Friday, October 30, 2015

I fear I'm too late, this morning, to finish writing before the day crashes down on me. I'll do my best.

We had another power cut last night. No harm done, in the end, and fortunately the computer had already been turned off. There was a potentially bad moment when my husband tried to get to his feet, in near-pitch darkness, while I was outside on the pavement conferring with neighbours. Fortunately he was caught in time.

The big news is that the v-neck vest fits beautifully. I didn't get very far with the delicate task of picking up stitches for the ribbing but should, nevertheless, actually begin knitting the neck ribbing today.

I spent another, too-brief, time at Kathy's Knits. Kathy is a member of Kate Davies' Seven Skeins club, and showed me the actual yarn. It's rather nice, very bouncy. She says that it will be sold from KD's website, not from LYS's, early in the new year. I made good progress with the Greystone hat while there. I'd better add it to the sidebar.

I made no progress, however, with half-brioche, as described yesterday, where alternate rows are plain knit or purl. I can't find anything of the sort in Walker. Swatching may be the only course. And if I wind up in her class next year, I can ask Marchant.

Two people have recently sent me links to the V&A's fascinating knitting pages. It has been rather a while since I visited them. There is some very good stuff there.

I have ordered IK's current “Knitting Traditions” for the sake of the article on Kitchener Stitch. Perhaps the whole mystery will be laid bare.


I'd better post this much while the going's good.

10 comments:

  1. I know my knitting book librry is nowhere near as comprehensive and esoteric as yours, but when I wanted to knit a brioche hat traditional way (purl the back rows) the only place I could find the recipe was a small part of the EZ article in the Sunday Times. It just doesn't seem to feature elsewhere, unless somebody could tell me what to look up in the index.

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  2. Anonymous11:04 AM

    That is so interesting to hear your first hand experience of Kate Davies' yarn. Judging from the sample garments on her blog it looks very tempting, but my stash is too huge and my knitting skills too "basic" to go whole hog with the Seven Skeins Club.

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  3. Anonymous11:25 AM

    I wanted to edit my comment above by saying I would be willing to buy one skein - perhaps one day on Ravelry - but Comments wouldn't let me. It sounded kind of mean-spirited as I originally wrote it. Sellers/ entrepreneurs have a right to package their product any way they feel works for them. More power to Kate for doing all that she does. Chloe

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  4. Anonymous, I didn't sense anything meanspirited in your original comment! I did join the club, with some trepidation (I'm not a "club type" person to start with, and have NEVER joined a knitting or fiber club before; I have more yarn and fiber stashed than I need, although I've been on a buying moratorium for a couple of years, quite successfully; etc.). People who have joined Seven Skeins are taking many different approaches to it -- a good number waiting until Christmas, for example, to start knitting, because it is a significant investment and a lovely gift, even if made to oneself!

    My sense is that those of us who did purchase the club are enjoying it. I had planned to wait to start knitting until all seven patterns had been released, but I was charmed by a cowl pattern from last week. Now that I am actually knitting, I can confirm Jean's "very bouncy" assessment. I like the yarn very much indeed, and am inspired to use or deacquisition some of my less-appealing, ancient yarn purchases, so that at some point in the future I will be able to buy more Buachaille with a clea conscience.

    I have rambled on too long; my point was: "Anonymous," not to worry; and yes, Buachaille yarn is wonderful.

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous3:36 PM

      I'm glad to read your positive review. Next year, then, will be my time to try Buchaille.
      -- stashdragon

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  5. Hello Jean, I've just checked in Nancy Marchant's first book (The essential guide to the brioche stitch) and on pages 105 and 106 of it she shows examples of half brioche in one colour as well as in two. The two colour version has a clear right side and wrong side, with the wrong side being very dominant in the contrast colour. It still looks good as a fabric though, just nowhere near the two colour brioche, which is identical on both sides, except the colour dominance being inversed. Maybe your LYS stocks the book and you can look it up at your next visit. Imke

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  6. Anonymous1:17 PM

    Thank you Kristen! When we write people don't see our facial expression so it sometimes concerns me if I haven't been clear enough. I will indeed keep your comments in mind about Buachaille. They are intriguing. We have some traveling to do soon so it is more likely that I will wait until after that period to investigate the Club and determine whether my limited skills are worth the risk that I can make the yarn turn out the way it was intended to do. Tom's kilt hose, for instance, are way beyond my skill level. But I will remains open to the possibilities! Chloe

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  7. http://www.the-knitting-wool-store.com/english-fishermans-rib.html

    Is this what you're looking for?

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  8. Anonymous6:24 PM

    Hi Jean-

    I sent you a (rather lengthy) email, but am unsure if your addy is really googlemail or gmail. It didn't bounce, so I hope I got it right. Let me know if you got it, even if you don't have time to respond substantively.

    Beverly in NJ

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  9. Don't forget the EYF booking opens tomorrow at 2pm. Good Luck.

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