Tuesday, July 29, 2008

It's finished. My Adamas shawl was finished last night and spent the night pinned to a blanket on the dining room table. It was hard to get a photo of the thing altogether but I did take this one. It is definitely not a testament to my ability to follow a pattern. If you look, you can see where I missed a row and it threw the whole scheme off. My nice straight squares morphed into heart shapes. It's almost like an Escher drawing where you start out with one thing and it changes gradually into something else. The center and top of the shawl have nice crisp square shapes. But about halfway down, I missed the row and it gradually starts to look like hearts and you know what? I like it. It is very regular and looks like a design element. And that's my story.


I'm not happy that I didn't pick up the error. I'm not sure what I was thinking (clearly, I was NOT thinking). It was hard to see the pattern with it all bunched up on the needles and when I looked at it at night, it looked right. It wasn't until I blocked it out that the discrepancies showed themselves. It's still pretty and lacy looking and I will still wear it to the wedding on Saturday. I guess if one of the other guests is a knitter, they might pick up my massive error but maybe not. Maybe they'll just admire the way the sunlight brings out the colors in the yarn or admire how lovely it looks draped on my shoulders. In any case, it is soft and light and warm and I will enjoy wearing it.


The Tour de France kal is over. Now, I am committed to making a felted bag for one of my clients. She asked me to knit a bag for her and offered me a painting in exchange. I agreed and today she brought in her painting. She is an art student who is having a show at a local gallery on Friday. The painting is an abstract nude and I like it. Now I have to live up to my end of the bargain and make the bag. I found a pattern she likes and ordered some red yarn (her request). As soon as it gets here, I'll get started. I've never felted anything (on purpose) before so I chose an easy pattern. At least I hope it's easy. It's from Berroco yarn and it's called Pignoli. I like it. She has an appointment in 4 weeks and I'd like to give it to her then. I may be a tad optimistic here. It's a heavy worsted yarn on size 10 US needles. Maybe it's doable. And then it gets felted in the machine. Anyone ever made this before? I'm afraid I'll really like it and then not want to give it away.
I also ordered Cat Bordhi's New Pathways to Socks book. I've seen so many interesting socks online that have come out of that book that I am really looking forward to it.
Tomorrow is Wednesday and the week will be half over. On Monday I have my endoscope test done. On the one hand, I want the test to be clear with no evident problems. On the other, I want there to be something wrong that she can fix so I don't have pain in my chest anymore. I have been taking two medicines for a few weeks now and the pain is less frequent and not as intense so maybe they are solving the problem. Maybe it's something that will never go completely away and I'll have to live with it. At least I'll know one way or another come Monday.

11 comments:

Bezzie said...

Yeah that's a tough endo-situation. I can see both sides.

Beautiful Adamas!!!

And I love the barter felted bag. I've never made it but it looks really easy to make.

Bells said...

Oh it's wonderful! Hooray! I'm so glad you finished it. It'll look beautiful. May we see a shot of you wearing it?

You know what I think? I can relate this back to my current pi shawl which is not perfect - I tell myself that the small errors will show up in the blogpost photos only. When it's over my shoulder, it'll all drape and look lovely and no one will be the wiser. As long as you end up with a shawl shaped item in the end, i say screw our inner perfectionists!

amy said...

Having no idea what it's supposed to look like, I saw the photo and immediately thought, Oh, what beautiful hearts! Seems like a serendipitous mistake to me. :)

Olivia said...

I too thought the hearts were meant to be there. I would love to see a full photo and maybe a modelled photo too! I like your approach to accepting the error as a design element.

DPUTiger said...

The shawl looks great. Who cares that you put your own design element into it. I guarantee that only someone who has knit the pattern and has seen a picture of exactly what it's supposed to look like will have half a clue something is "wrong."

Felted projects go quickly. My favorite felting method is hottest possible water plus some Soak plus a pair of cheap flip-flops. Throw them all in the washer along with the project in a zippered pillowcase and check it every 5-10 minutes. You can totally do it!

Hope the endoscope has a good result that gets your pain whacked into shape. Happy Hump Day! :)

Rose Red said...

I think the shawl looks great!! I thought the hearts were the pattern, so that's cool - I'm sure it will look fabulous on you and you should be proud of it!!

And felting is pretty easy, really - just bung it in the washing machine in hot water and press go (I used jeans, not thongs - flip flops! but either way should work). It's a great pattern - I can see myself adding it to my queue quick smart!!

Alwen said...

Odds are, if they are a knitter, they'll say it's beautiful and ask you where to get the pattern!

It's hard not to want to fix our relatives' lives.

Galad said...

I love the shawl and you may have lured me in to trying one :)

Good luck with the endoscope. My daughter is still having pain in her stomach and they are trying a new med. Hope Monday they find nothing serious, but something that can be treated!

roxie said...

No one was looking for a way to fight infections when they discovered penicillan. Embrace those accidental successes! Call it a Romanticas shawl and love it just the way it is!

All best wishes for your endoscopy. Think good thoughts.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful shawl - I'm glad you finished it and I'm sure you will love wearing it. What a great bag pattern! I hope your test turns out well..wishing you luck!

MadMad said...

Oh, the shawl looks gorgeous! And I don't think anyone will notice any mistakes on Saturday - you're going to look great in it. It really is pretty!

Happy Sunday!  I am sitting here working on my sweater made with the cashmere yarn my husband gave me for my birthday last year. I’m further...