How it is going....

I just took some pictures yesterday.... I've been making tons of progress on the Kilimanjaro Kat shawl. I took a pic when I had two more rounds to go on the border.... Then I took some more pictures of the progress... Oh, and in the above photo, you can see where I added a lifeline to make sure I knew where "row 49" was - to join row 60 to.

Someone asked me, about the name of the shawl. Apparently, "Kilimanjaro" is a mountain.... they said that the kitties upside down looked like a mountain range... Me? I see kitties no matter what the orientation, so I'm at a loss, other than that maybe the kitties are mountain climing, since their feet are on an angle??? Of course, I suppose I could always go over to knitlist, (I *am* a member there) and try to hail the designer, who is also a member of the list....

Notice in the pictures, how the colour of the shawl looks kind of taupe or "off brown" in the first two, but in the one on the right, the close up of the kitty pinned out, it is more grey? Well, the grey is the closer to accurate colour of the yarn. The one called "oatmeal" - - - Or, as DH said, "I wouldn't eat any oatmeal that was *that* colour"....

So, anyway - last night, I took out the lifeline. Turned out, that I was "jumping the gun" somewhat - I thought I'd need it to find row/round 49, but round 48 was done in purl, so it sticks out quite well. I also knitted the final two rounds.... and began my adaptation of the finishing touches... I knit together one stitch from the needle with the stitch back from row 49 that matched it in columns, then I knit the next stitch together with the next one from 49, then I knit those two new stitches together through the back loops. Then, I knit the third together with its mate from 49, then knit two together through the back of the stitch... Instead of passing one over like a bind off... It is making a soft but very stretchy ridge on the back of the shawl. Not a lumpy uncomfortable ridge - just a slightly visible one. Nothing detrimental, and it will definitely not be too tight for blocking :) It is a somewhat slow process - then again, we're talking about some well over 700 stitches worth... I got about forty of them done last night, along with the two final knitted rounds....

Otherwise, I've been letting the Secret of Chrysopolis and the Secret of the Stole languish a bit... I have puttered on Chrysopolis - I'm a bit more than halfway done clue two on it.

And I started a new project (I know, insanity doesn't run in my family - I have it all) - a scarf for a knitalong group using patterns from the book Arctic Lace.

(hm...blogger having problems all of a sudden.... I'll go read some email, and try the picture again in a bit....)

Actually, this scarf is sort of acting as a swatch for the almost ready to start Mystic Waters KAL. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mysticwatersKAL I want to use this yarn, which is listed as dk weight, for that shawl. Different colour, though... Anyway - I'm using a larger needle for the scarf than I would if I were following the pattern exactly - needle size, qiviut lace weight yarn, etc. Not that it matters, in my opinion, since it is a scarf, and "one size fits all". Same with the shawl - it doesn't have to be a tailored fit... But, I think I'll use a smaller needle for the shawl.

I've also signed up for another KAL for January. Like I said, I have all the sanity... lol....

I think, come January, I'm going to do a New Year's Resolution to not do anything new but to knit from my stash of patterns and yarn... since I already signed up for http://groups.yahoo.com/group/springshawlsurprice , it doesn't count ;)

After I knit some more Kilimanjaro Kitties off the needles, I'll take another progress pic and share it :) Until then.....