While I’m not thrilled with this whole ‘not really being ambulatory’ thing, I’m trying to make the most of it. That roughly translates to ‘knitting more than usual.’ Yeah, I know, you didn’t think that was actually possible, but there were a few more minutes to squeeze out of the day. As proof of my putting this time to good use, I present to you… the second sock! (Together with its partner, the first sock, that is.) (more…)
*sigh*
As you all know by now, I’m making two of the Summer Solstice Mystery Shawl. One (SSMS #2) is in a state very commonly known around this house: all finished except the finishing. This means that all the actual knitting is done, and all that’s left is the blocking and the weaving in of loose ends. I keep swearing I’m going to start blocking an item a day, and make an interesting week of it, but yet, mostly-finished items continue to languish in their little baggies, waiting to be finished and sent on to their new homes. Life as a knitted object is hard.
Last night, thanks to an off-by-one error and not trusting my instincts that something was wrong, I ended up making a series of unfortunate mistakes in SSMS #3. Rather than following my initial urge (throw it away and go find a big drink), I carefully stowed the offending shawl back in its project bag, and set it aside until more awake – and calmer – minds were available.
After my morning meds and daily cup of coffee, I sat down with the shawl to see if the harm was reparable.
Tinking experiment: failed. Tinking lace is, as mentioned, a rather iffy proposition. This time, the coin landed on the, “HA HA!” side. One day, I will learn to use lifelines. But not today. Today, I will be ripping out my project (SSMS™ #3) and starting over. If that’s the worst thing that happens to me today, I can live with that. (*knocking on wood*)
*sigh*
Tinking is the process of un-knitting (tink = knit backwards). This is something that is done when one has made one (or more) mistakes. Sometimes, you catch your mistake pretty quickly, and you only need to tink a few stitches. Other times, you don’t catch the mistake until you’ve made a decent amount of progress. When that happens, you have a few choices: 1) tink back to the mistake; 2) pull your needles out and carefully rip back your stitches to the mistake, and then re-insert the needles; or, 3) throw your project across the room and find a good stiff drink.
Today is looking to be remarkably unpleasant, meteorologically speaking. I hope everyone manages to stay cool, or – at the very least – hydrated. My plans for the day include geeking (which OSX keeps trying to correct to “geeing”), cleaning, knitting (probably finishing one of the SSMS™s) and perhaps lunch with G. There are definitely worse ways to spend a day. Best of luck with whatever adventures you may meet today!
The final installment of the Summer Solstice Mystery Shawl has arrived! It’s 30 rows as charted, with some optional repeats to add length. SSMS™ #3 will not be receiving any additional length, as I’m not sure about my yarn yardage, and would hate to run out before I’m done. However, I have plenty of extra Kauni Effekt, so SSMS™ #2 will continue to have all the extra length for which the pattern provides. (I’m also doing this because I love how seeing minor modifications to a pattern – such as extra repeats – provide for an entirely different finished product.)
Whoo! As predicted, the fourth installment of the SSMS™ showed up on Tuesday. You may recall that I have started three different iterations of this shawl, and have discarded one, because the yarn and I were not getting along with one another. So, the black and white Kauni is SSMS™ #2, and the new blue / purple Blue Heron is SSMS™ #3.
When the fourth installment of the pattern showed up, I was working on #3, so I kept working on through. The photo below represents a couple of pattern repeats of the work in progress. It’s coming along nicely, I think.
As for SSMS #2, I’ve alluded to the fact that I’d made some mistakes and corrected them. I was, however, only half right. I did, in fact, make mistakes. I did not correct them. So, last night I completely ripped it out and started over. I’m about 90% of the way through Part B right now, and should be fully caught up long before the next (and final) installment of the pattern shows up.
(I do actually do things other than knit, I swear. However, my pain levels have been pretty high, and my energy levels pretty low. This makes doing much of anything else difficult, so there’s been a bit more knitting than usual going on.)
More babbling about the SSMS™ follows. Continue at your own risk.
For those who don’t remember, the way this works, the subscribers to the pattern get updates once a week. With each update, we get a few additional rows, and we get to grow our fabric and it’s all spiffy and neat. We have thus far received three of the five parts. Right.
I’m knitting not one but two of these things. One will go to Jenn when it’s done, and the other one does not yet have a recipient lined up. I’ve restarted one of them at least twice. I’ve completely tossed one out, due to irreconcilable differences between me and the yarn. All in all, I’m well entrenched in working with this pattern, and am committed to the cause. I’m somewhat addicted to this pattern at this point. I want to keep knitting it. You’d think that, what with having two of these underway, I’d be good, right?
Hah. Foolish mortal. I’m currently caught up on both of these shawls. I have no other knitting projects underway. I do not get a new pattern piece until Tuesday morning. What on earth am I going to do for the next 32 hours? I’m going to consider it a success if I don’t manage to cast on a third instance of this shawl.
The new installment of the SSMS™ is here! Happy knitting to commence.