I Made It ......

..... it feels like I was running a race & almost reaching the finishing line - I was holding my breath when I was casting off the last few stitches & there was barely 20 cm of yarn..... I DID IT ! This is all the yarn that is left .....

Thanks to all of you who have been keeping your fingers crossed for me in this big event & I know that all the knitty wishes really helped. On top of that, I also found more yarn from Knitabulous (through Michelle), who generously offered to sent the yarn over. Thanks so much for all your generosity !

I was so happy that I managed to finish the border as it had taken me 1 whole week ! I had to cut off a portion of the cast-on tail to graft the 2 ends of the border. It took me another 2 hours to re-align the stitches, dropped some stitches, pick them up, & attempted to (took me 3 tries) graft them together. I was really tired & grouchy when I finished the grafting & to make matters worse, I made a big, big, big, mistake .....

..... I did the grafting on the wrong side of the shawl & now there is a seam on the right side. I almost cried when I saw what I have done & there's hardly anymore yarn to re-do it. I also did not have the energy to re-do it. I guess I have to live with this hugh mistake (and hope no one notice) as I don't want to rip out the grafting after all those attempts. I was so disappointed as I really enjoyed knitting this shawl & the pattern is easy. So that's it for my Pi Shawl, it still looks so lovely & it's hugh. It's about 60 ins or 152 cm across the diameter & it's not blocked ..... now I will have to block it when I find the energy to do it as this drama had been very tiring & all I want to do is to cast on a new project & be rejuvenated .....

I have also finished the 1st of my Casbah socks in my own cable design of. I decided to use a simple cable for this sock as some ladies in my knitting circle have been wanting to learn to knit cables. The cables have turned out quite nicely & I really like the way the pair of cables goes up the leg ....
.... I have cast on the 2nd sock & feeling more refreshed now, also started another sock - the Olympian Socks . I just love socks & really missed knitting them for the last week as I was concentrating on finishing the Pi Shawl.

It's Sold .....

...... do you remember this sock that I was knitting ? I cast them off on Monday, brought them to my knitting circle for show & tell on Tuesday & the ladies were singing praises about the sock & suggested that I should consider selling my socks as they are so well knitted. So for the fun of it, I just answered "Who will buy the socks?" & the socks were sold immediately. In fact, I have an order to knit another pair. Wow ! I just can't believe it - I am selling my handknitted socks.
As I never dream that I will be selling these socks, I did not take a picture of them, so I managed to just quickly snap a picture with my mobile (& thus the blurry picture) before the socks went home with it's new owner.

Pattern : My own toe-up toe & heel with the Spiral Twist Rib from the More Sensational Knitted Socks

Yarn : Jolly Jumbuck (a blend of silk & merino in a reddish colorway)

Needles : 2.5mm Harmony dpns

I love knitting these socks as the yarn is so lovely to work with. In fact, I was quite sad to cast off as I wanted to carry on knitting. On top of that, the color is so gorgeous - Irene really did a fantastic dye job. Now I have to start work on the other pair of socks .....

Of course, I am still knitting away on the Pi shawl & with all the Olympics going on, I managed to cast off 376 sts .....

..... and there are 200 sts more to go but I think I have a big problem .....

..... I think I am running out of yarn. I had 1250 yds of silk & it looks like there will not be enough to finish the border ? I can't believe it ! I have checked the colormart store & they don't have the color in stock. Well, I am just going to keep on knitting & see what happens - wish me luck !

I Was Brain Dead ......

..... for almost 2 hours ! I just can't believe that I can be so dumb !


I finished my last lace pattern on the Pi Shawl in the afternoon (around 2.30 pm) & I was estactic as I can now start the lace border. That's should not be a problem. Picked up the book (EZ Alamac), read the instructions & started knitting. It went all right & after 2 repeats of the lace pattern, I started to think about joining the 2 ends of the border. There was no mention in the book on finishing, so I went on Ravelry & researched - nothing much there. Went & check on some of my lace knitting books & read that an invisible cast on is recommended so that the live stitches can be grafted - not a problem.

So I ripped out the little border & did a provisional cast on but it did not look right as I was starting the pattern on the wrong side. So went back to the books again & realise (this is the time when my brain went dead) that a provisional cast on is different from an invisible cast on. Check the instructions & tried to cast on - not right, ripped, cast on, not right, ripped ..... this went on for the NEXT 2 HOURS !

I just can't believe that I can't get my head around the invisible cast on & it was 4.30pm & I needed to start dinner for the family or should I just starve them. I gave it 1 last try & it still did not worked ! As I was preparing dinner, I was fuming mad at my incompetence & thinking if I should give up lace knitting as I can't do a simple invisible cast on.

I was gloomy & very quiet during dinner & can't wait to finish, do the dishes & get back to that INVISIBLE CAST ON - this time it worked - I was jumping for joy - I think my brain was just starving for food.
The white yarn is holding the live stitches so that I can graft the 2 ends together after I finish the border. I wonder if I can do the inivisible cast on again if I have to ????
Now all I have to do is knit the 4 rows of lace border & cast off 2 stitches with each pattern repeat - this is going to take a while as there are 576 sts to cast off ......

Promises Are Made To Be Broken .....

..... in the event when there is a special request.

I had to take a couple of days off from knitting the Pi Shawl (which I had promised to be faithful to until completion) as my dear husband made a request for a pair of mittens. The mornings & nights had been really cold here & his feet are nice & warm in their handknitted socks but not his fingers. So I really had to break my promise & quickly cast on this ......

...... it's a heavily modified version of Dashing. I used Dream In Color Smooshy (colorway Cocoa Kiss) which is a 4ply & the pattern is written for a 8ply, so the gauge is different & I had to cast on more stitches & in the course of all these changes, I had the cables all messed up for the right mitten. Anyway, I don't think my husband will notice the difference in the cables between the 2 mittens. I just hope that they will fit him when he returns this Sunday.

Anyway, a model shot of the mittens (which are too big for Lynette) ....

..... now I am back to my Pi Shawl & progressing quite well. Had just finished the 1st section of the diamond pattern (17 rounds) & now on to the 2nd section of another 17 rounds & then I can start on the border & casting off the 576 stitches !