Finished Project: Silk Fir Cone Scarf
Project Specs:
Yarn: 2 skeins of Artyarns Regal Silk color 143
Needles: US 8
Size: 69″ x 9 1/2″
Pattern: CO 37 sts. Knit 4 rows.
Start pattern repeat.
Row 1 (wrong side) and all other wrong-side rows: k3, purl to last 3 sts, k3.
Row 2, 4, 6, 8: K4, * yo, k3, sl 1, k2 tog, psso, k3, yo, k1; rep from * to last 3 sts, k3.
Rows 10, 12, 14, 16: K3, k2 tog, * k3, yo, k1, yo, k3, sl 1, k2 tog, psso; rep from *, end k3, yo, k1, yo, k3, ssk, k3.
Repeat pattern 21 more times.
Do row 1 once more. K 4 rows and bind off loosely.
It’s true that this pattern has a tendency to pucker. Look at all of those peaks!
But the Regal Silk blocked well and there’s no longer a nipply scarf. It’s a scarf I did for the store. This isn’t a pattern or color that I would have chosen, but I do love the feel of the finished fabric.
(a little blocking help from Liam … I love my blocking wires)
Not Tempting Anymore
OK, I’m finally going to listen to my gut feeling and give up on making Tempting II. The 1×1 ribbing does not look good on me. It shows off all of the parts that I don’t want to accentuate. I still really like the yarn, but this just isn’t the pattern for me. It feels a bit weird quitting when I’m so close to finishing. But I know I would rarely wear the sweater, if ever. So off I go to work on one of the many other projects that I’m actually excited about.
Finished Square: #1
Striped Garter Stitch
I jumped ahead to finish the first square so I could block my finished ones to the same size. I have to say that I like the garter stitch much more than I thought I would. It lies so flat and feels really spongy. I’m not saying I’m going to make a garter stitch sweater any time soon, but I can imagine a whole afghan (log cabin perhaps) done with it.
I was poking around the web yesterday I found a few other examples of the Learn-to-Knit Afghan. Check them out. Mostly I was finding a lot of examples of people who start this project and then abandon it.
Can you tell I’m avoiding working on the Tempting II sweater. I don’t like how the sleeves are turning out so I don’t know if I should continue with them and live with it or come up with another option for the sleeves. What I may do is start them with a provisional cast on and make them as they are in the patter; do the yoke and neckline and then go back to the sleeves and figure them out at the end. I’ve got an August 31st deadline, so I just need to get this done. Plus I would love to finish up my two shawls before the start of my sweater class September 18th. I have this grand idea that not only will I knit the required sweater for myself, I will try to work on Bill’s sweater too, hopefully my first cardigan.
Finished Square: #49
Tilted Trellis
After discussing the problem of the bind off row, Johanna and I decided that since the bind off row is to be all knit stitches, we would do Row 5, an extra row, and then bind off on the right side row. Even if it’s an extra row, it should be fine size-wise after blocking.
This square sure went a lot faster than the Midwest Moonlight scarf.
My Blog Links: I’m Stuck
The #1 square in the book is a striped garter stitch pattern that is to be the size template for all of the other squares. Once I finish that square and block the other finished squares, I’ll take some better photos of the squares for the afghan page.
I’m Stuck
I’ve come to the bind off row of the Tilted Trellis square from the Learn-to-Knit Afghan and I’m confused.
Row 1 (wrong side) and all other wrong-side rows—K1, p33, k1.
Rows 2, 4, 6, 8—K1, * (ssk, yo) 4 times, k8; rep from *, end k2.
Rows 10, 12, 14, 16—K2, * k8, (yo, k2 tog) 4 times; rep from *, end k1.
Repeat Rows 1–16 three times, then Rows 1–4 again (52 rows). Bind off loosely on right side, knitting all stitches.
Here’s where I’m confused: Isn’t the row after Row 4 a wrong side row? But I’m supposed to bind off on the right side. Am I missing something?
Full Fall Schedule
I’m going to have a busy Fall class schedule with all of the great classes I’m taking at WEBS. I just couldn’t resist.
Suitable Seams; Measure Modify, Knit!; and Armhole Success with Judy Pascale
Japanese Knitting Techniques and Hole-istic Lace with Maureen Mason-Jamieson
Fiber Theory, Dreaded Disasters, and Personalized Patterns with Maggie Radcliffe
25 Slick Tricks of the Trade with Candace Eisner Strick
Advanced Socks from Measurements with Melissa Morgan Oakes
Top-Down Raglan Sweater from Measurements with Kirsten Hipsky
Yep, that’s eleven classes. Crazy!
Yikes! Another Project
Yep, I couldn’t resist the Cash Iroha that I just bought. I had to start another project, the Valley Patterns Falling Leaves Shawl. OK, that’s two shawls on the needles. Do I have a problem yet?
Finished Square: #43
Trinity Stitch (also known as Cluster Stitch, Bramble Stitch, Blackberry Stitch and several other names)
Finally it’s done. Love the pattern; hate knitting it. I can’t imagine doing a whole garment with this, but a little here and there could be really nice.
I fixed the weird mistake I was making. But you may notice the new mistake in the top right edge of the square, as if a little mouse came by and took a nibble. I knew it was there but kept it in since I thought it wouldn’t be too noticeable once blocked and sewn with other squares. Just one missing bobble. Hey, it just dawned on me why this square was so slow. It’s a whole square of time consuming bobbles. Ah, now it makes sense.
My Blog Links: What the heck is goingon with my square?
What the heck is going on with my square?
I looked down at my square last night I noticed something funny was going on with the back. The last four repeats of the pattern looked not quite right. Did my gauge change?
But then I turned the square over and noticed that the bumps seemed more squished together at the top. Then I noticed the sides and clearly I’ve been doing something wrong. It’s going off to the left.
The pattern is simple enough.
Rows 1 & 3 (right side), purl.
Row 2— *(K1, P1, K1) in one stitch, p3 tog; rep from *.
Row 4— *p3 tog, (KI, P1, K1) in one stitch; rep from *.
But what could I be doing where the fabric would start to veer off to the left like this. Hmmm. Very frustration since this is an annoying and slow pattern to make. (Very nice once it’s done though.)
Circular Needle Storage
I finally came to the realization that my beautiful silk needle cases are not the most functional. I have a hefty collection of needles by now. And when I’m working on many new projects at the same time, the needles start to migrate throughout the room pretty quickly. I love that all of my needles fit in the silk case. But I need a system that’s quick to retrieve needles and easy to put them away too. The silk case doesn’t have a way to label the pockets and now the sizes are wearing off on most of my circular needles. Even though the tie closers were important to have on the silk case, it makes it that much more difficult to open the case quickly.
I don’t use my straight needles that much, so they are back in a vase on my desk, each pair bound together by a hair binder. I like the needle binders with zippered pockets I’ve seen. And I’ve heard good things about these Binder Bags. I have plenty of binders at home, so my mission today was to find a durable yet inexpensive zippered pouch for a three ring binder. I knew zip lock bags were not going to be sturdy enough. Staples had some nice pencil cases, but they were all too expensive since I wanted 16 pockets, one for each size. Target turned out to be my best bet with these clear zippered pencil cases at 59¢ a piece.
The zipper is a little bulky, but I could still fit all 16 of these into my binder with all of my circular needles and double points too. Each pouch is very roomy. After spending a little quality time with my label maker, I have a new system for my circular needles.
