theraineysisters knitting and so much more

June 3, 2007

From Susan — Throw Me a Line!

Filed under: Peacock Shawl -- Susan's — lv2knit @ 1:10 pm

Let’s recap: The purpose of a lifeline is to provide a place in your knitting that you can rip back to if necessary.  The key to a lifeline is that all before it must be error free, or why didn’t you fix it already?  I have been placing lifelines at the end of each chart on the Peacock Shawl — except for Chart #6.  Why?  Because I was so excited to start on Chart #7 that I forgot. 

So, I had just finished Row 9 of Chart 7 and decided I better put in a lifeline – I did NOT want to have to rip back all the way to Chart 5 if a mistake reared its ugly head.  Before setting the lifeline, I knew I had to validate that there were no mistakes, and I was quite confident that I had it all going on!  I was cooking along and paying attention and every row was lining up with the previous row.  Au contraire, Over-Confident One!  There was a serious mistake in the very center of the shawl.  I decided to purl back halfway to the center and fix it on the back side because it was such a chore to pick out the sts one by one over hundreds of sts.

Yes, you guessed correctly.  I could not fix it, so now I had to rip out the half a purl row AND the last half of the knit row.  It took forever. I still could not figure out what I did, but did eventually fix it.  I finished up the row and decided that I better hurry up and set my lifeline.  I recounted to validate the perfection of the row and — tada — there was ANOTHER mistake!!!!!  AAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!  This was easily fixed, but I’ll tell you — lace is an easy thing to botch.  You think you are really paying attention and a yarnover passes you by.

Here I am on Chart 7.  It is deceiving because Chart 7 is the final chart before the edging, so you think you are nearing the end.  But, I am probably only 50% done with the knitting.  It is true!  Chart 7 is ~50 rows and each is getting longer.  Plus the edging is deep. 

Peacock6-3-07001.jpg

Peacock6-3-07003.jpg

I feel much better now that I have a lifeline.  I may place one every ten rows or so just to feel more secure.

The great part of my knitting this weekend is that I watched Pride and Prejudice and knitted much of the day yesterday.  Oooh Baby — Mr. Darcy is one cute dude (any excuse will do to show this again ;)).

Mr.jpg
“And your parents are doing well?”

PS — I keep having trouble with the center — and it is nothing!!  What is my problem?  NOTE: Rhetorical question 😉

15 Comments »

  1. Mistakes and ripping are just an opportunity to spend more time with the very gorgeous Peacock 😉

    That’s a bit too involved for me to knit by. I usually watch the Bridget Jones ones and – OMG! Am I really admitting to this – “What a girl wants” when I need a dose of Colin Firth!

    Comment by Marina — June 3, 2007 @ 1:56 pm

  2. Mmmm… Mr. Darcy… by now I’ve read, listened to (audiobook by Kate Reading – fanTAStic!) and watched the BBC version so many times I could recite it in my sleep. Which is awesome for an afternoon of knitting. 🙂

    Your shawl is so lovely! There’s one on display at my LYS as well, and I figure I’ve got about 5 more viewings before I give up and order the pattern. Keep up the good work!

    Comment by Tikabelle — June 3, 2007 @ 2:01 pm

  3. Beautiful! Knit on.

    Comment by Wendy O'C — June 3, 2007 @ 2:02 pm

  4. It seems never-ending but it is *so* beautiful, with the spreading peacock feathers. The life-line is your friend!

    Comment by Karen B. — June 3, 2007 @ 2:17 pm

  5. I love my peacock. I’d be tempted to knit another one.

    And I so love Mr. Darcy. He needs to slip out of that wet shirt.

    Comment by surly — June 3, 2007 @ 5:10 pm

  6. Lovely! And your shawl is nice, too. (ducks and runs)

    OK, I love your shawl, and when I scroll your post the shawl seems to mysteriously grow. If I keep doing that, will it help your knitting progress?

    Comment by AuntieAnn — June 3, 2007 @ 5:16 pm

  7. From Susan to Auntie Ann — I sure hope so!!

    Comment by lv2knit — June 3, 2007 @ 7:42 pm

  8. When I miss a yarn over, I just dip down into the row below and pick up the strand between. I’ve also been known to not do a decrease if my stitch count is out. I’m a rebel I guess. I think perfection is over rated and see no harm in fudging my lace if required. And of course, I don’t bother with lifelines.

    I know some people will be in hives at the thought. Sorry if my heretical stance made anyone ill. 🙂

    Comment by LaurieM — June 3, 2007 @ 8:15 pm

  9. I think the center is giving you fits because it is TOO simple, compared to the complexities of the charts. You are in high gear, fix this problem knitting, really complex stuff mode…then simple, simple, simple.

    Comment by Suzanne — June 3, 2007 @ 11:12 pm

  10. Ooooooooooh. Peacock *and* Mr. Darcy. ::swoon:: I knew you would beat me to the end of Peacock Feathers! I do have a valid excuse for not working on it, though, honest! 😉

    In all seriousness, I always count the stitches between markers (each repeat) on the purl row because I tend to have, er, many many interruptions around here. It has saved my arse on many occasions! But they do say that ripping lace builds character. Okay, maybe not, but they *should* say it! 🙂

    Comment by Romi — June 3, 2007 @ 11:37 pm

  11. Your dedication to perfection is inspiring. If it won’t show to anyone but me, I am often tempted to do a fix that will make the pattern look right but doesn’t involve ripping back.

    Comment by Astrid — June 4, 2007 @ 6:35 am

  12. Susan- You’re not the only one having lace troubles- maybe we should choose more
    difficult projects- it’s the simpler ones that give you angst.

    Mr. Darcy……mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

    Or if all else fails- scream into a pillow!

    Comment by Lorraine — June 4, 2007 @ 8:14 am

  13. I totally and absolutely feel your pain.

    Comment by Gale — June 4, 2007 @ 8:32 am

  14. Ooooh! Another Pride and Prejudice fan! Me too! I can probably recite the BBC version by heart – and I suspect I’m getting there with the Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen version. I was really disappointed in it when I first saw it. It was too quickly paced and missing so much of the back story but I will admit it has grown on me. But when time allows it has to be the BBC version with Colin Firth in all his glory!

    I’m suffering with a lace project too! I’m attempting an Alpine Lace Scarf from Victorian Lace today and perhaps my brain has turned to mush because I usually can figure these lace patterns out and move along. But for the life of me, I just can’t seem to follow the directions and end up with the right number of stitches in the pattern repeats. I think I need to wait for a weekend and after at least a full nights sleep before I try it again.

    Your Peacock shawl is gorgeous!

    Comment by Eve — June 5, 2007 @ 2:12 am

  15. What a gorgeous work of art! Maybe to avoid mistakes, watch Mr. Magoo instead of those young hotties while knitting 😉

    Comment by Carol — June 6, 2007 @ 4:23 pm

RSS feed for comments on this post.

Leave a comment

Powered by WordPress