GKAS Project Specs (and What's Next)

The Goddess Knits Anniversary Shawl specs:

Size: 62" in diameter

Yarn: Jojoland Harmony - Colorway 06
(I used 2 balls, plus a little more of a third. This is a cobweb weight yarn. The colors are spun in an ombre fashion where one color is mixed with the next before it changes completely into the next, like Noro.)

Needles: Knitpicks Options - Size 4
(I love the points on these. You also have the option of threading a lifeline through the tightening hole and drawing it through the stitches as you knit. I used it for drawing the crochet cotton through so I could stretch it out for photos.)

Pattern choices:
Clue 1: A
Clue 2: B
Clue 3: D
Clue 4: D
Clue 4.5: Doubled again. Clue 2/A Rows 1-16
Clue 5: Edging as written. 192 repeats!
(I was going to morph clue 2 A and B together for Clue 4.5 as an enlarging option. It was just too much for me though. I think if I had made Clue 4.5 wider, the diameter of the shawl would have been larger and my edging points would have had more room to be blocked out at a diagonal, instead of being pulled straighter down in long points as I had to block them. By that time, each row was well over a thousand stitches. There are 192 repeats of the edging.)

This is a great pattern and it was a lot of fun to do it as a mystery lace knit-a-long. I highly recommend trying a Goddess Knits KAL for yourself.

Check out the other beautiful patterns on her website.

So what to do after all the excitement it over? Well, after I knit a little bit with some heavier yarn to clear my head, I'm going to start another KAL!

The Mystery Stole 4 KAL! Yay! My first mystery lace KAL was the MS3, the Swan Lake stole. It turned out beautifully and had beads! This year stole will also feature beads. I've been trying to match up beads and yarn. Here are some photos. *Disclaimer*-These photos have not been through SAP, the Sister Approval Process. I couldn't decide which one I liked better of the top two so I put them both in, even though I am not using these beads.

When I bought these beads, they looked just perfect. They are matte, but have a rainbow effect coating on them. (Gnatly, what are these kinds of beads called?) They match the yarn perfectly, but too perfectly--they blend in and disappear. I didn't even try a swatch with them.

Pretty, with feather, no?
I was sad about this until I remembered that my mom had given me some beads many years ago. They were left over from when she made some gorgeous crochet beaded clutch purses. She made them when I was 5 or 6 years old! These are some old beads! She bought them when my dad was stationed in Okinawa. There are three different kinds on this swatch. From the top is clear turquoise, then cobalt, then black. They had a shiny rainbow/oil slick color surface coating. (What are these called, Knatly?)

Can you all see them well enough in this photo to help me choose? I was wondering if I could use them all, you know, start with the darkest ones on the ends and get lighter? Opinions, please!

GK Anniversary Shawl Photo Spread!

Ta DA!

Okay, perhaps if I had stayed up a little later and checked my e-mail, I would have gotten the e-mail from my sister. Did I tell you I have the best sister in the world? She got on my Flickr, oh, about midnight, and left me humorous comments. These are her top picks. Thanks, Amy! I love you, man!

The next one won in the "roundness" category. Heh heh.

I am so happy to be finished with this beauty. I wore it around the house last night for fun. I need to go grocery shopping and do laundry as well as other mundane tasks right now. I may post again this evening to give project specs and talk a little about this shawl.

Finally Finished...And Yet...

I have finally finished knitting and blocking the Goddess Knits Anniversary Shawl! Yay! I will post pictures tomorrow. I was going to post some today, but someone...cough cough....my sister...cough cough...wasn't available to preview them on her normal computer screen (mine being abnormally dark and useless when you want to see what a photo really looks like).

To be fair, she did proof some of the blocking shawl this morning and she noticed that they didn't look exactly like the others that I posted before. Later, I realized that I had blocked the shawl purl side up! I had to flip it and take some more photos.

Heh heh. I called her back on her cell while she was getting her classroom ready for school to start next week. While she was pushing heavy furniture about I told her that she had a whole new slew of photos to review. Good thing she lives about five states away, heh heh. Nah! She's always been very patient with her baby sister, and of course she's a knitter herself so she understands.

Understands! Right Amy, my dearest, sweetest, beeg seester? You know how tortured I must be, sitting here not having any photos to post on my blog. I feel...I feel...so helpless! Like needles without yarn...an empty, felted vessel...a...a...

Why haven't you called me back!!! I'm gonna tell Mom!

"Um. Pass me the Kleenex, will ya?"

I Can't Feel My Arms

Last week, my social calendar was filled to the brim, so in the past few days I've been playing catch up on the Anniversary Shawl KAL. First there was the visit from DH's parents. Haven't seen them in a while so it was great to catch up for several days. When they went back home, our friends from Texas arrived. Between company, girls' coffee outings and singing on another local radio station, there wasn't much time for knitting the shawl. In fact, I had only a few rows of Clue 4 done when Clue 5 came out. But, I finished Clue 4 today! Yay!

Here's a close up.


When I started knitting Clue 4, I wondered if I had made a mistake in choosing Chart D because it really didn't look like anything at first. It took several rows before the pattern became apparent, and several more rows before the pattern became pretty. Then, after several more, it became gorgeous.


I think I do want to take the option to make the shawl larger before starting the Clue 5 edging. I am considering different charts and combinations of charts. I just want another six inches all the way around, adding a foot to the diameter. Over a thousand stitches per row is rather daunting, though. I'm thinking that one of the earlier charts that don't have as many stitches per chart row repeat might be easier to fool with. That way I wouldn't have to keep such a close watch on the chart as I knit those looooong rows.


I went ahead and stretched it out on a string to measure it and photograph it. I know it seems like it might be, but it really isn't such a tedious thing to do. I just stick the crochet cotton through the little tightening hole in my Knitpicks needles and knit the last row, which draws the string through the last row of stitches automatically. It takes less time to put the stitches back onto the needle, than it takes to knit a row, so it's not that bad, really. I think it's the only way to get an accurate idea of how big the shawl is if you are concerned about the size, which I was for this shawl.

Here is the picture I keep staring at, trying to decide which pattern to use next. I wish it was big enough to stop here!

I See Skies of Blue

It's been so beautiful around here, lately. It's July, but temperatures have been in the upper 70's, lower 80's, and not humid at all. All blue skies and fluffy, white clouds. Imagine the sky looks like this photo but without the weird pixelating going on. Strange.

Thank you for all the kind comments about my Anniversary Shawl. I am enjoying knitting it so much. It's been fun to communicate with knitters all over the world who are working on the same project. It's a great group of people. If you've left a comment and have a blog, be forwarned! I'm going to be visiting it soon to see what y'all are up to!

So, what have I been doing now that Clue 3 is finished? Did I go back and finish a few more snowflake backgrounds? No.

Did I work some more on the fabulous pattern that is the Heere Be Dragone Shawl? No.

Did I get a few more rows in on the wrap cardi, or any, ANY other UFO?

No. (Well, I did do a couple of rounds on a sock while riding in the Jeep).

Okay, I'm an idiot. I started a new lace project.

It's the Curved shawl from Victorian Lace Today. I have always been intrigued by the little Cheerios shapes and wanted to find out firsthand how they were made. This is the orange Jojoland Harmony that I bought to make a gift for my friend. I sneakily leafed through this book at lunch with her one day and she liked this pattern, too. I didn't even steer her towards it...much. Heh.

The cast-on was a real pain. It calls for a backwards loop cast-on. Auugh! Can I tell you how hard it is to knit the first row with this type of cast-on and cobweb weight yarn? But, boy is it stretchy. It's a four-row repeat with a lot of knit three togethers, but once you get going and have something to hang on to, it goes fairly quickly.

I will leave you with something else that is orange. Honestly, lately every time I want to take a photo of PH he looks like this. I swear it's not the same photo!

Clue 3, Finis!

Here is Clue 3, D!

So, to recap, Clue 1 - A, Clue 2 - B, Clue 3 -D.

Phew! Time to get some rest. Next weeks clue is going to be huge!

Clue 3 Spoiler!

Here's my Clue 3 up to where I am just starting Row 33. The yarn looks awfully bright on my screen. It's more muted in person. It's not stretched out to its fullest potential, but can you see the little leaf shapes, complete with stems? There are what look like to be flower shapes, too. These pictures are not the greatest.

Here's another one. Can you guess which Clue it is?

Clue 2, I adore U!

Here's my finished Clue 2! My laptop is still out of commission, so I am still looking at these photos on a dim pc monitor. I had to call my sister to look at them on Flickr and Ravelry, and had her choose which ones she thought looked best. Thanks, Amy!

Clue 1A Clue 2B

Here's another shot in different lighting.

I had another angle, but for some reason I am having problems uploading that one. It's been on my Ravelry page since last night, though. I'm Bereni on Ravelry. MaryAnne, you were right! I really like how the Jojoland Harmony looks. The color changes just melt into one another. I'm happy with my chart choices, as well. You just can't go wrong with this pattern. Every one that I've seen on Ravelry is more beautiful than the next.

So, the UPS man did come. He brought me the cord for my laptop, but it turns out that the cord is not the problem. Grrrr. Now, I have to take it to a computer repair guy. I did some research on the internet, and the most likely cause of the problem is supposed to be a quick repair. I sure hope it is. Sigh.

PH had a bad morning. He didn't keep it to himself. He had to share it with the rest of us. It being DH's day off, we tried to sleep in a little bit. This didn't sit well with 'ol Furpants. He wanted us up, and front and center, at his food dish. He tried everything. He huffed and puffed, he stomped on us, he yelled at the top of his kittylungs.

When he finally dragged me into the kitchen, I confronted him with a terrible truth. There was only a teaspoonful of canned food left in the fridge. He had to eat his dry food, but there were some treats, and he could have some of them, too.

The little, stubborn, stripey guy refused to believe me. He thought I was holding out on him, and he told me so in strident tones. I offered him salsa and some red beans and rice. He was insulted. I showed him my empty hands. The empty can. He just knew I was trying to pull the proverbial wool over his amber eyes. I tried reasoning with him. Heh. I reminded him that there was a time when he only ate dry food. No use.

Finally, not being able to stand the sight of me any longer, he demanded to be let outside. I imagined him looking for an unsuspecting skink to smack around, or worse, packing his cat toys into a little handkerchief, tying it to a stick and hitting the road.

When DH left to fill the Jeep up with gas, he announced that he would be bringing home some Brat Food, not cat food, and true to his word, he returned with the much prized Chicken and Gravy.

As soon as that lid was peeled away, I could feel peace seeping back into the household. The world was, again, spinning smoothly on its axis. PH was once again a charming and likeable fellow.

Here's proof.

Purrrrrrrrr....sigh.

Can you buy Chicken and Gravy by the case?

Oh Goddess Knits, My Brain is Torn Asunder!

I think I've gone insane. This Anniversary Shawl is making me do crazy things. Clue 2 came out yesterday and, wham, bang, I printed it out. Now, here's where something inside my brain started to come loose. Instead of just looking at the four charts and saying, "Oh, that one looks nice, I think I'll go with B," or "I'll just close my eyes and point to one," or even "I'll just draw from a hat or flip a coin,"......I said, "Hmmm....I just can't choose from looking at these charts. I'll just put on some Jane Austen films and make a little swatch from each one." So I did. Here's the proof.

B and A

D and C

But it didn't stop there, because you can't really see what happens between the 12 stitches, you can imagine it, but you can't really see it! Heh heh, unless you hold a mirror up to them....

I am ashamed to say it got worse. I had to take pictures of them and put them on my computer and crop and cut and paste with the photo of my Clue 1 and change colors and grayscale, oh, it was awful, awful! You see, all of this, it made it so much worse. I found out that the patterns are all so beautiful that now I want to make them all! I want to try different combinations, different clue 1's and clue 2's, in different yarns and colors. Now, I am starting to dread clue 3! It's madness, I tell you, madness!

I had to stop to go sing at the radio station last night (which was so much fun) and came back too late to torture my brain anymore with decisions, so the whole thing started again this morning. I looked on Ravelry and saw some people had already chosen and finished their Clue 2's. They are all gorgeous. I think that no matter which charts you decide on, you are going to end up with an amazing looking shawl. Thank you Renee for such a great experience and pattern.....oh, and....um....the mental anguish and torture...as well....yep. No, just kidding about that last part, that's entirely my fault. I've always had problems with decisions.

I will tell you, though, I have narrowed it down to two charts. B and D. When combined with my swirl center, one chart increases the "blazing sun" look and the other reminds me more of mineral patterns or snowflake, maybe. Hot or cold? Organic growing things or crystalline metallicness? I think I am obsessed.

Okay, I am without vehicle today and am unable to get to church. I will make a pot of tea and choose. Yes, I...will...choose. Errgh! I think that right now, (Right now, I tell you!) I am going to get out my A-D stitch markers for Cat Bordhi socks and put them in a hat for next Saturday's clue! Let's see, B or D. B or D....B.....D.....B.....D.....bee...dee...beedee....beedee beedee beedee beedee...........

Ready for Clue Two!

Here are the two different versions of Clue 1, Chart A, for the Anniversary Shawl. This is the one I am going with. This one is knit with size 4 needles.

This is the first one, which I frogged. It's knit with size 3 needles.

I believe that the frogged version is the way the designer actually meant it to be knit, but some folks, including me, are knitting it the other, more spirally, way. I think they are both pretty, but the spiral looks better in this ultra thin laceweight. I've seen some knit up in the orginal way using a slightly heavier laceweight and it looks really nice, like a chrysanthemum. Makes me want to knit them both! My spyrograph center reminds me of the sun. I can't wait to see what the Jojoland looks like when it starts to change colors. The colors just fade into each other. Very cool.

I forgot to mention that I did knit in public last Saturday. I took a sock to the Fireman's BBQ and knit after we sang. I have a GoKnit pouch in camoflauge for just such occasions as these! It even has a "don't shoot me orange" cord! Tomorrow, I'll be spinning and weaving in public. I'll be doing some demonstrations here in the Gap. Perhaps, I'd better get some sleep. ZZZzzz...

Into the Jojoland Mystery

I stayed up too late re-knitting Clue 1 of the Goddess Knits Anniversary Mystery Shawl. Oh, but I like it much better. At least, that is what I think tonight. I'll look at it by the morning's light and see if it actually looks as good as I think it does. I'll post pictures of both my first and second attempt tomorrow. I used the circular crochet cast on that you can see performed here. It worked great with the extremely thin Jojoland Harmony. G'night!

Can't We All Just Knit-A-Long?

As if I didn't have enough to knit, I've joined up with the Goddess Knits Anniversary Shawl KAL. The first clue came out on Friday and I've just knit it up today. I'm using the Jojoland Harmony that I posted about here. I think the ombre color changes will work well with the circular construction of the shawl. The unique thing about the Anniversary Shawl pattern is that you get to pick from several different charts as you knit, so all of the shawls won't look alike when they are completed. My camera batteries have died. Photos will have to wait until tomorrow.

This is a picture of PH when he was very young. I think he is almost one year in this photo. Oh, yes, he's always been devastatingly handsome...and orange.