FO Friday: Ojo de Dios

Tah-dah: The Ojo de Dios Shawl is complete!

And yes, it is beautiful, but the pattern has a design flaw. It looks great from behind, quite dramatic, but it doesn't hang well in the front. The way it was modeled for pattern should have given me a hint of that problem.

Some knitters reported that they found this to be an easy pattern on Ravelry. I struggled with the triangles -- maybe that's just me.  The yarn -- Plymouth Gina -- is affordable and beautiful, and comes in lots of lovely colorways.

I haven't blocked it yet, so I'm hoping it will grow some so that it is more of winter shawl.

If you like this pattern, make sure you read all the comments on Ravelry before you take the plunge!

And thanks to those of you who let me know that Tami Amis is updating her yarn shop. That would imply that she is fine but busy.

A Break for Knitting and Iced Tea

My summer classes have been sucking up most of my waking moments, but I did take some time this afternoon to meet up for knitting and chatting with a friend.

Yes, I'm STILL plugging away at my Ojo de Dios Shawl. But, the end is in sight! Which frankly surprises me because I thought I would be knitting away at the garter section for the rest of the calendar year. However, I started casting off this afternoon.

I wish I could keep going, but I have my big presentation on Monday, so that has to come first. The sooner I finish planning for it, the sooner I can relax and knit!

GAAK!

Some years ago, blogger Rose Red coined the term "GAAK," which stands for Growth As A Knitter. I absolutely love this term so I am resuming my campaign to bring this acronym into common usage. I think it is just as useful as KAL (knit-along) or SSK (slip, slip, knit).

I experienced some GAAK over the weekend. Having finished the 17 triangles for the Ojo de Dios Shawl, I had to start the garter section. Garter is, of course, a cinch, but this shawl is shaped by short rows, and I have long been perplexed by the whole wrap-and-turn thing. Wrapping and turning is quite simple, but picking up those wraps has been mysterious to me.

However, I carved out an hour to sit down with my knitting and computer. I just kept watching videos on picking up wraps, and I eventually found one that made sense to me. Now, I can hardly wait to get to those wraps. It's funny how something can go from impossible to easy in a second -- if you keep trying, of course.

Is there a technique that took you some time to master?

Knitting and Eggs

I am struggling with my vacation knitting, the Ojos de Dios Shawl. It begins with a line of 17 triangles, each picked up from the one before it. A number of knitters have said on Ravelry that this is a fun and easy knit.

That is definitely not my experience. I'm struggling with the cast-on of each triangle and finding the first knit row of each triangle difficult. However, I do think it is really gorgeous! I am, at least, happy with my color choice.

Yesterday we drove down the coast to Egg Harbor ...

... where there are beautifully decorated eggs. This one is dressed up with polymer clay!

And who could resist stopping at a candy store called the Chocolate Chicken?

We are being very leisurely and doing little more than relaxing. Keith was doing long bike rides each day, but yesterday one of his spokes broke. Apparently that puts the entire bike out of commission. So, now I get to spend more time with him!  He'll have to amuse himself when I'm doing the homework for my class, but I think he'll be totally fine with taking another nap!

WIP Wednesday: Not Having Fun Yet

I couldn't wait to start this pattern:

It's the Ojo de Dios Shawl from the Winter 2014 issue of Interweave Knits, and it is a stunning pattern. It uses Plymouth Yarn Company's Gina yarn to achieve a dramatic effect. I saw a finished shawl at a yarn store in New Mexico when we traveled over winter break and fell in love.

It took me a while to get my hands on the yarn. Apparently the popularity of this pattern caused a run on Gina. Because of the delay, I could have read pattern notes on Ravelry. But I didn't. I just plunged in blindly.

As you can see, you knit one triangle and then pick up stitches to add the rest, forming the lower portion of the shawl. If I had read Rav, I would have known that backwards loop is not the only way to add stitches for additional cast-on. I hate knitting the first row of backwards loop stitches! It is quite fiddley and frustrating. Now I know.

And you can see that curling is a huge problem. Some knitters on Rav were able to block the edge flat; others said it was impossible. I may end up following the example of knitters who picked up stitches along the bottom and added a border to keep it flat.

This is a lot of work. I hope it's worth it!

I hope everyone is having more fun with their WIPs. You can find out by checking with Tami Amis.