the Akamai Knitter

First I was going to make this ball of yarn into the Damson.  When that didn’t work out, I attempted the Travelling Woman. Only I was defeated by the sheer simplicity of achieving a certain amount of stitches after knitting a certain number of plain stockinette rows.

How much of an idiot am I? :P

So this sad ball of yarn,

is trying very hard to become the Sunbird (Ravelry link).

It hasn’t been easy as not only has my thumb still slowly healing, but I’ve also had the stomach flu since this past Thursday.  I’m much better now and since there are no plain stockinette rows to confuse me, the shawl is taking shape.

Hopefully the third time’s the charm. :)

Now revel in the cuteness, but excuse the late night crappy photo.

Happy Wednesday, everyone!

Just for fun, I decided to take a photo of all the shawls I have in progress.

From left to right, we have the Swallowatail (PDF File), the Lyra (Ravelry), the Travelling Woman (Ravelry), and then the itty bitty black piece is supposed to be the Daybreak. What I don’t have pictured is the Boxleaf Triangle and the Herbivore.

Why so many?

Well, I reached the nupp section of the Swallowtail and I didn’t think that would make good car knitting. So I thought, “Hey!, The Daybreak will work!” Plus, that’s supposed to be a present for Mom.

The problem with that is I chose to do it in black. I’m also having problems remembering how to differentiate between make one left and make one right.  So.  Not good car knitting.

As for the Lyra? Definitely not good car knitting.

That’s how the Travelling Woman came to be. I didn’t want to throw that yarn back in the stash after having ripped the Damson and I didn’t want to attempt the Damson again.  So. I started the Travelling Woman.

In the end I worked on the Swallowtail in the car.

Ha!

As for the Herbivore? I was 3/4ths into binding off when I ran out of  yarn.

Yeah.

So. I need to rip back a few rows to make sure I have a nice garter stitch edge then I can bind off again. But it’s the whole “rip back a few rows” that’s holding me back.

The Boxleaf Triangle has been hibernating for months. I just lost interest in it.

Hopefully, posting about all these projects will get my ass in gear and motivate me to finish some of these up.  The weather is certainly cooperating!

There’s nothing like a rainy day to get the knitting mojo in gear.

Happy Monday, people! (That sounds so wrong.)

Remember the knit along? The one for the Oyster Bay Shawl? The one where I was supposed to knit with Cookie and Megan? I kind of fell behind them by a mile or three. Well not only did I finally finish the shawl, I also blocked it.

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Pattern: Oyster Bay Shawl

Yarn: Malabrigo Laceweight in Whales Road from our Cookie

Needles: size 5US/3.75mm

Started: 9/11/09

Finished: 11/04/09

No modifications.

The pattern really gets lost with this yarn, but the yarn is so pretty  I don’t think I mind. It was a nice little pattern to knit too. Not too hard, not too easy.  It was enough to keep me entertained.

I love the yarn. It’s nice and soft and like I said, the colors are perfect. Cookie picked a winner. Thank you, Cookie!

In other news, there’s a flash flood watch across the state. You wouldn’t know it looking at the morning sky though. Yeah the sun is shining brighter then bright and the sky is blue.

Island weather is just crazy.

Happy Friday everyone! Have a great weekend!

(gakked from our Cookie, who gakked it from Carole.)

For those who are unfamiliar with Thankful Thursdays, the basic premise is to list three things you’re thankful for.  So here goes.

1. My friends. They’re an endless well of support and love. Especially in the wake of all my whining when I’m sick and I happen to get sick a lot.  They also respect my boundaries. I have a thing about people touching me and they respect that. So thanks to all my local friends and to my cyber friends.
2. My mother. Blogless Dayna and I  have a theory that we used up all our good parental karma on our mothers because we get along so well with them, but no so much with our fathers. But get along well with my mother I do. She’s one of my best friends and I cherish her.
3. This is a weird one. My dentist. If it were not for him, I would not have gotten the root canal that relieved me of considerably pain. He also doesn’t demand full payment at the time of the procedure. This is a lifesaver as I wouldn’t have been able to get said root canal. Instead I’d probably be missing a tooth.

In knitting news, I’m still trying to catch up to our Cookie when it comes to the Lyra (Ravelry).

I can’t wait for the 47″ needles I ordered to get here. It’s currently cramed on a 32″ circular needle and it’s getting a bit cramped.

Sammy’s feeling rather bashful today.

Happy Thursday everyone! I hear we’re canceling the rest of the week. (Not that there’s much of it left.) Doesn’t that sound like a great idea?

Remember the Oyster Bay Shawl? Well not only is it finished, it’s upstairs all pinned out and drying.

You see, I figured out why I was so unhappy with it. It was the needles! I was using metal needles and for some reason they were hurting my hands. I have no idea why all of a sudden my hands decided they don’t like metal needles over a certain size. They’re fine with size 1US needles, just not with the 5US needle I was using.

So I quickly changed to my plastic Denise needles.  The only problem was that the cable was a bit too thick for the laceweight yarn.  Megan suggested I try out new Zephyr needles from Knit Picks.  I went ahead and ordered some, but by the time they arrived I had already finished the shawl. Figures, huh?

Still, these needles are so nifty I decided to use them on my Herbivore.

I can see why Zonda has the love for these needles. The points are so nice and sharp! They make those purl through back loops so much easier. The needles themselves are nice and slick. They’re almost as slick as metal, which I like.

I cannot tell you how tempted I am to cast on for a lace shawl with actual decreases in it. But I’m knitting another shawl besides the Herbivore. So no. Not yet.

The fact that they’re clear doesn’t bother me at all. I thought it might be a problem, but so far so good.

All in all, I think these needles were worth the astronomical shipping cost that Knit Picks likes to charge Hawaii residents.

I’m also thinking of spinning up the other bobbin of this.

My wheels are getting rusty doncherknow!

Sammy wants to know what you’re up to!

It’s Monday folks. I hope you’re getting through it all right.