5 Shawls, 5 Days Challenge: Day Four

My Half-Pi shawl came out looking LITERALLY like a freaking piece of pie.

Day four of the "5 Shawls, 5 Days" Challenge brought us the Half-Pi shape, a construction that (according to Frenchie) favors lace knitting. Yikes!

Okay, so tackle this I did (or, well, tried to), and it seemed to go well until I realized it had developed into more of a wedge than a half-pi. In other words, it's supposed to look like half a circle.

Hmmm.

Turns out I should've used a lighter weight yarn, bigger needles, or heck - both. But that doesn't mean I didn't learn something new, and I understand the technique, so there are more wins than losses here. I just got kicked in the butt for trying to use cheaper yarn for my swatches, which I knew would come back to bite me at some point.

I can't believe there's only one more day left already. This week has blown by thanks to all the projects I've got going for myself, knitting and otherwise. Bring on Friday!

About the Challenge

Hosted by Frenchie of Aroha Knits, the "5 Shawls, 5 Days" challenge takes participants through a handful of standard shawl techniques, teaching us the basic construction of five shapes that will help us on our own journeys into shawl design. Anyone participating in the official challenge will be entered to win her upcoming ebook, "Forming Shawls and Their Charts", which will be available soon!

Found out about the challenge too late? There's now a DIY version of the challenge available here. You won't be entered to win a copy of the book, but you can follow along with the tutorials and learn something new, which is always a win :)

You can keep track of all the shawl construction designs by visiting the project on my Ravelry page.

5 Shawls, 5 Days Challenge: Day Three

Today's construction was the Asymmetrical Triangle Shawl, which weirdly and admittedly is one of my favorite design aesthetics. Being a former graphic designer, I'm drawn to features that aren't necessarily equal; just... balanced (white space is your friend!) And asymmetrical designs provide that for me. Plus, they're plain old interesting!

This shawl's construction is really easy, possibly even easier than the standard triangle shape, because all your increases are on one side of the project. I'm interested in eventually learning how to chart a design into this shape because I'm sure it's a little less than standard. Frenchie was actually showing us how to calculate/incorporate patterns into a shawl design last night on Periscope and it blew my mind; being a math hater, I can't help but feel I'm in over my head, but I'm also excited to learn at the same time.

So if I'm weeping into a frogged shawl design in my next podcast, you know what happened.

You can see the asymmetrical triangle in action by visiting my Lapidary project page on Ravelry. Lapidary is a shawl I knit last year and was provided in one of my monthly KnitCrate kits.

About the Challenge

Hosted by Frenchie of Aroha Knits, the "5 Shawls, 5 Days" challenge takes participants through a handful of standard shawl techniques, teaching us the basic construction of five shapes that will help us on our own journeys into shawl design. Anyone participating in the official challenge will be entered to win her upcoming ebook, "Forming Shawls and Their Charts", which will be available soon!

Found out about the challenge too late? There's now a DIY version of the challenge available here. You won't be entered to win a copy of the book, but you can follow along with the tutorials and learn something new, which is always a win :)

You can keep track of all the shawl construction designs by visiting the project on my Ravelry page.

5 Shawls, 5 Days Challenge: Day Two

Today's shawl construction in the "5 Shawls, 5 Days Challenge" was the crescent shawl, obviously different to yesterday's triangle shawl in shape mostly because increases are worked every row, giving us a more rounded, moon-like edge. I cast on this afternoon when I went home to walk the dog on my lunch break, finishing up once I was home and still had some daylight left to snap a decent photo.

So far, I'm loving this challenge because I'm learning a lot with very little (30 minutes max) time investment while doing something I enjoy. And I get to document my progress along the way by posting photos to Instagram and seeing what everyone else is creating, too, using the #5shawls5days hashtag. Nothing like a creative group activity to get you back in the game.

Hosted by Frenchie of Aroha Knits, the "5 Shawls, 5 Days" challenge takes participants through a handful of standard shawl designs, teaching us the basic construction of five shapes that will help us on our own journeys into shawl design. Anyone participating in the official challenge will be entered to win her upcoming ebook, "Forming Shawls and Their Charts", which will be available soon!

Found out about the challenge too late? There's now a DIY version of the challenge available here. You won't be entered to win a copy of the book, but you can follow along with the tutorials and learn something new, which is always a win :)

You can keep track of all the shawl construction designs by visiting the project on my Ravelry page.

5 Shawls, 5 Days Challenge: Day One

Our first project was learning the basic construction of triangular shawls, beginning with the popular garter tab cast-on. 

Last week, on a whim, I signed up for the "5 Shawls, 5 Days Challenge" hosted by Frenchie of Aroha Knits.

It's not that I didn't already have enough to do outside of knitting, and I certainly have too many projects on the hooks and needles to count (you can watch my latest podcast episode for a not-so-brief glimpse into my WIPs), so what inspired me to cast on and learn basic shawl construction?

Well, I've designed accessories before, but almost always hats. As you know from following my blog, I've become obsessed with shawl knitting over the past year and was feeling ready to venture into the land of designing my own. Simple designs at first, of course, being that I'm still a total n00b at this venture, but nevertheless.

I've also needed a distraction to busy myself through some crazy times, so I took it as a sign that I needed to participate in this challenge when it randomly appeared on Frenchie's website while I was stalking her patterns.

Each day, we participants will spend 30 minutes knitting a mini shawl using the construction/shape designated for the day. Today (Monday)'s shape was the triangle shawl, which is one I've frequently knit up in other designers' patterns, so the shaping was familiar this time around. The instructions were clear and well-explained, as well as the methods for creating the shape (so you're not just following a pattern; you're understanding how you're making the resulting shape).

The best part is we'll be entered to win Frenchie's upcoming ebook about designing shawls, which she's basically a master at, so color me excited to learn from a guru. Just another reason to take part in it, right? Except it seems like there's a ton of competition based on the Instagram hashtags alone. Hmmm. I guess wish me luck!

You can keep track of all the shawl construction designs by visiting the project on my Ravelry page.

Review: Red Heart Unforgettable Yarn

In an effort to bust my stash and list as many hats in my shop as possible (mama needs some cold hard cash), I've been crocheting up a storm. As a result, I've been plowing through the deep dark recesses of my yarn cubbies, shortly thereafter remembering why I shoved certain detestable skeins of yarn to the back.

One of those yarns is Red Heart Boutique's Unforgettable. And truly, after my most recent experience with it, I will never forget. Unfortunately.

Just look at how the ball split into three separate, knotted sections. LOOK AT IT!

The Specs

Fiber Content: 100% Acrylic
Skein Weight: 3.5oz (100 g) ball
Yardage: 270 yd (247 m)
Recommended Crochet Hook: 6 mm (J/10) hook
Recommended Knitting Needle: 5mm (size 8) needles

The Story

I'd picked up a couple balls for a custom order last year and it was an absolute nightmare to crochet. I chalked it up to the specific pattern, which I kept messing up and needing to rip back. Well, this yarn doesn't lend itself well to frogging due to its single-ply structure and roving content; it felts upon itself immediately, creating knots and - more often than not - tearing apart in my hands.

So this time, I tried something simpler: whipping up a few of my Really Easy Slouchy Beanies. And I still lost my will to live. It was all fine and dandy until the ball started to unravel because the fiber is so slippery. The pattern is so simple and I crochet so fast that I typically don't need to look down at what the yarn is doing. Here, I was constantly untangling or ripping the yarn's knots apart the closer I got to ball's middle and end. I even threw away the last third of a ball because I couldn't take it anymore. Not that I'm widely known for having patience, but as I was trying achieve instant gratification, the never-ending knots just hindered my enjoyment.

I've never had a yarn experience like this before in my life. And it's not like I can just write it off as, "Oh, well, at least it was a bargain yarn." Because it's not. I mean, it's definitely not a luxury hand-dyed situation that you can purchase at your LYS, but it's not exactly cheap at $6.19/ball when you wind up throwing it away.

The Good Stuff

That said, there are some positives to the yarn. Although I'll probably never buy it again, that's surely my personal preference and perhaps the good will outweigh the bad for you.

For one thing, the yarn comes in a gorgeous variety of rich colors featuring long color changes, meaning it's one of my favorite types of yarn visually. It's a shame I hate working with it because it looks phenomenal and would otherwise be calling my name.

Second, it's soft and has beautiful drape, making it perfect for fashionable garments and accessories. I have to say I love how my beanies look in Unforgettable because this yarn makes the pattern look more complicated than it is and the hats slouch beautifully. Again, I'm disappointed I hate working with the stuff because I want to use it for more hats.

Don't Judge Me

I want everyone to know that although I'm a self-proclaimed yarn snob, I also think affordable, large-brand acrylics have their place. That's why I'm always on the hunt for the highest quality yarns I can get my hands on that yield the largest profit margins possible when making sellable items for my etsy shop. Unforgettable would absolutely fit my qualifications if it wasn't such a PITA to work with.

What Do You Think?

Have you used Unforgettable before? Have I been too harsh, or is my review right on the money? Let me know about your experience in the comments!