Finally Finished! MadMay 2014 “Sea Leaves”

How did this wrap know I was going
to have a crazy month?
Back view, MadMay2014 "Sea Leaves"
Free Pattern by Sue Schreuder
Photo & Hand Knitted: 
Knitted Candy Diva, May 2014

Normally, it takes me about a week to knit a one skein fingering weight shawl while watching night time TV.   As part of Ravelry's Madelinetosh group - MadMay2014,  I was planning to participate and knit two shawls. My kickoff shawl was this, "Sea Leaves" by Sue Schreuder, using the TOSH Merino Light, Jade I had in my stash for 2 years.  However, it’s been one of those months. I got side tracked and didn't have a chance to start the second shawl. 

Where did my month of May go?

This took much longer than I had planned.
72 inches x 15 inches
MadMay2014 "Sea Leaves"
Photo & Hand Knitted: Knitted Candy Diva

The weather has been unseasonably hot, which the last thing I wanted to do is hold warm wool in my hands and have a growing shawl on my lap. For the past couple of months, I've been working on getting a social media marketing strategist certification which involves hours of online course work and attending webinars. My oldest dog, at times, just won’t eat. She is 16 and will eat for a few days, then will show no interest in eating. She has a very sensitive stomach so changing her food is a big deal, and can be quite messy and stinky if you know what I mean. DH had a less than 2 day trip to the Big Island to take care of family business  -  a 5,000 mile round trip with hours of waiting for inter-island transfers isn't fun.  Thank goodness, we made the decision that I stay home and take care of our fur babies and not go with him. The stop and go flying would have put me on the edge.

My Stupidity

Closeup of  my 'insanity." Knitted and ripped
 the last 4 rows (over 400 stitches/row)
2 more times than I wanted!!
MadMay2014 "Sea Leaves"
Photo & Hand Knitted: Knitted Candy Diva

On top of all this, when I did knit, I couldn't count the repeats to save my life. I always use markers, but that didn't save me from my own stupidity. It took me two weeks to finally finish the last 4 rows of this shawl after the third try.  No fault to Sue, the pattern designer, I ripped this thing twice at over 400 stitches each time because I was off by 2, then I was off by 4. I am a Virgo and it’s in my nature to not make or have any mistakes.  I can’t personally have “new design features or elements” in my knitting. It really bothers to me to no end. So, I grumble, get cranky as I rip not once, but twice trying to find the mistakes in the sea of 400+ stitches per row because of my perfectionist tendencies.

Ta Da!

But it was worth it!
MadMay2014 "Sea Leaves"
Photo & Hand Knitted: Knitted Candy Diva

Overall, I love my yarn choice, TOSH Merino Light, Jade, and this pattern.  I really enjoy blocking. This is when I can see all the hours of knitting, including aggravation, pay off. The swaying lacy leaves really pop. The blocked size is 72 inches x 15 inches. So I would called this more of a scarf/wrap than a shawl. 

Closeup of my handy work.
MadMay2014 "Sea Leaves"
Photo & Hand Knitted: Knitted Candy Diva

I still have about 30 yards of yarn left after binding off 430 stitches following Sue's recommendation to use Jeny’s Surprisingly Stretchy Bind Off. I went up two needles sizes (US8) for this to be sure I had enough give for the lace points. This took over 2 hours. Originally, my plan was to knit 2 shawls for MadMay, but I don’t think I want to press my luck after successfully surviving this and still have some sanity left! 

It took a LONG time to bind off!
I knitted with 32 inch Addi circulars.
MadMay2014 "Sea Leaves"
Photo & Hand Knitted: 
Knitted Candy Diva

Will I knit this pattern again?

Yes, most definitely!  Before my miscounting fiasco, as I was easily knitting Chart A twice, I was thinking how nice this would be if I just knit Chart A 3 times. So the entire scarf wrap will be just these lacy leaves, instead of having first a stockinette body then the leaves.  I have a 3+ year old skein of TOSH Sock, Magnolia Leaf in my yarn stash that would make the perfect fiery Fall color scarf wrap.

My TOSH Sock, Magnolia Leaf
100% Superwash Wool, 395 yards
Photo: Knitted Candy Diva

Wanna learn more about my knitting details of Sea Leaves, please visit my Ravelry project page.

Great to keep your shoulders warm if you have A/C blasting.
MadMay2014 "Sea Leaves"
Photo & Hand Knitted: Knitted Candy Diva

Love to hear from you: What do you do if you miscount lace repeats? Do you go back and fix it? Or do you continue knitting and adjust later?