Ravelry members rock!

Can't believe I'm almost done with the Leaf Lace Shawl I started back in April. I've been working on it during my commute to and from work - not every single day - but quite often. I can do about 3 to 4 rows each way of my commute if I start as soon as I get on the bus and I'm up to about 300 stitches per row.

I had even gone so far as to buy the beads for the eding because I thought that I almost done and was going to have enough yarn with the 3 skiens I had in my stash. I finished the 12th repeat of the pattern and started the edging. But, looking at how much yarn was left and seeing that I was going to be knitting about 15 more rows I just knew it wasn't going to be enough.

I was torn. Do I frog back to the 11th repeat and then do the edging? Do I just continue with the edging and and hope the yarn is just enough? I hated the thought of both. Undoing those 10 rows that took me about 2 to 3 hours worth of time to knit would take forever - frogging back would probably take at least an hour so that I could make sure I didn't screw up because of all the yarn overs and knit2 togethers. If I continued to knit and then turned out I didn't have enough for the edging, I would probably start crying like a baby since that would be about 3 to 4 hours worth of work.

Then, I thought, I'll check on Ravelry.com. I'll see if anyone happens to have the same yarn in the same colorway and ask if they are willing to part with one skein. Then I'd have enough to do the 13th repeat and the edging.

So, that's what I did. I checked and it turned out only 3 people on Ravelry had the same exact colorway. Each person had only about 1 skien each. So I private messaged them right away asking if they were willing to sell me their yarn. As I was writing the 3rd message, I got a response from one person saying they were willing to sell it. Awesome! And what's even better? Their asking price was completely reasonable! They were heading out to a knitting event so they told me that if I paid right away they would drop it in the mail that evening. Woo! Needless to say, I paid immediately and now have the yarn in my hands.

Ravelry members rock big time.

Leaf Lace Shawl

I started a new shawl a few weeks ago - the Leaf Lace Shawl by Evelyn A. Clark. I couldn't keep track of the other one I stared a while back 'cause I wasn't paying attention as closely as I needed to. The Leaf Lace Shawl, on the other hand, is so easy to follow and so well written. I'm using the same yarn, so I frogged the bit I had done.

I found that in order not to mess up, I needed to count every pattern row. Every time I didn't, it turned out I was missing one or two stitches and would have to tink back a row which is so aggravating and would waste more time than just counting. By now though (on my 8th repeat of the pattern) I can pretty much tell if I messed up.

I decided that I want to add beads to the edging and the pattern does show how to add a very minor beading detail to the tips of the edges. I'm thinking I would like to add a few more beads than that but first I needed to figure out what kind of beads I should be using.

Knitty has a great primer for beginners. They explain the 2 basic methods for getting beads onto the yarn. I like the hook method better because it would be my luck that I'd string on the beads I need, only to have the yarn break and beads escaping everywhere! The article also explained how there are beads with bigger centers/holes so I'll need to find some of those. That knitty article also recommends an online store which sells some great beads.

I did find a couple of great tips on getting beads onto the yarn using wire instead. This method is fantastic, especially if I were to end up making another shawl where the beads are all over it (and not just on the ends), so I can carry beads with me without having to worry about trying to fish them out of a small container and dropping them.

So, even though I have about 5 repeats to go, I need to figure out which beads will look good with the dark purple yarn. Maybe a clear crystal bead with silver lining? hmmm...

Pattern Links:

• Leaf Lace Shawl

Shedir hat and mittens

hat_shedir_set
Originally uploaded by vampirefan

I really loved the Shedir hat pattern and the stash yarn I chose to make it with is so soft!

I wanted a stretchy edge so it wouldn't be tight around my head and after much searching, found that the Twisted German Cast On would do the trick.

When I was done I still had 2 balls left and thought it would be awesome to have some matching mittens. I looked around and didn't really find any Shedir inspired mittens so I decided to design them myself. 

I think they came out pretty good!

I'm putting the pattern together (and making a new, clean chart) so I hope to post it soon. 

Pattern Link:

• Shedir Hat (pdf)
  

Caston:

• Twisted German Cast On (google search - there are hundres of youtube videos and photo tutorials.)

Pirate Mittens

pirate mittens
Originally uploaded by vampirefan

Yay! I finished them! I think they came out pretty snazzy and I used way less yarn than I thought I would so there's still a lot of this salmony/pinkish yarn left over.

I then decided that I had to start another project so I cast on a hat. I learned a new cast-on method because I wanted something that was stretchy. After searching around quite a bit, it seemed that the Twisted German Cast On seemed to be the one people most suggested for stretchyness. I cast on the recommended 128 stitches 'cause I hate swatching and that turned out to be too much, so after a couple of rows, I frogged it and started over with fewer stitches - 116.

I guess that my thumb does a lot more work for this cast on 'cause the next day the area around my left thumb was killing me! It would cramp up and I had to keep massaging it to stop the pain.

I'm loving the hat though and the edge is definitely stretchy.

Mittens

A while back I promised my friend I'd make her Pirate Mittens. I finally started them the other day. I'm done with one mitten and have started the second, although I haven't taken more pictures yet.

When I told my best friend, she thought the mittens were really cool - and then she asked me: "What about MY (her) gloves?" Oops! I'm almost done with them. Really! Well, I've been almost done with them since December... I just need to make the fingers on the second glove. So after these mittens are done, I'll be finishing up her gloves. Then I can continue with my mom's shawl...and maybe start something else.

Pattern Link:

• Pirate Mittens