Slow Going and Ravelry

I've been knitting. But you wouldn't know it, if you looked at the projects. I haven't taken additional pictures yet - but I've been knitting. I've worked on the scarf from the Week in the Life of a Knitter's Cat; I'm on the neck ribbing part of the first half (finally - but that is my "mindless takealong project") and it really doesn't show growth much... got about one and a half of five inches into that.

I've worked on Secret of Chrysopolis KAL shawl. I'm slowly getting farther behind - I'm nearly half of the way through clue two - Ok, progress on that shows, but I want to wait until I'm finished the clue before I take a pic. And clue four is due tomorrow.

I've worked on the Secret of the Stole. I got a whole one row of clue two done. Started out great on that one - did the first clue in two days, right after getting it. Now, clue three is due tomorrow, and I'm barely started clue two. *sigh*. Well, I *do* have two lovely kitty helpers, and it *is* fine laceweight yarn, and there *are* beads....

I have mostly been focussing my attention on the Kilimanjaro Kat. This is semi-mindless. There are repeats that aren't too hard to almost memorize, with simple glances back at the charts. The only thing wrong with it - it takes me an hour - yes, a full hour - to work a charted, pattern round. Then, about half an hour to knit the plain round. It is big. I do not want to think about how many stitches.... There are a total of 60 rounds in the border. The first few are "plain" - well, they increase at the corners, so it will lay flat. Then, you get into the kitty charts. Then, you knit a few rows "plain". Then, you do a "picot" round, then several rounds of decrease. Fold over, and the directions say to whip stitch the final round to an earlier round in the back. Sew. Like, that is going to happen....

I'm halfway around the last of the chart rounds. Round 45 is the last chart round. Then, I get to do some plain knitting.... there are a total of 60 rounds. Round 60 is to be attached to round 49. What I plan to do, is after knitting 49, I'm going to put in a lifeline. When I get to round 60, I'm going to slip stitch or K2tog or something, and then bind off loosely, to joing them. If I don't, if I follow the directions to the letter, the shawl will turn into a permanent UFO. And I don't want that to happen....

Not that I can't sew - I love to hand sew things, like quilts and stuff. More like, that I am a bit distrustfull of the idea, that one can take live stitches, and simply whipstitch them in place, and that it will not pull, stretch, or otherwise distort the last row. Or, that the yarn used to sew with won't break, wear, tear, or otherwise come undone, and the whole thing unravel. So, I'mg oing to go with my comfort zone, and do it my way.

Finally, I cast on for the North Star Scarf, which is from a fantastic book called Arctic Lace by Donna Druchunas. There is a KAL for this - yahoo groups, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ArcticLaceKnitalong and Donna herself is on the list...
I'm using a yarn that I'm going to use for Mystic Waters KAL http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mysticwatersKAL So the scarf is sort of a swatch for the shawl. :)

Also, now that I've finally figured out and fixed my sidebar (the "help" section of blogger is quite good!! I found my answer there, and it was explained in simple enough English for me to follow!!! I am impressed.) I guess I'd better make the time to update my links and stuff. :)

So....

I have six projects on the needles in the "active wips" pile, (well, cast on for Mystic Waters won't be until first clue is released next week - but I've been doing so many stoles, and MW is a triangular shawl, which I also like) and one of those is actually near completion!! :)

Now - Ravelry - I don't think I mentioned I got in....

Everyone on Mystery Stole 3, now called Swan Lake, were talking about this Ravelry thing. They had a companion group going on it. Finally, I broke down, and figured I'd check it out. Mid-July. I applied for membership.... Then, in August, (early August) someone tried to explain it to me - and I thought, what is the difference between it, and a combination of blog and photo album? And why have that as well as Yahoo group? It seemed redundant, and I wondered how to un-apply....

Finally, I got my invitation at the beginning of October - So I joined. Because it took so long, I couldn't be Catlady, someone beat me to it. (did I think of Catsrme in time? NOooooo....) So, I'm Catlady2 on Ravelry. And I looked around.

And it isn't exactly like a Yahoo group. And it isn't just a combination of blog and photo album. In fact, it is entirely different. Better.... it is more of a database/journal combination. Searchable.

Ok, you can use it as a journal for your own projects. Something that just a photo album doesn't quite do. Simpler than a blog - which you can babble on endlessly about nothing if you want - true "journalling". More public, so you don't always want to reveal a lot of personal stuff, that you would write in a private diary or journal, but still... an outlet for your random thoughts.

You can keep track of your projects, your tools, your stash, your patterns, your plans. Like a database. And it is one of the best set ups I've seen...and I've been looking for a suitable inventory for a while....

But the coolest part - you can search the database for ideas, for inspiration, for others who have done, are doing, or want to do the same project as you. So - it connects people faster than a Yahoo group. Not that there is anything wrong with the YG for connecting - but I know on some groups, messages can get lost in the list - you post something like, "is anyone doing X" or "is anyone having trouble with Y" and sometimes, they are talking about A, B, and C, and they don't see your post. Or, they think someone else has answered. Or they aren't working on X or Y at the time, so they just ignore it. With Ravelry, you can search out X or Y, see who else has done it, or is doing it, and you can ask them for help.

There are other cool things, too...

I'm glad I waited, checked it out for myself, and gave it a chance. It's kind of neat....

:)