Perfect Little Secret

Today, there will be three confessions.

Confession #1: Every time I'm about to finish a project, I have a little panic attack. These are the thoughts that run through my head: "Oh no! It's going to be too small!"; "No, no! It's going to be too big!"; "What if I didn't notice that I completely messed up the stitch pattern one inch into it and find out I have to rip the whole thing back?"; "What if it makes me look seven months pregnant?"(I wouldn't want my mother-in-law to get her hopes up!). This scenario is exactly what happened when I was about to finish the Retro Redux Shrug from Lace Style. (OK, not the pregnant part of it!) It turns out that I didn't need to worry. It fits me perfectly. I love this pattern. The collar is knit with short rows to bring up the neck so that you can fold it back. How cool!


Vital Stats:
Pattern: Retro Redux Shrug by Mercedes Tarasovich-Clark from Lace Style
Yarn: GGH Bali, 2 balls
Needles: 7, 8, 9, and 10
Modifications: I cast on for the medium size, but knit the length for the small size.

Confession #2: Even though I have been knitting for almost 8 years, I have never knit intarsia. To be honest, I was a little scared. All that twisting of yarns and keeping them from tangling! Well, my oldest friend just told me she's having a baby and I decided to knit a baby version of the Mod-on-Mod Afghan from Yarnplay for her. So, now I have finally conquered intarsia. It really isn't that bad. I think the two squares I have so far look pretty good!


Confession #3: When I started a blog, I was terrified that I would never be able to come up with creative titles for my posts. So, I copied the producers of one of my favorite TV shows, Grey's Anatomy. Every episode is named after a song title. This strategy seemed like a brilliant idea at the time (although not ALL of my titles have been from songs). Recently on the Grey's Anatomy podcast, the producers admitted that it was really difficult to come up with song titles after a while. I have noticed a similar problem. I know that eventually I will fall off the wagon. So, I'm going to have a little contest. The first person to e-mail me after the next time I fail to use a song title for a blog post will receive a prize that is yet to be determined. Yes, this a ploy to get you to read my blog regularly!

Enough is Enough

I have felt really bad that my mother's shawl, which was supposed to be finished for her birthday on June 26th, has been lying around in a shameful unblocked state. First I completely underestimated how long it would take me to finish this shawl. Just because I finished a Shetland Triangle in sport weight yarn on size 6 needles in two weeks, does not mean I can finish and Icarus in lace weight yarn on size 3 needles in four weeks! Sheesh! Then I spent a while trying to figure out how I was going to block it in my impaired state. Luckily, my mother is one of those kind, generous and patient mothers who is thrilled that I am knitting her something, no matter when she gets it. I'm so fortunate!

I'm still hobbling around because of my ankle, so I got DNA to help me soak the shawl in Eucalan and squeeze out the excess water. Then we pinned it to the bed and let it dry.


Vital stats:
Pattern: Icarus by Miriam Felton from Interweave Knits Summer 2006
Yarn: JaggerSpun Zephyr, 2-1 oz. balls
Color: Basil
Needles: size 3
Modifications: I'll pretend that I intentionally substituted purls for the knits between the yarnovers on the "feather" part of the shawl.

This shawl should be flying it's way to my mother in NC tomorrow.

I have to admit that I like it so much I was almost tempted to keep it. I guess I'll just have to knit one for myself next year.

I Need All the Friends I Can Get

Last weekend Laura invited DNA and me over to her house for bratwursts and beer! Who can say no to that on a lovely summer afternoon? She was kind enough to snap a picture of me in Sophie.

Vital stats:
Pattern: Sophie from Knitty
Yarn: Phyz from ArtFibers
Color: 13
Needles: size 7 and 9 circular Denise needles
Modifications: My gauge didn't quite work out. Even though I was trying to knit the 34" size, I ended up with a top that was 31". The waist shaping as written in the pattern didn't quite seem to work out, so I changed them so that I decreased 4 stitches every 8 rows 3 times, then I knit 12 rows before decreasing 4 stitches every 8 rows 3 times. Although the designer didn't see a point in knitting the top without the cutout at the neck, I thought I would probably like it better with the collar intact. The Phyz yarn is extremely stretchy when knit up, so I'm pretty happy with the fit of the top. I'm looking forward to wearing it to the Silversun Pickups concert on Tuesday.

I'd like to thank Laura for tagging me as a Rockin' Girl Blogger. Any kind things she said about me apply to her two-fold. Laura was a very good friend to me when I had moved to a new job in a new city where I didn't know a soul. I'm lucky to call her a friend! Here is a picture of Laura's cute kids playing with DNA.