Finding my groove with my Birthday Shawl

OK, so I may be a bit of a slow learner, but after knitting two complete balls of yarn, I am in a groove. I can knit without the pattern! I went to a band concert tonight and took my knitting. Just slipped my knitting into my handbag and knit my way through the concert!

First this..

Then this..

 And now...

A Little Diversion from the Birthday Shawl

Yesterday I got a bit distracted while looking at sock patterns on Ravelry. I decided I need a nice pair of socks to wear and, of course, I found the perfect pair.

The pattern is available from 17th Century Suds. The company focuses on creating and selling organic soap and skin products. They actually create the soaps in their own factory and sell them! I, however, was on a mission to find socks. And I did. When I imagine these socks on my feet I smile:) So, it must be the right pattern.


The name of this pattern is "Stephanie's Socks Gerbera Daisy Argyle". Wendy, the owner of the company, made these for her massage therapist Stephanie.  I love them because the Gerber Daisy is one of my favorite flowers, and it is time for new socks. I think there is some logic in there somewhere! And Stephanie must be very special. Not everyone has a great pair of socks named after them.


OK, now I am faced with another rainy day. To wet for me to plant tomatoes, so I might as well knit.

Adding ball number 2

When I thought about adding the new ball I wanted to do it nicely. So, I consulted You Tube. I found a great video about joining a new ball into my knitting. This is by Judy from Knitting Tips by Judy.

How to Add a New Ball of Yarn

It has many steps, but worked great! My usual mode of operand i is to leave a tail, start up a new ball, leaving a tail and then weave in the two tails. This time I followed Judy's tips from the video. I am very please with the results.

Here is a view of the progress I have made so far...

 Here is a view of the back before I snipped the ends off.

And here is a view of the front.

 

I am sure the next 8 times I add in a new ball of yarn will look even better!

One Down Nine to Go!!

I did it!!!! I finished one skein. (OK, I have to research this...is it a skein if it is yarn wrapped around cardboard?)

I have gain a lot of confidence since I started. And have learned a few new stitches.

Here is where I started...

And now...

Next is learning the nicest way to attach the second ball/skein.

A more sophisticated stitch marker

I am making slow, but steady progress on my Birthday shawl. In the last post I showed my "brilliant" discovery of a technique to slow me down.

Because my pattern repeats every nine stitches I was marking my starting spot with a scrap of yarn. This worked well, however it wasn't.....very sturdy.

So, I am now using strips of silk ribbon to mark my pattern as I go. It is much prettier and easier to see. Here I have placed the ribbon just before the first stitch of my nine stitch pattern.

 Here is where I stopped knitting my nine stitch pattern. Now I count the stitches to be sure I have created nine new stitches. Yes! This set has nine stitches.

Now I do it all again, all the way across the row:)

Making Progress by following my advice!

This has been really hard for me, but quite rewarding. I did it! I actually slowed down and have maintained the 130 stitches each row should have:)

Here is what I did. First I analyzed the pattern. It has a 4 stitch border at each end. Then all along the row it is a repeating 9 stitch pattern. So, I thought if I can check myself 9 stitches at a time I should end up with the right number of stitches at the end.

Before the 9 stitch pattern begins I place a piece of scrap yarn between my needles, like this... Look for the pink strand placed between the needles.

Then I knit the 9 stitch pattern and stopped to count.

Yes, I have 9 stitches! Then I moved the pink strand to my current place and knit the 9 stitch pattern again, counted the stitches, and moved the strand again. I continued like this all the way across the row and ended up with 130 stitches.

This was a bit painful for me. Going so slowly! However,the results were great, and no more ripping out:)

The Birthday Shawl Starts Again

I have decided to take my advise from a previous post and slow down!!

I ripped out the shawl and have started again at a slower pace.

First I did the provisional cast on...

At this point I have 130 stitches.

Next I stitched the first row with my sunny yellow.

I put row markers at every 20 stitches. So, it will be easier to track any missing stitches. Row one complete with 130 stitches

Row 2

Row 2 complete with 130 stitches.

Next row 3.

Still going strong with 130 stitches.

So far so good, I made it through the first 5 rows with all 130 stitches intact:)

The next challenge is starting the lacing pattern. Once the kids are in bed and all is quiet I will try it!