Dare to Dream

I’m ready!  I’ve checked my math against EZ now that I have my copy of the Knitter’s Almanac, and my math is different. :/  But, the shaping has turned out right on my trial piece, so I’m rockin’ my new math because otherwise I have to COMPLETELY rework the motifs I’ve drawn; everything I’m working goes into an odd number of stitches not an even.  I tried to expand with YOs between the stitches so that it’s K, Yo, K, Yo, etc., and I tried YO, K, YO, K, YO.. I think the first looks better and the second begins to expand too rapidly to keep that half circle shape the way I want it. So, EZ goes in multiples of three and I went for twos.  It’s definitely non-traditional, but does that make it wrong?

I have two sections worth of motifs charted, and am working into the second… which is where I have stalled out completely.  I have some smaller motifs I could work in the 58 row section (don’t ask; when I release the pattern it’ll all make sense), but I tried three together, and even on the graph paper it looks… cramped and busy.  I’m having a really difficult time with negative space.  I know it’s important and I want to have some, but I’m trying to keep each section to a similar amount of negative space so that things don’t look like I just threw motifs in there pell mell (which, granted, is pretty much what’s going on now… but that doesn’t mean it needs to LOOk that way!!)

I’ve easily got two motifs for section one, and one complete motif for section two, with two others in the works.  I think section three will end up as two “sections,”  with an eyelet row inserted to break them up… I don’t know.  I have until August to finish this to stay in the game, so I’m not realy in a huge hurry.  By the same token, though, I want to start swatching these to make sure that retain their recognizability when stretched out over the arcing shape of the shawl itself.  I always envisioned that designing would be tough (otherwise everyone would do it);  I just didn’t imagine the negative space issue being so HUGE for me!

The other project I’m working on for BSG FPB is a bit more secret, as it’s a potential gift (depending on how my edging modification works out). So, no photos for you unless you’re on Ravely and can suss her out! :D