Itineris

I'm wrapping up the week on a positive note with a finished project. This one was long overdue.  In fact this project was almost finished a couple times, so it felt good to finally get it off the needles.

Itineris.

A while back, this shawl was put on hold because I ran out of yarn. When I finally sorted that out, I picked the project up only to discover something else had gone awry.

I had worked too far on this section.

Once I had remedied that situation, I buckled down.  It was time to show this project who was boss.

There's nothing like the challenge of a project that's fighting back.  I was determined to finish this shawl one way or another, so I sat down and didn't get up until it was done.

For all its trials and tribulations, I really did enjoy knitting this shawl. Stripes are so simple.  They brighten my day and are fun to make.

The yarn is Paula, Dirty Snow and Gourd. 

Dirty Snow is one of those goes-with-almost-anything, versatile contrast colors.  I'm sure I'll be using it again for another 2-color adventure.

Intense colors often grab my attention . . . like this week's color inspiration.

Bold with a splash of bright.

I Had a Feeling . . .

I had a sneaking suspicion I was going to run out of yarn on Itineris.

And I did.  I don't have enough Dirty Snow.  I hate when this happens, but it's not the end of the world.  I'll come up with a solution, preferably one that doesn't involve cracking open another skein.  According to my calculations, I need just a few yards.

While I pondered the yarn shortage, I did finish a sock.

Almost finished.  All it needs is a quick kitchener . . . and a mate.  I need some sense of project completion, and this is the best I can do at the moment.

Fresh shell peas at the farmers' market are my color inspiration this week.

Speckled pink.

Maybe It's Contagious

The other day I received an email about a yarn emergency.  The gist of it was, "Help! I'm going to run out of yarn."  Every once in a while I get a yarn SOS.  It happens to every knitter.  No matter how many times you crunch the numbers, it's inevitable that occasionally you run out of yarn.  Even if you buy an extra skein or three, there's no guarantee.

So I shouldn't have been surprised when I picked up my Itineris and discovered this.

A few days ago I was sure I had plenty of yarn to finish this project. The ball of Dirty Snow was getting smaller, but I wasn't alarmed. Today, I'm not so sure.  That ball is looking mighty small.  I don't have the heart to calculate how many yards I have left.  Sometimes confronting the cold hard numbers only makes matters worse.

I'm close to the finish line with this project, so I'll know the outcome soon enough.  I'm tempted to knit quickly . . . like that will save me from running out of yarn.  Instead, I'm going to have another cup of coffee and calmly knit on.  Like with a good book, I'm going to savor the ending.

The Element of Surprise

Sometimes when I'm about to start a new knitting project, I skim the pattern to get a sense of how everything comes together.  Some designers are really clever, and I'm often amazed at their construction concepts.  By reading through the pattern ahead of time, I have a better grasp of what's coming down the knitting pike.  It's like reading the end of a book before you actually get there.  It takes the element of surprise out of the equation, but it prepares you for what's coming.

Sometimes I'm curious how everything comes together, but I don't read ahead.  I want to be surprised.  When you think about it, knitting requires a certain amount of faith that it will all work out and that your finished garment will, at the very least, faintly resemble the one pictured in the pattern.  We won't discuss how pattern errata can lead you astray.  That's a discussion for a different day.

My strategy with Itineris was one of blind faith.  There are stripes all over the place with some twists and turns that create stripes at right angles.  I thought of reading ahead but decided to sit back, enjoy the ride and hope that everything would work out in the end.  So far, so good.

I turned the corner.

Now I'm striping in the other direction with a new set of stitches and incorporating the old stitches as I go.  Yes, I'm curious how this will all come together.  No, I haven't read the ending.

Keeping Stripes in Sequence

I'm back from the holiday weekend and ready to get to work.  My weekend knitting included Itineris.  Garter with stripes.  It seemed like the perfect combination for the weekend.  Sad to say Itineris encountered a slight mishap.  Well, maybe not so slight since I had to rip it all the way back.  

I didn't let that stop me.  I got got back on the horse that threw me and knit my way back to where I was and then some.  The stripes are back on track. 

Often it seems that as soon as you get comfortable with a pattern and settle in, it's time to move on to the next section.  After knitting and re-knitting this part, I'm intimately acquainted with the striping sequence in this design and have committed it to memory.  That must mean this section is almost finished.

Daylight and Knitting

The longer daylight hours this time of year can be deceptive.  The days are still 24 hours long, but somehow the additional light during those 24 hours makes it seem like I have more time.  Or at least like I should have more time.  But of course I don't.

My weekend started out with plenty of knitting time penciled in, but then things went awry.  There was the long distance call from a friend traveling in Switzerland.  Before she left, she forgot to take care of a couple things at her house.  Could I stop by?  But of course. Teenagers with changes in plans that required extra driving?  I never say no.  

But at the thought of grocery shopping, I put my foot down.  There's nothing I hate more than grocery shopping unless it's cleaning the bathroom. Instead, we foraged through the fridge over the weekend.  It needed to be cleaned out anyway.  

And that foraging led to a rhubarb blueberry pie, so it was worth it in the long run.  This morning that pie has breakfast written all over it.

And in the midst of all the driving and the pie baking, I found time for some knitting.  It wasn't the uninterrupted knitting time I had planned on, but it was productive.

Itineris.  More stripes, more daylight and pie.