Brooklyn Sheep

Pattern: North Roe Shawl
Yarn: Handspun 8oz 800+ yds ~18wpi Correidale/Tussah 50/50
Ravelympics project
Began: August 8, 2008
Finished: Aug 23, 2008



And see that lovely tail on the right side, that was all that was left over from the handspun. Seriously, Holy crap. Why do we knit faster when we know the yarn is going to run out? Thank god i just had enough because there is LITERALLY none of this left. That's the only trouble with handspun.



There is always a piece of me that is not satisfied with a finished knit. It's the same piece that has false starts and shows errors to my friends.

I played around with the charts around the 5th day and when it was done and blocking, I realized that I missed a chart repeat at the end. Mixed blessing, huh? It feels unfinished because it's not how I planed it. But I'll live!

But don't get me wrong, I still love the shawl, and i am immensely proud of my handspun. This is actually my first lace weight handspun project.

I'm actually participating in Ravelympics! I usually say I'm going to participate in knit-alongs or mystery stoles, then feck-off and forget about it. But between you and me, I cheated. I casted on on Thursday evening because my Fridays are usually insane and I just knew I wasn't going to be able to do any serious brain work early in the morning. So Friday morning came and went and I barely got six rows knit all day. Friday night, i was on a roll or so i thought. You see, knitting a triangular lace shawl is deceptive. It's quick knitting in the beginning. You zip through, back and forth and you watch the shawl grow and grow and grow. As you get into the bulk of the shawl, it slows down a bit. Then you are finally done, and you bind off, like, a thousand stitches. Yeah. That doesn't go so fast either. But then you can do the - "Yeah I knit this. And yeah, I AM awesome"- dance, which usually consists of holding it above your head and waving it around and thinking of the best place to photograph it. Then, you have to block it. And I get excited about blocking it for about 10 minutes, then I stress about symmetry, and pin placement, and over blocking it. But then I get over it and I do the dance again.


So, here is me at work, with a tuft of a shawl.


And here is me, at home sitting on my favorite egg crate cushion. it has grown quite a bit (see above complaint about growing triangular shawls) and I have an idea about the second chart. To be truthful, most of my day was wasted on charting the modification and figuring out the exact stitch pattern. I figure I over prepare now and continue to think i'm too good for a life line. (I'm going to learn my lesson at some point, i'm sure)

Oh yeah, i'm knitting North Roë Shawl with my own handspun. It's a 50/50 corriedale/tussah, aprox 860 yds 8oz. maybe 15wpi. AND it's not soft- at all. WTF? I'm hoping a good soak pre blocking with help it out. And now that I think about it, I don't think I set the twist after I spun it. oops. But it's been spun up for a couple months so maybe it's okay. I suppose we'll see. I've named the yarn purple frost, but I'm not married to it. I'm sure i can name it something better, but i just feel so pressured with I see empty boxes on the pattern details on Ravelry.

So far, i have the 800+ yds split up into two cakes. I figure i'll either knit the entire cake in chart one then move to the second (larger) cake for the second chart and edging, or I'll knit chart one until the half way mark of Ravelympic, then start on the second chart and edging with the rest of my time. What ever comes first!

I'm leaving live journal behind and hoping a change will interest me in blogging again.

So, what happening this side of Brooklyn? I'm 9 months from graduation, exactly 5 classes and 10 credits away from my MSW and MS Ed. I'm done with any internship I'll ever have to do, and since I've been in internship for the past three years, this is an amazing accomplishment. This also means I'm working full time while I finish my classes. What am I doing, you ask? I'm a family counselor for a child abuse and neglect prevention agency. It's tough, and it's dirty and I'm finally challenged in a way I've never been challenged before- which also means burn out is a real danger.

I'm also doing a fair amount of knitting and spinning. The most exciting news is the Bay Ridge knitting group that is growing by the week! We've been meeting for about 9 months and we are certainly a tight knit (groan) group. We just happen to meet at the only Brooklyn Starbucks to be shut down. I'm sure we'll survive, but we are rapidly outgrowing our knitting locations.
I suppose having a knit group has replaced blogging. And Ravelry hasn't helped either.

On the needles: February lady Sweater



On my wheel: 4.0 oz of ridiculously bright pink merino


I'm looking to keep this as 1ply and knit up Adamas Shawl for the Ravelympics.


Lets hope I can keep this blog up!