An update -- No real progress on the shawl.
I picked up the stitches and undid the provisional cast-on on Thursday, and I thought I picked up the right stitches. Maybe I did, but as I worked the first row of the opposite side, I know that I dropped at least one stitch and then had trouble picking it up. As I reached that last third of that row, I realized that the pattern wasn't lining up right. I undid the first row, and had trouble tinking here and there, and then the pick-up row was totally wrong.
So, I fussed and fumed and tried to get the row right, as per what the stitches should have been for that row per the chart. I had trouble in a couple of places picking up a stitch where the other direction must have knitted two together. The tension didn't feel right on the yarn in a couple of these places, and I figure I have to slip the stitches onto another needle, and make sure that every stitch is picked up properly and loose enough.
So I got bogged down, and didn't feel like doing that all weekend long. So I made no more progress.
Tonight is the third in a monthly "Craft Night" at my church -- so I'm going to bring it along and see if I can't fix that row and start knitting again tonight.
2 comments:
Nites, I'm sorry that the shawl caused you problems. I hope you were able to get it straightened out last night. When you do, why not try using lifelines just in case you find you need to rip out again?
I think you made great progress getting done as much you did in such a short time. I hope it starts going well for you again.
I think that there were a couple of sources of the problem. One was that I think I should have used a different yarn for the provisional cast-on. I read someone's post that she uses crochet thread for this, and maybe that would have been better.
Another is that the yarn I use tends to felt to itself -- and when I had trouble with the first row on the second side, I think that contributed to the difficulty in straightening it out.
But yes, I did manage to make sure the Center Row was right last night. I slowly moved the stitches to the right needle, counting and comparing to the pattern. Luckily, on that row, it is symmetric (most rows are, but some are not).
Then I repeated the process as I moved them back. Then I knitted the row. There were a couple of tight stitches where I had to pick up a stitch where there were two knit together in the other direction -- but all in all, it went ok. Then I was able to knit a total of 10 rows last night -- and I think the pattern looks right.
So, I'll be able to continue to progress. But I won't be putting in quite as much time as on the first side. I have some other projects around that house that have been neglected and need tending, and I have guests coming in September -- and need to plan for that!
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