Project Soundtrack

After all of the counting and swearing while knitting this, my song of choice for this project is “The Count Censored.”

Changes

In case anyone at home is playing along, I figured it’d be easier to list the major changes I made right at the top of the project notes, rather than having to dig through everything (I did add a lot of links/references in my updates below in case anyone wants to read more). Most of the changes reflect having 874 yards of yarn to work with, rather than the pattern’s written 800 yards:

• I went up to a US 4 needle
• German long tail cast on
• Japanese short rows
• Repeat Rows 63-64 (without the increases) in Section E to use more yarn (in case you don’t read any farther, I wouldn’t recommend doing that… add extra length at the end before binding off, not in the middle)
• Close/fill the hole between feather tips while binding off by BO10, then M1R and purling (or knitting on the WS) it when beginning the next tip

Ideas for Next Time

• Save yarn at the beginning to crochet along the neckline (I tried it with the darker color I had left over at the end… I didn’t like how it looked)
• Figure out where in the transition sections I can slip stitches on the WS with the yarn in front to make the spines of the next set of feathers continue all the way down
• Don’t repeat any sections until the end, even if you’re certain you’ll have more than enough yarn
• While working the tips, add a YO at the beginning of each WS row to help loosen up the tips’ edges while BO (in addition to using a larger needle size while BO)

DETAILED UPDATES

07-15-2019

I’m very excited to get started on this, so I decided to first read through the projects marked as helpful, then compile some of the tips I noticed.

• I went up a needle size (I know I’m a tight knitter… that, and I don’t have a US 3).
• tsubasa1742 used a German long tail cast on on a US 6 for both more structure and the same amount of give (here’s a helpful video of it).
• tsubasa1742 recommended Japanese short rows. I’ve never worked those before, so I’m looking forward to learning how to do them.
• Again from tsubasa1742: a note about some of the cables in the KAL thread.
• I have 800 meters of Wollelfe Merino Silk, which is more than the 732 marked in the original pattern. misstwilight did an extra set of short rows without the additional increases at the beginning of Section H, and worked a few rows across the pattern without increasing, so I think I’ll do the same to use up as much of my skein as possible.
• In case I need to burn more yarn, tsubasa1742 did the following: I worked 1 more repeat of rows 103-104.3 to use up a little more yarn. I replaced the M2L and M2R with M1L and M1R to maintain the same amount of stitches for the bind off.
• For the bind off, misstwilight made this note, which I think I’ll follow: I didn’t like the big hole after binding off 9, so on the next wing tip I bound off 10, with the last one as a purl. On the next row, knit the first stitch and then purled back into the second row down of purl stitch that was bound off. That seems to have closed the hole nicely. Honestly, I don’t have a clue what that means right now because I haven’t even gotten started, but I think it’ll be helpful later on.
• Here is a note about R7 and R9 from MelRedcap in the KAL thread.
• And here’s a tracker from plaidnuthatch.
• Putting this here as a potential idea at the very end: crocheted crab stitch border at the neckline (potentially with the dark green at the end of the skein?).

07-17-2019

And here we go! I finished through Row 4 and will start SRow 4-1 tomorrow.

Seriously, what tsubasa1742 wrote about Japanese Short Rows was incredibly helpful, along with the pictures included in the project page:

Working up to the WT you will slip that last stitch before it as instructed and lay a piece of waste yarn over top of your working yarn. You’ll then work the next stitch as instructed after the WT. If I’m not mistaken this should be a K2TOG.

When you come back around to the waste yarn you will slip the stitch before the “purl column” as instructed. It may be a little awkward and tight, but you’ll then pull up a loop with that waste yarn and put it on your left needle. You’ll then SSK it with the “purl column” stitch so the slipped stitch is to the back of your work when you look at the front side. It should practically be invisible.

07-19-2019

Yay for getting to 10%! A long road trip helps with that…

And good God, that first transition sucked, especially without having the pattern printed off. In case anyone is still reading this far, do yourself a favor and print the stupid thing. Also, after you rearrange the stitches, you knit them with the notations that follow. That wasn’t super clear to me…

07-22-2019

And through Section C. According to the tracker, that’s 15%, so that’s cool. I also started seeing the most subtle of color changes in my yarn in the middle of this section, which is even cooler.

Now to print off the pattern before jumping into the next transition…

07-29-2019

I’m about halfway through Section E now. I’m curious how it’ll block out… I can see some puckers and waves at the short rows, so I’m hopeful those will go away during blocking.

I also decided to do an extra set of Rows 63-64 without the increases. I’ve finally gotten to a color in the yarn I’m enjoying and am still worried about not being able to use all of the skein’s length in this, so we’ll add a little more here. If I made this again with this yarn, I would go back and skip the first 50 yards or so; then I probably wouldn’t have to worry about sneaking in rows here and there to use as much of the skein as possible and I can start at a color that I really like (the pale yellow in the beginning is okay, but I’m really enjoying the green that’s appearing).

08-06-2019

And after an almost four hour wait in the name of German bureaucracy, I’m through that final transition in Section F… just to discover the pattern was updated with charts for those parts! Gah!!

Oh well. I found a system that worked for me without having to use stitch markers. I read each row before working it, drawing lines between each feather, drawing a squiggly line beneath the linen stitch section, and underlining any sections between them that had the ribbed columns to separate the next section of feathers (so any that weren’t just knitting or purling) I wrote the feather number in the margin, along with a dot between any feathers that had a ribbed column. For Row 83, I underlined every other feather to help me stay on track.

In case it helps anyone, I took a picture of a few of the rows in Section F that include my notes, but with the update, it probably won’t be necessary.

I don’t have access to a scale right now, but I’m thinking I should be able to get to the end of Section G in the next few days (between traveling on a train and plane…). I’ll probably end it there, then wait until I’m home to weigh it and decide if I can do an extra repeat of Rows 103-104.

08-11-2019

I’m through Row 93 in Section G (despite the extra time while traveling, I just didn’t feel like knitting…). I weighed it with a kitchen scale and, compared to the tracker, I’m about six grams under (It says I should have 69.3, while I have 63). Apparently the luggage scale I used at the end of Section E was off (I was about ten grams over then when I decided to repeat Rows 63-64), or I’m knitting looser now, or I used a lot more yarn than expected in Section G, or going up a needle size made a larger impact than I expected. Who knows where it all went?

I did some quick math… My yarn is finer and has about 4.375 yards per gram, as opposed to 4 per gram. Right now, I have an estimated 275.625 yards left, while the tracker recommends having 277 at this point. Seriously, did I burn through that much yarn in one repeat of Rows 63-64 and by going up a needle size? I didn’t have the most accurate of scales when I made that choice, so I won’t ever find out…

I think I’m going to knit the next two rows as written, maybe tighten my work a little, and weigh it to see how much I use. I don’t really want to start over and hope to start binding off with around 25-30 grams, so I might be able to fudge the final few rows to get the correct number of increases in each feather for the bind off.

09-14-2019

And the end is in sight! I moved back to the US, started a new job, and moved back into my house. I’m starting to find a bit of time to knit again, so I finally got through the body and started the tips. I began it with 23 grams of yarn remaining, so this could be fun (and, yes, I put in a lifeline at the beginning of the last row before the short rows, so if worse comes to worst, I can tink it back to that point).

09-29-2019

Half of the feather tips are done! I have 13 grams left to finish, so I should be good to go on that front.

After the first tip, misstwilight’s comment about the hole being left behind after binding off suddenly made sense. What I ended up doing was binding off 10 for each tip (ending the last as a purl above the ribbed stitch between each feather), then M1R from the previous row, but as a purl instead of a knit. It fills up that gap fairly well, and gives a little more fabric to work with on the bind off (I finished the tips fairly tightly to guarantee I’ll have enough yarn to finish… I guess we’ll see how it blocks).

10-05-2019

Done knitting! I finished with 2 grams of yarn remaining. I’ll be curious how it blocks and if it’ll help the tips lay a little flatter, or if that’s a consequence of knitting the tips tightly to make sure I had enough yarn…

10-06-2019

Blocked Measurements:
Neckline to Tip: 39.5”
Tip to Tip: 79”
Neckline to Center BO Edge: 8”

Shawl Clips

Circular Brooches

10-07-2019

And off the mats and done! The blocking helped the tips lay flat instead of curling (I put two pins in each tip; one at the “spine” of the feather and another partway down the curve to help spread it out). If you really look, you can see a few puckers from the short rows’ wrap-and-turns, but I don’t think it’ll be super obvious when it’s being worn.

Overall, I’m pretty happy with it. There are a few lines where the color didn’t fade as well as I would’ve liked, but overall, I’m pleased. I can’t say I’m pleased enough to make another one right away, but maybe someday if a friend asks for one.