I am Knitter; Hear me ROAR!

Heh. Or something. I managed the crochet provisional cast on the Very First Time(tm). Once I started crocheting the chain it became immediately clear which side was the bottom and what part I was supposed to knit into to create the first row.



The reason for the provisional cast on was to allow for a picot hem, which I'd also never done before. I must admit, it's a neat little trick and I rather like how it turned out.



And after the hem, there's a little bit of lace detail, worked in purl stitches with a row of yo, p2tog in the middle before the main body of the piece progresses:



All in all, I am pleased with how this one's starting, especially at the fact that I learned two new techniques in the progress.

I also got the sleeves for Rogue blocked, but I sort of cheated to do it. I just steam ironed them (except for the bias hem). I'm contemplating doing that for the body as well, but haven't decided yet.



It's much, much cooler here today and the humidity seems to have dropped substantially as well, so it's likely that I'll try to block the Candle Flame Shawl later this afternoon. I'm a little concerned that I don't have anything long enough to block it on - unblocked it's about 5 feet long and I expect it will stretch out another 2 to 2.5 feet during blocking. Even diagonal on the queen-sized futon I don't think I'll be able to block it all in one piece. Might have to sequester the dog upstairs and use the carpet on the living room floor.