At long last, a WIP Wednesday post

I have some WIPs to show off today. First, the one I started last night. I am so excited about it! It's an Elder Tree Shawl. I'm using Malabrigo Rios in the Jupiter colorway, generously given to me by my mom last year. I have 4 skeins, and I doubt I'll use them all for this project, but I want to make this pretty big so I can wrap myself up in it and be all warm and snuggly. (Yes, I know it's lace and has holes in it. I'm sure it'll still be nice and warm.)

 
I'm using size 9 circs and alternating skeins - I've got 2 different dye lots going on here. My mom isn't a yarnie and doesn't know from dye lots, so she got me 2 skeins from one lot and 2 from another. I could've just used one of the sets of 2 for this shawl, but like I said, I want this to be really big, so I'm alternating and I think it looks great. I don't know if I'll want to use more than 2 skeins for this shawl, but I like having that option.

Speaking of my mom and Malabrigo Rios, I'm crocheting a pair of Basic Fingerless Mittens for her out of Rios in Azules. I've made one and a half so far.

She tried the finished one on and it fits, well, like a glove! ;-) These are turning out great. I love this pattern. It's my 2nd time using it. I plan to make myself a pair eventually. I have a skein of Rios in Bobby Blue waiting for me. Anyway, my mom's apartment can get very cold, so I'm glad to be able to make these for her. May she wear them in good health.

I'm also still working on the Clapotis and on my kimono sweater (which had been in hibernation for a while), but they don't look different enough from the last pics I posted of them to bother putting more pics here!

I finally got some hollow glass beads from Alisha White's Etsy shop. I have sapphire blue and emerald green and I know exactly what I'm going to make with them. I just have to get myself to actually do it!

My New Year's resolution was to learn how to knit hats and socks. I've got some Craftsy classes and a bunch of books. I've ordered some DPNs so I can make the socks the way the class instructor makes them, and I think I have enough interchangeable circular needles to try using 2 or doing magic loop. I do not have the smaller sizes for socks yet, but I already know I get hand and wrist pain from using smaller needles, so I may have to stick to making heavier socks.

That's it from me for now, but I have a bunch of FOs to show off, so watch for a Friday post...

A little more Croeso

Here's my WIP Wednesday post, a day late. Oops. I'm into the lace section on the Croeso.

Many people on Ravelry say this shawlette is a quick, easy knit. I will not say that.

Up until the lace part, I was doing OK (well, except that some of my cables came out a little weird and I don't know why, but...whatever). But all these SSKs and yarnovers are killing me, as is getting the right number of stitches. I've had to pick up yarnovers from the row below sometimes because I left them out. I've been making mistakes and having to fix them. Luckily, I usually realize it before too long.

I love this shawlette and I want to finish it now now now, but I have been having a lot of hand and wrist pain from knitting lately. This pattern requires intense concentration and as a result I've been tensing up, which has led me to hurt myself. Now that I'm aware of it, it shouldn't be as much of a problem. I just can't do a lot at a time. Ordinarily, I can only knit for an hour or 2 tops, due to other physical problems. Now I can only knit about a row of this at a time (which takes maybe half an hour if I'm good and slow about it), and then the next row (a purl row - all the even numbered rows are purl rows) after taking a break.

I already do lots of hands and wrist stretches, and am thinking about getting some support gloves to wear while knitting. My hands have been freezing lately, so ice is out of the question because I just wouldn't be able to take it for very long - but I tried wrapping a heating pad around my right wrist the other night for a while and that seemed to help.

I probably also need to get a wrist rest for my mouse pad. Maybe my keyboard too, but I feel like my wrist especially hurts when I use the mouse.

I've taken a brief look at page 6 of this pattern and I'm trying not to let it freak me out too much! The bind off seems really complicated! It comes out looking very pretty, though. You can see it fairly well in this picture of the original by the pattern's author, Camille Coizy:

Wish me luck! ;-) I'll keep posting about this here...