Fourth Time Charm???

 A week ago, I was finally ready to start another lace project.  After the two years of intricate Woods Edge Shawl, I took a little break.  I worked on smaller, simpler probjects.  Until last week.  There is a process.  I look at a few different yarns that I might want to work with next.  Then I look at potential projects.  Then I try to match yarns with project.  Then I start the whole process again, just in case.  Finally, I picked.  

I cast on, stalled after only a few rows, ripped out, and started over.  Then I cast on, stalled after a few more rows than before, ripped out and started over.  Then I cast on, stalled at 21 rows, and ripped out.  

Sigh.  Other people have successfully completed this pattern.  Lots of people.  This was obviously user error, but I have no idea what I was doing wrong.  Somehow, I would end up with a half dozen of extra stitches.  

So I went back to Ravelry.  Surely there is another pattern that I can find, right?  I so searched my Favorites and my Queue.  I found one that might work.  I also found an adjustable pattern that would work well with a different yarn that I rejected last week because the pattern I picked wasn't adjustable.  

Then I thought that if I put markers around each repeat, I might be able to figure out what I was doing wrong with the first pattern.  

So now I am not sure if I should try a fourth time with the original yarn and the original pattern.  Or the original yarn in with the new pattern.  Or if I should (temporarily) abandon the original yarn and the original pattern, and start something completely different.  

Tonight, it is all about too many decisions.  

I will not be defeated

 I was digging in the stash to decide what my next lace project would be, when disaster struck.  

The skein was wound weird.  It was wound in vertical circles, like a stack of pancakes.  I can see the logic.  When in the tall, skinny plastic bag, you could just knit off the top, circling down the skein.  But if the yarn was removed from the plastic, or in this case, fell, it did not work at all.  The tower of wound circles toppled, the individual circles separated.  The more I tried to pick up, the more tangled everything became.  

So I started the long process in untangling the yarn.  Hours on Saturday.  Hours on Sunday.  I finally finished on Monday.  My husband rolled his eyes at me, my children mocked me, but I would not give up.  

This was a puzzle, and one that I would solve.  I would not let the yarn defeat me.  I tangle the yarn, it doesn't tangle me.  It is only failure if you give up.  Platitudes like these scrolled through my mind.   

Forgotten, but not gone

I have shamelessly neglected this blog.  I have been knitting plenty, just not writing about it.  So I guess an early New Years resolution would be to do better.

To start, here is a Finished Object.  Spring Wood Shawl.  A couple years in progress.  Finally finished.  

I struggled a little with this pattern.  Not blaming the pattern, no doubt user error.  There were a ton of little errors in the shawl.  I did a lot of adjusting on the fly to get back on track.  The leaves part of the shawl was incredibly intricate.  Every row was different, little repetition, and not easily memorized.  I am not complaining about the pattern.  The shawl is gorgeous.  It was just a long, difficult knit.  

I am kinda glad that my current shawl is less challenging.  Today, it is all about the finished object.     

I Fought the Yarn and the Yarn Won

 I was casting off a project early this morning.  I knit and cast one stitch after another, sure in my faith that my little ball would definitely have enough to finish.  All of a sudden, I was down to a foot of yarn, and a foot of stitches on the needle.  I didn't even notice that I was playing Yarn Chicken.  And I lost.  Horribly lost.  Really, not even close.  Fortunately, my Long Tail Cast On was quite long.  I had recently trimmed it down, but fortunately my untidy nature meant that it was still sitting next to my chair.  

So that is one Christmas present finished object!  My oldest son's favorite teacher is retiring this year.  He has been in her math class for 6th, 7th, 9th and 10th grades.  (Small school.)  She has already received a pair of mitts and ear warmer, but he asked if I could knit something special for her final year.  I still had three partial balls of the same yarn, so I thought what could be more fitting for a math teacher than a moebius scarf?  

I also wound in the ends on Color Affection, so that is technically two finished objects!  I don't know what dresses I am wearing for court this week, but you can bet that it will have blue in it, so I can show off my latest shawl.  

The best part of this coming week is that I will THREE FULL DAYS of knitting.  My mother is having surgery.  (That is not the best thing.  That is the worst thing about the coming week.)  But it does mean that I will have a day sitting for hours in the hospital, waiting to hear that it was successful.  Lots of knitting time.  Then I will have another two days in the hospital and rehab center.  Lots of knitting time.  

So many choices to bring to the hospital.  Something simple.  I want a distraction, not knitting that will lead to swearing.  I have plenty of options.  

Today, it is all about the object saved by the tail, and the other.  

I don't need a stinkin' lifeline!

 I have been doing lace knitting for a while.  An important skill with lace knitting is realizing the flow of the pattern.  You start to realize where the YO's and K2tog's should be, so you notice when there is a mistake.  If the K2tog isn;t where it should be, look back to find the error.  It helps the lace work go much smoother.  

But it also leads to hubris.  You start thinking that you don't need to take precautions.  You can not pay as close attention.  You can watch a new movie.  You don't need a stinkin' lifeline.  And pride like that come before the fall.  I have been working on Spring Wood Shawl.  The first graph went fine.  As I started the second graph, my counts started to get off.  I put it aside for a few months.  That probably compounding the mistake, because when I picked it up again recently, there was no correcting.  I was only on Row 48, and now hopelessly lost.  It was honestly easier to start again.

With precautions.  I have been very careful, and only knitting with low-distraction TV.  28 rows down, and so far ok.  But you better believe that I will be using a lifeline before moving on to Chart 2.

Today, it is all about the repetition.  

Wait, that isn't knitting!

 My brother got married last June.  He and his wonderful wife already have an established household, so I was a bit stumped for a wedding gift for them.  My mother suggested a high quality tablecloth.  I did a lot of searching online, and couldn't really find anything that jumped out at me.  Then I wandered down the rabbit hole of Etsy, and started musing to my mother that a hand embroidered tablecloth might be nice, and I hadn't done embroidery in a very long time, and I enjoyed cross stitch type of stitching but not the kids of embroidery that my grandmother used to do, so I would have to really look at the stitches required, and where would I find a pattern for that. . . . Then my mother said words I never expected:  "Would this work?"  And she showed me a kit for an embroidered tablecloth.    

My mother hasn't done any embroidery since she was taught as a child, and has expressed no interest in doing so.  So why does my mom have a full kit?  As it turns out, it was in my aunt's craft supplies when she died.  Mom had kept the kit in her basement for over a decade, thinking maybe someday she would complete it.  It was perfect.  Correct size and shape.  Pretty colors.  Cross-stitch style.  Interesting pattern.  Perfect.

So for the first time in a long time, I have been working embroidery, and I have been loving it.  I am loving it so much I started thinking about doing another one for myself, in a different color.  Alas hunting down a decades old embroidery kit has sent me down another set of rabbit holes, with little success.  Then it occurred to me that I already have the pattern.  It is just a matter of putting it onto a tablecloth.  I have markers and paper that can be used to iron on a pattern to material.  I can just make my own kit, right?

And now I have been inspired to pull out my unfinished cross-stitch projects.  The last thing I need is more WIPs, but it is a nice alternative to knitting.  

Back to the tablecloth.  I had first thought to give it to my brother and his wife for Christmas.  Well, THAT didn't happen.  So my new goal is to have it finished by their first anniversary.  

Today, it is all about the craft from the past. 

A weekend of knitting

 This weekend was full of lots of Christmas knitting, but not for a good reason.  I have been sick the past week.  An evil (what turned out to be) sinus infection has been whomping on me all week.  It was all I could do to get through my court schedule, make dinner, then retire to the bedroom to try to get enough sleep to start over again the next day.  Nyquil was my only hope for a decent night's sleep.  So I finally went to the doctor, which diagnosed the aforementioned sinus infection, and prescribed antibiotics.

The good news is that there has been marginal improvement in my sinus congestion.  The bad news is that the side effects of the meds have been to wreak havoc on my guts.  So I have spent the weekend snuggled under a blanket, knitting, napping, and watching Hallmark Christmas movies.

My sweetie was hunting all weekend, and the kids were camping, so at least I was alone for my misery and comfort hobbies.  (And didn't have to share the bathroom.)  I made significant progress on the Ravenclaw scarf.  And when everyone came home, I worked on the Teacher Mitts.  

It turned out to be a productive weekend for all.  My boys worked on Scout advancement, and had fun.  My sweetie bagged a large doe, and has been butchering it all day, to fill our freezer with deer meat, and had fun.  I knit, and well, didn't exactly have fun, but I survived this illness.  

Christmas knitting countdown:

1 pair kid mitts: finished

1 Ravenclaw scarf: 40%

1 teacher mitts: one down, second cast on

1 Teacher ear warmer (Mrs. Loveless already has mitts from two years ago):  finished

One embroidered tablecloth:  This one is hard to judge, and optional for Christmas. . . .  This one probably requires an explanation.  Next time.  There are people in the house that are going to be demanding dinner soon.

Today, it is all about the seasonal focus.