It was a quiet weekend here - hot, but quiet. It’s hard to believe it’s the middle of August already!
I had decided to do a more substantial swatch on the Moonlight Sonata shawl since the first one I tried didn’t come out very well - at least I didn’t like it. So I did that. Rather than just trying out the stitch pattern though, I took a ball of fingering weight yarn, sat down with my size 6 circular and cast on - just as though I were going to really make the shawl. I worked through the garter stitch edge, the pick-ups and the first repeat of the stitch pattern.
I’m afraid I still don’t like it. The pattern is quite clear and, as far as I can tell has no mistakes in it - I just don’t seem to like it in person as much as I liked the on-line pictures. Even taking into consideration that it will look funky until a good stern blocking has straightened things out…
I still like the medallion kind of motif and I may try to work this out some other way, incorporate it into a different setting, as it were. I’ve also given some thought (yes, it was painful!) to trying the whole thing in plain garter stitch to see how/if that might work. I’ll tell you this - as much fun as I have piddling around with stitch patterns, doing the math, and making things up as I go along, I could never have come up with something like this and I humbly bow to the person who did. This took work, this did :)
I do like the strip start. I was wondering about that here and, as you know, a test of that led to the Meanderthal Shawl. That kind of start seems to provide a slight curve to the long side of the shawl, encouraging it to stay on your shoulders more easily. Definitely a good thing! However, on the MS shawl, there is also a little loop decoration provided for by a YO, K2tog at the beginning of the row. I like the idea but I didn’t like the look of the loops much. I think, if I wanted something like that, I might just do the strip in plain garter stitch and add a bit of crocheted lace later on - or I guess you could pick up stitches and knit lace (either along the edge or sideways). The loop just looked sloppy to me.
So, now I have all this fingering weight yarn to play with :) You know, that’s not such a terrible thing!
I moved ahead a little on the red bag, but wound up ripping it back twice before I could get it right. No, it wasn’t anything difficult - just my brain going on vacation without notice :)
I’m working down the flap now. I find that I really only can work on this for an hour or so at a time - not because of the inelastic yarn, but because I find that I’m knitting very tightly. Probably that’s not a bad thing for a bag, but it is odd. Generally, with the exception of socks, my work is a little on the loose side. In this case, I don’t want to aggravate my hands or wrists, so I’m taking it a little slower than I might, say, if I were working on a shawl or an afghan. A little progress every day and I’ll get there in the end :)
And, while it isn’t anything spectacular, I did finish the first little sock…
...and am ridiculously pleased with the way it came out :) The mate will follow presently.
So, how was your weekend?
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I wasn’t in love with the Moonlight Sonata Shawl either until I finished the second medallion and was into the third. Keep going - it gets better!
I agree with Elizabeth. I would see how the Moonlight Sonata looks after a few more repeats. Sometimes just one repeat isn’t enough.
Elizabeth, Opal - I know you’re right - that things don’t always look the way you want right away and that sometimes you have to go a little further to get the desired results. I won’t say I’m completely turning my back on this, but I’m not enjoying it much and my patience for working on things I don’t enjoy is practically nil.
