Friday, June 24, 2011

One sleeve attached, fairly successfully. It’s agonizingly slow work. The stitching for the other side is done, although I haven’t made the cut yet. I should hope to get that sleeve stuck on today. The rest should be downhill. There will have to be tidying done on the inside, herringbone-stitch, as well as attaching the straps and general tidying. I won’t get it all done before the Beijing Mileses arrive on Sunday.



Then there will be the collar to knit, a final treat. My sister has a phrase – I always remember it wrong, so it’s probably not “King Olaf’s soup” – for the final, left-behind half glass of wine you get to drink after the pudding, after the meal is finished. That’s how I feel about that last little bit of actual knitting, after the ordeal of making-up.

Meanwhile, as I’ve discovered before, if all you want is a relatively small ladies’ sock, just cast on with a KF self-striping yarn and it’ll knit itself.


I am beginning to wonder seriously if we will get to London next month. The days are rolling forward – we’ve got to face up to it, one way or the other.

My husband is even slower than he was. Getting to things in Edinburgh involves more and more careful forward planning and calculating of distances-to-be-walked. How on earth will he manage London? There’s lots to see there, as always, but I don’t think there are any mustn’t-miss exhibitions just now. We’ll be tired before we even set out, after the Mileses’ visit. Rachel won’t be there – she is most uncharacteristically weekending in Toulouse while KnitNation is on. Is it worth the trouble and expense of going to London without seeing Rachel?

We must talk about this, he and I, today or tomorrow.

Comments

Kristie, I did some Googling on “Cascade 220”. It looks promising, and easy to get. They offer a shade called “Christmas red” which could probably be trusted for electricity, sight-unseen. I am always slightly alarmed when a yarn boasts that it’s ideal for felting – does that mean that the rest of us don’t dare allow it anywhere near water? I’ll get the Brownstone pattern out today and see what sort of gauge Jared expects.

Thanks for the comments about magazines, with special reference to Knitter’s. Shandy, I think, at least for the moment, that VK is in a class by itself, and shouldn’t be abandoned if one wants to see Where Knitting is Going. You’re probably right that the rest don't matter. But you can’t read a computer in the bath.

Rebecca, I’m delighted to “meet” someone who, like me, tried to knit all the Socka yarns. I wish now that I had kept track of my Kaffe socks in those terms – made a note of the shade numbers. I suspect I’ve knit most of them, but not quite all.

I’m glad to meet a fellow-enthusiast for commonplace books, too. (Follow the link) I’ve got one, rarely augmented, but what is there is mostly rather choice. “Mostly” – a few things that seem brilliant at the time, pale with the years.

7 comments:

  1. Anonymous10:15 AM

    There is a Brownstone on Rav knitted in Cascade Ruby - looks good
    http://www.ravelry.com/projects/JennaKate/brownstone
    jenny

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  2. My father simply refuses to travel. The family came to him instead. He does not have quite the same degree of interest in exhibitions of course! But, he finally gave in and bought himself a walker. The advantage? It has a seat. He can seat himself when he gets tired. (I am tempted!)

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  3. The Aran is really turning out beautifully. Cascade220 does felt easily, but it is just a basic worsted wool, not too tightly spun/plied. Certainly a hand wash item.

    I think red is a tricky color to order sight unseen. If you can't find it locally and want US backup, I'd be glad to help.

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  4. The Christmas red in CC220 is definitely bright. It will be electric red plenty for the sweater.

    Would DH be open to perhaps getting around in a wheelchair? Would that work as a possibility?

    I'm currently working on a Swirl sweater swatch. The key to it is drape. The yarns I'm using are a light worsted alternating with a laceweight, which is coming out as a quite nice fabric. The architecture of the sweater is quite fascinating.

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  5. Cascade is a workhorse kind of yarn. It would definitely felt if machine washed, but is no worse than any other 100% wool yarn. I have several items knit with Cascade and they have held up well. My Wonderful Wallaby has pilled a bit, but I wear it a lot so am not surprised.

    I was wondering about FiberQat's suggestion too. Would a wheelchair be a possibility?

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  6. There are some very lightweight, folding wheelchairs available that might make things easier for you.

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  7. The big cardi that I made in Cascade 220 for Younger Daughter is behaving very well- it comes back to me at regular intervals for washing. It has pilled a bit in the usual places, but a clothes shaver sees that off.
    Quite a lot depends on whether the new owner can be relied upon not to sling it in a machine - some people just don't understand how to look after wool.

    ReplyDelete