A Very Long Post

So I’ve made my first genuine learning mistake – no forgotten stitch or missed yarn over, but a real mistake I made because I had no idea what to do but I figured it out when I looked at my work. The whole thing happened in the Merletto fingerless gloves I’m making:

I made the mistake in the thumb gusset. The pattern talked about how to make increases and about left and right leaning increases. I wasn’t sure which increase to use for which mitt so I thought to myself, well let me try doing the right leaning increases on the right mitt and here is the result

Okay, I’m probably in need of a better camera so you may not be able to see that I did right leaning increases on both sides of the thumb gusset. A few rows of this and I had a light bulb moment – duh! Right leaning increases on the right side of the gusset and left leaning increases on the left. I was so happy when I figured it out! I’m so proud of myself for figuring it out on my own that I’m not going to rip back to the lifeline (which I placed just before starting the gusset). I’m keeping the mistake – partially also so I can refer to it when I do the second mitt. I have to admit this project really is knitting up very quickly. And I love this color!

Speaking of lifelines, the first lifeline I put in was in the mystery shawl I’m working on.

I know the lifeline is in the middle of chart 2-A but who cares. The line was actually a row lower but I unwittingly put it through all my section markers and realized what I’d done the next row up. So the line had to be moved. I think for section 3, I’m going to do chart C – it looks the least complicated. LOL. One last thing, someone mentioned that there are no beads on this "Beaded" shawl - well, I'm not sure if I'm going to be adding beads. If I do, it won't be until section 3 or 4 or even just 5 (edging). We'll see.

Yet another tangent – I was about to order A Gathering of Lace on Amazon for the Feather and Fan Shawl pattern but it is a good thing I didn’t – I went to my local Barnes and Noble instead to look at the book and well…I’m working my way up to being that advanced. The book is on my list to get – just not yet.

Tangent (squared) – Since I broke the plastic ball winder from KnitPicks (which they are graciously returning on their tab), I ordered the Heavy Duty Ball Winder by Nancy’s Knit Knacks from www.yarnmarket.com – I figured that I’ve been so good this month with the spending that I’m going to treat myself to a $200 yarn notion! WOOHOO! And well…I just couldn’t help it – I ordered $100 worth of sock yarn on top of it. And wouldn’t you know it – the very next day KnitPicks announces new handpainted sock yarns in their own line! I really must finish one pair of socks before I order any more sock yarn! The only sock yarn I can justify ordering is the 12 skeins I’m going to order to make a sweater from Knit so Fine.

Speaking of socks, I’m still working on my dad’s socks from Father’s day.

They are my travel project – always in my purse for whenever I have a few minutes. This means they will be slow going which is fine since the pattern is so boring but easy for when you have just a few minutes. I am thinking of making the Hedera socks with the red Berroco Comfort Sock yarn I have.

Lastly, the Siren socks I just haven’t started yet. I have to look at the pattern and make sure that I know how to make all the different stitches before I start. I was thinking of doing these socks with the Trekking XXL yarn that I have but I may change my mind when I see the yarns from Yarn Market which should be arriving tonight.

One final thought, the Leaf Afghan. To be honest, its been hibernating because I’m just not sure I’ll be able to actually do the narrow stripes. I can’t figure out the pattern which I was told I would be able to do when I did the wider stripes. I suppose I can email Ann who wrote the pattern to see if she will send me instructions on it. I guess I’ll stop here with that thought.

Leaf Afghan started

I started the leaf afghan. The pattern calls for 5 wide stripes so I got a long circular and am knitting all 5 at once. Surprisingly, it is still knitting up very fast which is such a nice break from lace and fingering yarn. The only problem with this method is I've got 5 balls of yarn connected to my needles and creating quite a tangle.

The other thing to keep in mind is all the stripes look the same so how am I going to determine which is the left and right needle if I put the work down. Well, this requires some deligence - see the Red and yeLlow booties I've got attached to the needles - that is for Right and Left.

I was looking at some of the other patterns by Ann and noticed a really beautiful blanket called The Boys Afghan which is just gorgeous. That may be the next long project I do...although the Moderne Log Cabin blanket from Mason-Dixon Knitting calls out to me as well.

Goddess Mystery Shawl Knit Along

Talk about firsts! This is my first lace, shawl, bead project and knit along. I'm very excited as the group seems great. I've created the test swatch which was relatively simple and I love the yarn I'm using - Baby Alpaca Lace by Plymouth Yarn.




As you can see, I'm playing around with the beads in the pattern. I don't like the two beads in the pattern at the bottom two motifs but I really like the 3 beads in the top two motifs. The picture does not do justice to the colors of the beads or even the yarn. The yarn is a very soft pastel pink and the beads are purple (left) and pink (right). The pink is very close to the color of the yarn itself. I'm still deciding which color to use. Perhaps I will use both colors and alternate between motifs but that will depend on what the final pattern looks like.

For now, I'm just twiddling my fingers until June 14th when the first clue is published.