Nautilus Shawl

Oh my freaking god, this is the most "frustrating and annoying and what the hell am I making here and why" project. 

Let me sum up:

I hated those ruffle scarves and scoured the Ravelry database to see if I could find a pattern that would use the yarn a better way. I found a pretty shawl pattern, both crochet and knit versions, and thought I would try it. 

For three days straight, I kept knitting and frogging, hooking and frogging, looking everywhere for some reason why the pattern just wasn't flipping working. I still have no idea what went wrong, but I found someone who made a Youtube video about it and contacted them and they sent me the pattern for free, which was nice. 

It got off to a rocky start, with some kind of weirdness in the center, but then the spiral started and I was SO pleased with myself ... until I crocheted the fabric to itself and had to pull out about 6 feet of it. I went back to it, and kept going until I reached the edge and discovered ...

... it was tiny. Like, really tiny. Big enough only to drape over an accept table. It won't really go over my shoulders. Thank the heavens I didn't pull out all the scarves, just the pink and gray one. 

What I ended up with is pretty, but it needs to be like three feet longer. I might be able to rearrange it into some kind of belly dance hip scarf, but even then, I don't really want it, despite the color way being exactly what I wear. 

METHOD:
I don't even know. I tried to follow the pattern, but who knows. 

AND WHAT DID WE LEARN?
Never buy yarn you don't LOVE and never take the pattern dimensions at face value. 

The most boring shawl ...

I started this in January, but I did stop work on it here and there to do other, less mind-numbing projects.

Why did I want a shawl? I didn't. But silly me thought I should practice on a project that's listed as "easy." Whatever. Figuring out how to pre-cut and measure out the fringe was at least mildly interesting.

METHOD:
This was described as a prayer shawl, and everything but the ribbed pattern was left up to you to decide. Since the needles for Jeff' long scarf were still out, I used those, but I think I made it too narrow. I'm hoping I can block it so that it stretches out a little. (It doesn't; I tried.)

This was done in color "Roccocco," which is a gorgeous oatmeal shade, on #11 needles. 

AND WHAT DID WE LEARN?
1. I'm never doing one of these again.
2. Homespun, even in the same dye lot, varies WILDLY in color! So remember this, and work two balls at a time or something.
3. A homespun yarn shawl really keeps you warm! And the cat seems to like it. If it hadn't taken me forever to finish it, I might think about giving it to her.

Something bigger: Bow Ponchette

I saw this pattern at Michaels and loved the look of it. I knew I just HAD to make one, but I was hesitant to try something that would take more than a day or two to create. I actually started this on Nov. 23 but put it aside for all the scarves and hats of Thanksgiving.

This piece has taken the most time so far to complete, but that's also because I kept making other things along the way. Here's the thing, though. It's pretty, and I've worn it a couple of times already, but I don't really want it. I guess that's going to be an issue with me -- I want to knit the stuff, not actually WEAR it.

METHOD:
This ponchette is made from three skeins of TLC Amore yarn in "Vanilla." The pattern is from the yarn maker, and was one of those in-store free patterns. You knit two strands as one on 10.5 needles. (I did mine on the Needle Master circular needles, with the ends capped off.)

AND WHAT DID WE LEARN?
I need to learn some proper finishing techniques. The seams on this thing are really ugly, even though they are hidden on the inside of the piece. Still, I know they are there.

This had a much better overall look, even though there are a few places where I didn't pick up both strands and it looks like tiny holes or thin places in the garment, but I'm happy with it.