Cured
This past Monday I tweeted that I was sitting in a coffee shop, working on my Color Affection shawl. What I should have said, was that I was binding off my Color Affection, and feeling somewhat bittersweet about it...
Pattern: Color Affection by Veera Valimaki
Yarn: Countess Ablaze Lord of Silk in "Grey Skies in Manchester", "Antique Rose" and "Only When Invited". I ended up using 278 yds of grey, 168 yds of pink and 238 yds of muticolored.
Needles: US 6/4.0 mm
Start/finish: 19 October - 12 November 2012
Comments/mods: well. For comments, I think I'm not alone in saying this is a lovely, well-written, and completely addictive pattern (if you like garter stitch). Once the trauma of choosing a color combination was finished, the actual knitting was fabulous - not too fiddly (good TV knitting), but enough going on that it was interesting. I'm sure others have also succumbed to long hours of garter stitch, just to get the next set of stripes done!
Mods: two major modifications to the pattern. First, I used a garter tab to start the shawl instead of a straight cast on as called for. Second, I knit Section A as written and found that the edges were really tight. Ripped back and added a yarn over between the first two stitches of every row (in the garter border), that got dropped on subsequent rows so the stitch count didn't change. That added enough extra yarn at the edges that it curves into a lovely arc.
At some point in the short row section I stopped and counted stitches, and didn't have the number I was supposed to have. Instead of driving myself over the brink and trying to figure out where I'd gone wrong and fix it, I said "What the hell!" and soldiered on. It's garter stitch. It's a scarf. No. Big. Deal.
I'm a bit surprised by the amount of yarn I used of the various colors. Unlike Brenda, I used mostly color A and color C, with color B coming in at the least yardage required. Hmmm...to be fair, I didn't weigh the balls before I started, so I'm not 100% that they were full skeins. But they should have been.
As a scientist, I feel obligated to try to reproduce my yardage results for posterity and the good of the general knitting public. Therefore, I am going to make the sacrifice and knit another ColorInfection Affection shawl. Now the question becomes, what colors? Help me decide people!
This is a portion of my sock yarn stash. There are a few skeins secreted here and there, and none of the handspun is in here, but this is what I'm starting with. I've tried a few combinations - see what you think.
#1 - Hello Orange!
#2 - The Manly Subtle Version
#3 - Teal + Sparkly Purple + Grey
#4 - Teal + Sparkly Purple + White
#5 - You Won't Lose Me in an Avalanche
#6 - What goes with Yellowy Green?
#7 - Ugh. In Retrospect, No.
#8 - Rocky Point, Mexico
#9 - Predictable
#10 - I Think My Subconscious Wants to Get Rid of That Orange Yarn...
If you have other suggestions, please do post a comment. Infection 1.0 is currently drying on my guest bed, so modeled shots will have to be for another time.
Pattern: Color Affection by Veera Valimaki
Yarn: Countess Ablaze Lord of Silk in "Grey Skies in Manchester", "Antique Rose" and "Only When Invited". I ended up using 278 yds of grey, 168 yds of pink and 238 yds of muticolored.
Needles: US 6/4.0 mm
Start/finish: 19 October - 12 November 2012
Comments/mods: well. For comments, I think I'm not alone in saying this is a lovely, well-written, and completely addictive pattern (if you like garter stitch). Once the trauma of choosing a color combination was finished, the actual knitting was fabulous - not too fiddly (good TV knitting), but enough going on that it was interesting. I'm sure others have also succumbed to long hours of garter stitch, just to get the next set of stripes done!
Mods: two major modifications to the pattern. First, I used a garter tab to start the shawl instead of a straight cast on as called for. Second, I knit Section A as written and found that the edges were really tight. Ripped back and added a yarn over between the first two stitches of every row (in the garter border), that got dropped on subsequent rows so the stitch count didn't change. That added enough extra yarn at the edges that it curves into a lovely arc.
At some point in the short row section I stopped and counted stitches, and didn't have the number I was supposed to have. Instead of driving myself over the brink and trying to figure out where I'd gone wrong and fix it, I said "What the hell!" and soldiered on. It's garter stitch. It's a scarf. No. Big. Deal.
I'm a bit surprised by the amount of yarn I used of the various colors. Unlike Brenda, I used mostly color A and color C, with color B coming in at the least yardage required. Hmmm...to be fair, I didn't weigh the balls before I started, so I'm not 100% that they were full skeins. But they should have been.
As a scientist, I feel obligated to try to reproduce my yardage results for posterity and the good of the general knitting public. Therefore, I am going to make the sacrifice and knit another Color
This is a portion of my sock yarn stash. There are a few skeins secreted here and there, and none of the handspun is in here, but this is what I'm starting with. I've tried a few combinations - see what you think.
#1 - Hello Orange!
#2 - The Manly Subtle Version
#3 - Teal + Sparkly Purple + Grey
#4 - Teal + Sparkly Purple + White
#5 - You Won't Lose Me in an Avalanche
#6 - What goes with Yellowy Green?
#7 - Ugh. In Retrospect, No.
#8 - Rocky Point, Mexico
#9 - Predictable
#10 - I Think My Subconscious Wants to Get Rid of That Orange Yarn...
If you have other suggestions, please do post a comment. Infection 1.0 is currently drying on my guest bed, so modeled shots will have to be for another time.