Nothing Much To Show

3 More rounds done since yesterday—but a plain round, a pattern round, and a plain rounds. Which hardly advances the pattern at all! Today, the final round of the smaller feather will be done, and no longer part of the chart. Then there are slow but steady decreases for the remaining rounds of chart 3.  These small changes in stitch count really help--the count has just dipped below 800!

So, since there isn't much to show...some feed back from a comment.

Gayle (6/7/12) commented about blocking...

Yes, indeed, it will be a whole 'nother project. Because I not only intend to block it, but to hand paint the finished shawl!

First I have no cat or children, and can just clear some space in the living room—and put down some newspaper. Top that with a drop cloth, and the drop cloth with my big (but thin) styrene foam insulation blocks--(each is designed to fit between 16 inch centered studs—I have six (and 6 more wouldn't be a big amount of money ($10?)so if I do need a bigger than 60 inches,  (and looking through finished projects—I think I will! Most are blocked to about 7 feet (84inches/ 2 meters) across!) I have both the room (but just!) and ability to buy more of these blocks. It's so thin and fine the wool should dry overnight (if not in just a few hours!) and I can manage to block off the a portion of the living room for that long. I might have to slide across the couch to move from one side of the living room to the other--(since there won't be an inch of floor space left uncovered!) but I should have enough floor space.

I have a thousand pins too. (literally—several boxes labeled “200 pin count” and even if the count is off by a pin or two...well I should have enough (the final chart will have 120 feathers (points) so I figure I will need about 720 pins--(or about 6 pins per point of the shawl)--I think I might need a padded finger cot (pushing in all those pins will get old, fast!) 

Once the shawl is blocked (that is pinned out) I will paint it with silk paint. I want the paint to blur...so like water colors, I will work wet. If it is too hot, and the wool drys out too quickly, I'll have a handy bottle of water to spray the shawl. Silk paints are more expensive than simple dyes, but they don't require heat to set them—so I think paint is the way to go.

I want to add color to make it look more like actually peacock feathers. I got the idea from this version--(which also has beads).That's a Ravely link--and may not work if your not on Ravelry.

OK—I am going to cheat. I plan to make a small (6 inches by 8 inches or so) panel (for my purse) and practice hand painting on it, before I go to work on the whole shawl.

The small palel will be on one side of a felted wool purse; the other side will covered with real peacock feathers (I have already bought 3 ready made medallions for just this purpose). The lace panel –which will also likely feature some beads as well (no way I was going to pre string 3 million bead and bead the shawl)—my hat is off to the few knitters who also knit and beaded the thing! It will be bigger than the purse, and hang free.  I just plan to made the pattern (with some blank space (stocking knit) in between to make a rectangle, not a wedge).  

My Dr appointments went fast yesterday—just a half dozen rounds worked on the gussets of May's secret socks, but good reports all round. The Dr.'s scale was in cohoots with mine, and too, registered no change in my weight—all the other test yielded positive results.