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Knitting Friday
OK, I'm now at my "job" and at a computer which will allow me to write a new post. (I'm really going to have to pull out the guts of my desktop computer and figure out why I can only read my blog but not create a new one.)
Last Monday, the hospice social worker wore an ecru Aran style tunic/dress, probably in cotton/linen. Yesterday, I had some time to work up swatches to recreate that dress. (She loved it so much, she bought it in all the other colors they had. I never did that.....Ha!) Anyway, after a few tries, I got the cables down. You want ones with no/little depth since you're sitting on this. So I eliminated any honeycomb/popcorn effect and settled on a row of repeating twisted stitches on 2 stitches - 2 reverse stockinette stitches - back cable on 4 stitches - 2 reverse stockinette - back cable on 6 stitches. Pretty soon I got the rhythm of the 3 patterns (2 with 8 rows; 1 with 10 rows) but I also got the feeling that if I wanted this to have a flat look, I would need to use finer yarn and smaller needles. And then the "life is too short" mantra kicked in and I decided to deep six this project and search for a store bought one.........To Be Continued........
No pictures this week because hospice life is getting more complicated. More on this another day since this is the holiday season and let's be upbeat.
So without pictures, I thought I would link to the projects I'm working on.
First, my baby alpaca scarf is done. I used only 1 skein (440 yards) of Knit Picks baby alpaca and I crocheted the Beatrix Potter shawl with it:
This is a Ravelry pattern and free. Here are some of the modifications I made: Foundation chain should be w/a hook at least 2 sizes larger than your
pattern hook (I used M and then J) and use wood or plastic hooks since metal is too slippery
with lace. The pattern is 3x sts + 4 but I'm using 3x + 5 so that I put my first V stitch in the 5th chain from the hook and not the 4th as the pattern says. Then I begin every row with a chain 4 (not a chain 3) and end every row with a triple crochet in the turning chain. This is not done in the pattern but I like how the rows look (more finished) this way. Note: Pure alpaca lace is clingy.
The finished project wears like a cloud (as if I know what a cloud feels like.)
Funny story: A friend who saw the scarf said: I'm afraid to wear lace because I'll catch it on everything. With complete hubris, I thought: Well, I've been wearing lace for years and that hasn't happened to me. Fast forward to last night and I'm in DM's room and the phone rings. I race for it, passing her walker (it's a sturdy one), catching my scarf on the handle, and, as I pulled past it, I take the walker with me and it falls to the ground. Finally, I untangle the scarf, upright the walker and happily discover, my scarf is fine. Sturdy little buggers, those baby alpacas.
On the crochet side, I'm on my 3rd circular shawl:
I think this link is a repeat but it's worth the repeat since this shawl is hands-down the best one I have ever made when it comes to staying on your shoulders. Without any short rows, or stuff like that, just following the pattern produces a naturally curved shawl which stays put. And, being double layered, it's warm.
I'm also moving right along with my generic top which I'm going to knit-till-I-drop and make it into a tunic for tights. I'm well past the armhole and now, on the second row past the twisted stitch row, (Pattern: 9 rows of K and 1 row of twisted stitch, *K in the back of the 2nd stitch on the LN, K in the front of the first stitch*. ) I'm increasing two stitches on each side of the front and back. I'm using the 2nd row from the twisted stitch row because it distorts that row if you make the increases on the row right after it. The increases are M1R (make 1 right) and M1L (make 1 left) where you increase by picking up the horizontal bar between 2 stitches and knitting this bar. The bar pick up and the knit is done slightly different for each type of increase so one leans to the right and one leans to the left.
I'm also finishing up my Barbizon lace scarf:
Not really worrying about the placement of the lace patterns with this scarf. The question now is should I break out another skein of yarn and make a big scarf or end at 1 skein for a moderate-length one.
I'm also looking at Lucille:
Which shows a lot of chutzpah since Lucille is written for babies. But if you cast on 80 for the largest size (I think 6 to 9 months) and then work increases to 157 (I'd round up to 160), you get the numbers I start with in my typical generic tops. After that, I would work 3 rows of K (I'm knitting in the round) and one row of *YO, K2tog* to the armhole (about 6".) Then I would bind off for the armhole after a *YO, K2tog* row and once I cast on the stitches for the underarm I would start the charted lace pattern.
Now this is the weird part. There are written directions for the yoke but the lace body is charted.(Nothing weird here.) Reading the comments from Ravelers, this lace chart caused confusion. It did for me also, and this is the weird part because when you click "copy image" for the chart and plunk it in WordPerfect, the chart now has two extra stitches at the beginning of every row! Which is weird and annoying because these two extra stitches each row, destroy the symmetry of the lace! But instead of angsting over why this happened, I'm going to take the suggestion of a Raveler and just work the 8-stitch repeat section of the lace pattern.
And finally:
which is a cowl pattern knit in the round so you get a stockinette look. Here's my idea: Work the pattern flat from the written directions where all the rows are knit. This will give you a reversible scarf/shawl. The big decision is whether to knit for width (so the long ends of the scarf/shawl will have the scallop) or for length (where the scallops with be on the short ends of the scarf/shawl.)
That's enough palavering for this week. Next Friday, I will have pictures since I plan to start taking them today.
Happy holidays to all and Happy Knitting.
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