Knitting Fool, That is Me
Saturday, April 9th, 2005I have had to be away from my home/office a lot in the last few days. Fortunately for me, I’ve had a few projects I could knit while on the road.
First, I did re-knit the top garter edge for my Watercolor bag that I will be using as a class demo piece on Sunday, at Yarn Garden. I started grafting the new edge to the top of the bag and got almost half done, while waiting for dress rehearsal to start Friday night.
On Thursday I worked on two sets of toe-up socks for my Monday class (and also, consequently, for photos in the almost-ready First-Time Toe-Up Sock pattern I expect to finish early this week). One is in sportweight Reggio (not Regia) which is 80% Wool, and thus feels much better to me than the 75% Wool standard sockyarns. I think part of it is that it’s a little fatter yarn also, but I love this stuff. Cushy. I’m also doing a sample sock in bulky Lamb’s Pride, a sort of slipper socklet. The bulky one is a photo sample for the pattern. I will cry if I can’t keep that pair, though… turquoise and warm is my favorite combination!
AND… I verified that the K2P2 rib swatch I made in cotton/acrylic i-cord tube yarn called Kelly, is to gauge for the tank top I want to knit. So I cast on the 90 required stitches for the back and I have already knit about 3″ on that piece.
I pray I will finish this in my lifetime, but I really love the yarn and the pattern, and it seems like it will knit fast enough on this somewhat fat yarn for me to actually finish. The last sweater I made took me a year, and I did try to start a Sigma Tank a year ago but my gauge changed so much between my figuring moments and my knitting moments, that I had to abandon ship.
However, I just love this swatch after I threw it in the washing machine and dryer, so it seems worth the money for the yarn and the time to knit it. This piece looks pretty wearable to me for summertime. It’s more subtle in person, not as stripey, more like a whole bunch of pinks almost alike. Isn’t the swatch beautiful?
I’m not much of a garment knitter (that is, sweaters/tops), but I think this will work for me. Since I’m very focused on finishing things, I do not like to start if I am not convinced I can finish happily. This pattern is K2P2 rib which I am much more happy knitting, than 90 stitches in knit followed by 90 stitches of purl. Ugh. More than about 4 purls in a row makes me crazy. So far I’m liking this tank just fine, however. So far, so good!
Photos: 1) Watercolor Bag… the too-blue turquoise yarn at top, the too-light/aqua yarn at bottom, and the ball of yarn I finally settled upon, sitting on top waiting its turn. They don’t call me ColorJoy for nothing… color is ultimately important and worth extra effort and time, even for fun projects like this bag. 2) Swatch (4.5″ tall by 6″ wide) of Rosina Kelly yarn, color 101. I love how it’s slightly variegated but very subtle. This thing I should be able to wear with every single thing in my closet!