Here’s where I am with the melon stole (VLT p. 146). I’m having a great time.
It’s a very easy pattern, and I’m trying to work out why it’s such fun, when knitting the easy Paisley Long Shawl last year, wasn’t. This one is alternate panels of st st and faggoting – I love faggoting – for five out of six rows. The patterning is all done in that sixth row, with an awkward and interesting manoeuvre, new to me.
I am to do 62 repeats of the 6-row pattern, over 70 stitches. That’s a walk in the park for us Princess knitters. Here you see the first eight of them.
The yarn (the Yarn Yard's new merino lace) is terrific. I adore hand-painted yarns, but too much colour variation can swamp lace. Natalie’s got it exactly right here, as you see. I don’t know how the other colour-ways will work out, but I have a good deal of faith in her by now. The yarn feels good and knits well. It’s plyed and it’s strong. I’d never knit again with Shetland cobweb yarn, which is unplyed.
At the end of each year, or beginning of the next, I like to sit down and make a list on a Lotus Organiser page of the knitting I might get done in the 12 months ahead – definitely not a list of resolutions, which would be contrary to the whole spirit of knitting. Here is this year’s list:
finish Alexander's Calcutta Cup sweater -- done, March
finish Ketki's gansey
do some more Princess
Koigu for small boys -- perhaps another Wallaby – done, June, with Yarn Yard yarn
KF, perhaps Ravenna
Bog jacket in Malabrigo
Hiawatha stole in Jade thingamy cashmere
something with the Cherry Tree Hill lace stuff from Stitches
And here’s how the list would look if I wrote it this morning:
Finish Ketki’s gansey
Do some more Princess
Finish Sam the Ram
Finish the melon stole
A boy-sweater in Glasgow Tenement yarn
A Shapely Shawlette in that cashmere Koigu
Get well started on Theo’s Obama-electing cashmere gansey
There’s not going to be time. I would like to get the Princess insertion out of the way, and the centre started, before 2007 becomes history.
I keep forgetting to mention that my sister has some pictures on the family blog of the cashmere for Theo’s gansey. Address in sidebar; scroll down. She’ll bring it to me when they come for the Games.
Non-knit
Mel, you’re right, of course, courgettes are zucchini. (Microsoft Word disapproves of “courgette”, indeed, but likes “zucchini”.) And I was thinking as I moved about yesterday, how many vegetables have Italian variety names, even in English catalogues – spinach “Lazio”, beetroot “Chioggia”. I will certainly go on down that path next year.
It’s a very easy pattern, and I’m trying to work out why it’s such fun, when knitting the easy Paisley Long Shawl last year, wasn’t. This one is alternate panels of st st and faggoting – I love faggoting – for five out of six rows. The patterning is all done in that sixth row, with an awkward and interesting manoeuvre, new to me.
I am to do 62 repeats of the 6-row pattern, over 70 stitches. That’s a walk in the park for us Princess knitters. Here you see the first eight of them.
The yarn (the Yarn Yard's new merino lace) is terrific. I adore hand-painted yarns, but too much colour variation can swamp lace. Natalie’s got it exactly right here, as you see. I don’t know how the other colour-ways will work out, but I have a good deal of faith in her by now. The yarn feels good and knits well. It’s plyed and it’s strong. I’d never knit again with Shetland cobweb yarn, which is unplyed.
At the end of each year, or beginning of the next, I like to sit down and make a list on a Lotus Organiser page of the knitting I might get done in the 12 months ahead – definitely not a list of resolutions, which would be contrary to the whole spirit of knitting. Here is this year’s list:
finish Alexander's Calcutta Cup sweater -- done, March
finish Ketki's gansey
do some more Princess
Koigu for small boys -- perhaps another Wallaby – done, June, with Yarn Yard yarn
KF, perhaps Ravenna
Bog jacket in Malabrigo
Hiawatha stole in Jade thingamy cashmere
something with the Cherry Tree Hill lace stuff from Stitches
And here’s how the list would look if I wrote it this morning:
Finish Ketki’s gansey
Do some more Princess
Finish Sam the Ram
Finish the melon stole
A boy-sweater in Glasgow Tenement yarn
A Shapely Shawlette in that cashmere Koigu
Get well started on Theo’s Obama-electing cashmere gansey
There’s not going to be time. I would like to get the Princess insertion out of the way, and the centre started, before 2007 becomes history.
I keep forgetting to mention that my sister has some pictures on the family blog of the cashmere for Theo’s gansey. Address in sidebar; scroll down. She’ll bring it to me when they come for the Games.
Non-knit
Mel, you’re right, of course, courgettes are zucchini. (Microsoft Word disapproves of “courgette”, indeed, but likes “zucchini”.) And I was thinking as I moved about yesterday, how many vegetables have Italian variety names, even in English catalogues – spinach “Lazio”, beetroot “Chioggia”. I will certainly go on down that path next year.
What a lovely piece of lace to view first thing on a Sunday morn! Pictures of your garden yesterday were wonderful. My mother used to stand with her hoe in the garden like a statue. She could knock off about five rabbits every hour. To anyone but a gardener, they are adorable little creatures.
ReplyDeleteRon in Mexico
I think the melon pattern is very visually appealling.....could that have anything to do with the enjoyment quotient?
ReplyDeleteLovely lace... I'm suffering from lace withdrawal. I don't think I can justify starting something for me as I've two gifts to knit, but thank you for the yarn recommendation: I hope to see Natalie's yarns at Woolfest on Friday. On reflection I think that 'see' is a mis-spelling of 'buy'.
ReplyDeleteI wonder what colour would best suit the 'Forest Path' shawl? Just in case...