Thanks to Sandi Wiseheart for the lovely photo - Diane, me, Ba, & Jennifer at Black Sheep Gathering, June 2011

Mods

• Inspired by The Bon’s SS, I decided to embellish the final MC stripe with one or more CC stripes. After contemplating myriad combinations, I settled on a single garter ridge (1 K row, 1 P row) - nice & clean. So the final sequence (after the 12th CC stripe) was: 15 ridges MC, 1 ridge CC, 5 ridges MC.

• Not really a mod, but I’ve never done this before: I bound off in reverse (L to R & purlwise). I wanted to bind off on the back side to hide the chain, but when I got to that point a front side was up next, so I decided to see if I could do it & it worked! A little slow because I have no muscle memory for it, but the tidiest bind off I’ve ever used.

Dimensions

• unblocked: short wing = 17”, long wing = 44”, spine = 28”
• blocked: short wing = 22”, long wing = 64”, spine = 38”

Pattern
This pattern really is as addictive as others say it is. Something about how rhythmic garter stitch is, maybe? I liked that it is simple enough to allow me to work on it while I watch a movie, or have a conversation, or have a beer. No frogging (knock wood)!

It is also VERY well written, although I could have done with a closeup of the left side of the shawl, where the stripes are narrow, to show me that I was on the right track there.

What I didn’t like was the way the left side (skinny stripe side) alternates between 1 and 2 ridges deep; if I could have figured out how to make it consistent, I would have.

And, if I made it again, I think I would make the MC stripes 2 ridges instead of 1 (thicker).

Yarn
This is my first time working with the 80/20, and although it is splitty & over-plied (twisty²), I got used to it & didn’t have too much trouble, & the amazing colors are well worth the extra attention that it requires.

Remaining: 15.5g Clementine, 11.5g Fliederbusch

Name
The project name is derived from my love/hate relationship with the aging process. Getting older means understanding myself, wisdom, freedom, & I’ve always wanted to be one of those women who ages gracefully, elegantly, & with acceptance. But, it turns out reality demands a different kind of strength. Like Bette Davis said rather colorfully, “Old age ain’t no place for sissies.” There’s that poem, Warning by Jenny Joseph (the genesis for the Red Hat Society, I believe), that starts with the line “When I am an old woman I shall wear purple”; it describes my kind of old woman, a no-holds-barred old bird who speaks her mind, indulges her obsessions, & wears what she wants, & ends with the protagonist deciding to “practice a little now”. MY purple-wearing practice comes with giant swaths of orange! And I plan to wear it proudly on my 47th birthday in June. Didn’t finish in time; c’est la vie.

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Progress Notes
6/20/11 Just under the wire, the heavens aligned (blocking wires arrived, back from BSG, no rain) & it’s blocking!

6/21/11 Wove in ends today. PS - I abhor weaving in ends.

6/17/11 Binding off! Binding off!

6/16/11 FINALLY made it to the final, wee, extra orange stripe! I can almost smell the finish line!

6/15/11 Knit a few more rows at the anniversary party at Knitter’s Lane.

6/14/11 I thought I could finish knitting this today, what with the fact that I had the ENTIRE day, but at 30 minutes per row, not so much. Got through 20 rows/2inches.

6/13/11 Well, it took almost a month, but Vickistickis and her leftover Clementine, which arrived today, saved my butt. Knit the rest of 12th CC stripe (9 rows) at Purl ‘n Pour tonight.

5/17/11 Yay, Vickistickis has 50g of leftovers for me!!!

5/14/11 Fuck me. Ran out of CC half way through the last stripe.

5/13/11 Finished stripe 11 and started on 12 with 20g of CC left.

5/12/11 Knit about 1/2 of stripe #11.

5/11/11 5 rows shy of finishing 10th stripe. Missed a pair of spine increases back several rows, & planned to ladder back & fix them but after much scrutiny & some consultation decided to leave ‘em.

5/10/11 #8: check.

5/9/11 7 stripes.

5/8/11 5.5 stripes done.

5/6/11 1st stripe! Wasn’t sure if I was on track with the fat-on-one-side-skinny-on-the-other thing, but TheBon cleared it up for me; I think the pattern needs a photo of that.

5/3/11 Cast on!