12-30-2018

Beads: Size 8 Transparent Rainbow Light Steel Delica Beads. I have 1,600 on hand so will do the 1,278 beads option for the pattern. They are the 3 right most beads in the last picture and left most beads on the second to last picture.

01-01-2019

Found a store with the beads in stock and went ahead and ordered enough to do the fully beaded version. Now waiting for them to arrive - I have plenty to get through until then if all goes well.

Clue 1 cast on and got through row 30 before calling it a night. The cast on technique was interesting - sort of a modified tab using icord. The provisional cast on required some youtube research first, but the method shown here is the one I went with and it was super easy.

No major headaches with the clue - just a bit of a pain to scroll up and down to see the edge stitch directions vs. the body chart. No big deal.

Pattern does not call out stitch markers, if you are using them, they move on row 29 one stitch to the left.

01-02-2019

Finished clue 1 today. Smooth sailing - although the chart symbol for the cable on row 35 was a bit of a pain to distinguish right from left and then when they all ended up being the same direction I double checked myself several times. But so they are.

Stitch markers move again one stitch to the left on row 35. I did knit a row 36 (WS) although it wasn’t explicitly called out in the clue. I assume that we’ll have to do it before clue 2 so I’m taking the leap of faith.

01-03-2019

Clue 2 released this morning. Through charts B and C and started chart D. Up to row 57 already. Of course she’s already starting to be squished up on the needles, so progress will slow. I’ve also begun the beading. And there are lots and lots of beads called for in this clue. Almost 1,300 of them! I continued to use stitch markers, but very limited use as they move and aren’t true repeat markers for more than a row or two before they shift. Relying on reading my knitting which makes for more backwards progress than I prefer, but it’s really the only way to do it.

Clue 3 comes out on the 5th so I have to stay focused to keep up!

01-03-2019

Found a bit more time and finished through row 63. Clearly there is no way I will finish clue 2 before clue 3 is released. But headway is being made!

01-04-2019

Through row 72. Each row is taking forever with the beads, but I’m loving the results. Clue 3 out tomorrow, so I’m now officially behind with 20 more rows of clue 2 to do.

01-05-2019

Through row 78 of chart D. Wanted to get to row 82, but fell short. The chart is 94 rows - and I know that I won’t get to work on it at all during the work week so tomorrow is it. I don’t think I’ll get finished with chart D tomorrow. But I’m going to try!

01-06-2019

Chart D finished! Phew! Through row 94 of the pattern. Chart E has only a few rows to it, but they are long and also beaded. Sadly, with the work week coming up, I may not get to work on this again until the weekend. At least the gradient is starting to shift. And in convenient places too!

01-12-2019

Hit a screeching halt a few days ago on row 107 when I realized that I had the end of a feather section screwed up. Took several attempts to fix it, but managed to get it looking presentable. Moved on. Got to row 109 and discovered that I had several feathered ends from row 107 looking ragged. Apparently I knit too late the day I finished row 105 and made a mess. Decision time. Do I just accept it and move on or do I tink back row 104 with hopes that I can fix it and do it right.

After having the project in time out, I decided yesterday that I have to tink it back. I can’t be happy with it knowing there are visible errors. It’s going to take several hours to do it, and I don’t have the stomach for it yet, but with the next clue released today, I’ll have to get on it soon.

01-17-2019

Took this project out of the naughty corner finally. Tinked back stitch by stitch from the end of row 109 to the end of row 103. What a pain. Almost 3 hours to get it done. Found my two very minor errors on row 103 that manifested into the mess I had on row 107. Fixed and moved on.

Got to row 111 so now ahead of where I was when I halted. Lots of beads on each RS row so it’s slow going. I am almost to the last color of my gradient, but no risk of running out of yarn at all. Looking forward to finishing this clue and getting to the last one soon.

01-18-2019

Finished Chart E! Row 118. A little over 400 stitches per row now. And the darkest color change is in sight. Thankfully no further issues with everything lining up.

01-20-2019

Finished chart F, in the home stretch now! Of course, there’s a picot bind off, so maybe not quite the home stretch …

No further issues, but I did take care to make sure everything was lined up as I knitted, which slowed progress a bit, but worth it in the end. The beads help tremendously with keeping everything in line (if you pay attention).

01-23-2019

2/3 of the way through chart G. 23g of yarn left. Options are to try to squeeze in one more beaded row and WS row then BO or just BO now. Setting aside for the day to decide how risky I want to be. The tinking back of a picot bind off and two long rows would be painful - is it worth the risk?

01-24-2019

Decided to go for one more row. Finished rows 139 and 140. Have 15g of yarn left. Absolutely no way I’m going further - so next up is the bind off. Want to do the crochet bind off, but don’t yet know how. Off to Google I go.

01-26-2019

Off the needles! Did a modified crochet picot bind off to keep the picots in pattern but slightly shorter than called for. Beaded the end of each picot.

Ended up with 8g of yarn left, so I probably could have squeezed out the last two rows, but I’m happier without the stress of yarn chicken after such a long and challenging project.

01-31-2019

Blocking! All the beads are like a thousand points of light.

02-02-2019

Blocked. Got enough sun to see the beads sparkle and the full beauty of the shawl. And my dear hubby, who appreciates the craft but usually doesn’t pay much attention to it saw it and immediately said it was a phoenix. So she shall now be known as the Wild Phoenix.

09-02-2019

Honorable mention at the 2019 Hunterdon County Fair. No notes on the judging sheet, so no idea why I placed where I did.