FO: Alix's Prayer Shawl

On January 1st 2010 I cast on for Alix's Prayer Shawl for a KAL with the Debbie Macomber group on Ravelry. There were many stops and starts with this pattern. It was only the 2nd large lace project I attempted so I did learn a lot from the project that helped me with the lace projects I finished before this one. On December 2, 2012 almost 3 years after casting on I blocked the completed shawl.
 

 

The yarn is a mystery merino I won many many years ago in a blog contest. It was very nice to work with and I have enough left over that I maybe able to make a small scarf or shawlette. I have already worn it a couple of times and received many compliments on it. I am hoping to never again have a project languish so long but I make no promises. Until next time ....

An Albatross Off the Needles

Every knitter has one of these projects on occasion. This is the project that seems to linger on the needles forever. For me that project was my Alix's Prayer Shawl. This project was cast on January 1, 2010. Yes I said 2010. I ripped it out and started over so many times - that last restart was March of this year. I was bound and determined to finish it before the end of the year and I was successful. Here are some pre-blocking shots.

I am hoping to block this weekend but I am sick and do not know if I will want to crawl on the floor pinning it out. It may have to wait for the long Thanksgiving weekend but it will be done soon. Now I need to cast on my next shawl pattern. Until next time ....

Lace Knitting Lessons

I have been doing a little bit of knitting and a lot of ripping on my Alix's Prayer Shawl. As of today I am starting the 5th pattern repeat. I was hoping to be further along after almost a month but see above about the ripping.









I have learned a few lessons while knitting this.

1) Lifelines are very important.
2) Even lifelines will not save you everytime.
3) Patience is important.
4) Lace knitting is tough to do with an almost 3 year old around.

Hopefully I will be able to keep going with the knitting and have a lot less ripping going on! Until next time ....

Project Spectrum 2011

After a year off Lolly has started up Project Spectrum once again. For those of you who may not know about PS it is a chance to view the world around you by concentrating on color. The 2011 version begins today and the first colors up are red and orange. Now PS is about more than knitting and I do have some plans in the works for other projects but today I decided to start off by pulling out a very old WIP.









This is my Alix's Prayer Shawl that I started in January 2010. I made a mistake and could never get the pattern to work out correctly after that. So today I ripped it out and started over. I will be using many lifelines this time to ensure that I finally finish it. Obviously it will not be done by the end of the month but I hope to make some real progress on it. Wish me luck. Until next time ....

Whats On the Needles?

So I am down to 2 projects on the needles. Well technically 3 but one has been sleeping for quite awhile so we'll just ignore that one. So here is what I have been knitting.


These are my Charade Socks. The yarn is Red Heart (gasp) Heart & Sole in Tequila Sunrise. The yarn is surprisingly nice to work with. I bought it on clearance so I figured $6 was worth the gamble to try it. The color is pretty intense but I figure on your feet you can afford to go a little crazy.


This is my Alix's Prayer Shawl. The yarn was first going to be an Icarus but I just could not get into that pattern. I thought I was finally getting the pattern down but last night I screwed up something so my counts are off again. I am hoping it will be an easy fix but I am a little scared to look at it again tonight.

Finally, our daycare lady does photography on the side. On Friday she did a My Day craft project where she took pictures of the kids doing each activity during the day. She took this picture of Clark playing outside and sent it to me. She said he looked like a little model and I have to agree.

How did I get such a handsome kid? Until next time ....