Where Did I KIP?

I meant to make Twitter posts for World-wide Knitting in Public Week, but I kept forgetting. So, let's see.

• Saturday the 9th I was knitting at a restaurant.
• Sunday the 10th, I knitted at the Bowie Baysox game.
• Monday the 11th... I think I must have taken off.
• Tuesday the 12th, I knitted at the doctor's office.
• Wednesday the 13th, I was kipping at Baskin Robbins. The A/C was cranked up to "refrigerator," but the knitting was great. My darling daughter even joined in.
• Thursday, I knitted in private.
• Friday, I knitted while waiting for the elementary school's 5th grade promotion to start.
• Tomorrow, I'll be driving a lot, but maybe I'll KIP when I stop for meals. And Sunday, I'll be KIP at dinner.

Summers here are sticky, and being in a house that lacks central air has made me generally unwilling to touch anything remotely resembling yarn, so I think there'll be a lot more knitting in public this summer. That way, I can get something done. Though I had toyed with the idea of painting in the summer... I'll just knit. It's who I am, it's what I do.

Not-So-Initial Thoughts On the Juliette Scalloped Eyelet Shawl

If you're looking for hints and tips on this project, you can skip the next three paragraphs and go right to my notes.

I started this shawl on September 14th, 2012. The kit was a door prize from my LYS for attending a Tahki Stacy Charles yarn tasting. It's the best door prize I've ever won - the yarn is exquisite, and more expensive than I'd likely buy for myself, and I can't wait to see this shawl finished - it'll be one of the top-two nicest things I've ever knitted, ever, ever.

I quickly started referring to this project as "the shawl from hell." Apparently, I'm not alone in my frustrations.* It had been partially frogged twice and was snoozing when I picked it up again, and quickly realized it needed a full frogging. Super-frustrating, as I was 40-some-odd rows into it, and was on my third color (would my frogged hanks be enough when I did the re-do? they were - thank God. No chance of buying that dye lot today).
*Just as frustrating, was TSC's unhelpful note on their web site: "There's nothing wrong with the pattern. Blah blah worked stitches the same blah confusing blah blah blah..." Thanks, TSC.

Frogging was hard, but I did my best to look at it as an opportunity for success. I spent some time wrapping my head around this pattern (again, but better this time) and got to work. I'm on row 19, and it's going a zillion times better. I can clearly see where the pattern is supposed to be, and it's really clicking into place. This shawl should pretty much fly off the needles now that I "get it."

So, here are my own notes about this pattern - things I found helpful the umteenth time around, etc.:

I took the time to write out every single row. So rather than instructions like (for example*),
"Rows 12-18: repeat rows 6-8 (which are really rows 4-10 of the stitch pattern)..." I went ahead and wrote it all out (again, for example):
"Row 13: K3, M1, K1 *stitch pattern here, repeat from * to remaining 3 sts, M1, K3." This was a big time- and brain-power-investment on the front end that (so far) has really paid off.
*The examples have nothing to do with the real pattern. I made them up.

The next thing I think it's important to note about this pattern is that in addition to the three border stitches on either side of the pattern stitches, you also have the pesky increase stitches. The pattern really isn't clear (to me, anyway) about what to do with them. You do nothing with them. The instructions say to work them in stockinette stitch, but they don't really explain that you don't count them as part of the pattern stitch and repeats. This means you have to remember how many increase stitches you've made, and not work those. For that reason, I added instructions in rows 3 and 13 and 18 (so far - I'll add in more later) to place markers.
For row 3: K3, M1, PM, --whatever the bit in the middle is-- PM, M1, K3.
Row 13: --the normal bit--, K3, removing markers as you encounter them.
Row 18: K3, M1, PM, --pattern stuff--, PM, M1, K3
This keeps all the border stitches and the increase stitches separate, so it doesn't mess up your stitch count. Everything between the markers will fall nicely into place within the lace pattern.

For the vague instruction to "make one," I'm knitting into the ladder of the stitch in the row below (mostly because it's my favorite increase).
Also, I changed the weird "SK2P" into the much more standard "sl1, K2tog, psso" for my own instructions, and that's also helped.
Lastly, I knit left-handed (Continental). So, when the pattern calls for a SSK, I'm working a K2tog, and when it calls for a K2tog, I'm working a SSK (except for the aforementioned double-decrease).

The Juliette Shawl Journal

The ugly stream-of-consciousness journaling that was the Juliette Shawl.
Note: Don't follow the pattern edits below. They're wrong.

14 Sep 2012 - day 1
I won't be intimidated by the price-tag on all this lovely yarn; I won't. Much.
Totally agree with comments I've seen about this pattern: It's confusing and could be better-written.
Yup. 12 rows and frogged. I ended up with 79 stitches and couldn't figure out how to get to 85 without messing up the pattern significantly. No confidence that if I re-knit and and frog again that this yarn can take being knit a third time.

16 Sep 2012 - day 3
This is an additional-faith-required pattern. Not terribly complex, but you do have to pay attention, and it always feels like you're doing it wrong, even when you're following instructions. Have faith; if you follow the instructions, you'll be okay. Probably.

According to the math, there cannot be a net increase or decrease in the pattern stitches, except through the increases on either end. So, if you end the pattern stitches with a one-stitch increase that has not been balanced by a one-stitch decrease, you'll have to account for that later. For example, I had a one-stitch increase at the end of round 4 that I had to account for with a net loss of one stitch in row 8.

Row 4 ended in the middle of the K5 after a YO, giving a net gain in the pattern stitches.
Row 8 ended in a k2tog, but with only one pattern stitch available. So, I worked the double-decrease and because I had an extra stitch from row 4, I omitted the increase that would have balanced the double-decrease, and worked the remaining stitch as a K1.
Row 10 ended in the middle of the 2nd K5, which would leave a net loss of 1 stitch, so I omitted the decrease prior to the K5, and worked remaining stitches as knit stitches.

Row 4 should read: K3, M1, work Pearl Scallop Pattern to last (5?) stitches, end K2, M1, K3
Row 6 should read: K3, M1, work Pearl Scallop Pattern to last (10?) stitches, end yo, K5, SSK, M1, K3
Row 8 should read: K3, M1, work Pearl Scallop Pattern to last 14 stitches, end YO, K5, SSK, YO, SK2P, YO, K1, M1, K3
Row 10 should read: K3, M1, work Pearl Scallop Pattern to last (16?) stitches, YO, K5, SSK, YO, SK2P, YO, K4, M1, K3

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Row 20 should read: K3, M1, work Pearl Scallop Pattern to last 7 stitches, K4, M1, K3
Row 22 should read: K3, M1, work Pearl Scallop Pattern to last 11 stitches, YO, K5, SSK, K1, M1, K3
Row 24 should read: K3, M1, work Pearl Scallop Pattern to last 15 stitches, YO, K5, SSK, YO, SK2P, YO, K2, M1, K3
Row 26 should read: K3, M1, work Pearl Scallop Pattern to last 19 stitches, YO, K5, SSK, YO, SK2P, YO, K2TOG, K4, YO, M1, K3 (the YO at the end is to balance the un-avoidable K2TOG in this row.)

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Day Umpty-nine:
Row 37, frogged back to row 30. I had forgotten to do all the increases on row 31. On the plus side, it was in a silk-mohair bit that I had to frog, and it was pretty easy to frog down to the correct row without losing a stitch. Thank God it wasn't in the sequins bit. I truly hate this pattern.

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June 6 2013

I'm frogging it all. I was at row 41. I can't see a discernible pattern. I'll re-write the pattern, use the markers, etc.