Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Done & Gone

(I just realized that those two words are spelled exactly the same except for their first letter but they're not pronounced the same.  Shouldn't they be "dun" and "gun" or "dawn" and "gawn"?  Instead they're "dun" and "gawn."  Hmph.  Well, now they sound like some shyster law firm to me.)  Moving on ("awn" gah! stop me before I hurt myself).

What's done is Bandwagon Afghan block #10.  I have been making these mitered log cabin block off and on since just after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami decimated part of Japan.  Kay of Mason-Dixon Knitting had written this pattern that melds quilting and knitting ideas so well, and sold the pattern sending all proceeds to some relief agency.  I bought the pattern, picked out stash yarn, and got started.  I made the first few blocks fairly quickly but then other patterns and other yarn caught my attention and I put this away for a while.  I worked on block #9 on our vacation and cast on #10 immediately upon finishing it.  I did not, as I'd imagined, apply myself to my knitting and finish more than one or maybe all remaining blocks while we were away those 2 weeks but at least I got one done and one begun.  Only 2 to go!


What's gone is the third start of the Rebelle Wingspan scarf/shawl/doohicky, and it's gone for good.  See, I was knitting along on the first wedge at Friday Night Knitting and I realized that I was over halfway through the first of four skeins and not through the first wedge.  Uh-oh.  Not going to make it.  On Monday I finally remembered that there's an Advanced Search function on Ravelry's Pattern page that lets you say how you want to make it (crochet or knit), how much you want to pay (I chose Free), what you want to make (sweater, baby, hat, accessory, etc. I chose shawl/wrap in the accessory category), yarn weight (the yarn I want to use is Aran), and (this is the vital statistic) how much of said yarn you have (~392 yds.)  See all the green lozenge-shaped boxes across the Ravelry screen shot?  Wingspan didn't make the cut. I got 41 matches,  one of which I already have OTN (on the needles) in another yarn (Colonnade, second from left, first row); one that has been nagging to be picked back up for the last week or so.  I went downstairs and got the Lava Shawl (I knew right where it was) and last night I plunged back in to see if I could keep going (it's lace-ish) or have to rip back to the beginning of the lace part and start over.  Happily my knitting skills have improved over the months it has been set aside.  Yahoo!  Now I have 12 more (ever-increasing) rows to knit, then 4 edge rows before binding off.  THEN I can cast on another shawl using the Rebelle yarn that I want so badly to knit up since it's merino, silk, and mohair and a joy to knit with.  Unless I decide to cast on something else instead.  Like Christmas gifts.

No comments: