Blogging In The Dark

It has occurred to me that I didn't actually tell you much about this new knitting venture of mine. I may have left you scratching your head, wondering. What yarn? What pattern? What is this thing anyway? Inquiring knitters may, perhaps, want to know some of these details.

The yarn. Jojoland Melody Superwash in colorway MS14. Not, apparently, the most popular choice for this work, since the stock of other colors, as I recall, was significantly diminished. Not being a big fan of shades of aqua or the red/purple/greenish gold/teal that is actually featured on the pattern, I was not distressed.

The pattern. The Swirl Shawl from Jojoland. Free, actually, not bought, from (I think it was) Yarn Barn of Kansas with the purchase of sufficient yarn to complete the project. Designed by Lijuan Jing. You knit 82 of these 4 inch hexagons, in the round, on three needles, picking up stitches to join them in rows as you go.

I expect the later stages of knitting this shawl to present interesting logistical challenges.

Truth be told, the early returns were not promising. It looked like a bit of nothing on earth. Later phases were not much better. Get it off the needles, though, and the little thingie is kind of cute.

Except it actually measures 4 inches across, which it is supposed to do.

Except. Except that's before blocking. This has holes in it. (Note that I'm not calling this lace. I don't do lace.) It's going to stretch out when I block it. Admittedly, the pattern doesn't explicitly say gauge is "4 inches across the widest part after blocking," but it's sort of implicit, isn't it? I'm confronting the almost unheard of possibility that I may actually get gauge with the recommended needle size. Time, I think, to liberate a set of those size six DPN's.

There you go, details and a little knitting progress. Think of this as a supplement to yesterday's post. In the future, perhaps I would be wise to confine my blogging to the hours between sunrise and sunset.