Sunday, September 28, 2008

Sometimes, The Dragon Wins

Most of us are familiar with this cartoon (or a variation thereof)--a contented and replete dragon resting against a tree, surrounded by inedible knightly bits. Clearly, the knight did not have a good questing day.

I feel for the poor knight. He invested a lot of time and energy tracking down the dragon, polishing armor, eating cold porridge, and making sure his white horse was spotless--only to end up as lunch.

Like the tragic knight, Harry spent a great deal of time, energy, and Colourmart cash/silk knitting the Bling shawl, only to cringe and scrabble away in horror when the thing was blocked out.

It's not a total failure, but attractive it is not. The only way Harry would show you a picture of it was if I draped it tastefully on a hanger...




... or applied Photoshop filters with a heavy hand. Below is the very first use I ever had for the spheroid and melty filters. Too bad I can't apply these filters to the actual shawl. I think the melty effect is rather charming.






Harry's off sulking now, Red Roxx earbuds firmly in place, tuned into Trance Radio. He can come out and snicker at my Triinu shawl. I ran out of yarn as I approached the edging. Of course, the new skein doesn't match. Perhaps now would be a good time to tune into Trance radio myself...

26 comments:

  1. What's wrong with it? It is still usable. Don't sulk. Maybe you are on to something new and fab. Who knows.

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  2. Seriously. Take a better picture. and make the pattern available for sale or trade. It is lovely!

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  3. < scratches head >

    What's wrong with it? It looks wonderful!!

    Sounds like both you and Harry are having a bad day. Sorry. On the hand, I love Trance Radio. :-)

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  4. I am so sorry.... Sounds like you both are having a horrible day. For what it is worth, it looks lovely in the photo.

    (Though I do know the tricks of a photoshop job all to well)

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  5. love the melty pics! But what is it Harry doesn't like about the shawl? I think it's great, but of course, it's all in the eyes of the beholders. Ummm, would you be kind enough to tell me where Trance radio is on the dial? I could use some Trance right about now.

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  6. I like the Bling shawl.

    Running out of yarn sucks.
    I was within 12 feet of that with my latest project, so I'm even more sympathetic than usual.

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  7. The shawl is beautiful. I have no idea what your problem with it is. Artists are always their own worst critics.

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  8. It looks pretty glorious to me...What exactly is not right about it??? I must be missing something! Tell Harry he should feel free to send it to me!

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  9. I love the edging you used.

    Like everyone else I can't see what is wrong with it at all. And I've looked hard!

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  10. Folks, There's nothing wrong with it--it just didn't give us a thrill. Hard to explain! Perhaps we worked on it too long and so we were inevitably disappointed after all that labor. We shall put it away and look at it in six months. Perhaps we will see it differently with a long rest period.

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  11. Judith, Trance radio is all over the Internet. I especially like this station: http://www.tranceradio.ch/.

    If you haven't explored Internet radio, you are in for a treat. Give Pandora a try, as well: http://www.pandora.com/. You can build your very own custom radio stations there--very cool!

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  12. OMG, that 4th picture is coming to EAT ME!

    I like the center parts, but to me, something about that wide border just isn't quite the thing. But I'm a philistine, so whadda I know??

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  13. I think if you put the Bling shawl away for awhile and give yourself a break from it you might feel better on seeing it again. I bet it looks really good on an actual person! Well do I know the feeling of having a different dye lot on reaching the last skein of yarn :-( We will hope for better days for you both!

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  14. I think the shawl is beautiful! Maybe its redness is what is bothering you... You could always overdye it black.

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  15. What are you talking about? I think it's lovely!

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  16. Awwwww.... come on, please, pretty please, show us the entire shawl? It looks perfectly lovely. Give it another chance? (Or, send it to me...)

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  17. Silly Fleegle. The shawl is gorgeous!

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  18. I'm surprised no other classless low-life has suggested it, so... If you and Harry really don't like it that much I'll be happy to take it off your hands. I think it looks perfectly lovely.

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  19. Darn, Leslie beat me to it!

    I think Bling is perfectly lovely! I actually like the wide border, and it looks wonderfully dramatic!

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  20. I've just looked at it briefly, and it looks pretty darned good to me.Put it away for a bit, I'm sure it'll grow on you. Also, love phototshop. Wish I could conjure up a shawl without actually doing the knitting...

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  21. I think you're probably right you've worked on it long and hard and seen it lots you also didn't have that thrill of seeing the finished article on the front of the pattern and thought I must do that... or know what you're working towards... like the rest of your readers put it away out of sight for a while...

    I like it very much especially the edging the only thing I'm not overly struck on is the colour but I'm just not a bright red fan.... but truly it's a work of art

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  22. Hmmm, methinks that hter is somehting athwart your brain. It looks lovely to me. Of course, I don't really knit lace on the level you do, so perhaps I am blinded by the accomplishment.

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  23. I think Harry's being too hard on himself. I rather like how the shawl looks! I sure wish I had the skill to create something so beautiful!

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  24. the spherical filter rather makes it look as though your shawl has teeth.

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