Makes a Mistake

So I was trucking along on my Tuck vest now that I have the pattern and I had a good amount knitted when I realized ... it's too big. I brought it to lunch to show Stacy over the weekend and she held it up to me; I know that I want it big, but I don't want it this big. I was knitting on a larger needle trying to match the gauge of the vest they have out on sample at Gauge, but I don't think I can make it happen. I think I'll just stick to the pattern the way it's written. I'll have to rip it all out and start over : ( For that reason, I haven't touched the project since Saturday. I know I'll pick it up and start over, but it takes some willpower.

In the meantime, I've been working on my Herbivore shawl. I know I'm gong to love it when it's done, but it's taking some time. I love the shape; it allows for a longer thinner shawl as opposed to a triangular shape, the typical shawl I make. This will be my 7th shawl out of 10 for the year. I don't want to jump the gun, but I'm already starting to think about when I'm done with 10 and what I'll do. Will I keep going? Or take a break from shawls? I don't want to jinx myself though, so I should stop.

Change of Direction?

After much anticipation, my very first sock kit arrived today. I am definitely pleased with the yarn and the patterns, but I think all of my yearning definitely got the best of me. Do I love the patterns? No. Do I like them? Yes. The good news is the yarn is gorgeous, but I'm already contemplating not making socks out of it! Why did I have to fall in love with knitting shawls all of a sudden?! They're all I can think about! 

When I first started thinking about not making the socks, I told myself, no - you joined this SOCK club and you are going to knit socks. But the truth is, life is too short to knit something you're not into - and I don't think I'm into the sock patterns this month : ( I'm a little disappointed in myself, but I don't regret signing up for the club at all. I love the yarn and I love even more that I'm expanding my color horizons. I figure I won't be able to complete a project with the new yarn until after Lent anyway, so that gives me plenty of time to ponder what the yarn will become.

I'm thinking I will have time to finish the blue shawl for mom before Lent. I completed 3.5 lace repeats today and that leaves 6 more. Definitely finishable in two weeks. 

Waiting on the Yarn to Arrive

My first shipment of yarn from the sock club is due to arrive any day now. The online boards I read are abuzz with who has gotten theirs and who hasn't. I'm strangely reminded of Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret, which strangely I read (for the 84,000th time) last week. There are many a spoiler threads where people post pictures of what the shipment contains and I'm having a really hard time staying away from them, but I will resist- I want to be surprised when I open my box. Since Clint and I don't really exchange gifts I feel like this is Christmas. Sometimes we tell each other something we want and then the other goes and gets it. But rarely do we give each other true gifts. So I'm excited because I feel like this yarn is a true gift since I don't know what it will look like. Maybe in subsequent months I won't be so restrained and I will look at spoiler threads, but for now, I shall remain untainted.

Because I was so anxiously awaiting my sock yarn, I actually went online and purchased two more skeins of yarn form The Backwards Loop because it always comes really fast and I knew it would arrive before the Rockin' Sock Yarn. I ordered it Monday evening and it was here waiting for me yesterday after yoga. I didn't even get a picture of the blue because my camera battery was dead and I couldn't wait; I balled it and cast on a shawl for my mom. 

All of a sudden I am OBSESSED with shawls, or shawlettes, I should say. I noticed there is a group on Ravelry for those dedicated to knitting 10 shawls in 2010. If you had asked me a month ago if I would ever knit a shawl I would have said you were crazy, but now I can barely focus on anything else! I hope I can divide my attention when the sock yarn arrives. So I'm thinking of joining that group and trying for 10. If I made my first in a week, then surely 10 in a year won't be too troublesome...

FIrst Shawl: Complete

I completed my first shawl last night. Shawl is a pretty loose word; what I made is not nearly as big as what I would consider a "true" shawl. But I like what I made because I can wear it as a shawl around my shoulders or backward around my neck and wrap it. It's being blocked right now and is almost dry, so I'm hoping to wear it today when we leave the house. And we have to leave the house because we barely did yesterday.

For my shawl, I used Madeline Tosh sock yarn - it was my first time to knit with Madeline Tosh and it was a dream. Every time I find a yarn like this, I think, where has this yarn been all my life? It's so soft, but still has some weight to it and the depth of color kept me entranced the whole time I was working with it. I think I'm going to end up calling the shawl "Goldilocks and The Three Bears" because of the browns and golds. And besides, Goldilocks was a traveling woman (the original name of the pattern) in a way.

I realized when I was very near finishing that I had been completing my yarn-overs incorrectly the whole time. I though this was a lesson I had learned when I made the orange socks in October but apparently not. I don't think anyone else would be able to spot this mistake, and I did keep it consistent, so I guess that will have to be okay.

I told myself this morning as I was waking up that I deserve to go buy new yarn since I completed a project. Although my first sock club shipment arrives this week (!!!!!!!!) and obviously as soon as it does I will be casting on some socks. My goal is to complete that pair of socks before Lent starts and I think it's highly possible I can...if I don't have new yarn and other projects to distract me. My heart is saying, go to the yarn store - you deserve it; but my head is saying work on something already in progress.