6/4/15 - I finally blocked the piece yesterday and am wearing it today. I luuuuv it! It’s so soft and warm and lightweight. These kinds of things are perfect for where I live in California. One thing I need to work on is my tension. When I started the shawl last year the stitches are so tight and neat, but as I look at the stitches I made towards the end, it looks like I was using a needle five times as big. I guess as I learn I will get better. But the shawl still looks and feels amazing even with all the uneven stitches.

5/31/15 - Wove in the last few ends today. Now I have to figure out how to block it in my one-bedroom apartment with a crazy toddler running around.

5/25 - Finished binding off today. Now I need to weave in the ends. For the first few stripes I was cutting the yarn at the end of every stripe, which halfway through I realized was not necessary. But now looking at the shawl, the side where I was carrying up the yarn kind of curves. I hope it will all get straightened out in blocking. Oh well, knit and learn.

5/24/15 - I started binding off today. Ugh. Still so hard for me. I’m doing Jeny’s Surprisingly Stretchy Bindoff, based on other project notes.

5/10/15 - I finished the last stripe and started the border today. I’ve been working on this somewhat obsessively, trying to get it done so that I can wear it before the weather gets too hot. I hope to get it done this week.

5/2/15 - Two more rows and I will be done with the 12th stripe. I can’t wait to finish it! All of my other shawls are acrylic or cotton. I am hoping this one will be warm and snuggly.

4/26/15 - I started the twelfth stripe today. At this rate I hope to finish next month.

4/18/15 - Started eleventh stripe.

4/6/15 - I started the tenth stripe today. I’ve been working on this off and on, between baby blankets and birthday gifts. I will probably do 13 stripes since I have extra yarn and like shawls on the bigger size.

11/29 - I’ve finished the first stripe and am starting on the second. I really had to think about the directions and look up helpful tips in the forums before I got how to do the stripes.

On a needle note, I am using ChiaoGoo 40” stainless steel circulars. They are slick! Much more so than the bamboo needles I used for my first knit project. I have had so many stitches fall off the needle, and some dropped stitches. Luckily I have pretty much every size crochet hook, so they were easily remedied. I can see that when I get better, I might appreciate the surface more, but I think for my next project I will try bamboo needles again.

11/28/14 - I started this today. As a newbie it’s a little scary! There are increases! And stitch markers! And short rows! And color changes! I straight up stole the color palette from this project.

http://www.ravelry.com/projects/anneleterme/stripe-study-...

I tend to like crazy bright colors, but thought something a little more subdued might be nice for a change.