More shawl talk.

March break is here, but only for some of the household. The two boys are off, but A only gets her break from the 7th to the 11th, and poor M doesn't get any time off at all. Kind of hard to plan activities for a 6yr old and a 15yr old. The 6yr old has informed me that all he wants to do is stay in pjs, play on the tablet and do math homework (we got him a Kumon math workbook for xmas, and he's totally into it).  I get it B, all I want to do is stay in my pjs and knit! Given that we're supposed to be in for some crazy weather the next couple of days-his wish may come true.

In knitting:

I finished my Coldest Summer shawl last night. I got the last couple of rows of lace done while stitch'n'bitching with mah knitta, and then after M went to bed, I stayed up to do the bind off. I forgot to change the needles to a larger size, but i'm hoping that because I used Jeny's suprisingly stretchy bind off that it will come out okay. (It totally did)

I ended up doubling the amount of stitches, instead of having a total of 80 when starting the lace, I had 160 stitches. Much happier with the size this way, and I blocked it (after leaving it in my bucket o' knittles overnight-whoops) somewhat aggressively, so I think it'll have a nice drape, and be great for the transitional spring weather.  Peektures: 

 I meant to take a picture of myself in the shawl since it was dry by late afternoon, but things got busy and I forgot. I'll take one for the next post.

I made a little bit of progress on Smash, I need to get to 100 stitches before I change to bigger needles, and I'm at about 80 stitches currently. I'll be able to devote more time to it now that I'm finished Coldest Summer,  I'm hoping to get to the lace part by the end of this week. I haven't taken any progress pics of Smash lately, except for this one-which I took while at the movie theater, waiting for the movie to start (we got there 15 minutes early) 

M and I went to see Deadpool. While not my usual genre of movie (I lean more towards Horror, Docs, Depressing or Indie movies) I thoroughly enjoyed it. 

I think I'll be done with shawls for a little while, after Smash is done. I've made three (and half, if we count Smash) shawls this month and haven't knit anything else! I need to change it up a bit.   I really should finish up the Greenfield cardy. And now I'm itching to cast on the Harvest Cardy using my Julie Asselin Sevilla. Plus, a hat! I haven't knit a hat in months! I need to knit a hat-they're so quick, and satisfying, and vry, vry useful up here in Canada.  A has claimed my black slouchy hat (made from Spud and Chloe Sweater), I really should knit up a new one, black goes with all the things.

Sad news: Castiel, my sweet, gentle, old man rattie died on Friday. We knew it was coming, he was getting slow, his hair was terribly thin, he wasn't eating as much, sleeping more and his teeth were bright orange. We don't know how old he was when we got him, he was supposed to be food and hadn't been terribly well taken care of. He had gotten very cuddly in the last couple of weeks, so I made it a point to cuddle with him for 20-25 minutes a day. So when I found him Friday morning, I wasn't all that surprised, and I was sad, but it was when Crowley (who we jokingly referred to as his son-they came to us as a pair) kept head butting and nudging Cas as I removed his body, that I started to bawl. Heartbreaking. It truly stinks that animals as loving, smart and charming as ratties, have such short lives.                                   Castiel (and his curly little whiskers)

  Castiel and Crowley

Losing a pet, no matter how long or short the lifespan, never gets easier. I am so lucky to have had so many wonderful animals come into my life. Each one has had a special place in my heart. 

Yunno I'm all about the shawls, 'bout the shawls, no sweaters...

Today, mah knitta and I went on an adventure to a brand new (to us anyway) knitting store called Tricotheque Montreal. It's on Graham street in TMR (aka Town of Mont Royal for the non-natives), and looks like a super cute little shop. Sadly though, it was closed, and will be for the rest of the week. Boo-urns. Maybe next week.
Oh well, on to the knits!

Shawl progress! Dragonfly Wings is finished! When I last wrote, I had frogged several rows, and was scared to go forward, but I did get everything figured out. I painstakingly went over the previous rows stitches by following the chart and found all the dropped stitches (18! eek) and used locking stitch markers so that when it came time to knit, I could just pick them up as I knit. It took a vry vry long time, but I am so proud of myself for getting it fixed.
Anyway, I finished the last of the lace knitting last Wednesday and waited until Thursday to do the bind off. Which took 2 HOURS. ugh. It was a super stretchy purlwise bind off, which I hope I never have to use again. It wasn't difficult, just loooong.
Then I soaked it, and blocked it, and every time I walked by the shawl on the blocking mats, I would stop for a couple of seconds and admire it. Before blocking:

                                                                  during blocking:

                                                                 After Blocking

 I really think this is the most beautiful thing I've knit. Taking pictures was difficult because it's been too cold to go outside and do a photo shoot, and the variegated colourway doesn't photograph well inside, even in the most natura light. But here is moi, wearing the shawl.

After finishing Dragonfly Wings, I neeeeeeded to cast on another shawl, right friggin' meow! I originally wanted to cast on Artesian, but I couldn't find the right yarn in stash. I'll also admit to being some what put off by the need for numbered stitch markers.
Digging through my stash, I came across some Madeline Tosh sock in Opaline. I immediately needed to make something with it. No socks for this beauty, enter  Smash By Rebecca Darylin.
It has some nifty little techniques that I haven't used before like Slyf (or slwyif), which makes for an I-cord edging that looks really lovely,  and dropping stitches. (yay for dropping stitches that don't have to be picked up)
I'll get to work down my stash a little-it calls for 285 yrds of yarn A (which will be the madtosh), and 175 yrds of colour B. I have some shelridge yarns in Iris which I think would look quite nice with the opaline. The shelridge yarns had been used for a contrasting heel flap and cuff, on just one sock, so there should be enough. But I may go to maison tricote next week and hold the shawl up to other colours to see what goes best. My issue with the Shelridge yarns Iris is that it has flecks of darker and lighter purples and even some flecks of blue. I'm thinking I need a completely solid yarn to complement the Opaline-which is silvery and has flecks of (almost metallic) pale purple, pink, blue, olive and yellow. My description is not doing it justice, but just google it, it's really lovely.
Progress pictures of Smash:

And then, this weekend, while introducing the 17yr old to the absolute joy that is Island of Dr Moreau (1996), I cast on yet another shawl. The Coldest Summer shawl by Sharon Kresge. I'm using some ooooold stashed Miss Babs Yowza Whatta Skein in Candied Pecan, which is a medium bronze-brown. (When I ordered it, I was expecting a light brown, so I was kind of disappointed, but I do like the colour now, I think it will look great with my brown corduroy jacket.) It only took 4 days to knit, it  knit up very, very quickly, but it is way smaller than I'd like.   I've re-read the pattern a couple of times, and I really don't see any issue with the directions or the way I followed them. So i'm going to undo the bind off, rip out all the lace and add a few more inches of stockinette before doing the lace sections.
Which kind of sucks. Meh. So here, look at some pictures of the too small shawl that has just been ripped back.

I'm going to make a pair of fingerless mitts with the leftover Yowza, from a pattern called Optimistic mitts. I've made them before (see here if interested) and I love them, I've worn them a ton, but they look pretty scraggly now, the yarn did not hold up well. I think the Yowza will be a better yarn to show off the twisted stitches and the seed stitch.


To finish off this post, a few weeks (months?)back I wrote about the super cute kitty needle gauge  I bought at Maison Tricote. I found out that it was made by a company called Retromantic Fripperies and they have loads of nifty things! Here is the needle gauge, just to refresh your memory.

This is not a paid advertisement in any way, I just really like their things!

Shawl obsessed

Last Wednesday, mah knitta and I headed over to Maison Tricote for some tea and some knitting.  While there, she gave me an early birthday present; a project bag (which, as anyone who has read my blog knows, I love me a project bag) and a notions tin. She's awesome!

The bag is currently home to my latest shawl project, as it is the perfect size.

When knitting, we always make it a point to get up, stretch our legs and walk around the store*, and on one of these little stretch breaks, I came across a shawl hanging on a wall in the back, that I absolutely fell in love with; this beautiful little shawl was Artesian by Romi Hill. It's absolutely gorgeous, and I bought  the pattern as soon as I got home. I plan on knitting it in the next couple of months. I would have been casting on immediately, except I had already sort of started another shawl pattern. By sort of I mean I had printed out the pattern, had readied the needles (it needs three sizes) and had narrowed the yarn I was going to use, down to three skeins.  Finally I chose Julie Asselin Piccolo in this amazing, variegated, totally out of my comfort zone colourway called Nebula and a couple of days later, cast on  Dragonfly Wings by Boo Knits. 

The pattern and the yarn really seem to go well together. I've been very much enjoying the knitting, and I haven't noticed much pooling at all. I'm loving everything about this project. The pattern is enjoyable, easy to memorize, the yarn itself is lovely to work with, and the colours make me so very happy.  

Progress pictures of Dragonfly Wings. 

Saturday, I hit the lace part of the pattern. Saturday, I had several glasses of wine while at my mom's (for my birthday dinner). Saturday, I messed something up,  but did not notice (thanks, wine). Sunday, I did not go knitting, wanting to spend time with my beloved for Valentine's day (also it was way too bloody cold to leave the house). Monday, the 5yr old had a ped day and wasn't feeling well, so we snuggled on the couch for much of the morning. Monday night, I got out the knitting, knit a row and noticed the numbers and yarn overs were off.

Fuuuuuuuuuck. 

This afternoon, I ripped back a bunch of rows (each one over 270 stitches btw) and put the whole thing back on the needles. 

I'm too scared to pick it back right now. I'm worried that I missed picking up some stitches and if I can't get it all fixed, I might just frog the whole damn thing.

I've learned that even with stitch markers, me + wine + lace knitting = bad combination.

Unsurprisingly, I have not knit on Greenfield since casting on Dragonfly, though in between Dragonfly and Honey Black Death I did knit some rows on the cardy.

Full disclosure: I'm knitting the chart top down, instead of starting from row 1, I started at row 29. 

I only realized this after knitting 9 rows. 

I am not ripping back.

Next time I will read the pattern. All of the pattern. 

For now I have an upside down leaf.  This is not something that is going to bother me. Especially since I don't know if I'm ever going to finish this sweater. 

Oh! As promised, Honey Black Death FO pictures!  Nikki wants to help!

As you can see in the pictures, I used my Knitter's Pride Knit Blockers, and wow are they ever sharp. Which it actually states on the label, it's no lie,  I bled from a dozen teensy tiny pinpricks. Luckily, none of the blood got on the shawl. They work very well, they do a great job and I recommend them! I did use my t-pins for the points though.

Here's me wearing the shawl, with shawl pin-

Sans shawl pin-

Hopefully next week, I'll have a a finished Dragonfly Wings shawl!

*We don't always make it a point to get up and walk around, mah knitta does pretty consistently, but I'm more lax about it. The point is that I try to get up and walk around when I've been sitting and knitting for a chunk of time, because I know it's better for my body to get up and stretch my muscles and change positions on a frequent basis. Especially as I have a tendency to be hunchy when I knit, or curl up into weird positions. 

Black Death

Ah February, shortest month of the year, freezing cold, month of birthdoom!

After finishing the uncropped cropped sweater, I had some feelings. like, maybe i don't enjoy knitting anymore. Like, maybe i'm still knitting because I can't think of anything else to do and I need to feel productive. Like, maybe I'm not that good at knitting, and it's all been just a huge waste of money. Like, maybe I've allowed knitting to become my identity, and I have nothing else to talk about.
So, I sat with these thoughts for awhile. Took a break from knitting for a couple of days. Now I know this is just nonsense, I don't really believe any of those things.  My feelings had more to do with finally finishing a "big", mostly monogamous project, and having that emptiness that comes with being done, with nothing else on the needles. And also, I'm a just a wee bit bonkers ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
That being said, I've worn the sweater a couple of times, and I'm still pleased with it! I haven't yet washed it though...is that gross?

In the midst of my knitting angst, I ran out of facial cleanser, and I whipped up a batch. Took pictures. Can't find the recipe, but I use 1/4 almond meal, 4 Tblsps of honey, 1/2 tblsp jojoba oil, 1/2 tblsp of sweet almond oil and 5-7 drops of an essential oil of your choosing (I use geranium oil and lavender) Mix well!

And the finished product.

Simple to use, take a dollop of the scrub and rub it on your face in a circular motion, rinse.


I bought a selfie stick. As an old, I'm kind of embarrassed to admit it. I felt pretty ridiculous even buying it in a store. I lied and said it was for my kid, pretending like I had no idea if it would even work with her (my) phone. As soon as I got it home I stashed it under yarn.
You read that right.
I hid my selfie stick under yarn. I don't think I've ever hidden anything, except gifts for other people, before.  I've certainly never hidden yarn (which is apparently a thing according to the forums on rav)
I bought it for knitting reasons. I'm hoping to take less crappy pictures of my finished objects! Look, I have a bunch of people living in this house with me, who are totally capable (actually I'm not wholly convinced they are capable) of taking a picture of me in a finished object, but i'm a bit of a control freak and I like to take a whole bunch of crappy pictures and choose the least bad to post.

In actual knitting, I cast on and finished a bulky sock using stashed leftover bulky wools.

The black is Cascade 128, the teal is Swish bulky, the white is the drops Alpaca, the purple is ancient cascade 128, and the pink is actually two strands of Malabrigo worsted. These socks make the best slippers!

Second sock syndrome going on though...oh well.

AND! I worked on the Greenfield cardy. I finished Season 2 of True Detective while finishing the increases, and reaching the length before having to do the charted bits. So close to finishing!
(Quick True Detective review: surprisingly, enjoyed Vince Vaughn. Colin Farrell over-acts. Story was all over the place. Could we have some female characters that actually have growth and depth? Pls?Without resorting to "I was raped as a child". )  Greenfield WIP pics

I'd have continued working on the cardy, but I cast on the Black Death shawl by Hoxton Handmade in knitpicks swish worsted in Honey instead. Mah knitta needed yarn for a sweater and was going to place an order with kp, and kindly asked if I needed anything. Noticing that I lacked yellow yarn in my stash, I asked her to order me a ball or three, as well as a shawl pin (I broke my wooden shawl pin by dropping it for the 20th time, and now that I've starting making and wearing shawls, a shawl pin is a necessity). The order arrived quite fast and we met up to drink tea and exchange monies for squooshies. So, since Wednesday, it's the only thing I want to knit on.
 Black Death  is knitting up rather quickly, I'm making the small version and really enjoying it. I love, love, love the colour, it's the perfect shade of yellow (in my opinion obvs) and I hope I can pull it off.
Confession: I messed up somewhere. There is a row where the eyelets are off, even though the numbers ended up correct. It is totally human error, not the pattern.  It's like, 5 rows before the lace edging. I am not going to rip back and fix it. My fear is that if I rip back, I'll mess it up even worse, drop stitches and not be able to pick them up, have the count be totally off and need to frog the whole damn thing and then I won't want to re-knit it.  The mistake is not going to bother me, and I don't think it will be super visible, if I wear it with a shawl pin, i'll make sure that half of the shawl is underneath the better half. If I wear the shawl like a scarf, it'll be even less noticeable.
Could be from the beer, could be from the teary eyes (SAD, SAD docs have been watched while knitting; Dear Zachary: A letter to a son about his father and Deliver us from Evil. All the feels, much tears.) Some work in progress pictures!

By Saturday I had made it to the lace edging, knit 3 rows and realized there was a problem, There was only one decrease to the two increases, yet the stitch count was supposed to remain the same. The problem is the SKP-which \I have understood to mean Slip 1, knit 1, pass slipped stitch over. Meanwhile, the glossary of stitches has the SKP as slip 1 stitch, knit the next two together, pass slipped stitch over. Argh.
Sunday morning, I ripped out three rows and put the shawl  back on the needles, met up with Mah Knitta, knit those three rows all over again. Made ANOTHER mistake somewhere which I could not find, ripped out three rows again.
Back on the needles, knit some more.
On the metro ride home, counted my stitches TWICE. Numbers off. Seriously?? Get home, slam things, make dinner angrily. Mutter. Curse. Frog the lace again (the swish held up admirably). Put the little dude to bed and take a deep breath. Put the shawl back on the needles. Knit the first row of lace. Put in stitch markers. Knit, knit, knit. Make absolutely no mistakes. Finish the lace rows in 2 hours.  BOOM BABY! Came out perfect.
Bound off this morning :)
Cannot wait for this shawl to dry! I love love love it. This is the unblocked version.

This is the soaking version.

Next week (or thereabouts) will be a blocked version! Stay tuned!