WIP Wednesday 8/15/12

Well, not much progress to report on the Ubiquitous Kate front.  I’ve picked up the stitches along the top of the shawl and done the necessary increases for the ruffle. I had just barely started knitting the ruffle ribbing when this happened:

Let me give you a closer look.  See that?  

That is a broken needle, and it’s totally not my fault.  I’ve broken needles before, of course- stepped on them, sat on them, etc.  This is the first time, however, that I have had a needle snap in half while I am in the middle of knitting.  It’s a Knitpicks Zephyr Acrylic Interchangeable Needle.  I haven’t heard of this happening before, so I don’t know whether these types of needles are just weak, whether I got a bad one, or whether I am just an extremely strong knitter.

I think I managed to pick up all of the stitches that dropped when it happened, thank goodness.  I called Knitpicks, and thanks to their excellent customer support, I have already received a replacement (I didn’t have to send the broken one back, or even show them pictures!  And they sent me a whole new pair, rather than just a replacement for the one needle!).  I am super impressed with their customer service, but I think that I will stick to ordering their nice, strong nickel-plated needles in the future, rather than the Zephyrs.

On the bright side, this means that I had lots of time to focus on my Honey Bunches shawl. It just needs end-weaving and blocking.

I’ve signed up for two beaded lace mystery knit-a-longs on Ravelry.  Laura Nelkin is hosting the Trapeze Mystery KAL, which is scheduled to start on August 17.  Boo Knits is doing  the Out of the Darkness KAL, which will start on August 25.   (I ordered the beads for both today and am so excited!)

Since I have both of these projects coming up really soon, I’ve been reluctant to start anything too complicated in the meantime.  I’m about two-thirds of the way through the hat from the Knitpicks Luxe Accessories Kit, and I’m really enjoying the feel of the Knitpicks City Tweed Heavyweight.  There are some major errors in the pattern though, which has been a little bit frustrating.

I also cast on for a pair of toe-up socks in Berroco Sox Metallic.  I’m kind of making them up as a I go along, with a little bit of this pattern here, and a little bit of that pattern there.  I’m thinking that I may do an afterthought heel (I’ve never done one before!), but I still have a bit to go before I have to make that decision.  I’m just doing a basic stockinette foot for these socks, and will probably just do a ribbed leg- this will be my nice, simple, uncomplicated project for when my brain needs a break from all of the beaded lace in the KALs.

What have you been working on this week?  Head on over to Tami’s Ami’s WIP Wednesdays to see what everyone else has been working on!

WIP Wednesday 8/1/12

Happy August!  I have no new projects to share with you, and I’m still knitting the same WIPs as last Wednesday.  And the week before that.  And the week before...well, you get the idea.

Anyway, I’ve finally finished the body of my Ubiquitious Kate!  It seems to be a really nice size, and I can’t wait to get the ruffles on this thing so that I can actually wear it.  I don’t kid myself about the fact that it’s going to take forever to do that, though- each round on the ruffle will be about a trillion* stitches.

My Honey Bunches is still moving slowly along.  I am halfway through the third garter stitch section.  

I seem to have a lot of yarn left so far, especially for being fairly close to the end of this shawl.  I know the rows get bigger as I go, so maybe I’m underestimating exactly how much bigger they may get, but it still feels like a lot of yarn!   The smaller version of the pattern (which I am using, as it calls for the amount of yarn that I have) tells you to only knit half of the lace repeat (12 rows) in the third and final lace section, but I think I may have a lot of yarn left over if I do that.  I’m thinking I might knit the whole 24 row repeat, but place a lifeline at row 12 just in case I run out of yarn, so I can easily frog back and finish the last garter stitch section.  What do you think?

My WendyKnits Summer Solstice Mystery Shawl and Radiance Shawl  are finished, blocked, and photographed, so look for those in the next couple od FO Fridays!

Want to see what everyone else is working on?  Head on over to Tami’s Amis’ Work in Progress Wednesdays.

*Okay, “trillion” may be a slight exaggeration, but not by much!

WIP Wednesday 7/25/12

I’ve bound off two shawls since last week!  These are the Wendy Knits Summer Solstice Mystery Shawl and Radiance.  As you can see, I still need to weave in ends and block, but then they’ll be done.   I’m hoping to persuade the boyfriend to do an FO photoshoot this weekend, so look out for these on future FO Fridays (it’s about time I had something to share for one of those!)

I’m still knitting along on Honey Bunches (which, for some reason, I keep wanting to call Honeycomb- not sure why).  This is my travelling knitting.  It’s so very simple, even on the lace sections, that I can easily put it down and figure out where I left off.  I’m on the third garter stitch section, so I’m getting closer to the end.

I’ve also brought the Ubiquitous Kate back out of its short hibernation, and am really enjoying working on it again.  I love knitting lace, but the purl design is a fun change.  With three other shawls also on the needles, I really didn’t have time to work on this one, but now that I’ve bound off two, this one is back in the mix.  I’m in the middle of the final chart repeat, then I will need to pick up about a gazillion stitches for the ruffle.

What is everyone else working on this week?  Head over to Tami’s Amis WIP Wednesday to find out.

WIP Wednesday 7/11/12

This week, my knitting has been mainly focused on Radiance, Honey Bunches, and The Summer Solstice Mystery Shawl KAL 2012.  (The same three projects as last week!)

I was so very close to being done with Radiance- I was on the very last knit row before the bindoff, and then disaster struck.  Well, actually, disaster had struck several rows before, but I didn’t notice it until that point.  It appeared that I had dropped a stitch at the end of the last lacey section and it had unravelled several more rows.  I wish I had taken a picture for you, but I was too horrified to think about that, so a verbal description will have to suffice.  There was a huge hole.  In the middle of my shawl.

It seemed too far back to just drop that section’s stitches down, so I made the very painful decision to frog back to the problem.  It really wasn’t that may rows, but they are so long that it was still a ton of stitches.  To make matters worse, Malabrigo Lace does not like to unravel.  It clings to itself and generally makes everything a mess.

I finally got all of my 506 stitches picked back up last night, and am finishing up the last lace section now (for the second time).  Then I just have the increases, garter stitch section and the picot (I think?) bind-off.

 Normally, this doesn’t happen because I am really good about counting stitches while I knit.  If the stitch count is off, then I know there is something wrong almost immediately after I create the problem.  However, with this many stitches, I get distracted and lose count.  I think that once I get done with the lace section and the increases, I’m going to place markers every 50 stitches so that I can count more easily.  I think I can manage to count to 50 without a problem, and if I get interrupted, I only have to start counting at the beginning of that section, not hundreds of stitches back.

My other WIPs are coming along much better, especially in comparison.  The next chart for the Summer Solstice Mystery Shawl  came out yesterday, but I haven’t had time to do much with it yet.  I’ve been flying through the past several clues, finishing them up within a couple of days of when they are published (every Tuesday); however, I really want to get my Radiance off the needles so I’m working a bit less on the Summer Solstice.  I still intend to get this chart finished before the next one comes out, however!

I’m really enjoying working on my Honey Bunches shawlette.  I love the colors of the yarn, and the pattern seems to be working well with it.  Would the pattern stand out better in a solid color?  Of course.  However, it’s a simple enough pattern that it works just fine with the variegated yarn, and I like it.

I am in the middle of the second garter-stitch section.  While not on the lace sections, this makes fantastic travel knitting- it’s just knit knit knit for most of the row, with easy-peasy increases on the end.

What are you working on this week?  Want to see everyone else’s WIPs?  Head on over to Tami’s Amis’ WIP Wednesdays.