I don't like my fun to become work, and too many projects or too much yarn makes me feel obligated to use it up or finish it, which was never the point. It also stresses me out to have yarn that sits around for too long. I really liked the yarn, I just never got around to using it. I definitely did not want to give it away.
What I really liked about this yarn was that it did not really pool, the colors are randomly dispersed, and it does not take away from the pattern itself. I ended up using more than every scrap of yarn I had. I ran out on the bind off, so I used some navy blue lace weight for last few inches. It is reasonably subtle, and it was the closest match to the yarn.
When I blocked I opted for points instead of following the curves with the picot edge, mostly because I had nearly run out of pins since I blocked 3 things simultaneously. I think the points look pretty cool, if I block again I might try the curves. Since points opened up the holes, I'd consider it a blocking success.
Now the navy blue lace weight was actually a part of my second FO this weekend, the Diantha shawlette.
It was a milestone for me, because it is the first project I ever finished in lace weight yarn. That is not to say it is the first project I started in lace weight.
Diantha was a part of the Susanna IC January Mystery KAL, and I believe I will be knitting 4 more, with pearl beads as bridesmaid gifts. I did some back of the envelope calculations, and based on the yarn usage for mine, I should have enough for 4 mediums, and not 4 medium/larges. It is super duper exciting that my skein was 20 grams overweight (320 g!) because it would have been hopeless otherwise.
I have been illegally blogging about the project, because I didn't realize mystery KALs needed to be so secretive. Who cares if the surprise is ruined? If you are Speedy Gonzales that means you don't find out about the awesome modifications people make.
I am actually re-knitting the end, because I had some strange lace loop in the 2nd to last shortrow. You can't tell in the pictures, but it made for a tight, stiff spot, and I really didn't want to weave it in. It took an hour of ripping and tinking to get back to it though. The shawl will be much better for it though.
It gives me another chance to block this. I ran wires through the points, and pinned the centers, however, it looks sloppy. I need to individually pin out the points and centers to get the look I had in my clue stages. There is still much I need to learn about blocking, and these projects are my guinea pigs. It is only with pins that I can get the sideways component. The wires make the points stick straight down, which I think looks a little funny.
Earlier this week I wrote I really maudlin blog post, that I didn't get around to publishing. I blame the winter. I'm sick, tired, and frustrated, but that's no reason to complain to the internet. I had a nice chat with my advisor, and it really helped take a lot of the pressure off. I was trying to make him happy, when really my problem is making my project work. Making my project work will make him happy, and get me funding, and let me continue. Since I couldn't figure out how to make him happy anyways, this reframing of my problem was the perspective I needed to keep motivated. It is my thing to lose, not his thing to give. I thought it was a lesson I learned earlier, the only way my project will move forward is if I work on it. Making a PhD work is all about the trees (or rare subspecies of shrub living under the trees), but finishing a PhD is all about the forest. The big picture has to keep you motivated.
In fractal news . . .
The second one is a fractal in real life! My first daily deviation, and the cover of my undergrad's art/poetry magazine my senior year. It was so freaking awesome to see a print. I don't know if I would fill my home with fractal prints when I am all grown up and own a home, but it is pretty cool. I can't fill my apartment with fractal prints, because well, if you look at pictures inside my apartment, there is no wall space to hang fractal prints.
That's all for now, take care guys,
Molly : )
No comments:
Post a Comment