10-24-2010: Dyed a second time in black which made the beads look like ‘pinholes in the curtain of night’! =)

Sent to a very dear friend. She’s not the shawl type so I envision it as a lap throw for movie night. =)

And this completes Shipwreck!

09-23-2010: Dyed with Landscapes Mountain Blue plus a smidgen of Wombat. Looks more greyish-blue than the picture shows, which is perfect.

09-22-2010: And IT IS FINISHED!!!! The noises I was making as I cast off the last few stitches reminded me of Sally in the diner - thus the pic! haha! Oh, bliss. I am basking in the afterglow as the shawl dries. Anyone have a cigarette? Oh, wait, I don’t smoke…

So happy. So incredibly in love with this shawl right now it’s obscene. It’s not perfect but I don’t even care- I’m still serenading it with mushy songs right now. Will think about dyeing on another day. =)

09-22-2010: Bind Off is a… Batch of Cookies

09-21-2010: Three. More. Rows. (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

09-16-2010: Decided to break and string more beads. Realized that I’m not using anywhere near the 5,000 beads the pattern suggests- more like under 3,000 since it’s only one hank (and maybe not even a full hank at that). Now that I can see the end of this project I’m beginning to fall in love all over again. Am excited to block this big, squishy, floppy sack and see -what I hope is- a beautiful shawl. =)

09-14-2010: Made a decision to either finish Shipwreck before classes start on September 27th- or give ‘er a solemn burial at sea…

Over halfway through my 6mm needle section and am excited that this is so close to finally being completed!

Really wondering what to do about the beading, though. The pre-strung beads will run out before I start the last 6.5mm section and it makes me cringe to think of breaking the yarn and stringing a bunch more… but on the other hand I don’t want to funky-up the ‘drape’ of the shawl by doing the last section bead-free. Guess I’ll go browse everyone else’s shawls to see if anyone else has changed midstream.

Still plugging away- a row here and a row there. The end is in sight but it’s taking tremendous willpower to not just set it in a corner and say ‘forget it!’. Thank goodness for Ravelry- the Shipwreck FO’s are inspiring and keep me going.

04-10-2009: Like being in labor after an epidural. Not painful but it’s just taking forEVER pushing these thousands of beads down the yarn for a while, then ‘resting’ while I knit half a round, then pushing, then resting… I’m looking forward to seeing what my baby will look like but I’m only on row 110! Classes have started again so I’m spending more time working on ‘portable’ projects. Shipwreck doesn’t fit into that category with all this awkward beading and I definitely don’t want to shove it into a backpack full of books!

03-26-2009: This beading is a new experience for me and I’m finding it a fascinating process, love the contrast between cool hard glass and warm soft yarn, but it’s slow going. Saw that the re-knit top half of my Madeira now looks more like tattered butterfly wings than leaves… but I’ve convinced myself that it’s pretty cool like that so I’m okay with it. Just couldn’t stomach ripping back ANY more rows after that last humongous frogfest!

03-24-2009: Update 2: Beading needles might all look tiny but I found out today that there’s a big difference. Started with a ‘Big Eye’ beading needles where the eye runs nearly the length of the needle. It seemed so incredibly thin but about every 6th or 7th bead wouldn’t fit and that was frustrating. Went and got a packet of size ‘Fine- Collapsible Eye Needles’ and ALL of the beads are gliding smoothly so the job will go faster now.

Update 1: Decided on bead/dye combo. Going with gunmetal (bluish-grey) beads on a charcoal dip-dyed (attempting anyway) shawl. Doing a mixture of antique copper and brown iris beads on a dark brown shawl next. Want to save that combo for a better-made shawl (thanks for the idea knitthispurlthat)!

Row 100. Madeira is as fixed as it will ever be so now it’s Decision Time and I’m hoping to have a color choice by the time I finish this next increase row!

03-21-2009: On row 36 of Madeira and just in time… Beads arrived today from shipwreck.com and they are gorgeous. Thought seeing the different colors would help me choose what to dye the shawl but it’s even more difficult now. These are the Czech glass rocaille seed beads in 8/0. Left to right in the photo: Antique Copper on black, Brown Iris, Green Iris, Gunmetal, and Sol-gel light pink aurora borealis.

Also… don’t think I’ve said ‘screw it!’ so many times while knitting but then just kept motoring on!

Update 8 pm: Just decided I couldn’t live with all the mistakes on the second half of Madeira, after all. The more I look at them the worse they get. It’s only 19 1/2 rows to do over… ugh. What a learning experience this is turning out to be, though.

03-18-2009: Ordered beads in several colors since I’m still deciding what color to dye Shipwreck. Figured that left over beads can be used for a second beaded shawl. Maybe a Shipwreck sequel.

Also…realized that until I’m an experienced lace knitter I should not watch movies OR conversate while working! Have easily ripped back atleast 1/3 as many rows as I’ve knitted.

03-16-2009:
Am thinking dip-dyeing is the way I want to go. This shawl came out so beautifully:

http://www.ravelry.com/projects/FiestyWench/forest-canopy...

And hmmmm… Maybe switching to 5’s after the bleeding hearts section wasn’t a good idea. It’s pretty ruffled but, hopefully, blocking will be the miracle cure for what ails this.

03-12-2009: Started with sz 4 dpn’s then changed to sz 5 circular after completing bleeding hearts section (couldn’t find sz 4 circ and am impatient).