In the Moment

Last week I finished In the Moment just in time for a road trip to New Hampshire.

If it had been a little cooler, I would have worn the shawl myself.  

This shawl is worked top down.  

Stripes are one of my favorites, and they kept me entertained on this project.  

The body is followed with a textured border.

The whole shebang is finished with a sweet picot bind off.

The yarn is Crystal, colorways Fossil and Brilliant. 

Superwash Merino, Yak and Silk . . . delicious.

From Bind Off to Blocking

Update on In the Moment.  The other night I was knitting away on this shawl.  I had a plan.  That evening I would finish the border.  The next day I would switch colors, work a couple rows and then do a picot bind off over 391 stitches.  It sounds a lot quicker than it really is, but I was prepared for the long haul on the bind off.

I was closing in on the last 4 rows of the border.  My ball of yarn was getting sickeningly small, so I did a weigh-in.  I worked 2 rows and weighed again.  The numbers told me I was probably going to be short, but I'm optimistic by nature and forged ahead.  

The numbers didn't lie.  I had about 60 stitches left on the last border row when I ran out of yarn.  The real kicker?  Just last week I wound 40 yards off this ball of yarn for something totally unrelated . . . because I was convinced I would have more than enough for this shawl.

It was late at night, and I considered several work-arounds.  I eventually settled on a solution - maybe not the best one, but at that late hour it seemed like the way to go.  More details on that another time.

The good news . . . this shawl is finished, picot bind off and all. 

It's blocking now and will be ready for the weekend.  Mission accomplished.

This week's color inspiration is a show of pink.

Delicate and dainty.

Staying in the Moment

I have a love-hate relationship with deadlines.  While they can add an extra layer of stress to a situation, they are a good kick in the butt to get things done.  I'm in the midst of working my way through a list of pressing deadlines, so I didn't need to add anything to the pile but . . .

Last week I was working on In the Moment and making pretty good progress when I had the bright idea that it would make a nice new sample for New Hampshire Sheep and Wool.  That means I need to finish the shawl for this coming weekend - Mother's Day Weekend.  

Every year I like to have something new for New Hampshire.  Since I really didn't have a master plan this year, In the Moment seemed like a good option.  Now that I think of it, the name of the design fits the situation perfectly. 

When I hatched this plan, the rows were getting longer and longer, but the body was almost done.  As you know, time can be very deceptive when you're increasing stitches.  Rows that went quickly at the beginning of the project take so much longer further down the road.  

The rows weren't zipping by, but I did finish the body.  I even had the right stitch count.

Now I have a good start on the border . . . row 7 of 20.  And yes, I'm still increasing . . . 80 stitches over the course of the border.  And then there's the picot bind off which is oh, so lovely and oh, so fussy.  I'm not panicking yet.  It's only Monday.  I'm going to take this pattern name to heart and try to stay in the moment.

Thanks to everyone who entered the April giveaway.  I appreciate all the new pattern suggestions.  The winner is Kathy in Alaska.  Kathy is working on the largest lace project she's ever attempted.  She commented, "I decided to add beads, too, to make it even more of a challenge!"  That's the spirit.  Keep your eyes on the blog.  There will be another chance to win later in the month.

More Stripes

I have a soft spot for stripes.  They are playful, fun and cheery.  When it comes to knitting, stripes keep a project interesting.  I've knit my fair share of striped projects - Catkin, Zephyr Cove, Itineris - so it was easy for me to fall for another set of stripes.

In the Moment.  The only problem?  This project is interfering with the rest of my work.  Just one more stripe . . . 

Earlier this week a friend shared some flowers with me, and I still need to plant them.  They are bright and lively . . . my color inspiration for the week.

Vivid pansies.