Time for the Big Reveal! Secret Knitting Unveiled!

I kept blog silence when I first saw a certain knitting pattern, because I knew at once I wanted to make it for my brother, who has been known to read the blog. I didn't specify what pattern I was buying yarn for when I wrote about going up to Coveted Yarn in the spring, for instance, since I wanted it to be a surprise.

However, by late May, it was killing me not to tell you how I loved writing "start squid" on my to-do list! And on the fourth of July, I really wanted to put on Facebook, "Watching the concert and fireworks, knitting a squid. As one does." And at some point, I made a note that, "It's hard not to get the yarn caught in the tentacles."

Yes, I knit a squid for my brother for his birthday. I started it before my trip to Florida, and worked on the "pouch" part on the plane: first half flying down, second half flying back.

Then it was time to move on to the legs (make 8).

Join together, start up the head, and pause to knit together with the pouch.

Finish the head, and viola! Meet Octavian.

To unveil him fully:

Isn't he awesome? If I do say so myself. He lives in the pouch; then when you pull him out, the pouch goes up into the head as "stuffing". Such a clever pattern! Just amazing how some people think of things. I'm just tickled by how he came out, and as my brother also likes him (he e-mailed a picture of himself with Octavian on his head, so, yeah), that is what we call a win, all around.

*****
In current knitting news, I was working on my aunt's shawl at stitch and bitch last night, and accidentally went one repeat farther than I meant to in the set-up section. As I saw it, I had two options:

• Tink back through the two rows. Easy to do, but at over 300 stitches, not really what I think of as fun, per se.
• Keep going and make the set-up section a bit larger. Not something I have a problem with at the concept level, but the math! In order to not screw up my stitch count for the next section ... let's see, the repeats in the next section are of 14 stitches ... and each set-up repeat adds 6 stitches ... wait ... that doesn't add up...

So I put it aside to consider, and worked on a sock instead. Only today did a third option occur to me: keep going, but instead of knitting the yarn-overs when I get to them, as I usually would, drop them instead. This will mean I added two rows of plain stockinette between the set-up and chart A, but I think that will look just fine, and it's by far the easiest solution. Hooray for seeing door number three.

Now, I did in fact cast on the next bike sock last night, on the bike, and I'd better get going if it's going to get its innings tonight.