Sunday, October 5, 2008

No Two Snowflakes...

...And no three skeins of Handmaiden Seasilk, either. I had ordered three skeins of Violet some time ago and, while two of the skeins were a pretty good match, the third skein was too red to even be designated a fifth step-cousin twice removed.

Triinu's shawl, like Hyrna, has a pretty, fluted border, so figured I could drop the mismatched skein into a pot of dark blue dye and use it for the edging. As you can see here, I followed through on this inspired thought and the shawl came out looking rather pretty.


My copy of the pattern is, well, intensely hilarious, sprinkled with directionally randomized double decreases, as well as a few single decreases meandering in the wrong direction. I giggled through the body, and by the time I got to the edging, I was laughing out loud with every row. The finishing row evoked sidesplitting laughter--the sequence given for crocheting off the stitches had nothing to do with the actual number of stitches on the needle. The fact that I paid an extortionist price for the, erm, directions, contributed a final sprinkling of mirth.

Fortunately, it was easy enough to fix the errors by checking which way the leaves were leaning, and crocheting together sensible groups of stitches at the end.

And boy, there was an abundance of leaning leaves...




...and held up the the light, the pattern is both graceful and dignified.


I received one email from a reader who said her pattern had no errors, so the designer must have made the corrections in later versions. If you can bear the $30 price tag, it's a quick and pleasant knit. Ordering information can be found on this Yahoo group.

After finishing Triinu's shawl, I was depressed to note that my WIP sink* was empty. Unlike most knitters, I loathe starting projects. Find project, find yarn, find needles, experiment, repeat...table littered with notes, needles, pattern fragments, eraser crumbs...ugh

But I persevered and now have two more Niebling shawls (I need more shawls, right?) and a pretty sweater on the needles. Alas, they are too diminutive for photography at the moment.

In lieu of eye candy, however, I would like to point out the usefulness of a trained lapcat.

Here I am peacefully knitting around, when suddenly, Laptop spots an error!


She points her nose right at it so I can pinpoint the problem.


She certainly knows her Nieblings--what a cat!


*My knitting lives in the kitchen bar sink.

29 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ah... What should I say, I am always so impressed with the ease of how you complete these works of art. Can I borrow Laptop. I could use a cat like that.

Cheryl S. said...

Despite all the troubles, Triinu turned out lovely. But I'm sure you're glad to have it done. I'm sure Laptop must have been a big help in figuring out the problems.

Christina said...

Beautiful! And I have to laugh about your not liking to begin new projects -- I am the same way, and for the same reasons. It seems that I always finish projects the night before cafe knitting so I have to scramble for a new project to bring the next day.

Angelika said...

I wouldn't have started looking for mistakes, if you wouldn't have pointed them out. Nice trick on using the oddball on the border. Makes it look like you meant to do it that way from the beginning.

Janice in GA said...

When my dogs try to point out mistakes, they're always wrong. It's probably because they're not lap dogs, right?

:)

Susan (and SmokeyBlue in spirit) said...

You have so ably demonstrated a great example of turning lemons into lemonade, or in this case blueberry pie. Your two toned shawl is the cat's meow!

Kitty Kitty said...

Squeel... your kitty is way to cute pointing out the error.

The new shawl is absolutely beautiful. I love it with the contrast.

Sheri at The Loopy Ewe said...

Your Triinu is amazing! I just found your blog and had fun going through and seeing all of your knitting art. (I'm not yet motivated to try a lace project of such enormous proportions, but I AM motivated to play with some tiger cubs...) :-)

Lacefreak said...

I think that the edge looks lovely with your over-dyed yarn! The shawl really is beautiful in spite of the price for the pattern. Your cat is very talented indeed if it can spot those knitting errors. No lace knitting for me for the last few days since I'm knitting hats to donate so it's a real pleasure to watch you knitting :-)

Nurhanne said...

Prettiest Trinuu I've seen so far. But I think perhaps that pattern should really be called "Marianne, Eugene, Maureen and Triinu's shawl" ;-)

Laritza said...

Beautiful shawl, I am one that will not pay the $30 for a pattern with......potential errors. I will pay for Sharon Miller's with and without errors :D
Lovely Kitty! What Nieblings are OTN?

z's momma said...

What a fabulous job on Triinu. $30 pattern with errors? (sigh). But yours did turn out beautifully.

Oh yes. What's on the needles?

Rosemary said...

Oh, Fleegle, that's awesome! I really like the different colored border. I wouldn't have thought of this, but gosh, it's gorgeous! It is a very graceful shawl. Hmmm... off to check out that link.

Ya know, this would take me months to knit. $30 for months of knitting enjoyment sounds like a bargain.

Your Laptop looks just like my Minoo (moment of silence...) who was my faithful companion for 25 years! She sure was a good pal. Now, Domino monitors my knitting. He's a slob, though, so I really can't count oh him to find my errors.

Soo said...

Lovely! Each skein of Handmaiden is indeed unique -- I've found that out the hard way. It definitely worked out brilliantly in this case though.

Lola said...

Wow . . . the shawl is lovely! I love the way the colors work with the pattern.

Now . . . question - which lace designers' pattern work well with variegate yarn? I bought a really nice skein to Prism Yarn lace wool (nevada0 whih has 3 or 4 different color. I want a really lacy pattern which isn't too dominated by the variegated nature of the yarn.

Dave said...

It seems that the expensive pattern riddled with errors has actually provided more than the money's worth, a gorgeous shawl, with an inspired edging, as well as much merriment and mirth. You likely wouldn't get that last part with a "normal" pattern.

A WIP sink? Hmm. I don't think I have a sink large enough for all my WIPS. A WIP bathtub? I better stick to baskets and bags.

BadCatDesigns said...

Another gorgeous piece flies off your needles (error filled pattern be damned!) Really lovely. Maybe I can send my cat down to visit and learn some of those special skills? She is great at blocking supervision, but not at sniffing out errors...

Unknown said...

Great save on thinking to dye the third skein a darker blue.

The edging looks an awful a lot like the edging on the Mediterranean Shawl in Gathering of Lace.

In fact many of the stitch patterns look like they are from that book.

Love your Laptop.

Anonymous said...

Gorgeous! The knitting, that is.

I have some WIP you could work on for me if you are searching....just a thought.

Lamzie Divy Woolens said...

Oh, it's beautiful! I love this shawl, but shoot, you knit fast!! I don't know how you do it. I should have sent you my pattern to compare it to yours. I didn't think of it in time to be helpful. I'm so sorry. I'm watching for your next wonderful project.

Anonymous said...

I really like the different coloured edging, it makes a world of difference!

fluffbuff said...

The shawl is even better with the darker blue border. What a creative solution. And I can't believe you would actually find the pattern mistakes amusing… I would have had a strangling fit. But then I don't have trained lapcats like yours. Gotta go talk to my untrained felines and set things straight.

Opal said...

Oh that shawl is gorgeous! I love the overdyed edging! And Laptop? Cute overload!

Carol said...

What a great save on the Seasilk colours! As for the pattern errors, mirth is not what I would call it. At least in my house....

LittleBerry said...

the Triinu looks stunning and definitely getting a 3rd skein not matching was a definite bonus as the dyed edge makes the shawl really stanned out from a crowd....

love laptop and what better name for a cat :o) but she certainly seems to know her lace knitting....

Monika said...

You are too funny! The shawl is gorgeous! What a fine cat, so useful! :o) And of course you need another shawl!

Anonymous said...

Your leaves are definitely leaning in abundance! Now it's done, the different directions look so right. It's a really beautiful and elegant shawl. Can I have it?! ;p

E-J said...

Rather pretty? It's spectacular! I am lace-curious but unsure whether to be inspired or daunted by the quality of the work you post!

Shea said...

I love the name of your cat! My cat, Widget "the Supervisor", supervises all my work as well.