To prove I'm still at it, I present another finished object:
This is your basic sleeveless top constructed with two panels, knit from medium-weight yarn in a pretty green color. It's more or less perfect. Except I look terrible in it. No idea why. I was on gauge, it fits well (a perfect fit actually), seams are fabulous, but for some reason, I just look...weird in it. All that work, and I can't wear the blasted thing.
To make myself feel better, I immediately cast on three other projects - two scarves and a shawl. I'm using fingering weight yarn for one of the scarves and the shawl, which is lighter than what I usually work with, but I'm a little tired of the thicker yarn, and it is summer...
I can't talk about one of the scarves yet because it's going to be a gift for someone.
I can talk about this one though:
I got the yarn for it at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival. It's from Pucker Brush Farm, and it has no colorway name. The pattern is called Zig Zag, but the project is more affectionately known as the Amazing Technicolor Dream Scarf.
Here's the shawl:
It's ridiculously simple and easy on the brain. It's based on the shawl formula, which means you cast on a few stitches to start with (five in this case), and on right side rows, you increase one stitch at either end and on either side of the middle set of stitches, and it magically grows not only in length but also in width (you get a big triangle in the end).
And I'm knitting it on circulars. Yes, you read that right. Circulars. Me. Knitting with them. It started life on straight needles, but since straight needles only go up to about 14 inches in length, and shawls are much wider than that (unless you're a Smurf, I suppose), I had to transfer it to circular needles (40 inches long tip to tip) so I could keep working on it. I had to buy another circular needle, because the one I had wasn't the right diameter, and I didn't like working with it before anyway (the cable between the needles felt overly stiff, which made knitting awkward). Lots of people rave about Addi Turbos, they're a step up from the one I had, and the name is funny, as is their slogan: "knit faster," so I got one, and I like it much better. The cable is more flexible, and I like the smoothness of the needles, which means less drag on the yarn while knitting. Moral of the story: using the right circulars makes all the difference.
I got the yarn for this shawl from etsy.com. It's actually two strands of two different yarns held together - one is a semi-solid dark green, and the other is a more varigated color combination called Old Rose that has a similar green in it. So far, I like how they're mixing together. I just hope I have enough of each to make this into a decent-sized shawl.
I love buying yarn from etsy. There's a large contingent of indie dyers and spinners on there who are doing amazing things with fiber and deserve to be supported. And they're all so nice - they've sent my orders promptly, offered to wind the yarn into center-pull balls so I don't have to do it, and included extra free goodies like handmade stitch markers, lavender sachets (lavender is apparently a natural, and more pleasant-smelling, moth repellent), and even extra skeins of yarn. I allowed myself a little fiber shopping over my birthday weekend vacation (in the fiber world, it is an accepted fact that yarn bought while on holiday doesn't count as part of one's stash, especially if one has set aside a large pile of yarn for the next fiber swap anyway), so etsy was the place to do it.
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm suddenly in the mood to watch some Wallace and Gromit. They have a new film out - it makes me hungry for toast.
1 comment:
I am confused by the green garment. As in, from looking at the photo, I'm not sure where the person goes, or where the appendages ought to protrude.
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