Here we go again

So I’ve started my next Swirl.

two rounds down, eleventy billion to go

The butterfly is leftover tail from the long-tail cast-on. I could’ve used a separate ball for the cast-on tail, except I didn’t feel like winding another skein. (I’m not keen on using the outside and the inside of a center-pull ball – that has too much potential for tangling, IMHO.) So I cast on 10 stitches, then unraveled ’em to see how much tail they required. That let me estimate how much I’d need for the Swirl. As you can see, I estimated rather conservatively. Better than running short on tail, eh?

I haven’t yet trimmed off this excess tail because, as before, I was bold and daring (or stupid, depending on how you want to look at it) and didn’t take Sandra’s advice to work the first three rows flat before joining into a round. No, instead I just dove in and joined to work in the round from the get-go. This, of course, opens up the possibility that I’m not knitting a circle, but a twisted beast that would need to be ripped and re-started. I don’t think it likely, though. I checked carefully after finishing the first round, pinning down sections so I could see if the cast-on edge twisted around the needle on any section. All seemed well then. (If it had seemed twisted, I could’ve untwisted with no problem, as only a single strand of yarn connected the beginning and end of rounds at the join.) I’ll check again after completing several rounds, at which point any twisting will be more obvious. If it still looks good, then I’ll breathe a sign of relief, trim off the excess tail, and weave in the end.

As for my Estonian shawl… don’t worry, I’m still committed to finishing it, and I’m still making decent progress daily. I’d show you a photo, but until it’s finished and blocked all you’d see is a pile of white fluff.

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