For once blocking was not the hair-raising festival of “will it curl funny?” that blocking shawls can sometimes be.  Not only was I sure of my edges, but I welcomed the chance to try out the new BlokWrx blocking wires I’d purchased at Stitches Midwest.  Thrilling!

Now, all I need is the magic of evaporation to give this shawl its welcome into the world.  Stay tuned--it’s going to be wonderful.