Hanami Progress Part 2

Finally made it through all 7 repeats of the basket weave chart. Jesus Christ on a pogo stick that was long. But it went by quicker than expected expect during each repeat I'd get stuck on one row (always a different row) and have to knit and tink and knit and tink when I kept coming up off by one stitch. That's annoying. But I've made it through. It doesn't seem very long yet. I hope blocking fixes that. But aside from getting annoyed by tinking so far I haven't had the urge to put it down yet. I'm not bored with the pattern and so far haven't suffered any major disasters. *knocks on wood*

Hanami Progress

So I'm making progress on the Hanami. I'd say about 6-7 inches into it so far and I've finally hit my stride. I'm not sure what happened but those 2 extra stitches that kept coming up stopped coming up. I must have been missing a decrease here or there without really realizing it because the last repeat I did was spot on for every row and looks super.



The bottom is messy for sure. A more dedicated knitter than myself would probably rip it all out and redo it perfectly but I don't think I could do it perfectly if I wanted it. It'd just be an awful cycle of ripping and redoing until it was right and y'all know how much I hate redoing my work. If I got stuck in that cycle then it'd just never get knit. So I think I'm ok with the first 2-3 inches being messy if the last 67 inches are good. I can't really think of a time where this thing will be all spread out  with every stitch visible other than during blocking anyway so noone will be the wiser. It bothers me a little that the bottom won't be perfect but I don't think I've ever knit anything that is perfect and I'd rather get through this thing and feel accomplished when it's done rather than feel accomplished with a half knit perfect stole. I'm familiar enough with the basket weave now that I can tell if I get off on my stitch count so it shouldn't be an issue anymore.

The yarn is still lovely to work with. So soft and it seems to work up quickly considering it's lace. I love the color (good thing too since my fingers turn purple for hours after knitting with it).  I think this will be my only project for awhile until I'm certain that I'm able to finished it on time. I think if I can get in about an hour of knitting a day on Hanami I can get it finished up in 2 months which is plenty of time before the wedding.

Finished Breeze Socks

I finished my breeze socks on Tuesday. They were a wicked quick knit and the pattern was interesting enough not to get boring (not knitting a leg at all probably helped a lot with that as well).

I probably should have knit them out of a less warm yarn. It's knit picks pallet which is wool I think and therefore they're too warm for summer. Maybe they'll be ok spring/fall socks. But still, the yarn is soft and the socks are comfortable to wear.

I love the heel on them too. So much more fun to knit than the usual boring heel flap. I like that the cable pattern carried through.

Hanami is going well. I'm enjoying knitting it quite a bit. I'm a little iffy on if I'm doing it right. I keep coming up with 2 extra stitches every few rows and I'm not exactly sure where they keep coming from. The first repeat is a little messy, probably from my off counting somewhere, but the second repeat is looking nice so far and since I'm not a perfectionist I'm gonna let it roll until I get a few more inches in and can get a better idea of how it's going to turn out. It's getting easier to read the pattern as I knit it and I can kind of tell how it's supposed to look now. I'm surprised I'm enjoying this as much as I am. I didn't really think I was going to be a lace knitter but so far so good. Then again, I'm only about 5 inches into the thing so I may be singing a different tune by the time I get to charge G.