WIPs Wednesday: February Edition

I have a bit of a theme happening for me this term . . . . I was working on my Rosebud shawl the other day when two things happened. First, I realized I was accidentally slipping all of my stitches purl-wise instead of knit-wise to knit stitches together. Second, I made a mistake and when I went back to fix it, I accidentally dropped a critical stitch that quickly turned my work into an unfix-able mess. Sigh. I decided I might as well frog it and start over so I could do it right. This means my progress photo today is just a few rows, 6 to be exact, past my cast-on photo. Time to knit like the wind!

 
February is more than halfway over and I'm still being thrown for a loop, slightly off-kilter, as they say.  The knitting is going, but I keep getting interrupted by projects for my daughter, who has decided that everything that can be knit should be knit. for. her, so she can show her friends all the one-of-a-kind stuff... very flattering, but very time-consuming.

I love knitting on my beautiful Rosebud shawl, and I'm reaching a decision point: how many repeats of Chart B should I do?

a Valentine of flowers in KnitPicks Gloss Lace, colorway Fiesta

I've been strategically weighing the remaining yarn, and I keep flip-flopping between going for that extra repeat (with the potential for running out of FIESTA!) or knitting the shawl as written (and wishing it larger when finished).  Stay tuned, fair reader, for the exact moment when I lose my nerve!

Let's not forget about the hooded cape WIP -- we're still having a knit-along, but it's asynchronous now!  I'm beading and beading and beading and beading and beading and beading and

it seems like it will never end.

Ravenclaw Report: A Short Report for a Short Month

When we last met our heroines, they were adapting to Gryffindor extroverts and pride culture...

I still haven't managed to participate in my Pride as much as I'd like. Even so, I'm enjoying getting notifications to collect my Chocolate Frog Cards and badges. There certainly are lots of tags and events to keep track of but doing so means you get a badge for every thing you do. Yay, badges! It kind of feels like getting a sticker on your graded homework. Sigh. I miss the days of collecting stickers. Now I don't have to miss those days because today is the day of badges for everything!

Yes, the badges have been fun -- especially since only Gryffindors get collectible Chocolate Frogs! -- but all the tracking is leaving me a little confused.  At the beginning of term I was asked to declare a goal number for my total yarn usage, and I was absolutely flummoxed as to both why it was necessary and how I would even begin to know what was right for me!  I understand tracking one's points (obvs), but why track yardage?  Maximizing class bonus points?  Maybe.  I'll go along with it... For The Mantel!

What have we learned so far?

• In a departure from previous terms, this term's Gryffindor pride groupings are named after a type of dragon, rather than a type of candy?  The deal with that: we're dragontrainers.  Each pride gets a baby dragon to train.  It's pretty serious business (srs bidness).
• The Marauder's Mission challenges for this term are similar to Ravenclaw moonpaths and prefect challenges, but they take the pledge-a-point-total concept a bit further by introducing a group challenge aspect.  Deathly Hallows Missions allow for group pledges in points, yardage, and storytelling to inspire maximum pride in one's efforts at Hogwarts.
• Apparently there's usually Bingo, and the WIP the First detention challenge, and something called Trolley Treats...  all of these are absent in Gryffindor this term, so if you want to know more, that research is on you.  :)

Taciturn Thursday: The First Two Months

~ it's like Wordless Wednesday, but a day later ~

 

 

 

 

 

Phoenix Pheature: Cast On!

I'm loving the Rosebud shawl already and it's only the beginning!  HSpoon and I are both using bright red laceweight, because of course we are, and my yarn is a merino/silk blend -- a welcome change from the monster cowl's Allergen Central experience.

Triangular lace shawls without beading are my wheelhouse, so it's just zipping along, being awesome and cheery and just what I need for such a short, cold month!  I grabbed some US6 needles by mistake (I thought they were US4s but NOPE); fingers crossed I don't run out of yarn.

I'm very excited to finally be starting this shawl. I've owned the pattern for a couple years and have had it in the back of my mind as something I wanted to make eventually. Well now the time has finally come. I love my yarn choice, Misti Alpaca Lace in the color lipstick. The yarn is lovely to touch and the color is lovely to see. It's a win-win!

 

Webchat cast on -- FOR THE MANTEL!

FO Friday: January Edition

The month of January has just flown by! I suppose that's what happens when the month is full of Good Things. :) 

First, the bad news: My epic NEWT cape is just not going to happen this term. I never did frog and cast back on and the sensible side of me decided it would make the most sense to withdraw my proposal try again another term. That is much more sensible than me losing sleep and hair while working on unrealistic goals. Look at me, being reasonable. Go me!

Second, the good news: I completed my cowl and I LOVE it! It's so soft and squishy and I've already received compliments. I'm so happy with my yarn/pattern combo. It's definitely going to be my go-to scarf/cowl for the rest of the winter season.

So what's on the horizon for the month of February? Very soon I will be casting on my Phoenix project. I'm confident that since I ditched the NEWT project, I should be able to complete this Phoenix project in time. Stay tuned for a Phoenix Cast On post. :)

knit with more than five skeins of madelinetosh A.S.A.P in colorway Farmhouse White

Welp, my NEWT cape is still on the go (closing in on the 75% mark), but mostly I'm just sooo glad to be done done done with this monster cowl.  I don't usually knit with super bulky yarn these days, so I did some deep stash diving for the fabled Lemongrass... turns out, I'm allergic to it (!) and so took the necessary precautions while plowing through the almost-500 yards of fiberstuffs.  Please let this not be a theme for this year.  I put it on myself just once for an arms-akimbo photo shoot, but even during that limited time, having it so close to my face simply solidified its status as "Infinitely Giftable."

You ready for this?  I'd make you promise not to laugh, but that's asking a lot:

knit with 4.5 skeins of Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick & Quick in colorway Lemongrass

Suffice it to say, between the it's-eating-my-head nature of the cowl-haircut combo and my inescapable wool allergy, this lovely cowl has found another wonderful home, far away from me.

And on to the next!  See you in February!

The Fluted Cowl pattern is available for free from the Purl Soho website -- check it out!

Ravenclaw Report: the View from Gryffindor Tower

When we last met our heroines, they were adjusting to a new life in a new House at Hogwarts...

I hadn't realized until this term how comfortable I had become in Ravenclaw. There we were sorted into Dorms by year so as time went on, the dorm turned into a core group of people with guests in and out from term to term. Cyprienne's and my dorm consisted of mostly introverts who enjoyed sharing WIP (work in progress) pictures and personal life tidbits. In Gryffindor, students are divided into sizable Prides with discussion themes for each day. I have found my pride to consist of several chatty extroverts. I haven't been as intentional about getting to know my pride-mates as I had intended and hope to rectify this over the rest of the term.

In addition to getting to know my pride, there is a lot to learn about the ins and outs of Gryffindor. There are all sorts of missions to inspire participation, particularly since Gryffindor is making a big push to win the House Cup this term. Overall, everything is just so new and I'm still adjusting. I find myself focusing more on my knitting and less on the game which is an acceptable approach but not exactly in the spirit of exploring the houses. Fortunately there is still plenty of time for me to become more familiar with Gryffindor House and this lovely group of extroverts.

I have used more exclamation points this term then in all previous terms combined...  that may not be an actual stat, but it feels like it sometimes!!  (Regular sentences get one exclamation mark!  Two punctuation points mean I'm here to party and feeling emphatic!!)

I was lucky enough to get swept into the Common Room during the later half of December.  I came bearing cookies -- the legendary Gryffindor sweet tooth? not exaggerated! everything from disappointment to a dissertation is celebrated with ice cream -- and they've consistently pulled me back in throughout the term with Martin Freeman gifs...  a gateway nugget to convince me to ROAR! and drink the kool-aid, perhaps?

What have we learned so far?

• There is a definite culture of excitedly Doing.All.The.Things, with copious yardage-tracking and tagging of posts and badges, badges, badges
• This term, Gryffindor has put WIP the First on the back burner -- with a new focus on Advanced Studies proposals, the Lions are keeping pace with Ravenclaw and Slytherin!  Surprised?  Don't be.  It's no accident.
• In Ravenclaw, the Common Room is the chatty place to be while the Dorms are where the low-key discussions happen. In Gryffindor, the Common Room is less chatty and the Prides are where all the action resides.

WIPs Wednesday: January Edition

Winter blechs and various sicknesses have hit Chez Cyprienne, so things are all thrown off every which way!  The hooded cape is ready for the crazy beaded knitted-on edging; I'm terrifically scared about it -- much more than I should be, considering I've done similar things before -- and the only way I can hope to feel better about it is watching Downton Abbey and marathoning Gilmore Girls.

 

 

bad lighting makes for pretty colors / winding skein 5 of 7

Lemongrass Fluted Cowl is at 6" and holding -- it could be that I'm allergic...
or maybe the pattern moves me to openly weeping with its simple elegance.
Anything's possible?  I do really like the pattern.

An apple a day will stop me from wheezing?

Life, well life for me has been busier than expected. Busy in a good way. :) This has led to a delay in the whole, frog and start over on the NEWT cape plan. I am, however, almost done with the Fluted Cowl. At this point in time, my plan is to quickly finish the cowl over the next day or two then frog and re-cast on the NEWT. Once I start over on my NEWT, I plan to make some serious headway before casting on any other projects this month. By the way, I'm really enjoying the cowl pattern. It's simple enough that it's easy to memorize but interesting enough that it's not boring. It's been incredibly cold where I live which is why I've been in a big rush to finish the cowl as opposed to working on my NEWT.

The NEWT that's full of errors. 

(Please excuse the scrape on my hand.)

The Fluted Cowl that's almost finished.