'Fessing Up

So there I was, scouting Ravelry for something really interesting and challenging to knit because I was getting a little bored with the usual stuff I was churning out (hats,cowls,crocheted blankets - not that there's anything remotely wrong with crocheted anything, I love to crochet too but I just needed something with a little 'kerr-pow' to it!)and thought I could 'stretch' myself a little by maybe taking on something like a lace shawl/wrap......BIG,BIG mistake! I also wanted a traditional Scottish design so I chose this beautiful pattern from Elizabeth Lovick who lives in Orkney. So far, so good. I'm not able to buy the correct yarn for the project yet because I have a voucher which I got for Xmas and I want to use that in the one shop which sells the specific wool - I just haven't been able to get there yet!!!With this in mind, I went 'home-shopping' into my stash and found something which I thought might be suitable. The pattern is for intermediate to expert knitters so I thought if I accomplished the mission, I could now call myself an 'intermediate' at the very least!ha ha ha ha....ha! I cast on with great relish and began to clickety-click my way through the pattern. It wasn't until I was almost two-thirds of the way done that I spotted a couple of little(?) mistakes, namely that..and this was even with counting,counting,counting stitches religiously, I'd missed out 3 rows in between setting the project aside for the night and picking it up again the next evening, which made the whole thing completely off-kilter! Too late to do anything about it now and convincing myself that this was just a 'test piece' anyhoo until I can get the real yarn for the job, I grafted the cast on and cast off edges together and called it a cowl!!!I haven't done Liz's well-written and comprehensive pattern any justice at all and I aim to do better next time but in the meantime, I'm quite liking my new cowl, notwithstanding the mistakes and the wool in shades of blue and grey is so luciously soft, I'm sure I can forgive myself when the time comes to wear it! Here is the finished article for your perusal but please don't zoom in!

..........that's not my chin but that of my trust polystyrene modelle - our skin texture's not dissimilar though!

.....and for my next failure, I picked another beautiful pattern found on Ravelry called Dragonfly Wings by the very clever 'Boo Knits' whose patterns are floaty and fabulous. I had everything that was required to carry out the project, including some fabulous Malabrigo Lace, 100% Merino and so soft and floaty, in a shade called 'Polar Morn' - perfect name for the colour - and there I was, ready, willing and able....what could go wrong? Watch and Learn!
Oh, don't get me wrong, the pattern was so easy and so well-written that I just knitted and knitted and knitted seamlessly, going from casting on 3 stitches until I ended up with the required 305 at the end. It was the 150-odd stitches on the right-hand side that caused the problem! I was so concentrating on the left-hand side, thinking all the time that my work would be symmetrical if I got one side right, surely, that I forgot to check the other side as I went along!ha ha ha.....so here's the result.........

.....what the pattern should look like all around the bottom edge......

.....and the offending side! see how it's well-askew?.....and you'll also notice that there are no points anywhere to be seen, even with aggressive blocking (no, I wasn't angry when I did it, that's what they call it when you stretch the blazes out of your work!). Never mind, it's still wearable if I cover the rubbish part up with my hair and I walk sideways! and the main thing is, I really enjoyed knitting up both of these projects and will definitely be attempting them again, this time paying full attention to what I'm actually doing!

Here endeth The Confessional!

......I'm on my holidays these two weeks so it's really nice to kick back and do my own thing for a while without the constraints and shackles of being a wage slave!.......off to the Edinburgh Military Tattoo this evening so must away and find my earplugs.....it can get VERY loud!

Hope the weather's being good for all of you.

What have you all been doing these lovely Summer months?

ps this is for my Blogging Buddy, Mr. John Gray

xxx