Treasure Island - Border 1/4 Done

This is the kind of never-ending border that I like because it is easy to measure your progress.  Every 14 repeats is a section, every section is one-eighth of the shawl.  Every section I pause and weigh my yarn to see how I'm doing.  Now that I've seen the finished design I understand what Janine was doing with the optional clue - waves on the beach.  She puts those organic touches in her designs and there is usually an asymmetrical element to it that always just throws me until I see the finished design.  Of course, by then I've always tweaked the design to make it symmetric and removed that element.  One of these days maybe I'll get over my aversion to the asymmetry and trust the designer.  I think part of the problem is that I am so visual when I am knitting lace, I'm reading the chart and reading my knitting, and when things don't line up it just really throws me, it almost makes my head hurt.  Back to my border, and Creature Features on TCM.

Pattern:  Treasure Island Octagonal Shawl by Janine le Cras, converted into an Octagonal Cape by me
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Luxe in Tranquility
Needle:  US 4 (3.5 mm)

Treasure Island - Extra Clue Done!

After a week of steady work and regular weighing of my yarn I have finished the additional clue that I designed, extending the design from Clue 6 to what I thought was a logical conclusion.  My yarn usage calculations are spot on and I have enough, just enough, to finish the border.  According to my calculations I will need a little less than 62 grams to knit the border, and I have a little more than 62 grams of yarn left.  For the border, I will use half of skein 5, then switch to skein 6, then switch back to skein 5.  Here is a close up of the additional clue to show the bead colors.

Pattern:  Treasure Island Octagonal Shawl by Janine le Cras, converted into an Octagonal Cape by me
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Luxe in Tranquility
Needle:  US 4 (3.5 mm)

Berry Bloom - Beauty Shot

Here they are, all done blocking.  Now I am all ready for the May blocks.

Pattern:  Berry Bloom by Donna Kay Lacey, April 2013 Unique Sheep Crochet Block of the Month
Yarn: Unique Sheep Tinsel Toes in Beech and Sugar Maple
Hook:  2.75 mm

I've been thinking about what to do with the optional clue on my Treasure Island Cape.  Part of my reason for waiting was that I wanted to see what the clue looked like knitted up.  When I saw the clue I just wasn't sure that it was really going to go with the rest of the lace work, it just didn't seem like it was going to flow properly.  The thing that I was most concerned about was how the motifs of the optional clue would line up with the motifs of clue 6.  I've mentioned it before, but I am incapable of knitting asymmetrical designs.  There has to be a symmetry there, somewhere, and I can't see one with this optional clue.  So, last night I decided to make my own optional clue.

The first thing that I did was replicate clue 6 in my Knit Visualizer software, and then I started extending the lace motifs from clue 6 into my optional clue.  I completed the chart for my variant this morning, but it uses more yarn (54 grams) than either the optional clue (30 grams), or my initial variant on the optional clue (41 grams).  The good news is that I can cut several rows from my variation without ruining the pattern if I am going to run short of yarn, so I can safely start knitting.  One of things that I did in my variant was replicate the beaded medallions from clue 6, unfortunately that will use more beads than I have for this shawl and I don't have more of that color in my enormous bead stash.  Fortunately I have some other beads that will work and that I think will look better with the colors of my later skeins than the ones that came with my yarn.

Berry Bloom - Both Blocks Done

After I finished the first block this morning, I whipped the second block out this afternoon.  Both blocks came out a little small, so I'll have to add some rows before assembly, but there is plenty of time before I have to worry about that.

When I did this block I shifted the beginning of the rounds.  Most of the rounds start in the corner with a triple crochet and 2 double crochets, and end with the other two double crochets of the corner motif, but I felt that this made for an awkward join on the first block so I did the entire corner motif at the start of the round.  This meant that I had to slip stitch to the triple crochet on several rows, but I think the joins come out cleaner.

Pattern:  Berry Bloom by Donna Kay Lacey, April 2013 Unique Sheep Crochet Block of the Month
Yarn: Unique Sheep Tinsel Toes in Beech and Sugar Maple
Hook:  2.75 mm

Berry Bloom - One Block Done

I don't know where this month is going.  I started on this block pretty soon after I received, but then I set it aside after I did that first contrast row, distracted by several other projects.  I picked it back up again this morning when I realized that April was quickly coming to an end and I would soon be receiving another block.

Pattern:  Berry Bloom by Donna Kay Lacey, April 2013 Unique Sheep Crochet Block of the Month
Yarn: Unique Sheep Tinsel Toes in Beech and Sugar Maple
Hook:  2.75 mm

Treasure Island Cape - Clue 6 Done!

This last clue was pretty easy and pretty quick.  A lot of the times when I am knitting lace I can look at the row and then knit it without having to refer back to the pattern, but for most of this shawl I couldn't do that.  Finally, with this latest clue I was able to, the pattern was easy.  I would have finished it up earlier in the day but we had a fierce little storm line blow through last night and our neighbors lost the top of one of their poplars and it came down partially on our property, so we spent a few hours cutting it up and clearing it out.  I actually enjoy that kind of physical labor.  And it gave us a chance to chat with our neighbors.

So now I have to figure out what I want to do with the optional clue.  Janine released it today.  She had taken it out of the pattern because she was worried about people running out of yarn.  The optional clue is one of those motifs where there is lace patterning on every row and I'm not sure that I want to do that because it makes for a denser fabric, and I'm lazy and don't like purling through the back loops.  I put together a spreadsheet this afternoon with the stitch counts for each of the clues so I could figure out my yarn usage and I definitely have enough yarn to do the optional clue.  So far my variant has used about 2.8 extra grams of yarn over what I would have used if I had knit according to the pattern.  I'm thinking of adding 4 extra rows to the optional clue just so I don't have to do any center double decreases or knit 2 together or slip slip knit stitches from the wrong side.  By my calculations that will use up an additional 11.7 grams of yarn, in addition to the 30 grams of yarn used by the optional clue.  That would leave me about 75 grams of yarn for the border, which should be enough.  Now I just have to decide if I'm bold enough to take the plunge without waiting for the final clue so I can confirm my calculations.

Pattern:  Treasure Island Octagonal Shawl by Janine le Cras, converted into an Octagonal Cape by me
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Luxe in Tranquility
Needle:  US 4 (3.5 mm)

Mariposa Tee - Clue 2 Done

This project took a back seat for a few days while I worked on Clue 2 of my Two Roads Mystery KAL, but after seeing all of the finished Tees on Ravelry I was inspired to get back to it and dragged it out of my work bag.  I finished up Clue 2 this morning while listening to a telecon at work.  I keep making mistakes on this one.  I think it is a combination of the dark/variegated yarn and the placement of the lace panels on the sides of the Tee.  For some reason there just seems to be a lot to keep track of, and I keep getting distracted.  But I made it through clue 2 and I don't think I made any mistakes that I didn't catch.

Pattern:  Mariposa Tee by Michelle Miller
Yarn:  Zen Yarn Garden Serenity Worsted in Carnival
Needles:  US 8 (5 mm)

Treasure Island Cape - Clue 5 Done!

After the first couple of rows, this clue was pretty easy and knit up pretty quickly, when you consider how long each row is.  That is the challenge with these kinds of shawls.  You feel a bit like you're climbing a mountain, or on an endless treadmill.  I try to ignore how long each row is and just try to enjoy the process.  In fact lace knitting has taught me a lot about enjoying the process, even those long purl rows.  When I first started knitting I hated purling, it just felt so awkward, but knitting lace has taught me to appreciate those resting rows.

Pattern:  Treasure Island Octagonal Shawl by Janine le Cras, converted into an Octagonal Cape by me
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Luxe in Tranquility
Needle:  US 4 (3.5 mm)

Mariposa Tee KAL - Clue 1 Done

This is the latest offering of Fickle Knitter (Michelle Miller) and Zen Yarn Garden.  I was going to sit this one out, there was the possibility of furloughs looming and I really felt that I needed to cut back on my spending.  But then the furloughs were delayed and the number of days reduced and there was this last lonely extra set of yarn, so I gave in to temptation.  Of course by procrastinating I am late to the game and all of the clues are actually out, but I will do them as they were released.

The yarn is Zen Yarn Garden Serenity Worsted, one of my absolute favorite yarns to knit with, the color is Carnival.  I am glad that I waited because I really couldn't decide what color to pick, and by waiting that decision was made for me and I am really happy with the colors in this yarn.

Pattern:  Mariposa Tee by Michelle Miller
Yarn:  Zen Yarn Garden Serenity Worsted in Carnival
Needles:  US 8 (5 mm)

"Beyonce" Structured Tee - Finished!

I actually finished this up this past weekend, but it took forever to dry.  It fits me even better than it fits my dress maker dummy.  This one has only been languishing for 5 months.  It was one of those purchases I made at elann.com.  You can get yarn at really low prices there so I have to watch the impulse buys.  I try to restrict myself to only buying yarn with a pattern so I am not just adding to my stash, I am getting a complete project.  Now I just have to make all those projects.

Pattern:  "Beyonce" Structured Tee - S. Charles Collezione, by Mary Lynn Patrick
Yarn:  S. Charles Collezione Nepal
Needle:  US 4 (3.5 mm)

"Beyonce" Structured Tee - Assembly Done

This morning I redid the shoulders with short row shaping and did the three needle bind off to join them.  Then I did the armhole edging, which consisted of picking up stitches and then immediately binding them off again knitwise.  This yields a purled edging next to a single column of knit stitches.  I have seen a number of projects where multiple rows were knit or purled before the bind off, resulting in a rolled armhole edging, similar to what is called for with neck edging.  Seaming would have been easier if I had thought to keep a knit two edging on the bodice.  This would also have continued the knit edging on the corset and provided a more finished look, but I am not going to rip back and redo this.  Maybe if I make another.  Now all I have to do is pick up the stitches for the peplum, and then do the neck edging and it will be finished.

Pattern:  "Beyonce" Structured Tee - S. Charles Collezione
Yarn:  S. Charles Collezione Nepal
Needle:  US 4 (3.5 mm)

Treasure Island Cape - Clue 4 Done!

I finished up Clue 4 last night.  The last two clues were a bit more challenging, just because there was a lot going on in them.  I had to take a couple of breaks while working on this one.  It definitely required an alert mind.  I switched to skein 3 towards the end of this clue.  I was a little bit worried about how the switch would look, the color changes are fairly dramatic as you can see from the photograph of the yarn.  But I think it is going to be just fine.

Pattern:  Treasure Island Octagonal Shawl by Janine le Cras, converted into an Octagonal Cape by me
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Luxe in Tranquility
Needle:  US 4 (3.5 mm)

Two Roads Mystery KAL - Clue 1 Done

This the second Zen Butterfly Mystery knit along, offered by Zen Yarn Garden and Meghan Jackson aka Butterflyknits.  The first one was Triffid.  They added another twist with this one.  Two sizes, and if you decided to do the larger size, two yarn colors, and two choices for the first clue - City Road or Country Road.  I went for Country Road.  The yarn is Serenity Silk Single in Silver Moon.

Pattern:  Two Roads by Meghan Jackson (Country Road)
Yarn:  Serenity Silk Single in Silver Moon
Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm)

Actually, I initially did this clue with some Serenity Single Lace because I didn't want to wait for my yarn and felt like taking a break from my Treasure Island Cape.  I confused the two yarns when I looked at the instructions for the first clue.  On that one I went for the City Road because I didn't want to do the twisted stitches with the dark yarn that I had picked.  Here is that attempt:

I ended up ripping it out because when I was knitting the clue in the club yarn I realized that I had not knit this clue correctly.  That is what happens when I don't read all of the written instructions and just charge ahead with the charts.  I may still go back and do a lace weight version.  But first, back to my Treasure Island Cape.  I have 8 rows to go on Clue 4.

Pattern:  Two Roads by Meghan Jackson (City Road)
Yarn:  Serenity Single Lace in Spirulina
Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm)

"Beyonce" Structured Tee - Front Done

I finished the front up last night.  It really didn't take long, and it didn't use near as much yarn as I thought it would.  I was actually a little nervous about running out of yarn after finishing up the back, but that scoop neck really cuts down on the yarn usage.  The front is not dry yet, so no more progress on this until the weekend (at the earliest), because tomorrow Clue 4 of Treasure Island comes out!

I have decided to undo the shoulders and redo them with short row shaping so I can do a three needle bind off to join them, but that should be easy - only 16 stitches per shoulder.  I took a picture of the back pinned to my dress maker dummy so you can see how va-va-va-voom this top is going to be when finished.

Pattern:  "Beyonce" Structured Tee - S. Charles Collezione
Yarn:  S. Charles Collezione Nepal
Needle:  US 4 (3.5 mm)

"Beyonce" Structured Tee - Back Done

I picked this project up again last night.  I'm not sure why I haven't felt motivated to work on it, but last night I wanted something simple, and I wanted something that I could make noticeable progress on, a work in progress that I could finish fairly quickly.  I had put it down just after I started the armhole shaping.  I got most of the rest of it done last night and then finished it up this afternoon.  I ended up staying home from work today with the remains of a lingering migraine that has been dogging me for the last week.  This was just about all the mental energy that I could manage today.  I didn't even do short rows for the shoulder and neck shaping, which is something that I would ordinarily do, my brain just wasn't up for it today.  I am a little perturbed at how obvious the rowing is on the top part of the bodice.  The bottom part is in stockinette, but the top part is in reverse stockinette and the purl ridges really accentuate the rowing.  Hopefully once it dries and is worn once or twice things will stretch out and even up some.  The yarn is 100% cotton so it doesn't have the give and memory that wool has, so things just stand out.  You can also really see where the decreases are, too.

Pattern:  "Beyonce" Structured Tee - S. Charles Collezione
Yarn:  S. Charles Collezione Nepal
Needle:  US 4 (3.5 mm)