March 17, 2014

Casting this on tonight. Hoping for a larger shawl (not just a shoulder-shawl), so I went up in needle size.

Was debating doing the whole thing in stockinette, but decided instead to just do the background (the solid scarlet) in stockinette and the feathers in garter stitch. I knit a couple rows in stockinette, frogged, and started over. I think it’ll be a nice compromise.

Another reason to start over: I started knitting it on straights, but I think I’m switching to my Addi Turbo Lace circular. I just prefer pointy tips whenever I get the chance, plus the cable will give me extra working room. I did re-cast-on on the straights, though. Just easier to me.

So far the yarn is amazingly soft and nice to work with. I LOVE this scarlet red!

Finally, I didn’t have safety pins of different colors to use as markers, so I took 13 of the pins I had and painted the heads and backs with nail polish. Assuming the polish doesn’t peel off (at least before I figure out the pattern) it should work just as well.

March 24, 2014
Three feathers done! And I only wanted to throw the whole thing across the room about 5 times!

So the first feather I did (the picture of the single feather) was actually not very good. I ended up frogging it and starting over, but there were enough small mistakes that I decided I just couldn’t live with it.

I went through the projects that other people did looking for notes and suggestions and found several that helped immensely. (I hope to link them soon to give credit where it’s due.)

Some notes/alterations that I’m doing to the pattern:

Be wary of the locations of the double-stitches and be sure to pick up the entire double-stitch (both legs). This will take careful counting for the first few feathers, but after you get used to the pattern it’s easier to identify them as you’re going along. Count your stitches as you’re getting used to the pattern.

Don’t be afraid to knit the first feather a few times (using scrap yarn if you have any). There are several times where what you do on one row affects something you do several rows later. I’ve tried to write notes below that will help, but everyone’s a little different.

After a while you can just stick to the chart and the row-by-row stitch count table. (I’ve even re-written the row-by-row table for myself.) Keep a row counter handy. When you get even more comfortable, you can omit using the pins/stitch markers since the stitch count is accurate. I found placing/removing the pins took too much time and I risk dropping stitches from my needles.

Doing the background in stockinette: Whenever you’re using the background yarn (in my case, the scarlet yarn), knit the odd rows and purl the even rows. This makes the background pretty and smooth, and makes the feathers stand out even more.

Weaving in yarn: I wasn’t sure what the pattern meant at first, so I was wrapping some of my stitches. Just to clarify in case anyone else is confused (and reads this) it means to basically twist your yarn strands together on the back side like if you’re doing intarsia.

I did the Row 28 modification, so at Row 3 I only weave the background yarn 2 stitches instead of 5.

Row 28: Knit with the feather yarn until you have 1 feather yarn stitch left (past where the pattern says to switch over): 94 stitches total. Then knit the last feather color stitch with your background color, and purl one more stitch with the background color before turning. This keeps the feather yarn purl bump raised on the front side (to keep it looking like a feather quill) and the second stitch goes back to stockinette with the background color.

Row 29: You’re now knitting with the background color. Weave the feather color ONLY about 2-3 stitches so it ends at 10 stitches from the “top” side of the shawl. You will weave it the last 5 stitches later to minimize floats.

At the other end of Row 29, pick up a stitch from your background color (from Row 15). This will enclose the tip of the feather with the background color.

Row 30: Since you’ve picked up a stitch, you now cast off 16 stitches. This is an even row, so I purl them and cast them off so I remember to purl the rest of the way (3 stitches after casting off, so you have 4 stitches remaining on your right needle).

Rows 32-42, 56-70, EVEN ROWS ONLY: Slip the first stitch before purling the marked number of stitches. It makes the bottom edge look neater.

Row 70/Row 1: Purl all the way back to the beginning. DO NOT CAST OFF THE 10 STITCHES! Instead, leave them on your needles or slip them to scrap yarn/a stitch holder to bind off when done with the entire shawl. This will avoid any “jaggies” and keep the top edge smooth. Weave the feather yarn 5 more stitches. Depending on how you knit, you may need to weave it up to 7 more stitches, but I found 5 works for Row 1, and then weaving it up to 2 more stitches at Row 3 when changing over to the feather yarn. Don’t forget to weave the background yarn at Row 3 after changing to your feather yarn.

Finally, don’t be afraid to frog/tink back rows. There were times I thought I could be happy with some minor mistakes, but decided to tink it all back and fix them anyway. I’m immensely happier with those places now.

March 31, 2014 4 feathers done! I would be further along if the Diablo 3 expansion hadn’t launched. It’s so fun, but taking me away from knitting! And I’m thinking I’m going to be aiming for 20 feathers? Gonna take a while at the rate I’m going!

Anyway, the shawl is looking great. I should re-type up the pattern with my edits to make it easier to read. I keep forgetting exactly where and how many stitches I need to weave the yarn.

December 28, 2014 Took a LONG break from knitting this year to focus on losing weight and building my costume for Blizzcon. Didn’t win anything at Blizzcon, but I then wore it at NC ComiCon and won Best In Show, so the break from knitting paid off! I’m trying to finish this shawl during my holidays, and not sure I’ll get it done, but I should get close.

As of right now I have 16 feathers done, and I’m aiming to do 24. I can get about 7 repeats done per skein of my background yarn (the scarlet Capretta) and I’m still on my first skein of feather yarn (Chroma). I think I have 1, MAYBE 2, feathers worth of yarn left on the first skein of Chroma.

Aside from that, not much to report on it. It’s going smoothly, just takes a while. I think it’s worth it, though. Can’t wait to have this done so I can wear it while it’s still winter!

March 6, 2015
Oh hey, I finished it within a year!

Uploaded a new picture, but I still need to weave in a few ends and block it. Will do a final picspam when that’s done. (I need to clean my living room so I have a place to lay it out for blocking.)

I did 22 feathers total. I had plenty of yarn to do more (Probably up to 28?) but decided it was long enough and at a place in the color change that I liked.

I did the typical bind off (knit 2, pass 1 over, knit 1 pass 1 over, etc.) for the last feather up to the point where the last feather “quill” started. Then I purled all the way back to the beginning, then did an i-cord bind off back so the neckline has a little more thickness (and hopefully won’t roll). The bind off was done entirely in the background color.

There are a few “holes” where I had to drop a few stitches to fix the strand of feather yarn that I wove incorrectly during knitting, and then when I picked up the stitches again they were stretched out of place. I’m hoping that blocking will help those spots out.

I’m sad that Knitpicks has discontinued both of these yarn colors. I love the color combination!

Firebudgie had to have her wings!