Which Makes This One Number 22

I had significantly more streetcar time this weekend than anticipated. Which means that another full square is done.


Two left!

Erin left a clever suggestion to deal with the extra ball.

(I figured it out, BTW. I inherited a ball leftover from Mum's cardi, so that upped the total balls available to 25. I'd been counting the complete squares by looking at how many unknit balls were left in the bag. Hence off by one.)

She suggested I use the extra one to create a pocket on the wrong side of the blanket, in which I can store remotes or snacks. Hmmm...

I Can't Count

Having a degree in mathematics doesn't mean I can count.

I dug out all my squares yesterday to show off to some of the knitters in my life, and it turns out that I've actually got 20 done.

This, it seems, is actually number 21.


And now I have four balls of yarn left and only three squares left to knit.

This is awful for two reasons. Really, how on earth am I to choose which colourway to abandon? And this means that I'm closer to the end than I feared.

I will miss this pattern.

Ok, so I don't normally do this kind of thing, but...

I actually found the questions a little thought provoking. So there. Thanks to MMJ for the link.


You appear to be a Knitting Goddess. You are constantly giving and are unconcerned with reward, you simply want others to love knitting as much as you do. If someone wants to knit miles of novelty yarns, you are there for them. If someone wants to learn short row shaping, you can help. There are no taboos in knitting, only opportunities to grow. Everyone should have friend like you around if they want to learn to knit, and there's a good chance that your passion has rubbed off on a few others.http://marniemaclean.com
Take this quiz!

Oh dear.

So remember that gripe I had about the sleeve instructions for the Pimlico?

About how it wasn't clear if the k3p3 ribbing went at the top or the bottom of the sleeve? And that how I was going to modify the pattern so that I was picking up the stitches from the body and knitting down? So that I'd be stuck if I got it wrong?

Well, I got it wrong. And I'm stuck.

I dug out the book and looked at the picture. And yeah, I'm wrong. The k3p3 should be at the bottom of the sleeve, so that there's a nice elegant flare at the wrist.

Argh.

So, what to do? Pull the sleeves out (both of them) and work 'em again? Or cut them out and fudge a sewn cast-off on the cut edge of the k3p3 and sew them back onto the body the other way around? Or leave it as a unique variant of the pattern?

Hmmm...

Number 19

This is what happens when I'm stuck at home with a cold. Very goth, this one. The next one is all rainbow sherbert, as a contrast.


Oh yes, quince marmalade is tremendously good, even on slightly stale challah.

That Double Espresso I Ordered

Thanks T.!

Remember that yarn-for-coffee trade I proposed a while back? I picked up my package from the Post Office yesterday.

Two different coffees and a little something sweet to go with it... some of the original marmelade, made from quinces. That challah (which is not green, despite the picture) seems like the ideal delivery mechanism.

Number 18...

Three quarters done.

Numbers 15, 16, 17

Four flights in 4 days provides a fair bit of time for Lizarding.

And number 18 is halfway done.

The pile of balls-yet-to-be-Lizarded is getting distressingly small. One of the great things about this project has been looking at the big heap of yarn, and carefully selecting the next colourway to work -- depending on mood, on the light in the room, on the crankiness of the cat.

The selection is dwindling...

Knitters on a Plane

Over the years, I've become very accustomed to being the only knitter on a plane.

(As a side note, the only downside to knitting rather than reading or working on a plane is that people think you're available for conversation. I need a little badge or sign that says "No, I don't want to talk to you.")

As usual, on the way out, I had a nice chat with a lovely older woman who recognized what I was doing, and wanted to chat. Again she confirmed my little sociological theory: her mother was a serious knitter, who produced many practical items of clothing for her family over the years. And now the daughter won't pick up a pair of needles if her life depends on it. Your mother's drudgery can never become an activity of pleasure.

On the way back, however, I was pleased to see two women, (upper 20-something, I would estimate), knitting away. Both seemed to be beginners, but only one was working some kind of horrible novelty yarn on big needles. The other was a good distance into a scarf in a nice grey wool.

Me, I was Lizarding like a fiend. Pics shortly.

Fair Isle Vest - The Front

I'm pretty pleased with it.

Back coming along well, too. I decided (with Lorena's input) to do the back fully patterned as well. It will make a beautiful and tempting shop sample, if not precisely an affordable project if worked entirely in Khroma.

Sheepy Friends

Check out the blog of my friends Michele and Gil of Hopeful Farms. They raise Shetlands for wool (lovely, lovely wool), and have some seriously adorable pictures of their working dogs.

I do have a soft spot for a good puppy picture...

Adorable dogs and wonderful wool. What more could a girl want?

I've raved about their wools before, and am looking forward to seeing what marvels they get this year.

Pimlico - Another Gripe About the Pattern

So the big main square is done... which is nice, because it was getting pretty tedious.

Now onto the next bit. You're supposed to do the sleeves separately and then sew them in. Sewing? Bah! Unnecessary! Why not just pick up the stitches around the armhole and work the sleeve in place? Easy! Less sewing!

The sleeve pattern goes like this:
Cast on xx sts.
Join and work k2 p2 in the round for a ways.
Then increase all around and work k3 p3 for a bit.
Cast off.

Then later on, it says "Sew Sleeves into armholes."

So as I'm contemplating my pattern alteration, it hits me: it doesn't actually indicate which is the top of the sleeve -- which bit you're suppose to sew to the body.

Yeah, I know, logic says that the wider section -- that is, after the increases -- goes at the top. But this design is constructed unusually... the sleeves are only from the elbow down to the wrist, which doesn't really require much shaping. And then the edging of the sweater is deliberately flared -- the ribbing starts with k2 p2 and then is increased to k3 p3 to flare out.

Seeds of doubt are sewn.

So here's the thing. There are pics of the design in the book. But I'm one of those sorts that travels with my knitting, and carries a photocopy of the actual pattern instructions -- the book (I own) sits safely at home, protected from the dangers of flying coffee.

I had to resort to surfing the web looking for other people's pictures of the damn thing, trying to figure out if I'm right thinking that the k3 p3 ribbing goes at the top of the sleeve....

It's a minor issue, in the grand scheme of things, but a good example of a little thing that can cause a big problem.



(Least interesting and helpful photo ever.)

Another One

This one went really fast... 14 done.

Am now starting to actively wonder about what to do with all the bits and pieces of the ends. Perhaps a smaller blankie wrappy sort of thing?

The full majesty of the heap:


(Although this is outdated, as that's number 12 on the needle there.)

Number 13!

Between all the car rides over the Christmas break, I managed to get another full square done. And I'm about a third of the way into Number 14.

And a new, slightly longer commute starting Monday will ensure excellent progress over the next few weeks...

Fair Isle for the Easily Intimidated

Working on a vest using Khroma. This is seriously delicious yarn, half merino, half baby Alpaca. The colours are tremendous -- a rainbow of tweedy delights.

I wanted to do a Fair Isle design, but I had two constraints to worry about: that the yarn isn't cheap, and therefore I wanted to use it wisely, and that my gauge in stranded Fair Isle is nowhere near the gauge I achieve working with a single yarn.

What resulted, after 3 or 4 hours of doodling with pencil crayons and graph paper is this design... it uses a minimum of extra yarn, the pattern is easy easy easy to remember and work, and is regular enough and widely enough spaced that my gauge isn't going to go bonkers.


It will have a v-neck. What the back will look like and how I handle the edgings will depend on how much yarn I have left in the extra colours. I want to use as much of the colours up as possible, but I know that I don't have enough to do the back fully coloured. So... hmm... maybe just plain blue with only the small contrast boxes? Maybe the armhole edgings in one colour and the neck edging in another?

Decisions, decisions.... enjoying the process very much.

The pattern will be available at The Naked Sheep later this month.