Monday, August 25, 2008

Get out the straightjacket

Because I am clearly insane. I decided, just last week, that I wanted to attempt a wedding knit. Well no, I take that back. I'd been thinking about a wedding knit for a while now. In fact, way back, before we were even engaged, I thought about knitting a wedding shawl to keep for whenever the time would come (wishful thinking at that point). I even bought some aahmazing Malabrigo lace yarn, and started a shawl. When it didn't seem as though a wedding was eminent, I went on to knit other projects. Then, as life happens sometimes, this whole wedding thing came as a surprise, and a quickly approaching one at that. I didn't give the shawl much thought, dismissing it as an impossibility- after all, I had been knitting gift after gift and didn't have time to consider knitting a shawl under such a time constraint.

Halekulani (AKA: Insanity in Ivory)

But then, a little over a week ago, I found myself with nothing on the needles, the earmarked skeins of Malabrigo lace sitting in my knitting basket, and a desire to knit something special to commemorate our wedding. I decided to browse Ravelry for ideas. And Ravelry, kick ass as it is, led me to Evelyn Clark's Swallowtail Shawl. You know the one. I noticed that people had knit this shawl in a short amount of time (so I knew it *could* be done).

That said, with the wedding on September 28th, that gives me only a little over a month. And given how redonkulously long it took me to knit my Icarus Shawl, this month-long deadline seems like certifiable crazy talk. I asked Dis and Margaux to tell me that I was crazy, but instead they encouraged me like good friends do, and so I'm giving it a go. I won't kill myself if I don't finish it in time, I'll just knit along and see what happens. It's not like I have anything else going on right now! :p

Who does this??

20 comments:

mle said...

Oh you can't do it!! that shawl is surprisingly fast. Just remember....knit LOOSE for the nupps.

K8 said...

I did mine larger than the pattern called for and probably could have still gotten it done fairly quickly if I had been a little more monogamous with my WIPs (cough cough). If you opt to skip the nupps and do beads, it takes a few times to get used to the beads, but it ends up being pretty quick. I've also heard of people using a tiny crochet hook to do the nupps if you have trouble!

Anonymous said...

It looks lovely! Keep going!

Mouse said...

I have no advice either way since I'm not a lace knitter - but it IS gorgeous. I do _want_ a shawl but I really don't feel like I have the patience to complete one. I think a wedding shawl is a great idea though.. a physical reminder of the wedding. I got married at the court house and I still wish I would have worn something that would hold memories for me later.. like a shawl or wrap.

lori said...

i would do that, you know start a project for a big life changing event that is just around the corner. good luck.

i had to put the brakes on with my lace project as its hurting my wrists. since when?

good luck. it looks like you've made great progress thus far!

kat coyle said...

i think it's a brilliant idea. you can do it, and if you don't finish in time that's okay too.

jillian said...

You can do it!! That does seem to be a fast pattern - in that every so often I see someone blog that they completed it in 2 hours. Or something.

Kara said...

Rah! Rah! Rah! Go Shannon Go! It is going to be so lovely. Perfect for your special day. And anytime you need some cheerleading you know where to go.

Anonymous said...

Hee-hee. KNITTERS do this, sweetie. Because we know that if we finish it, it's fabulously meaningful. And it we don't finish it...who can blame you? And if we justbarelyfinishitinthenickoftime...it's fabulous drama!

Good luck! You'll be fine I'm sure.

Madge said...

Gogogo! You can do it. Evelyn Clark's patterns are kick ass that way; I finished my Flower Baskets in record time...and I'm the slowest knitter evah.

Aww, a bride...it still brings a happy tear to my eye.

Nasus said...

U Kan Dew It! :)

Darcys Knotty Knitter said...

Shannon it is lovely:)Hugs Darcy

Disentangled said...

its positively flying off your needles! youcandoit!

mames said...

the ravelypmics may be over, but yours had just begun. and i know you can do it. the shawl looks perfect and i am sure the malabrigo is wonderful to use. i can't believe the wedding is so soon, it must be so exciting to look forward to the whole thing. wishing you knitting luck. :)

Jennifer said...

You can totally do this. I did really well with my Swallowtail until I got to the nupps. Use the Addi lace needles and knit the nupps loosely.

margaux said...

You TOTALLY got this girl!! I LOVE it so far... just keep knitting ;-) I'm your SFAM, and would NEVER lead you astray!! (however, that doesn't mean that I'm not crazy, but that's why we get along!)

You can do it!

Unknown said...

You can do it! It's so beautiful how can you keep from picking it up?

Anonymous said...

I think you can do it! Get to knitting!

The shawl you have going is beautiful!

Julia (MindofWinter) said...

The nups are the key as someone above said - read around and you'll find good advice on how to handle them. I knit an almost complete swallowtail out of handspun and it wasn't so bad. It's going to be gorgeous and you can do it!!!

Anonymous said...

You can do it! I don't know why, sometimes adding another project to an already full schedule makes people more productive.

Good luck!

- MJ