Finished!

I love it.

How to Block a Shawl in 10 Easy Steps

The Pi Shawl is finished and blocking! How does one go about blocking their finished masterpiece?

Step 1: Cuddle with shawl. Ty to remember everything about it, so you can truly appreciate the changes that the blocking will bring about.

Step 2: Search for your pin jar. Tear apart both your room and the attic. (You may be sidetracked by changes your mother wreaked on your stash while cleaning. Cotton in the wool drawer, and the wool out in the open for m*%#s??? Remember. Deep breaths). In the end, locate your pin jar only to find that it is half empty.

Step 3: Check your wallet for pin money. $5? Better run to the bank for a $20. What if the yarn store is only carrying imported pins?

Step 4: Once at the bank, withdraw $70. What if these imported pins are also platinum? And what if lace weight is on sale?

Step 5: Run to yarn store. Buy every single pack of flower head pins. Explain your excessive purchase to Sue. Before you leave, take a risk and feel the new merino-bamboo blend. Chances are you will manage to postpone that purchase until another day, but only buy indulging in sale sock yarn. Blame it on the wool fumes.

Step 6: Gather every single non-white towel in the house. Turning mom's good towels pink is not an option.

Step 7: Spend far too much time debating between unscented and pink grapefruit wool wash. Choose grapefruit. Submerge shawl. Force yourself to leave it alone for 15 minutes.

Step 8: Loonily jump up and down on the shawl wrapped in a non-white towel. If your bun doesn't become loose, you need to employ a little more enthusiasm. Repeat until someone walks by the bathroom and witnesses your little ritual.

Step 9: Pin out shawl on mom's bed. Be sure to lay down towels, but don't feel bad if every single throw pillow and extra quilt ends up in a heap on the ground. The artist needs a clean workspace.

Step 10: Crank up the fan, shut the door against shedding dogs, and try to distract yourself with yet another knitting project and some grilled cheese.

That Moment When...

...you graft your edging together, then pick it apart, then graft it again, then painstakingly weave in your ends in a secure and yet subtle manner...

...only to realize all of your efforts are facing the wrong way.

Emma's Endless Edging Escapades

I have been telling myself every day for a week now that I am "almost done" with this shawl edging. And each time, I totally believed myself, even though clearly I was not almost done a week ago if I am still knitting today. But now, I feel safe saying I am ALMOST done!

I tried it on as is, with the needles in, and I am in love. It is warm, yet lightweight, and easily stretches across my wingspan even before blocking. I'm not entirely sure how I plan on blocking it, seeing as even my parents' queen bed just about matches my wingspan and I want this shawl to be larger than that. It may have to hang over the ends of the bed a bit. But regardless, I think this shawl will end up being a cushy, comfortable work of art. Sort of an elegant security blanket.

Is it bad that I'm already considering starting another one?

Buried in Socks

I am the first to admit that technology is not my strong point. Hopefully my new blogging app will not have too steep of a learning curve! I love my iPad, so maybe this new excuse to use it will whip my blogging butt back into shape!

School is out, but while it was in session I managed to churn out sock after sock after sock. Here is a sampling...

Dumbledore's Christmas Stockings and some Stroll sock yarn. This pattern knit up quickly, and the knit/purl texture means these stretch in all directions. Very comfortable; I would knit these again.

Clandestine socks by Cookie A., also knit in Stroll (I think). They came out nicely. I did misunderstand the pattern a few times, and there was a lot of tinking and frogging involved, but I always seem to do that with Cookie's patterns.

Nutkin was up next, so I could test my KnitCompanion app. It was knit in some kind of Cascade sock yarn, I just can't remember the exact kind. The yarn itself lacked softness when I was working with it, but it seems to be holding up far better than the Stroll yarn in terms of pilling, so i guess it was a good trade-off. I used a slip-stitch heel flap, and my usual toe. I employed half of a purl round to imitate the three-needle bind-off. I love the hemmed cuff! No matter how many times I turn a hem for a picot edge or whatever, I feel like it's magic.

A plain pair, the Yarn Harlot's sock recipe in Patons Kroy. They make me think of raspberries.

Another plain pair in some kind of Knit Picks yarn. I think the color way was Cartoons? Appropriately playful.

Another Cookie design, Cusp. The name allowed me to justify knitting in my Calc II class. Yes, my teacher did go along with it. And yes, as is always the case with Cookie's patterns, I frogged. A lot.

And the grand finale! Edwardian Boating Socks, a free Ravelry pattern. The yarn is Knit Picks Fairy Tales, and the colorway is something about a mirror. These socks are perfect! The slipped stitch pattern shows off the graduated colors beautifully, and if I didn't have to hand wash these I would wear them every day without worrying that people would question my hygiene. Unfortunately, the picture displays none of these fantastic qualities.

I love them anyway. You can take my word for it.

And for the record, this Blogsy app is surprisingly easy to work! Famous last words, I know. Hopefully this continues to be the case. For now, I have to edge a shawl...

Back Again

Wow, so much for having time to post this summer! I won't bother to go into depth about ALL of my WIP's. but real quick here's one FO that I've been hugely proud of!

Not the best pictures, but it's my second sweater ever! And the first to require seams! Ahhh that feels good...The pattern is Inishturk from Lion Brand Yarn, and the yarn is the recommended Fisherman's Wool. I chose Natural, though, instead of Oatmeal, since I had already used that for my first sweater. For being so cheap by weight, this wool is awesome. I love the texture, stitch definition, everything.

The pattern's gauge was kinda funky, though. I would have needed size 11 US needles, and the swatch was like a loose net. I went down to size 8 US, and just made it two sizes larger with the original lengths for the size small. It came out a tad wider than I expected after blocking, but I knew it was going to be huge anyway. The smallest chest measurement would have given me 4-5 inches of ease. But according to the new Teen Vouge, oversize knit sweaters are totally in. Sweet. And this kind of traditional garment is classic and timeless, so I'm not super concerned.

And here is my current WIP. It's become a little all-consuming, not gonna lie...

It's the Bayerische sock from See Eunny Knit!. Belgian cables with twisted stitches. Gorgeous. I used size 0 US dpn's, and Lion Brand Sock-Ease in Grape Soda. Not exactly high-end, but it's cheap and hard-wearing. Love the pattern, love the first sock.

 The only pattern error I saw was in the toe shaping. At the very end, It says to knit Row 2 6 times to decrease from 40 stitches to 16, but that would mean knitting even for six rounds. It's supposed to be knit row 1 six times.

That's all for today, but maybe I'll actually post occasionally for a little while? Yes?