Torture in the form of lace weight yarn...

So y'all remember the Citron I was working on last year? The Citron has loads of issues. I missed pattern repeats, had weird yarn snags and generally I didn't give it the attention it deserved. After the last mistake of cutting one of the pattern repeats short I just stuffed it into my yarn box to hangout in the naughty corner for awhile until I felt like dealing with it again. Well, it's that time again.

I pulled it out of the box the other night and studied on it and thought maybe I could thread a lifeline so I would only need to rip out the last pattern repeat. But the fact that it was lace weight and there were rows with increases and decreases and I couldn't tell which was which I quickly gave up on that thought. The fact that I couldn't even remember where I was in the pattern didn't really help much either. So with a heavy heart I frogged it. It was being knit with Malabrigo Lace so I wasn't about to let that languish in my yarn stash forever.

Once I finish my last hat for my Christmas knitting I may try again with the Citron in January and really give it the old college try. It's such a pretty little shawl and the yarn is a magnificent shade of blue. It must be knit, just not while riding the T in Boston.


Until then, I'm working on a cute honey comb pattern hat and I think I'll knit myself up a Star Cross Slouchy Beret or a Jane.  In some Malabrigo worsted that I have sitting around pleading to be knit into something warm and cozy for myself. I also have plans to make Kevin a Christopher in Pats colors in January. So I've got plenty of plans for knitting and I don't think I'm going to lose any steam anytime soon. It's going to be a productive winter!

Citron Part fourhundredeleventymillion

Ok, I'm still working on the Citron. I'm up to section 5 now, so there really isn't much left to do, but now that I'm at like 400+ stitches (or something like that, I can't bear to count that high) it takes ages to do like one row. Even more so if it's a purl row. I keep screwing the pattern up too with the increases so I know my stitch count is off but I can't really be arsed to rip it out and fix it. Not when it takes like a half hour for me to do a row. It still looks more or less the same as the picture so I'm even less inclined to fix it.

I only get snatches of time here and there to knit so that's the only project I'm really working on right now. I pick it up during 24 and get a row or two done. Then maybe I'll take it outside for a few minutes when Kev is brewing on the weekend and work on a row. I'm the type that hates to put a project down midrow too so I usually only work on it when I know I have a decent chunk of free time.

I'm concerned about the size of it though. It still seems rather small even though I'm on section 5. My ball is getting small, but I've probably got 1 or 2 hundred yards left to work with so I can finish it but it may be tiny. I guess I'll finally get to try some blocking magic once it's done.

Hopefully once my class is done this semester I'll have more time to knit and be inspired. Though I am taking on a few spring time projects (scraping, cleaning and repainting the bathroom walls and ceiling) and starting a container garden for fresh herbs and vegetables.

So that's all I have going on now. Eventually, one day, maybe, this Citron will get finished. It does discourage me a bit from thinking about tackling a larger shawl. Maybe I am meant to stick with just sock knitting.

The perils of urban knitting.

So Kevin and I went to Boston for a long weekend. Just a quick trip up to visit his family and see my friend Manda (and I didn't even get to see her in her scarf! Stupid warm weather!).

I decided to get in some urban knitting on my T ride into the city. I took the Citron since it's basic and straight stockinette right now. Things went swell until my needle came unscrewed a little from the cable and my stitches got caught in the thread. I tried getting it unstuck and screwed back in but there was a snag I had trouble getting loose. I was left with this mess once I got it all cleared up.



Honestly, I don't know what that is or how it happened. It almost looks like a stitch that was pulled super tight and now has a lot of slack on top. I'm concerned and worried this is going to cause a massive frogging of the Citron.

Arg.

I'm swearing off urban knitting.

Finished!

I finished and blocked the Peak Island Monday night. It's definitely cozy and warm. I tried a few different ways wearing it but couldn't really settle on the best place to put the buttons on. So I'm gonna send them to Manda with the scarf, let her figure out how she likes to wear it best then she can put the buttons where they work for her. The beast has finally been slain! I was going to stick it in the mail today on my lunch break but then realized I hadn't taken any pictures! So sorry Manda, it'll have to wait until I take a few quick pictures for posterity's sake.:)

The Citron is going along quite nicely right now. I'm not too far into it yet since I've had like 6 hours of homework to do and I've been furiously working on the Peak Island, trying to get it finished. I've only finished the first section and am 3 or 4 rows into the second. I am LOVING this Malabrigo lace. It's SO soft. I imagine once it's finished it will be my go to wrap/scarf for pretty much everything (I never match my accessories to what I'm wearing. Or to each other really. Today I'm wearing a blue scarf, purple hat and pink gloves.). If I had more patience I would knit a sweater with it. It's just that wonderful. I'm not really enjoying knitting it on my denise interchangeables though. The yarn keeps getting stuck at the join. I'm tempted to order some knit picks circs in 24" just to make the process that much nicer. I've been eyeing their harmony interchangeables lately but $70 is a lot to part with at the moment...

Pictures tonight! Promise!