WIP: Retro Heaven Shawlette

I mentioned in this post that one of my new goals is to always have a pair of socks, a cardigan/sweater, and a shawl on the needles at all times. Well, I've bound off Ishbel last week (but still haven't blocked it!) and have since started a new shawl. Yes, project #5 for 12 in 2011 has been started! Introducing the Retro Heaven Shawlette, which is being knit with Noro Retro using the 198yds of Heaven pattern (and yes, that's a Ravelry link) - hence the project name of Retro Heaven.

I've had to start this project 3 times before I finally got it right. I had cast on during last Friday's knit night and had knit about 15 rows or so before I realized that I had messed up my yarn overs. Knowing that not much work had been put into this, I quickly (and painlessly) ripped it and re-started. Once I got home I realized that my stitch counts were off. So I ripped again. They say third times a charm, right? Well I finally got it going and so far it's been flying off the needles, just like how Ishbel did!

At first I thought the pattern was messed cause it just didn't sound right and seemed to be a bit confusing. After a few rows (and a few tries!) I finally understood the pattern and what I was doing. I love the fact that this calls for a small amount of yarn, and the fact that I can finally use the Noro Retro. I've had 2 balls of this yarn in my stash for what feels like forever and had no idea what to do with it. I think I had initially bought it to do some weaving with it, and I think I had bought it when the Beehive was having their annual Boxing Day sale 2 years ago. I've knit with Noro before and done some (unblogged) weaving with it too and didn't have any real issues, but this time around I've been finding quite a few knots in the first ball alone. The other day I finally started using the second ball and have noticed quite a few spots that were on the dangerously thin side...as in they'll probably snap in half during the blocking process dangerously thin. Grrreat...

So far the shawlette seems a little smaller than I had anticipated, and was hoping to do 3 full repeats of the body before moving onto the border. But then I realized that a 20 yard difference isn't going to help me pull that off. At least I don't think so. I might as well be safe than sorry and just follow the pattern to a T, cause I'll confess...I didn't do a gauge swatch for this project. I normally don't like to do gauge swatches for things like shawls. I'll start knitting with the recommended needle size and if I don't like the fabric I'm getting then I'll restart the project with a different size. I figure that gauge swatches for shawls aren't necessary since the fit isn't as important as it would be for a garment. Now, this might bite me in the ass later on down the road when I've run out of yarn cause I've used a different needle size and didn't swatch to figure out my yardage, but hey, I can't be bothered with unnecessary swatching and choose to knit dangerously.

Cause that's how I roll.