I am really glad I decided to blog today. You see, when I cast off the last stitch of my DayBreak shawl and half tried it on 2 nights ago, I suffered a strong feeling of BLAH! and I hate when this happens!
Today, I decided it may be a good subject of a blog post, this feeling of blah when you finish knitting a project – does it sound familiar to anyone?
So I took my shawl out of its hiding (I had to hide it to protect it from a too hasty ripping attack you see,,,) to take some photos to try and explain the problem and suddenly I saw quite a lovely shawl spread on the table and the grass in front of me! I had quite a strong HAH feeling – what a lovely surprise.
The sun brings out the purples in me, good!
I look quite green don't I?
I think the problem was the garter border that wanted to fold and not stand straight and the tension of the upper border that makes the shawl end in a weird way. Today both issues look OK to me and I think blocking the shawl will make it look even better, what do you think, to block or not to block?
The Malabrigo Yarn Sock colorways I used gave me many surprises too.
As you can see in the two photos above (excuse the quality, my photographer is busy right now,,,) they look quite different in different lights.
Looking at the yarn in the skeins:
Aren't the center skein look kind of purplish to you?
I was sure this shawl will be on the purply side but in most lights it looks more blue/green/yellow combo to me.
The biggest surprise was that when I look at the two colors in the cakes they look quite different to me:
These colors are very different no?
But while knitting the stripes in some sections I had a problem differentiating between the two colors so much that I had to check the source of the thread I was knitting with to make sure I am using the right color! The light outside brings out the stripes but you can see the mingling of the colors in the right side of the second photo above.
This issue made the knitting of this almost all knit shawl quite a pleasure, I kept waiting to see how those stripes will come up next but I must admit I would have enjoyed it even without the colors play, you see, I just love knitting simple stockinette, I am weird that way!
Oh and I have enough leftovers of these two colors to knit some ropes too ,,,, did I admit of being weird or didn’t I? :)
I like the shape of the shawl. It looks very huggy and comforting. And all the colours are lovely, too.
I’ve missed you and I’m very happy you decided to blog. Love the colors of your Daybreak!
I like the shawl – and I love how it is completely different depending on the light. I’d try blocking it to see if that helps you like the shape a little bit more. Very pretty, though – glad you didn’t frog it!
Oh, Rachel, it’s lovely! I say block, but gently. I’m so glad you like it now.
xo
Oh, it’s lovely! I’m so glad you ended up liking it! Sometimes i find that i feel blah about a project if it’s not what i expected. If I give it time, i sometimes learn to like it, but sometimes not. If not, then it goes into the gift pile!
It’s wonderful, Rachel! I love the colors — they work so well in that pattern. I’ve wanted to make a Daybreak for myself. . . and, once again, you’re going to inspire me to move it up in my mind-queue (I gave up on the Ravelry queue thing long ago, but I still maintain one in my mind). (And don’t get me started on the ropes again. . . I don’t think I’m quite finished with that little obsession yet!!!)
I have often felt the ‘blah’ after a project before it was blocked…usually for the same kinds of reasons, such as a garter stitch band that flips. I block everything, from hats to purses to kid’s toys! Keep up the great work, I love the pictures on here!