Feeling Scarfy

It is official, except for the calendar.  Winter is here.  No more sandals and capris.  The weather has turned cold, and will not be warm again for months.  But winter has a knitted lining.  Time to break out all those snuggly socks, cozy cardigans and soft scarves. 

That was the plan this morning, at least.  I bundled up my baby boys in their winter coats, hats and one recently-completed Gryffindor scarf (Bugaboo refused his, said it was only for Halloween).  I then turned to swath my own chilly neck and realized how few scarves I own. 

How can a knitter have so few scarves? Two old cheap store-bought scarves from my pre-knitting days, two warm weather drama scarves, two novelty boa scarf, and one lace scarf that is presently missing in action.  (I know that I put it "somewhere safe" for the summer, and now I can't remember where.  I hate that.) 

Really, how is this even possible?  How could I have neglected myself like this?  I live in a place that is wicked cold for months on end. 

I am going to have to do something about that. 

So, really, this is just an excuse to start something new.  I did finish one scarf, so that brings it down to only six active projects right now.  I am allowed.

Excuse me, I think I have to go shopping. 

Today, it is all about the neglect. 

I just need a bigger bag

Heard at Knitter-vention on Monday night:

"That is the third thing you have worked on in two hours!"  Yeah, so?  What is your point?

So, I couldn't decide what to bring, and had to grab a bigger bag, what is your point?

So I worked on three different things, there was a good reason.  The first was a sock, my usual briefcase sock that had an error that I needed to locate.  Once the error was corrected, I really didn't have to work on it anymore that evening. 

The second item was the Harry Potter scarf.  I finished a color, and didn't have scissors.  Yes, I could have easily borrowed a pair of scissors from one of six people, but that seemed like a good stopping place on that one for the night. 

The third was my complicated sock in progress.  

What of it?

Apparently, I haven't learned my lesson about endless shawls.  The Merry Berry shawl has been rescued from the bottom of the bag.  It is fingering yarn too, but mohair, so larger needles than the Duchess shawl.  (Size 7, I think.)  There will still be a mind-boggling number of stitches by the time the shawl is finished.  290 so far, increasing by four every other row.  

Meanwhile, I am starting to be tempted by lace.   

Which one shall it be?  I have some pretty sage green semi-solid mohair-ish that would be great for the Celtic Knot Stole.  And some fuschia laceweight that I see for the Print O' the Wave shawl. 

But I have been obsessing over the idea of a black lace shawl.  Maybe with some sequins or beads or something.  Elegant.  Dramatic.  Fit for the red carpet.  (Because that is something I encounter so often.) 

Snowdrops Shawl would work, though seems the antithesis of the name.  Or, the Rose Trellis Shawl. 

I am trying to finish at least one of the eight active projects before I run out and buy black lace yarn. 

Except. .  . I have a little time between taking Doodlebug for his flu shot and volunteering at the Talk to a Lawyer Day.  Just enough time to stop by the yarn store and pick out that black yarn.

Today, it is all about the licentiousness. 

Public Notice

I have been wearing the Duchess shawl everywhere for the past week.  I am resisting the urge to sleep in it.  It has received many positive reviews.  (Naturally, what else would someone say?  "I know that you have been working on that forever but . . . .I don't really care for it"?)

The knitters oooo'd and ahhhhhh'd the loudest, as you would expect.  The greatest praise came from two attorneys, both of whom noticed the shawl, and realized that it was something I had been working on for a long time.

The shawl is suprisingly warm.  It is a herringbone design, which is quite dense, almost woven-like.  And the yarn is a silk wool blend, contributing to the coziness factor.

I just can't heap enough praise on the shawl.

I have eight active projects right now, continuing my post-shawl promiscuity.  It makes blogging on their progress difficult.  And inch on this one, a half inch on that one.  Not exactly discernable from photographs.  But I don't care.  

Today, it is all about the variety.      

By the numbers

At long last.  The Duchess Shawl.  C'est fini!  So here are some of the statistics:

1980: yards of Knit Picks Gloss in fingering weight.  Color: jade. (For those doing some quick math, that is over a MILE of yarn.) 

700: yards of yarn in the ruffle alone. 

9: feet in the wingspan.  

5: number of Size 5 circular needles used on knitting the ruffle.

16: months of knitting monotony monogomy.

13: months overdue for the Knit-along deadline. 

250: estimated total hours of knitting. 

80: estimated hours of knitting on the ruffle alone. 

1: very happy knitter who proudly wore the new shawl to court, convinced that it would make her look 5'10" and 110 pounds, and just like Her Grace. 

Today, it is all about the numbers. 



Knitting Intervention

I experienced a knitting intervention this past week.  Two actually.  In the same night.  Completely unrelated and uncoordinated. 

Knit Night re-started after the summer hiatus.  The first question posed to me was about the Duchess Shawl.  I had to admit that I had been a bit of a knitting slut lately.  Very slutty.  "No last names, up again the wall in the restaurant parking lot" type of sluttiness.  (Insert roar of laughter here.  We are a wild and crazy crowd, we knitters.)  I was informed that next month, I had to bring the shawl with me, finished or not. 

Then, I left to go to the other knitting group, as it was one of the rare months it fell on the same Monday night.  And the first question posed to me was about the Duchess shawl.  Once again, I admitted my recent knitting promiscuity.  (Same line, even funnier second time around, since everyone had a half-drank pint of beer in front of them at the time.)  I received the same admonition that next time (two weeks later, shorter turnaround time), bring the Duchess Shawl with me.

When I got home, I saw the Duchess Shawl still crumpled on my nightstand, alone and neglected.  I had to face realilty:  I wasn't please how the cast off prescribed by the pattern was looking.  It was curling inward.  There was no way I was going to work on a shawl for about 200 hours (not an exaggeration this time, shockingly enough) and not like how the final edge appeared.  Really not the shawl's fault. 

 So I found some leftover scrap yarn, and started test knitting various methods.  I knit a small ruffle, then started wandering the net for different methods, some stretchy, some not. 

Finally, I found one that seemed to not curl as much as the pattern method.  I am hoping that the small curling blocks out. 

I did start casting off Duchess.  One foot down, around 21 feet to go. 

The days are turning cool, the nights are cooler.  It is prime shawl weather. 

It is time to finish Duchess. 

With any luck, in time to show it off at the next meeting of the knitters. 

Today, it is all about the reconciliation. 

Variety is the Spice of Knitting

I have been working on many different things the past couple weeks.  Like this skirt.

And this aphgan

And this scarf.  (for those with good memories, yes, this is the second Gryffindor scarf.  I have two boys, and once one had one for last year's Halloween costume, of course, the other wanted one too.) 

Of course, there is a complicated sock in progress,

and a simpler sock,

And I am trying colorwork for the first time, so pillow in progress. 

The hunting mittens are nearly finished, except. . . .can you see the error?

 What about now?  Look closely at the finger flap. . . .One exposes the knit side, and the other exposes the purl side.  Ooops.  The current plan is to knit a mirror image twin pair, then let my sweetie choose which design he wants, then give the other to a soldier to be named later. 

What I haven't been working on is the shawl.  I know, I am down to casting off a coupel thousand stitches, and yet, I have been strangely avoiding it.  I just can't bear to finish those last few stitches, and I use the word "few" in relative terms. 

The weather is started to be cool at night and in the morning.  In short, it is perfect shawl weather.  And yet, my 99.5% finished shawl has been sitting crumpled on my nightstand untouched for the past two weeks, feeling like a neglected housewife.  If I don't finish it soon, it will sue me for divorce. 

Today, it is all about the avoidance. 

Shawl? What shawl?

I have started casting off the Duckess shawl.  Then I got a little distracted. 

It is the Swirl Skirt.  I realized that I only needed one size 5 circular needle for most of the knitting, and that I could use a straight needle for casting off, freeing up one circular from the ruffle immediately, and I was a goner.                                         I am enchanted.  On the concentration continuum, it is more towards the mindless side.  Mostly garterish, adding a stitch at the beginning and decreasing at the end to create the bias effect, it is very nice briefcase knitting.  I think the extras long color gradation is ideally suited to this pattern.  I am just fascinated watching the colors gradually change as I knit.  The yarn is single ply and loosely spun, which has taken some time for me to get accustomed. 

I will finish the shawl by the time cold weather arrives.  It was in the 90's this week, so I think I have some time to finish casting off, which like everything else for the shawl, takes an atromonical amount of time.  I estimate another four hours of casting.

Today it is all about the flirtation turning to seduction turning to obsession.