Princess progress
Here’s the evidence from the recharged camera. The centre is looking pretty good...
...but the parts of the border which haven't yet been incorporated stretch away to the horison.
Things aren’t perfect. There’s a line of faggoting – and I love faggoting – at each edge of the centre, and I’ve managed to get a dog-leg into each side by sheer stupidity. (You can see one of them on the right-hand side above.) It’s not worth the agony of unpicking; both mistakes will virtually disappear with blocking (if I ever get that far) and won’t be easy to spot in this infinity of knitting anyway. But it irritates and shames me.
There are more serious matters to put right. The stitch count isn’t quite the same on each side. I’ll soon be at the end of a pattern repeat, and that will make a good point to pause and find out how many stitches there should be on each side – the centre stitch has been marked from the beginning; at least I’ve got that -- and make cautious adjustments on the basis of my findings.
Also, I have threaded the right-hand border stitches onto a length of yarn but left the left-hand ones on long dp needles (with point protectors). The latter arrangement is a considerable nuisance, now that turning the work at the end of each row is a major undertaking. Whereas the former works fine. So the left-hand border stitches need to be threaded onto a different-coloured length of yarn today, and it wouldn’t hurt to count both sides to see how close we are to having the same number on each.
Even Sharon abandons strict stitch-and-row counting at this stage. She uses the word “adjust” three times on page 12 of the pattern, where you’re finishing the centre. I don’t think a bit of fudging on my part is going to hurt.
Catching up
Omsafeeya, you wrote back at the end of August, “BTW, a photo you posted of your knitting showed a background which looks like Egyptian khiyemeyeh (tent cloth), the applique work that funerary tents are made of.” I showed Helen your comment before she scooted off to Greece, and she said yes, that’s exactly what it is, bought in the part of Cairo where such things are traditionally made.
Even more important: Kathy nominated me for this glorious award nearly a week ago. I was stunned at the honour, and it has been much in my mind. But I have said nothing until now.
There are two problems – firstly, I have to go back through the attic of my mind and remember how to get the image into my sidebar.
More gravely, I am supposed to nominate four blogs I love: that’s pretty easy: The Panopticon, Mel, Joe, and Helen. But I couldn’t possibly ask Franklin or Joe to nominate their four favourites – it would be like requiring Bunthorne to choose a bride; the whole system would unravel.
Re: Princess. Wow. How many yards will it take in the end? Will you need to use more than one needle for the center before you reach the end of the border? What a phenomenal undertaking. Well done.
ReplyDeleteI've just finished point 66 on the beginning edging of Princess, and am following your daily descriptions of the project with extreme interest. It looks lovely in the pictures, and the jog in the faggotting isn't obvious, at least to me.
ReplyDeleteWe talked once on Ravelry; I'm your reader from Alexandria. Thanks again for all the effort you put into blogging, and best wishes on the project.
Cynthia
From your picture, my Princess and yours are pretty much at the same point. I did not thread the stitches into yarn, I am using a 42" long needle, placed stitch markers on both edges every 20 stitches and I am knitting back and forth in the center. It makes life a lot easier and less likely to make mistakes. I also have stitch markers every 12 stitches (pattern repeat) on the center. So far so good. My stitch count on both sides is right on target. One thing is that I can not open mine like you, but it will all come out right at the end.....I hope.
ReplyDeleteThanks very much. I'm having posting probs just now, but I will respond properly soon. I am deeply flattered to see what good company I'm in.
ReplyDeleteYay! The Princess is back (as am I) and looking lovely. I would try not to worry about fudging at this point either. I would imagine that wedding-ring shawl knitters of long ago weren't terribly worried if they count was off a bit at this point, or if there were the occasional dog leg, so long as they could get the shawl finished and sold so they could get much needed supplies. Their standards are fine ones.
ReplyDeleteDid Gordon Brown's gaff re commenting on the Presidential election make much of a ripple over there? Heard about it endlessly over here.
Jean -- the shawl is definitely an "heirloom." Is for "for fun" LOL or for a gift?
ReplyDeleteIt is great to see you are back on track with Princess. I counted last night and I have 4 pattern repeats of the center. It is taking long to knit it, but I know it will be worth it at the end. I do dread the points, as you said, there is no way to memorize that pattern.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for asking Helen about your tent cloth Lion. It is very beautiful. Usually these are made of geometric designs, but occasionally the sewers (usually men) use koranic verses in the shapes of animals or birds. I don't know what your lion says; but in some closet I have a Bismallah in the shape of a bird. Yours looks particularly fine. Sorry to be so late in getting back to you -- I'm just catching up on reading.
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