Thursday, June 23, 2011

Progress

Pagoldh says to begin by basting the sleeve to the body. That sounded as if it were likely to be more accurate than measuring, so I did it. Then unbasted. Then sewed by hand the lines of stitching to restrain the first side. It was surprisingly difficult to keep them straight, through the moss stitch. I kept straying towards the centre and having to unpick. What would have happened if I had tried to do it by machine?

The second pass, on top of the first, went faster.

At that point I thought it was all right to stop for the day. So I started a pair of KF socks, probably for Rachel, from my diminished stash. I forget every time how delicious those yarns are to knit. I have finished the ribbing already -- Rachel has small feet, and likes small ankle socks. We have a diabetic dietary appt this morning which should see me sweeping down towards the heel.

The next big question facing the Aran is whether to sew the straps in first, or the sleeves? If the straps, one could start at the neck edge and go all the way around. But I think it would be better to do the sleeves first and then, with the sleeve firmly anchored, see whether or not the strap is exactly the right length. Why did I think straps would be a good idea? I can’t remember now.

I’d welcome any advice on this point.

Miscellany

Guess what turned up yesterday? My last Knitter’s! I picked it up with some trepidation – was this going to be the astonishing issue which made me reconsider my decision not to renew? The answer is an emphatic no. This may be the worst one of all. Apart from patterns one has no wish to knit, there is nothing to read. What is the use of a magazine with nothing to read?

And this is the magazine that Nancy Thomas used to edit. It passes belief.

I think I want to have a look at the British magazine called The Knitter. But I’ll leave it until fall, to make it a fair test.

It’s good to have the Curmudgeon back. She mentions a book called “Knit, Swirl” by Sharon McIver which sounds interesting on Amazon.com. Amazon.co.uk hasn’t heard of it yet.

Comments

Mary Lou, thanks for the tip on Kaffe’s self-striping Kid Silk Haze, but no. I knit that stole on the cover of a relatively recent Rowan’s – that was Kaffe’s pattern, wasn’t it? and if so, the inspiration for the new yarn. The stole was a success, I gave it to Hellie. But I resolved in the knitting of it never to touch Kid Silk Haze again for the rest of my life. I gave what remained in the stash away.

Kristie, thanks for the tip about Cascade 220 for electric red. I’ve made a note in the HALDPINT list
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5 comments:

  1. shandy10:27 AM

    Re "The Knitter". They do have interesting articles by respected names, but it is expensive by UK standards. I was puzzled recently to observe that "Yarn Forward" has changed its name to "Knitting" and also changed editors again. Mostly, though, I think that the existence of Ravelry, Knitty and the key blgs has rendered the magazines redundant.

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  2. Patience11:42 AM

    I'm with you on the Knitter's. I've got the complete set (or just about) and that's been about the only thing going with the decision to renew.

    In recent years dear ones have been giving me the present of renewals, so that takes the decision to spend money out of my hands. Maybe XRX can turn it around by the time I need to spend my own money on it again?

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  3. Anonymous6:07 AM

    Jean, I had already decided to let my subscription to Knitter's Magazine run out, and the pitiful issue I received two days ago also reinforced my decision not to renew. I've got two more issues to go, and Knitter's will not be seeing any more money from me. In past years, I was always so excited when a new issue came in the mail, and I would spend hours poring over the articles and the designs. For the past year or more, all the magazine has been is promotions for XRX's various Stitches locations, as if nothing else matters. It's really sad.

    Mary G. in Texas

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  4. AnnP3:12 AM

    I subscribed to Knitter's from day one and I wouldn't part with the issues from the first few years for anything. I finally cancelled my subscription about 2 years ago when every design seemed to be knit at a large gauge in garish color blocks and I really hated it when they went to a larger format. I do take a look at the magazine in the public library. Takes me about 2 minutes to page through it.

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  5. Woolly Bits7:01 PM

    I've stopped more than a year ago - and haven't missed it at all! though I have to say that what I am really looking for is a knit mag to get my teeth into. "knit" (the former yarnforward)started out ok, but with them and also "the knitter" a lot of the patterns tend to be just to simple by now! I don't need a pattern in a mag to knit a straightforward shape after decades of knitting - I want something more interesting. which means that bit by bit I'll drop all subs - and only buy books that describe new (or new to me) techniques - I'll just make the rest up as I go along.

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