Nightshift #2

This project was pretty easy overall and the results are generally fantastic, so I thought I should make one for Mom.

This time I'm being a bit more methodical, but mostly because I figured that now I know how many repeats, there's no reason to just wing it.

Colours are based on my Mom's most commonly used winter colours. I'm sure she'll be pleased.

Also plan to make an shawl pin in bog oak and purple heart. This should be a fine Christmas present.

First time for everything

I finished my shawl tonight, and I was determined to wear it tomorrow. But standard blocking would take too long. So I figured I'd try doing a pretty quick and dirty steam blocking.

First I measured the piece to make sure it didn't need significant stretching. The measurements came out to match the pattern dimensions, but the top edge is curled. On top of that the outside edges curled in opposite directions. In one case, the edge curled under, and in the other in curled over the work.

I decided I didn't want to work the top edge too much right away, but if I could get the other edges to lay flat, that would be great.

This was the result after less than ten minutes worth of work. In the future, I think I would pin the work to blocking mats to finish taking the correct shape. But very happy with this quick blocking method overall.

Fixing my mistake in slipped stitch colour work

I've been working on my knitting for years and have become quite good at following patterns and creating some original works. But the true test of my skills came at me this morning.

This is what happens when you just want to get the project done and are busy knitting late into the night. As you can see there are several rows of knitting after the mistake, but it took me until later this morning to realize what had happened.

John tried to convince me that this was just character for the project, but I knew it would drive me crazy. The only way forward was to go back and fix it. Since it was only two stitches involved, I decided to drop stitches one at a time to fix this.

I ripped the first stitch and thought I fixed it right, so I looked at doing the second stitch.

Can you see the issue here? I didn't. Not until I got the second stitch fixed. See that bar on the green? I didn't fix the purl right. So back down I went. 

That looks right now doesn't it? Nope. Four blue stitches over the area fixed, before going to 2 green stitches, but the next location has five stitches.

Looking at the back. There's no slipping on blue!

Back down we go. This was getting ridiculous, but I had to fix it right. 

So let's count, five blue stitches, two green, one blue. Finally! 

And now it is right, right? Last check on the back. Yup, it's good.

Can barely spot the fix, and blocking will make it disappear.

So what is the lesson here? Always look on both sides to make sure the fix is right. And don't take more than one stitch out at a time, if you can avoid it.

My knitting life

I have been knitting for stress relief for the better part of a decade now. When I was young, I taught myself how to cast on, knit, and cast off using the instructions in a book written for 6-10 year olds. I did a few squares and scarves, but nothing more than that. I knew I was missing a lot of information on how to knit since I never could understand the way that people could make sweaters or anything like it. Fast forward to 2002 when a knitting friend of mine showed me how to purl for the first time. That was it. From that point on, my knitting skills just took off. I went back to my favourite way of learning, by reading knitting books and managed to learn plenty of new skills. 10 years later, I am attempting my first complex project without a pattern.

The image shown with this post is a photo of a dress that I started knitting on a whim. A friend of mine had passed away and I needed something to occupy my time. As the work progressed, I would think of things I wanted to insert into the project. Turns out making design decisions on the fly was easier than one would think. But since it is being designed on the fly, I am not sure what the end product will look like. There is a kind of exciting feeling that goes with this kind of work. I will keep you posted on the work as it progresses. It should be an interesting project.