basimah knits… and spins… and maybe complains about things a little…

so i thought it would be a good idea to write down the pattern for the copycat shawl (so named, because i made mine by studying and copying one my gramma made years ago). i suppose it is still a good IDEA, even though it’s frustrating as all hell to try to actually do. it’s not that the actual shawl design is all that hard… it’s really pretty simple once you’re doing it. it’s just that i kind of have no idea how to write it out so it would be simple for other people. either i just have a basic guideline and you have to fill in all the details yourself, or it ends up looking like a freakin book because every single stitch ends up being accounted for. i’m guessing that my gramma used a pattern for the first one, but i wouldn’t have the first clue where to begin looking for it. which is what spurred me to attempt to write it down this time. maybe a chart would help… perhaps a reason to buy (more) graph paper (because i don’t use it often enough to ever know where it is, but i do use it sometimes, so i keep buying it).

so that’s why this post isn’t the pattern for the copycat shawl… not that anyone was expecting that it would be.

it’s the first hat i’ve owned with actual plans of wearing since grade school, because i made it and it fits. perhaps now for one in a more normal color.

so i had a bit of extra money that i got from the sale of the devil hat, ands i’ve been wanting some new knitting stuff just because that’s what knitters do, we want new stuff. so i went on over to amazon.com and got Stitch ‘n Bitch Nation and Knit Wit (the book by amy of knitty fame). i just ordered them saturday night and they’re here already - yay! i also got some lame little bookmarks because when i originally put the two books in my shopping cart some while ago, it added up to $25something so i automatically got the free shipping, but when i checked my shopping cart saturday, i guess the SNB one was for cheaper than before, so i had to either pay for shipping (which is something i try to avoid doing any chance i get, no matter what) or buy another $1.47 worth of stuff. the bookmarks were $1.50 for a book of 12. so i’m still ahead because still paid a few cents less than what i planned in the first place, plus got the free shipping, plus i’m now the proud owner of 12 spanish tile bookmarks.

there’s a buttload of things i want to make now, and one of the patterns is perfect because it will allow me to use the rest of the yarn from the top secret project that i can’t mention here yet to make something else good and top secret.

i finished the shawl last night (which is exactly like the shawl i found that my gramma made, except hers is all black and she probably had a pattern) the main part is leftovers of burgundy red heart and/or burgundy walmart brand and i used up some tan i had leftover for the fringe. the pic isn’t great, i know… but it’s the best i could do with the light in here. that’s my giant brother (aka: boy) being a shawl stand.

i like it and it’s warm and shawley and good. i wore it to church today and got a few comments. i think i like how huge it is because i can kind of wear it like a poncho.

and just for sh*ts and giggles, here is a crappy visual aide of me wearing my shawl like a poncho.

my pants are supposed to look like bluejeans. and the red square is the little butterfly hair clip i used in place of a brooch or something to hold my shawl poncho (cape?) together. i could probably keep trying to explain the picture, but i’ll just say that drawing things on the computer and making them look like the things they’re supposed to be is really hard.

what’s more fun than a bear wearing a silly baby hat? not much, i tell you. so here it is…

the pattern is found here… i used bigger needles though…. 10 or 10.5, methinks. now that i have the denise set of needles, i’ve gotten into a habit of not even looking at the needle size, just grabbing what i think looks right. not sure if that’s a good thing or not.

the evil demon frill monster is still coming along i guess. i really don’t know if i’ll have it done for christmas, but now mom knows i’m making it… so she knows she’ll have it eventually.

i was sick for a few weeks, and wanted something to cuddle up with and i found a shawl that my step-gramma made a little while before she passed. it’s black, and most likely made with red heart, as that’s the only yarn i ever knew her to use. so i decided to figure it out and make one for me. i’m using burgundy acrylic worsted (might be red heart, might be walmart brand) because i had 3 random balls of it, but of course they aren’t the same color. so it’s kind of weird, but i don’t think it’s too horrible. i’m not sure if i’ll have enough burgundy for the fringe, so i’ll have to come up with sumpin.

one of these days i think i’ll make another shawl using the same pattern, but a finer, shinier yarn… i like the pattern that much. once i get the first one all done i’ll take pictures.