Cables! Yay Cables!
Don't mind me, I've been rather obsessed with the Celtic Icon sweater the past couple of weeks. I'm loving the
way the Dale Falk is knitting up and showing off the cables on this cardi. Yes, it's a dark green, but I'm loving it. The
back has almost knit itself, and now marches onward into the hood extension.
Because I'm not 100% positive I've got enough yarn, there's a lifeline at the point where "back" transitions into "hood"
on the piece. That way, if there is need, I can rip it back to the lifeline and change the hood to a collar.
My preference would be to have the hood, if there's enough yarn for it.
The obsession with this sweater has left all other projects untouched; not even the traveling sock has gotten so much
as a stitch in the past two weeks. Gotta do something about that - it shouldn't take four months to finish a pair of
socks. Not even for me, one of the world's slowest knitters.
On another front, I'm feeling some serious Rhinebeck envy, as so many bloggers are reporting back on the wonderfulness
of the New York Sheep and Wool weekend. Sigh. Maybe one of these years, I'll manage to kidnap a friend or six
for a road trip to Rhinebeck.
Still, there is fibery travel in the offing - it's only a couple of weeks to the Knitter's Review Retreat, and I've already
changed my mind eleventy-six times about what knitting to take with me. Packing clothing is the simplest part of preparations,
it's the decisions about what projects to take, what should go for "show and tell" and what my "New Beginnings" project ought
to be that are fluctuating almost hourly.
Back to the madness that is everyday life in AuntyNin-space.
Knitting progresses... the Kiri shawl is bound off, waiting to be blocked. I'm really pleased with the
way the JoJoLand Harmony has knit up, with its long color runs and very gradual shifts from one tone to another. Given
how much yarn was left, I might have been able to get one more pattern repeat before starting the edging, but fourteen
repeats seemed just about right to me.
Once Kiri was bound off, I felt perfectly free to start new projects. End one, begin six, right? However,
for some bizarre reason, only one new project has leaped onto the needles. It's the "Celtic Icon" hooded cardigan from
Inspired Cable Knits by Fiona Ellis.
After a couple of false starts (largely due to gauge issues), I've had to go down to a US4 needle to get a fabric that
looks and feels right to me - and is approximately the right number of stitches per inch. The pattern is clear, though
it requires a fair bit of attention, not to mention concentration. Nearly every right-side row has cable crosses,
and the yarn is a deep green (Dale of Norway "Falk" superwash DK), which means extra lighting has become a must.
With any luck, this hoodie will be wearable along about February. About time, too, as the yarn was purchased
more than two years ago, originally intended to become one of the sweaters in Shadow Knitting. The yarn,
however, had objections to that pattern, and made its reluctance known very strongly. It's been in "time-out" for many
many months now, awaiting a pattern it would accept. This pattern seems to meet with yarnish approval, finally, as it's
knitting up with minimal objection. For the moment, anyway.
With a possible visit to
Webs coming up next month, I've been pondering what yarns would need to come home with me. I'm quite fond of their house
brand 2/14 Alpaca/Silk laceweight, so one or two cones of that are likely to find their way into my stash. Not that
I really
need more of it, but I'm weak when surrounded by yarn fumes.
The yarn for the Granny Weatherwax shawl may well be purchased during this trip, though I'm not entirely sure how much
of it I'm going to need. Consultation with Mmario may solve that question, though it's quite likely that more yarn than
actually needed will go home with me. Since I'm planning this shawl to be about 60" square, done in fingering weight
yarn, fairly loose gauge, I'm guessing I'll need 2500 to 3000 yards. Better to buy too much than too little - if there
are leftovers, they can become socks. Or something.
Perhaps one day soon, The Infernal DigiCam will condescend to cooperate and allow photographs to return to the blog.
Or it may be time for me to get out the bobby pin and the nail file.
