Finished: Oaklet Shawl

Yay, another knitting project!  I'll have some patchwork to show soon, and there's fabric in the washer to be turned into Archers, but until then, let me introduce you to Oaklet!

This is a top-down shawl by Megan Goodacre; the Oaklet shawl is free on Ravelry.  It's rated as easy (2/10 on the Ravelry scale) so I decided to give it a whirl.  Well.

The first 113 rows were fine.  They're stockinette stitch; I can do that with my eyes closed (practically).  After that, the lace begins.  And that's also where my problems began.

I kept ended up with an extra stitch outside of the repeats.  I dropped stitches; I added extras.  I was a mess, pretty much.  I took my shawl into Charlotte Yarn (my LYS) for help, after my mom declared herself unable to help.  Luckily, Stephanie was there and got me to a good place--we ripped out the lace I had started so I could get going again.  Stephanie is pretty much my new BFF.  She invited me to her knitting group at Whole Foods on Wednesday night, which was really fun!  That's besides the point, but it's good to remember the positive instead of the negative (messing up my shawl and ripping it out).

Anyway, so I went home, tried again, and still messed up.  My mom decided to take on the challenge at that point and got me back to the beginning of the lace, inserting a lifeline for future mistakes.  Thankfully, I didn't need it, because the third time was the charm!

I used size 6 circulars--Knitter's Pride Dreamz, which aren't as good as my Addis but are also half the price--and the yarn is SweetGeorgia Tough Love Sock in Chai Spice, which I bought at Eat Sleep Knit.  I can't recommend this yarn enough!  So soft and superwash, and the colors are gorgeous.  

I bought a sweater from Loft to wear on Thanksgiving, and it coordinates well with this shawl--it doesn't match exactly (thank God) but the colors are in the same family.  We're having Thanksgiving at my parents' house in Rock Hill this year, which I'm so excited about.  The last two Thanksgivings we were alone in DC (last year we moved to Charlotte the day after) so I'm overdue for a family holiday.  My brother and Kali are driving up and Jake's friends are joining us as well.  It should be so much fun!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!  Enjoy the down time, or your time spent shopping, if you're into that craziness.

Finished: Hitchhiker Shawl

I'm not even going to tell you how long these pictures have been sitting on my camera.

Okay, I'll tell you: almost two weeks.  I took them on my lunch break one day and just never blogged them.  The camera has been sitting on my dining room table ever since I took them.  That's a little ridiculous, don't you think?  But work has been crazy, so by the time I get home and make dinner, I have very little mental energy for much else, especially blogging and editing pictures.

(Not that these pictures are any good.  I'm going for the Worst Blogger Ever award this year.)

This is the Hitchhiker shawl by Martina Behm, which you can find on Ravelry.  It was a really fun shawl until about the 37th tooth (of 42).  By that point, the rows were so long I just couldn't take it anymore.  

I used Fleece Artist Merino 2/6 in Peacock, which I bought from Eat Sleep Knit.  I used 3 mm Addi Turbos to knit, which are currently being held together with washi tape.  After I finished this, Eleanor found them and chewed the cord in half.  They're expensive needles; I wasn't too thrilled upon seeing that.

This pattern was fun for the most part because there were milestones.  I could see how many teeth I had done, and each tooth was comprised of eight rows--it was easy to track my progress.  I also learned increases (kfb), which are so super easy!

The yarn is really a standout here: I love variegated anyway, but the colors just seem to shimmer, especially after blocking.  And it goes with everything!

I started on an Oaklet shawl about two weeks ago and have had problems with the lace since doing the first few rows Friday night.  My first two rows were fine, but my third was off; when I took it to the yarn store, Stephanie helped me but I must've dropped a stitch en route because my rows were off AGAIN last night.  I put in a lifeline and this morning I frogged it back to the last row before the lace.  It looks like I somehow wove the working yarn through a stitch (?) so I'll need some help fixing that.  Knitting is hard sometimes!  In the meantime, I have some small gifts I'd like to work on, so that will be my priority!