Tuesday, February 03, 2015

Moorecat, if you have given me that advice before – about putting Archie's sweater in the salad bowl and spinning it around on my lap – I must not have been paying attention. I tried it last night, and it works a treat. It also makes it much easier to get out from under the sweater when I've got to get up to do something, as happens fairly frequently.

I'm now within a couple of rounds of reaching the required length. I allowed myself to wind the red skein last night – that was fun. I could even finish the sleeve today.

I got up to John Lewis yesterday. I bought a ball of Rowan Pure Linen, and one of Cotton Glace. Despite the names, it's the linen that has a lovely sheen. The colour is too light and bright a blue, I fear – and the Rowan website offers nothing better. The website also says that it has a “relaxed drape” which may be too floppy for our purposes.

But I'll start the swatching there. Do I want an edging? Or just a neat six-inch square in seed stitch? I'd better browse the early pages os Walker I. Finding a yarn and a pattern is clearly going to be what takes the time here. Knitting eight of the things will be nothing, once those issues have been settled. Loop suggested a silk yarn called Jaipur. It comes in a wide range of spectacularly wonderful colours (colour loves silk even more than it does wool). It's a lace weight yarn, but I could use two strands held together – which often produces a nice firm fabric.

Non-knit

No more bulletins from Athens – surely good news. David was expected to be allowed home from hospital yesterday or today.

I had a nice talk with my sister in CT yesterday. They are covered in snow. It was just about a year ago that she and her husband made that valiant trip to NYC to try to buy a picture at auction for us – the one that's now in the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square. We decided that they had better go down the night before and stay in a hotel – rather than add the fear of snow to our other excitements.


So the groundhog will have stayed above ground in CT yesterday, if he doesn't mind burrowing through the snow. Whereas we have been having high pressure, with clear skies and bright winter sun and bitter cold – the sort of weather that encourages six more weeks of hibernation.

8 comments:

  1. Ellen1:14 PM

    Until recently, when the arthritis is my left thumb worsened, I knit with linen quite a lot, and consider myself an expert. In the United States, Euroflax linen from Louet is the gold standard. Washed and dried in the drier, it gets softer and softer.Washed and dried flat, it gets quite crisp, and will continue to regain its crispness with each washing. It can be sarched if more crisp is desired. Louet calls this a sport weight, it knits nicely at about 6.5 spi. It is definitely a better product than the Rowan. Cotton Glace will never get soft, but its never very crisp either; it is mercerized cotton and has a nice sheen, but its not ideal for holding its shape. If you go with the linen, be aware that it needs some taming to knit with it easily: start with needles two sizes smaller than you might usually use to achieve the gauge you want, and use the pointiest needles you have...addi lace needles are my preference for linen. If you decide on the linen, I will send you more tips.

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    1. Ellen, you are clearly expert. Share away!

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  2. I have used Euroflax from Louet and agree with all that Ellen has said. I think it would be great for your purposes. I found that washing the yarn before knitting made things easier. As Ellen said, when knit it can be made to be crisp or allowed to get soft. It also washes wonderfully.

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  3. And one skein of Euroflax would do it - it has very generous yardage. I just don't know if the Navy is a really deep navy - I'll be glad to take a look (or a snippet) when I'm in the shop on Thursday.

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  4. The book of the week at BEC radio 4 is the new Eliot.

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  5. Jean - wash that Red yarn before you knit it. The dye will run a great deal. Skein it back up, tie it in 6 or 8 places and put it to soak in the sink with a little wool wash or mild shampoo in tepid water. Let soak for 20 - 30 minutes then rinse with cool water until no dye runs.

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  6. Jean, thank you so much for mentioning moorecat's suggested use for a salad spinner. I am in the midst of a bulky sweater for my son and am just about to start a knit-on sleeve. In the past ,I have stuffed the bulk of the sweater in a lingerie bag or pillowcase. The salad spinner sounds like a much better alternative!

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    1. Actually, Marion, I had said a salad bowl - but a salad spinner is genius! That way, the jumper will self-correct its orientation.

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