Blogger Meet Up, Blog Prize and Shopping!

After I won Kristen's blog contest in August, we arranged to meet up so I could collect my goodies and we could have lunch together and peruse a knitting shop too. It's always best to have company in a knitting shop, don't you think?

We met up at the Wickford Diner which is near this pretty view of the harbor boats. I had a good, traditional diner meal: BLT on wheat with fries.

Kristen surprised me with Louisa Harding Hand Dyed Grace yarn--she reads my blog and knows just what I like =)

Also, some very interesting things to taste! I haven't had any of them before, but they are all flavors I really enjoy, so I'm looking forward to using them in the kitchen!

After lunch, we went to The Mermaid's Purl where I (at last) found a button for my Noro shrug. It will be nice not to have to pin it from now on. We had a sample of the same colorway at the store for reference, but I couldn't remember what size button I needed. Thankfully Kristen encouraged me to get it anyway and I think it turned out just right! And that's one great reason to have company at a knitting shop =)

The rain mostly held off but for a little drizzle, until the very end of our visit when we arrived back at our cars. Then, it started to pour!

Black Hole of Yarn

(Almost an FO!)

This little shrug used *3* balls of yarn over what was suggested by the pattern. Granted, I did slightly lengthen the sleeves, but that shawl collar just kept eating up yarn. I thought I was going to run out of yarn a second time, but managed to have just enough. It seems to have been worth the worry and aggravation since the collar is lovely and warm and perfect for days like today that are 20-30 degrees cooler than normal!

I am very happy with how the stripes lined up. I used two balls at a time on the back so those stripes would be about as wide as the ones on the fronts. You can see I didn't quite start in the same place on the bottom fronts, but it's close enough overall. Some of the stripes line up due to planning, but some of the match ups are happy accidents.

Front:

Back:

Now, I have tons of ends to weave in! And, I'll have to shop for a button.

2 Be or Not 2 Be Random

I am trying variegated yarn on a sizable project for the first time. Looking at pictures of self striping yarn projects, it looks like sometimes the skeins were chosen at random. For example the right front and left front of a cardigan or each sleeve start with different shades on the bottom trim. Other times, it looks like there was some planning and the trim starts with the same shade on each side.

Do knitters obsess with starting from exactly the same place in the variegated sequence? Or if you pick the same shade to start and you aren't quite in the same part of the sequence do you keep on going?

None of the pictures in the books show the backs of cardigans, so I'm not sure what they do with those. Do they have narrow stripes compared to the fronts because you are knitting a wider piece? Or has the knitter used two skeins and made the stripes closer to those on the fronts.

I know, SO many questions. Once again, knitting is proving NOT to be a relaxing experience for me!

Despite all my questions and issues with the colors, I have to say I love watching the colors change and the Noro yarn I'm using is lovely. It is Noro Silk Garden Chunky in colorway 11, which is pink-purple-green-tan.

I am working on a shrug from the book called Noro Designer Mini Knits Two.

I am starting sections of the shrug with roughly the same color, though I discovered after I got going that I wasn't always in the same part of the sequence. I have not frogged.

For the back, I am knitting from two skeins and trying to make the back stripes closer in width to those on the front, but it is hard not to interrupt the soft transitions between the colors when doing this. I think maybe I am having a harder time as this is my first variegated project and I am learning as I go. I am hoping these lessons will make my next Noro project in the queue much easier! I have frogged and reknit sections of the back too many times, only to feel that the first time was the best after all...aarrgh! Here is what I'm sticking with now.

Here are a couple of pictures showing how the side seam areas are looking/lining up.
Right:
Left:
I can live with it! Now, I only have to worry about size. Somehow, despite the fact it is pretty much filling up the knitting needles, it is looking small to me. Knitting usually grows though, so hopefully it will all work out. We'll see...