On to the Edging!!

I'm really in the home stretch now. I've completed 4 rows of the edging chart, so I am going to start row 231 this afternoon at Bobaknit. There are only 250 rows. That means I have 20 rows left (plus the crochet chain cast-off), which means that I only have 10 right side rows left. I've started a new chart, Stitches to Go!, which only has one data point on it today (10,606), so it will debut next week. Here are the old standards. As you can see, I'm still pretty far ahead of my goal (>4,000 sts).

To my dye-o-rama buddy,

Here are my answers to the Meme:

Questions specific to this swap:
*Your favorite colors? Blue, Green, Purple
*Preferred yarn weight (Fingering, Sport, DK, maybe even Worsted)? Sock
*Do you prefer solid or multicolored yarn? Multicolored for socks!
*If your buddy is able to do so, would you like a variegated, self-striping, or self-patterning yarn? Any of the above.
*Would you be interested in a wool blend sock yarn (nylon, tencel, silk, acrylic, alpaca, etc.)? Whatever, as long as it's pretty soft and durable.
*Imagine the perfect colorway. What would you name it? Blue Lagoon











*What was the biggest appeal to you for joining this dye-along? Getting to trade yarn!

General yarn/fiber questions:
*Have you dyed yarn/fiber before? Yes, twice.
*If so, what’s your favorite dye and method? I like squirting dye on with squirt bottles. I like both Kool-Aid and acid-based dyes -- it depends on what you're going for. They're very different but both nice. (I really like the RIT worsted I dyed last weekend because it's so rich in color.)
*Do you spin? I'm learning.
*Have you knit socks before? Yes, but amazingly only 2 pairs so far (one of them baby socks).
*Do you use sock yarn for just socks or in other patterns too? Just socks so far.
*What are some of your favorite yarns? Socks that Rock and Lana Grossa Fantasie (I've knit with these); Cherry Tree Hill, Blue Mountain Spinnery, and Lorna's Laces (I've coveted all three but I've never had any).
*What yarn do you totally covet? See last question.
*Favorite patterns? I really want to learn toe-up 2 at a time so that I can knit until I run out of yarn (I like tall socks).
*Favorite kind of needles (brand, materials, straights or circs, etc)? Addie Turbos (circs)

Nothing to do with knitting/yarn/fiber in any way but seemed kinda fun:
*Do you have a favorite candy or mail-able snack? Sweet Tarts
*What’s your favorite animal? Orangutan
*Do you have pets? What are their species/names/ages? Yes! I have 3 dogs at home and a fish (a beta named Fred after Fred Astaire) at work. My dogs are an 8-year-old Kuvasz named Jezabelle (107 lb), a 14 (almost 15)-year-old Papillon named Lilla (6 lb), and a ? (maybe 6)-year-old Siberian Husky named Siena (50 lb, we got her from one of the many Husky rescue groups in the bay area almost 2 yrs ago). Jezabelle and Lilla I got as puppies and my parents took care of them for 6 years while I was in college and living in apartments that wouldn't allow Jezabelle. We've had all 3 together for almost a year now since my fiance and I bought a house.

*If you were a color what color would you be? Blue-Green (like a lagoon)
*What is your most inspiring image, flower, or object in nature? I love cornflowers and the moon.

*Tell me the best quote you’ve ever heard or read. "If you don't try, you'll never succeed."

*Do you have a wishlist? Yes. You can check out my knitting book wishlist here. I have many more books on a private "thinking about it" list, but these are the books I really want.

Dying Part 2

Alyssa and I spent last Saturday dying the second half of our yarn from Knit Picks and our roving from Stitches, mostly with RIT dye. We used a bit of Kool-Aid on our wool roving and Alyssa dyed her sock yarn with Kool-Aid.

First we have our setup:













Next, let's look at the roving...
Here we have Alyssa's wool roving before steaming.....













and when dry.













Here's Alyssa's bamboo roving when dry:













Here's my bamboo roving being dyed and my bamboo roving when dry:













Here's my wool roving:













Next, let's look at the yarn...
Here we have Alyssa's sock yarn, dyed with Kool-Aid.













Here's Alyssa's worsted weight yarn:

Here's my worsted weight yarn, first ready to be steamed, then when dry:
















Here's all our yarn and roving drying in my backyard:

Progress!!

Here is where I'm at! I'm nearing the home stretch (the edging)! First we have the progress plot. which shows that I'm finally once again above the red line goal curve.












Then we have two pictures of the actual shawl. In the close-up with flash you can see that I have some big feathers done, and in the larger shot without flash you can see the pattern around the big feathers and where the medium feathers transition into the big feathers near the bottom of the picture.













Lastly, we have my estimation of where I am in the overall shawl. Only about 70% of the stitches are done, but I'm pretty close to the edge. The end is in sight...

I passed my goal!!!

I will post pictures and plots tomorrow...

Woohoo!

I really need to study for my 2 midterms tomorrow, but I just had to post because I just joined my second ball of yarn for my shawl (using the Russian Join). I am now only 263 stitches behind my original schedule of 500 stitches/day. I definitely have a big feather (and then some) so I will try to take pictures and post them tomorrow. I also tried posting dying pictures yesterday but had difficulty uploading the pics with blogger, so I'll have to plug in tomorrow instead of trying it wireless. Until then, study study!!!

3700 stitches!

I knit 3700 stitches today!!! That's a full 828 more than any other day so far. Yay. I'm so glad I got to work in the lab today, because I knit 6 rows while running tests. Then I went to Bobaknit and knit 4 more rows! That's 10 rows today! Only 60 more rows to go! I almost have a full big feather, so a picture will be in order soon. Now I'm only 3499 stitches behind my original goal. Another day like today (hah! very unlikely) and I'll be back on track!