Did I Do That?: The Sample Knit Saga (cont.)

Ok, so here's the deal. You know how most knit patterns are created with a selvedge edge to keep it from rolling under? (For those not "in the know", that's what those last couple of stitches on each row that don't seem to follow the pattern are for.). Well, I've been knitting the gorgeous Shattered Sun Shawl without that. All the way through the lace and last stockinette sections I started thinking it was a bit odd-- that's when I really started realizing the selvedge edge was missing.

I was beginning to think that blocking the shawl would be the solution. I've never seen a pattern make this type of assumption, but I was willing to go on faith. So I decided to push on into the final stockinette ruffle section of the shawl-- time to consult the pattern. An interesting thing happened when I started reading the next step... I actually read it through to the end since it wasn't just another "stockinette section" and saying to myself 'yeah, yeah, it's more stockinette'. You know what I found when I actually read the instructions? You'll never guess! Ok, you probably will--probably already have! I found a selvedge edge.

Scratching my head in confusion-- since patterns don't start a selvedge edge 3/4 of the way through-- I read back through the steps I 'glanced' through the first time. Wouldn't you just know it, there was that pesky little 'knit 2, purl to the last 2 stitches, knit 2' every step of the way. Talk about a palm-slap to the forehead moment... I still can't believe I made such a rookie mistake, being an "Experienced Lace Knitter" and all (see post #3). Trying to figure out where I went wrong has me all befuddled, but I have a theory.

From the very start of this amazingly, luxurious, finger-heavenly project, I've been knitting under the influence of heavy distraction. This mixed with impatient anticipation of such fibery goodness might have led to me take a few teeny shortcuts. I'm fairly certain that I read this part of the instructions at some point early on, and of course made a mental note about it before starting the shawl. And upon further inspection, I can see that I DID include the selvedge edge all the way up to the lace section. But somehow-- between sleep deprivation and toddler demand-- I left this important little nugget of information with other non-essential things such as the square root of 463, and the average birth weight of an African Elephant. And now I have this gorgeous CashSilk Lace shawl 90% finished with no selvedge edge and a bad case of "the rolls". Now to figure out how to fix this.

O.K...Here's the plan. Since the selvedge edge on this shawl is only two stitches on each side, I think I can "repair" the stitches. The second from the end on each side will be very easy to drop all the way down and then pick back up correctly. The edge stitch on each side will be a little more complicated-- not sure if I can "repair" this one or not since each stitch is actually two stitches, one right side and one wrong side. I will have to knit up a swatch and experiment. I think if this won't work, Plan B will be to drop the third stitch from the edge and incorporate this column into the selvedge edge instead-- leaving the edge stitches untouched. I will let you all know how it goes once I figure it out myself. Who knows, maybe there will be a tutorial or two that comes out of this!!! Crossing my fingers all will turn out well...

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As An Experienced Lace Knitter...: The Sample Knitting Saga (cont.)

Not too long ago I was excited to give an aspiring lace knitter advice on how to dive into the wonderful world of lace. I suggested a few of the basics like:

I was happy to encourage another knitter to try this beautiful technique that I enjoy so much! And I was very proud to have enough experience to be a credible mentor. *wry smile*

So let me tell you how the "teacher" has been coming along with her latest lace fiasco project...Now remember, I am an experienced lace knitter, so the rules don't apply to me; I am above the law here.

As many of you know, I've been working on the Shattered Sun Shawl by Felicia Lo. This isn't a really complicated pattern, but I would probably not recommend it as a first lace project. I would consider this a second or third project because of the amount of non-repeating stitches on every row. It's kinda funny really, but I've had a bit of trouble with this myself (even though I AM an experienced lace knitter and I think repeats are boring). I seem to be repairing stitches at the end of every lace row because I forget to stop repeating. But it's no big deal, really, just takes a few extra minutes...on every other row...

Aside from the extra knitting (and un-knitting) that I'm doing all the time, I think I'm really moving along! I remember that it was really exciting when I finished row 4 of the lace section. Of course then there was this crazy thing that happened where the stitch count was all wrong. No big deal for an experienced lace knitter like myself, though. I can usually look at the established pattern to see where it's going wonky and fix it when I come back to the mistake on the next row. See, the thing here is that there actually wasn't an established pattern yet (since it was only row 4) so I couldn't see my error. And I've been doing so much un-knitting recently (at the end of every other row) that I didn't really feel like fixing it THAT way. And the whole life line thing...well, you know, I'm an experienced lace knitter so I never use those anymore. But it's ok, I feel confident enough to rip back two rows and then * hunt for all the pieces of my lace pattern puzzle.

^{*see note above}

Well, ripping back worked pretty well-- I found almost all my stitches. Unfortunately lace knitting isn't horse shoes, and close really doesn't work, so I decided the best thing to do was rip back to my last stockinette row and restart the lace section. I mean, we're really only talking about two more rows here... I can handle that. So I ripped back two more rows, recounted, and finally had the correct number of stitches so I could continue. All in all, this whole crazy "it'll never happen to me" knitting moment wasn't terribly time-expensive-- about 6 days so far.

(Maybe more expensive than I thought...)

So now it's been several days and I've only picked up my knitting twice (mainly because I've been very busy with Everyday Peacocks stuff). I am finally through row 9 of the lace section, though, and have my pattern well established so that I can fix my mistakes as I go along-- ask me how I know that...

All this redoing and ripping has me really questioning why all this has been happening to me. Remember now, I am an experienced lace knitter here, so the rules don't really apply to me. However, I think I figured out what might be causing some of the problems. I'll give you a hint: he's two years old, full of curiosity, and a handfull and a half!

I'm usually following my boy around the yard while I'm knitting, since this is the only knitting time I can seem to find. But I am so experienced that I can keep up with a simple repeating lace pattern while making sure that my kid is staying out of trouble... Of course there was this time that he decided to drink the sand in the sandbox (I dropped my knitting mid-row), or that time he decided to rip one of the flowers we bought out of the planter box (I chased him around for a minute to get it back, but luckily the roots were still intact AND I was able to hang onto my knitting). Come to think of it, he's a real little stinker and loves to push his limits! It's amazing to watch him grow and explore his personality, though. This time with him is so precious to me and I am thankful everyday for seeing life through his eyes. The social interaction with my toddler is a bit distracting for my lace knitting, but I wouldn't trade a second of it for all the CashSilk yarn in the world!

A Crafty Plan: The Sample Knit Saga (cont.)

I'm so glad the weather has changed bringing Southern Quebec warm sunshiny afternoons. I'm NOT as thrilled that this has been seriously cutting into my knitting time. Let me explain...

From the time my youngest son gets up in the morning, till long after dark at night, he wants to be outside-- pitches fits to be outside-- and actually has a daily meltdown at nap time due to the mandatory four walls looming in his near future. I absolutely LOVE his enthusiasm for nature and exercise! I absolutely HATE that all my project bags have ridiculously short straps-- just long enough to let my armpit get a great view of what's inside. For those unaware, this means it's quite difficult to knit while carrying it around. So when the weather is nice, I am chasing around a toddler outside-- who, by the way, doesn't actually want to play with me, I'm just a good audience. Without a project bag to carry with me, I'm losing out on some Super-Primo knitting time!!! With new CashSilk draping seductively from my needles, this just won't do!

I think my solution is quite brilliant really, not to toot my own horn or anything. Ok...maybe brilliant is pushing it a little. We'll go with Inspired. The idea started with me needing a way to carry my yarn bowl around with me--since I don't want to muck up this beautiful yarn. (By the way, the yarn bowl in question is not actually a yarn bowl...another yarny issue I should deal with in the near future.) I needed a big bag, with a wide mouth, and a long strap. You know, a lot like those messenger bag type purses that were in style years ago...like the one that's been hanging in my hall closet for the last five or six years collecting dust.

Talk about a light bulb going off! I think I could've lit up half the state of Texas with that realization! So off I rushed to said bag hanging exactly where I left it so many years ago. Now, for those who don't know me, this by itself is a feat-- things in our house have a particularly irritating way of sprouting legs and walking off. Giddy as a schoolgirl, I snatched up my new-old project bag and rushed off to try it out!

It turns out that I could not have bought a better solution (with the exception of a couple of Velcro strips which will be removed shortly.) I have my wide mouth pouch, which is just deep enough, plus two smaller pouches on the front-- one for my row counts and project notes, the other for my stitch markers and other notions. And to top it all off, there is a large messenger style flap that covers everything when I am not knitting. I think my favorite feature so far is the little side pouch (intended for pencils) where I keep a tiny crochet hook for M1 or dropped stitches. It has been incredibly handy!

So now I say "Bring on the sun... Bring on the sandbox...Bring on the toddler chase! I am armed and ready!" Knitting time has returned. Now,let's see just how long this lace panel is going to take me...

Making Time For Yarn: The Sample Knit Saga

I was super excited when Lucinda asked me if I wanted to knit up a store sample this past weekend. I jumped at the opportunity to play with some new yarn-- for business reasons, of course... She let me pick the pattern from her massive in store library (in both French and English,) and after much deliberation I went with my first inspiration-- the Shattered Sun Shawl designed by Felicia Lo.

I know that no one will believe me, but this pattern coincidentally calls for the exact same yarn that I have been drooling over since the very first time I saw it. I couldn't believe my luck! So now I am the happy knitter of some delicious Sweet Georgia Yarns CashSilk Lace. Such an amazing cashmere silk blend, the fabric actually somehow feels like butter in my hands...

Between my Etsy store and family, I don't have a lot of time to knit these days, but I am now totally motivated to make it a priority. After all, every Peacock needs to have some "ME" time to keep her feathers unruffled and perky. It's time for this birdie to start preening! If you want to follow along with my progress, you can check out my Ravelry project page. And of course, if you just want to catch the highlights, stick around or subscribe to my blog-- I'll keep ya' posted!