FO Friday 171: Failure

Durer Tarot

Well, I'm here to confess and admit to a bit of an aberration - a startling lack of perfectionism. You'll remember I was doing another test knit for Emily Ross, a stockinette version of her popular Haruni shawl.

I can hear you wondering how I could make a mess of something that is stockinette. But wait !

It wasn't the stockinette that defeated me.

It wasn't the tulip/leaf-shaped lace border.

It wasn't the somewhat finicky pinning and blocking.
 
It wasn't even the 312 (yes, I counted) size 6/0 beads placed individually with a 0.6mm steel crochet hook.

It was the loopy edging:
 

I didn't find the chart for it simple, and the written  instructions did not mention the difference in the number of chains per section that make up the loops. Having looked at other people's finished shawls, I could see what the chart meant, but by then it was too late for me - I did not contemplate for longer than a millisecond the idea of unpinning the blocked shawl and undoing the edging with it's 116 beads (yes, I counted) and howevermany stitches, and then having to re-block it.

I think if I had made the original Haruni, or even looked at it, I would have had a far better understanding of this border - but then, that's the point of a test knit: to find the things that people trip over and fix them so that even a fool like me can make it.

On the plus side, the yarn - Regia Hand-dyed Effect in 'Amethyst' (purple shades) - was nice and soft, and the shawl still turned out really pretty. And I've learned that the agony sting of imperfection fades a little if you give it time.

Pop over to Tami's Amis for pretty pictures without any self-pity ....

 

FO Friday 112: Testing, Testing, One, Two ...

Silver Era Tarot

This lovely card from the Silver Era Tarot portrays for me part of the experience of test-knitting. For my non-knitterly friends, this is the process where a designer creates a design and pattern for an item, and then floats the sheaves of instructions off through the aether to jonesing twitchy fibre addicts with no lives, so that they can knit said design according to the prototypical instructions, discovering along the way any typographical errors, design errors, actual gauge vs. imagined and desired gauge, stuff like that.

Just imagine test pilots, but instead of jets, there are knitting needles with the accompanying excitement and dangers, and I believe you have got an accurate picture of the experience. 

Some while back, my friend Denise from Voie de Vie asked me to test a scarf pattern she had designed; it so happened that I had the perfect yarn on hand for it, so I was glad to comply. It was a Super Secret Mystery Test Knit as no-one was allowed to put up any kind of information about it until Denise did her big reveal. So this was completed some time ago, but I'm doing my big reveal now:

The Piaf Scarf

I used one 200m ball of the ruby red 70% wool/30% silk aran weight yarn the Twins got me from Kingcraig Fabric; the eyelet pattern knitted up quickly on 5.5mm needles, and blocked out it measured 72'' long and 7'' wide. I think the smooshy soft yarn, color and pattern complement each other really nicely. The Piaf Scarf pattern - which I would rate as easy/beginner - also includes instructions for a fringe, if one wishes to add it, and is also available from here.

And then in the miniscule interval where I had completed one project but had not yet started the next (I know, right ? so hard to imagine a gap in time that small and empty), my friend Dianne sucked me along with her into the next test-knitting vortex, for Emily Ross (knitterain), testing her Arlington Shawl pattern using Rico Superba Poems:

It looked like that, until it was finished and blocked, when it magically transformed to this:

 

 
You'll remember I had been stressing a little bit about the I-cord bind-off; but when I got there, I realized I already had used this bind-off on other occasions, I just hadn't known it's name.

 
Lots and lots of double yarn overs in this pattern, including the bind-off itself, which I found challenging but absolutely worthwhile for the unusual effect it creates: it's mainly for this that I'd classify this shawl as an intermediate knit. And once you get into the swing of it, any mistakes you make are almost instantly obvious and therefore much easier to correct. 

Statistics for this shawl are:  
                                 1 repeat of Chart A 
                                 8 repeats of chart B 
                                 4 repeats of Chart C 26g of yarn left 
                                 1 repeat of Chart D 14g of yarn left after Row 10 
                                 9g of yarn left after Row 12 
NB. I did not do row 13/14 of Chart D as I was worried about the yarn running out; and after the i-cord bindoff, I had 4g of yarn left: so that was a pretty accurate guesstimate. When blocked, it measured 16 1/2'' top to bottom, and about 44'' edge to edge.

The Arlington Shawl pattern is not yet available to buy, but will be here when it is.

I believe I have puffed off enough for now, so kindly go and see more loveliness over at Tami's Amis.

WIP Wednesday 116: Black and Blue

Tarot of the World Spirit

So Bloody Vlad has been washed, blocked and dried ready for the big reveal on Friday; and just before I started ripping my eyelashes out one by one from sheer boredom, my friend Dianne alerted me that  Emily Ross aka knitterain was looking for test knitters for a new shawl she's designed.

I moseyed around some and discovered that she is the designer of some other shawls that I have admired from afar: mainly Haruni, and Romanesque, which has been in my queue for some while now.

So I leaped at the chance to test knit her new design; I had intended using my lovely purple Artesano, but I think it would have run a little short. Fortunately, I had this in my stash:

 100 grams, 420 metres/459 yards of slightly rough, slightly fuzzy 4ply sock yarn in a bluey-black colorway (apparently called 'Denim'): Rico Superba 'Poems'. It can be a little tricky to tink back - especially the dark and/or black parts, at night, when it's a complete row of nearly 300 stitches. You don't have to ask me how I know, you have already worked out how I know, haven't you ?

 Anyway. 

In between Mini Diva's Victorian Sharing Day (I never knew Tiddlywinks was such a difficult game) and Destructo Boy's Savannah Sharing Day (learning to play djembe drums and drawing a jungly lion), I have reached Row 11 of Chart D. I have 14 grams, 10 rows and an I-cord bind off to go. I can feel my comfort zone imploding at the mere thought of this I-cord bind off, so like any good ostrich I am pretending it doesn't exist until I actually arrive at it.

Of course, since I'm using straight needles it looks like a mushy lump of inky bruises right now; but I am rather chuffed with the photo.

Pop on over to Tami's Amis for more yarny loveliness ....