The first sleeve is nearly finished -- I think I'll go for 8" as specified in the Wallaby booklet, after all. I won't break the yarn, though, so adjustment will still be possible until sleeves and body are joined. The Wallaby leaflet said to do all the increases at once after the ribbing, rather than taper the sleeve -- better for the shape of a child's arm, they claim. It looks a bit odd.
I've been thinking of some retail therapy to cheer myself up after the US presidential election. Googling on "Rowan 4-ply soft" produced a nice website here in Britain with a much better range of colours than is available in the local John Lewis. And my sister says she and her husband are thinking of going back to Mozambique, where they have been working for several years -- that might mean that they will be passing through London from Connecticut in February and could bring me some yarn (obviating customs duties). www.handknitting.com has got some very tempting Chinese cashmere in a wonderful range of colours -- each order is dyed-to-order, and it takes a whole week.
Last week's issue of the Economist magazine, in a series of articles about IT, quotes someone called Soetsu Yanagi (new to me) who published a book in 1972 called "The Unknown Craftsman": "Man is most free when his tools are proportionate to his needs." I'm not sure I could explain what that means, but it strikes a chord. A couple of knitting needles, a ball of yarn. Similarly, to grow my vegetables, not many tools are needed, each utterly proportionate to the job in hand.
Saturday, November 06, 2004
Friday, November 05, 2004
On We Go
I started the first Wallaby sleeve last night. It is more or less visible in the picture, coming in from the left. I put those pieces of cardboard in the kangaroo pouch to demonstrate that it is really there.
I began the sleeve using the two-circular-needle method of knitting small numbers of stitches in the round. I've done it before, but last night I got myself (and the knitting) in a twist, and happily reverted -- after a bit of ripping out -- to using sock needles.
I have found ever since I knit sweaters for my children when they really were children, that knitting patterns always make children's sleeves too long. I said this to my sister-in-law many decades ago, and she said that her children had arms of normal length. But I think I'm right, and it's not that my children and now grandchildren have unusually stumpy arms. Look at patterns for children's sweaters and notice how often the youthful model is wearing the sleeves rolled up.
Fine in a studio picture, a real nuisance in real life, especially for a small child, whereas an inch or so of bare wrist never did anyone any harm. The Wallaby pattern specifies 8" for the sleeves of the smallest size. Vicky Square's "Knitting Great Classics" shows a full 10 1/2" on the Child, Small size. I'll do about 7" I think. We'll see when we get there.
I began the sleeve using the two-circular-needle method of knitting small numbers of stitches in the round. I've done it before, but last night I got myself (and the knitting) in a twist, and happily reverted -- after a bit of ripping out -- to using sock needles.
I have found ever since I knit sweaters for my children when they really were children, that knitting patterns always make children's sleeves too long. I said this to my sister-in-law many decades ago, and she said that her children had arms of normal length. But I think I'm right, and it's not that my children and now grandchildren have unusually stumpy arms. Look at patterns for children's sweaters and notice how often the youthful model is wearing the sleeves rolled up.
Fine in a studio picture, a real nuisance in real life, especially for a small child, whereas an inch or so of bare wrist never did anyone any harm. The Wallaby pattern specifies 8" for the sleeves of the smallest size. Vicky Square's "Knitting Great Classics" shows a full 10 1/2" on the Child, Small size. I'll do about 7" I think. We'll see when we get there.
Thursday, November 04, 2004
The Next Day
Here is what is meant to be a cheerful picture, with no knitting in sight.
The boys are the three surviving sons of my daughter and son-in-law who live in Thessaloniki. Their elder brother Oliver died at six weeks.
Earlier this year, David and Helen were thinking of buying a weekend house somewhere in the country. The photograph shows a near-derelict possibility being explored. In a roomful of left-behind books, Archie, the eldest, behind, is clearly reading one. He speaks and reads Greek with the amazing facility children have. Mungo, in the foreground, is equally clearly not. Fergus, on the right, thinks he is.
Fergus, for whom the Wallaby is currently being knit, was two in March (not long before this picture was taken). He wears nappies and hasn't much in the way of vocabulary but, as this picture suggests, he simply assumes that he is a Boy like everybody else. The effect is enchanting.
Mungo is the one for whom the current Kirkmichael project is being knit, a striped Koigu sweater like Theo's.
I got the kangaroo pouch for Fergus's sweater attached last night. Pictures are just going to show orange-on-orange, I am afraid, but I'll attempt another one tomorrow. Tonight I'll start a sleeve.
The boys are the three surviving sons of my daughter and son-in-law who live in Thessaloniki. Their elder brother Oliver died at six weeks.
Earlier this year, David and Helen were thinking of buying a weekend house somewhere in the country. The photograph shows a near-derelict possibility being explored. In a roomful of left-behind books, Archie, the eldest, behind, is clearly reading one. He speaks and reads Greek with the amazing facility children have. Mungo, in the foreground, is equally clearly not. Fergus, on the right, thinks he is.
Fergus, for whom the Wallaby is currently being knit, was two in March (not long before this picture was taken). He wears nappies and hasn't much in the way of vocabulary but, as this picture suggests, he simply assumes that he is a Boy like everybody else. The effect is enchanting.
Mungo is the one for whom the current Kirkmichael project is being knit, a striped Koigu sweater like Theo's.
I got the kangaroo pouch for Fergus's sweater attached last night. Pictures are just going to show orange-on-orange, I am afraid, but I'll attempt another one tomorrow. Tonight I'll start a sleeve.
Wednesday, November 03, 2004
First Day of the Rest of Our Lives
I'm tired and depressed and there's not much to say, but I wanted to say something while it's still today and not tomorrow. As I vaguely remember it, Aristotle thought that democracy was not a very good system, but that it was better, on balance, than the alternatives. I went into my corner grocer shop late yesterday to buy a newspaper. Mr Hussain was eating a sandwich -- breaking his Ramadan fast, presumably, since the sun had set. He saw my Kerry tee-shirt and more or less pursued me out of the shop crying "We support you! We support you!"
I've finished the kangaroo pouch on Fergus's Wallaby and fused it to the body of the sweater. Only a couple more rows until the armpits.
I went into John Lewis today -- when submerged in gloom, buy yarn, is a good rule of life -- to see if Rowan 4-Ply Soft still exists and if so in what colours. It does! The range is fairly limited, but not bad. I'm thinking of another EPS, in wide stripes of two colours to the armpits, and then the sleeves and yoke knit wrist-to-wrist in narrower stripes of the same colours. Somewhere in the Zimmermann opus is a sweater constructed like this, except that the top bit in her case is cabled. My feelings of success as Fergus's Wallaby progresses persuade me that I can knit anything, and don't even have to bother much with swatching. I didn't buy any yarn today, but ideas are germinating.
I've finished the kangaroo pouch on Fergus's Wallaby and fused it to the body of the sweater. Only a couple more rows until the armpits.
I went into John Lewis today -- when submerged in gloom, buy yarn, is a good rule of life -- to see if Rowan 4-Ply Soft still exists and if so in what colours. It does! The range is fairly limited, but not bad. I'm thinking of another EPS, in wide stripes of two colours to the armpits, and then the sleeves and yoke knit wrist-to-wrist in narrower stripes of the same colours. Somewhere in the Zimmermann opus is a sweater constructed like this, except that the top bit in her case is cabled. My feelings of success as Fergus's Wallaby progresses persuade me that I can knit anything, and don't even have to bother much with swatching. I didn't buy any yarn today, but ideas are germinating.
Tuesday, November 02, 2004
Back Again
We had a happy but strenuous weekend with our friends -- no blogging. But I kept knitting, at least a little bit. The result appears (I hope) above. I am nearly finished with the Wallaby pouch. I should polish that off this evening, and resume knitting the body. I have decided to press ahead with this little sweater and get it finished before resuming the Fair Isle jacket. Fergus can have it for a Christmas present.
On stitch numbers: I picked up 76 for the pouch. It went well, with that row of purl bumps. Adjusting by percentage didn't seem to work, for reasons too tedious to explain, so I found a size in the Wallaby pattern leaflet which had 76 stitches in the pouch (adult 34" chest, it was) and followed those instructions. It's working OK, I think. The pouch will reach nearly to the armholes but that seems a reasonable arrangement for a two-year-old.
I love, love, love the yarn. The next time I am in a yarn shop I will see if Rowan 4-ply soft is to be had in less alarming colours. Maybe yet another EPS sweater, for myself, striped in two colours... I think what I really love, is merino wool, which this is. I've done a lot of knitting with merino yarn this year -- a couple of Koigu projects, and two in Louet Gems Merino.
I-think-I-read-somewhere that the merino sheep doesn't live happily in Britain, although it's hard to see why. It can't be the cold, because Morehouse Farm, famous for merino, is in New York State, which is colder even than Perthshire. Maybe the damp.
Good news: Theo's Koigu sweater has reached Connecticut safely. Theo himself with be with Senator Kerry for the victory party (or the wake) in Boston tonight, and will then go see his parents. So we should have a picture here soon. My sister, Theo's mother, said in an email yesterday that the sweater fits Theo's father, who is built on the same lines, so I think all is well.
On stitch numbers: I picked up 76 for the pouch. It went well, with that row of purl bumps. Adjusting by percentage didn't seem to work, for reasons too tedious to explain, so I found a size in the Wallaby pattern leaflet which had 76 stitches in the pouch (adult 34" chest, it was) and followed those instructions. It's working OK, I think. The pouch will reach nearly to the armholes but that seems a reasonable arrangement for a two-year-old.
I love, love, love the yarn. The next time I am in a yarn shop I will see if Rowan 4-ply soft is to be had in less alarming colours. Maybe yet another EPS sweater, for myself, striped in two colours... I think what I really love, is merino wool, which this is. I've done a lot of knitting with merino yarn this year -- a couple of Koigu projects, and two in Louet Gems Merino.
I-think-I-read-somewhere that the merino sheep doesn't live happily in Britain, although it's hard to see why. It can't be the cold, because Morehouse Farm, famous for merino, is in New York State, which is colder even than Perthshire. Maybe the damp.
Good news: Theo's Koigu sweater has reached Connecticut safely. Theo himself with be with Senator Kerry for the victory party (or the wake) in Boston tonight, and will then go see his parents. So we should have a picture here soon. My sister, Theo's mother, said in an email yesterday that the sweater fits Theo's father, who is built on the same lines, so I think all is well.
Saturday, October 30, 2004
A Quick Touching of Base
The non-Wallaby Wallaby progresses well. I put in a row of purl bumps, in the end (not a contrasting yarn), where the pouch will be attached. I may reach the Actual Moment this evening. Next will be the problem of figuring out how to size the pouch -- the original Wallaby pattern doesn't give a row gauge, but phrases its instructions for the pouch in terms of the number of rows.
Common sense should see me through. I'll start out the Wonderful Wallaby way, decreasing one at each end of every other row. After all, I'll have more stitches, since I'm working in a finer yarn. There may be little agjustment needed.
The next question, once our friends leave, will be to decide whether to carry on, or whether to go back to the Fair Isle cardigan. I've found a pattern that fits fine, both ways. Maybe a bit too easy, but certainly symmetrical.
Perhaps the answer is to press on with the Wallaby until the pouch questions are settled, which shouldn't take long, and then work alternate days on alternate projects.
Common sense should see me through. I'll start out the Wonderful Wallaby way, decreasing one at each end of every other row. After all, I'll have more stitches, since I'm working in a finer yarn. There may be little agjustment needed.
The next question, once our friends leave, will be to decide whether to carry on, or whether to go back to the Fair Isle cardigan. I've found a pattern that fits fine, both ways. Maybe a bit too easy, but certainly symmetrical.
Perhaps the answer is to press on with the Wallaby until the pouch questions are settled, which shouldn't take long, and then work alternate days on alternate projects.
Friday, October 29, 2004
Fergus's Wallaby
I've finished the ribbing. It's blissful stuff to handle, and it produces a wonderful soft but somehow sort of crisp fabric, although it is undoubtedly _very_ orange. No wonder it was on sale.
I'm going to put a kangaroo pouch on the front. I made a genuine Wonderful Wallaby once, and found the attachment of the pouch rather difficult. In that pattern, you knit for about four inches above the ribbing, then go back and create a pouch just above the ribbing by pulling yarn through stitch by stitch with a crochet hook. I found it surprisingly difficult to keep going in a straight line.
I posted this problem to the Knitlist the other day, and Linda suggested (brilliantly) either knitting twice into every stitch along the stretch where the pouch is to start, and then separating every other stitch onto separate needles to serve as background and pouch; or putting in a row of purl stitches there, so that you can be guided by the purl bumps during the crochet-hook manoeuvre. I think maybe I'll refine that latter idea by actually knitting the stitches in a different yarn -- a scrap of Koigu should do nicely.
This whole enterprise is intended as mindless knitting to carry me through a visit from old friends, starting today. The trouble is, after I've knit four inches above the ribbing, I've got to attach the pouch, and that's _not_ mindless. I'll have to lock myself into the lavatory with a crochet hook. At the very least, I must locate a suitably small crochet hook and read the Wallaby instructions several times before our friends arrive. They are going to bring us some quinces from their tree! Unobtainable in shops here, and exquisitely delicious.
I'm going to put a kangaroo pouch on the front. I made a genuine Wonderful Wallaby once, and found the attachment of the pouch rather difficult. In that pattern, you knit for about four inches above the ribbing, then go back and create a pouch just above the ribbing by pulling yarn through stitch by stitch with a crochet hook. I found it surprisingly difficult to keep going in a straight line.
I posted this problem to the Knitlist the other day, and Linda suggested (brilliantly) either knitting twice into every stitch along the stretch where the pouch is to start, and then separating every other stitch onto separate needles to serve as background and pouch; or putting in a row of purl stitches there, so that you can be guided by the purl bumps during the crochet-hook manoeuvre. I think maybe I'll refine that latter idea by actually knitting the stitches in a different yarn -- a scrap of Koigu should do nicely.
This whole enterprise is intended as mindless knitting to carry me through a visit from old friends, starting today. The trouble is, after I've knit four inches above the ribbing, I've got to attach the pouch, and that's _not_ mindless. I'll have to lock myself into the lavatory with a crochet hook. At the very least, I must locate a suitably small crochet hook and read the Wallaby instructions several times before our friends arrive. They are going to bring us some quinces from their tree! Unobtainable in shops here, and exquisitely delicious.
Thursday, October 28, 2004
Ever Onward
I think I'll post this as a separate entry, too, hoping to preserve the image.
The picture is in the Hunterian Art Gallery at the University of Glasgow. It's beautiful and deeply peaceful and I got out the postcard yesterday and started choosing colours for the Stillwater-replacement, using it as a guide. (Kaffe Fassett's idea, and a good one. I've done it before.) With the severe restriction that I'm NOT going to buy any yarn.
I've got nine or ten colours, and I like the way they look. The main lack is a red to represent the cupboard-in-shadow in the lower right, and perhaps not enough charcoal grey to do the shawl. I started looking through pattern collections and making calculations, too, so far without success -- if it fits vertically, it doesn't fit horizontally. But I've got lots more to look at, including a book of Starmore's entirely devoted to charts for colour knitting. I find myself -- and it's totally unreasonable -- rather anti-Starmore after the Stillwater experience, and I am concentrating so far on my beloved Sheila Macgregor's Fair Isle book. We shall see.
For actual knitting, I cast on a sweater for grandson Fergus, as mentioned yesterday. The yarn is Rowan's 4-ply Soft, and there's no doubt, it's orange. I love the feel of it. For gauge I used the figures on the ballband -- quicker than swatching -- and for size, the "small child" schematic in Vicky Square's book, "Knitting Great Classics". Except that she gave 24" for the circumferance and I threw in an extra inch. It's a very useful book. It's currently at Kirkmichael, where I used it for Theo's Koigu sweater (Adult extra large) and now for Mungo's. The book gives stich-counts for a variety of gauges, as well as schematics.
The picture is in the Hunterian Art Gallery at the University of Glasgow. It's beautiful and deeply peaceful and I got out the postcard yesterday and started choosing colours for the Stillwater-replacement, using it as a guide. (Kaffe Fassett's idea, and a good one. I've done it before.) With the severe restriction that I'm NOT going to buy any yarn.
I've got nine or ten colours, and I like the way they look. The main lack is a red to represent the cupboard-in-shadow in the lower right, and perhaps not enough charcoal grey to do the shawl. I started looking through pattern collections and making calculations, too, so far without success -- if it fits vertically, it doesn't fit horizontally. But I've got lots more to look at, including a book of Starmore's entirely devoted to charts for colour knitting. I find myself -- and it's totally unreasonable -- rather anti-Starmore after the Stillwater experience, and I am concentrating so far on my beloved Sheila Macgregor's Fair Isle book. We shall see.
For actual knitting, I cast on a sweater for grandson Fergus, as mentioned yesterday. The yarn is Rowan's 4-ply Soft, and there's no doubt, it's orange. I love the feel of it. For gauge I used the figures on the ballband -- quicker than swatching -- and for size, the "small child" schematic in Vicky Square's book, "Knitting Great Classics". Except that she gave 24" for the circumferance and I threw in an extra inch. It's a very useful book. It's currently at Kirkmichael, where I used it for Theo's Koigu sweater (Adult extra large) and now for Mungo's. The book gives stich-counts for a variety of gauges, as well as schematics.
Wednesday, October 27, 2004
Decision
I think it might be safest to make this a separate entry, in case Blogger feels inclined to remove either of the pictures below. They tell their own story.
I had a really good time ripping out the Stillwater, and I'm absolutely sure I did the right thing. I've been laying out new colours this morning (more about that tomorrow) and looking through books for an allover pattern. I know my gauge, and so there's no excuse for not actually planning what I intend to do -- so that the pattern starts at a reasonable point, and, even more important, achieves a reasonable leaving-off point at the shoulder.
I have a feeling that once, in my old Fair Isle days, I had the idea of laying out all the colours (an odd number of them) in a circle, and proceeding as before with three rows of foreground and three rows of background, never changing both on the same row -- and simply taking the next colour in the circle each time, so that any particular colour would appear first as foreground, then as background. What I can't remember is whether I ever actually did this. If so, it was reasonably successful. I'll trawl back through my old photographs.
Meanwhile, while thinking and planning, I intend to cast on a sweater for my delicious grandson Fergus. It'll be plain, good mindless knitting for the weekend when our friends are here, but I want it to have a kangaroo pouch like the famous Wonderful Wallaby pattern. For general shaping, I'll use Elizabeth's Percentage System (Elizabeth Ziummermann) again. The yarn is some bright stuff I bought in the Liberty sale last summer. I thought it was red, but it appeared awfully orange when I took it out of the cupboard yesterday. Never mind -- it's cheerful.
I had a lovely message from Judith this morning -- she actually reads my Blog! My email address is jean@jeanmile.demon.co.uk. One day I'll get it a permanent position in the sidebar.
I had a really good time ripping out the Stillwater, and I'm absolutely sure I did the right thing. I've been laying out new colours this morning (more about that tomorrow) and looking through books for an allover pattern. I know my gauge, and so there's no excuse for not actually planning what I intend to do -- so that the pattern starts at a reasonable point, and, even more important, achieves a reasonable leaving-off point at the shoulder.
I have a feeling that once, in my old Fair Isle days, I had the idea of laying out all the colours (an odd number of them) in a circle, and proceeding as before with three rows of foreground and three rows of background, never changing both on the same row -- and simply taking the next colour in the circle each time, so that any particular colour would appear first as foreground, then as background. What I can't remember is whether I ever actually did this. If so, it was reasonably successful. I'll trawl back through my old photographs.
Meanwhile, while thinking and planning, I intend to cast on a sweater for my delicious grandson Fergus. It'll be plain, good mindless knitting for the weekend when our friends are here, but I want it to have a kangaroo pouch like the famous Wonderful Wallaby pattern. For general shaping, I'll use Elizabeth's Percentage System (Elizabeth Ziummermann) again. The yarn is some bright stuff I bought in the Liberty sale last summer. I thought it was red, but it appeared awfully orange when I took it out of the cupboard yesterday. Never mind -- it's cheerful.
I had a lovely message from Judith this morning -- she actually reads my Blog! My email address is jean@jeanmile.demon.co.uk. One day I'll get it a permanent position in the sidebar.
Tuesday, October 26, 2004
Struggles
I have just spent a gloomy half-hour downloading and struggling with BlogJet, thinking it would solve all my problems such as yesterday's lost photograph. But I'm no forrader.
I'm perhaps an inch, perhaps less, forrader with the Stillwater, increasingly hating it. I like the result; it's been on my wish list for so many years that I feel constrained not to quit. I could rip the whole thing back to the ribbing and knit a symmetrical pattern.... Oh dear
I got the holiday Vogue Knitting yesterday. Zilch, but it's always fun to get it, and I find with Vogue that when I go back a couple of years later, lots of things look better than they did originally. I subscribe to VK, IK. Knitters, the new(ish) British magazine Knitting, and Woolgathering, and I'm a member of the Knitting and Crochet Guild (GB) and the Lacy Knitters' Guild. I think if I had to narrow it down to one, it would be Woolgathering.
I'm perhaps an inch, perhaps less, forrader with the Stillwater, increasingly hating it. I like the result; it's been on my wish list for so many years that I feel constrained not to quit. I could rip the whole thing back to the ribbing and knit a symmetrical pattern.... Oh dear
I got the holiday Vogue Knitting yesterday. Zilch, but it's always fun to get it, and I find with Vogue that when I go back a couple of years later, lots of things look better than they did originally. I subscribe to VK, IK. Knitters, the new(ish) British magazine Knitting, and Woolgathering, and I'm a member of the Knitting and Crochet Guild (GB) and the Lacy Knitters' Guild. I think if I had to narrow it down to one, it would be Woolgathering.
Monday, October 25, 2004
Kirkmichael knitting
I got back into the swing of the Stillwater last night, if it could be said to have a swing. I actually finished the pattern repeat -- 58 rows. I figure it will need another 30 rows or so before I start the armhole steeks. Can reader interest be sustained?
Here, with colours somewhat garishly enhanced is
Mungo's Koigu sweater
as I left it behind in Kirkmichael on Saturday morning. The first two inches are in a knit-and-purl diamond pattern. While I was doing it, I thought the beautiful Koigu was completely swallowing the stitch pattern, but now that I've left it behind, I think it looks rather well -- and much more legible than this photo suggests. Sort of like brocade.
The rest is a simple series of ten-row stripes from my ample Koigu stash. I think I'm about halfway to the armpits. The whole enterprise looks rather large, but, hey! he'll grow into it. I'll use ordinary ribbing for the start of the sleeves, not the diamond pattern -- a chap needs to be able to push his sleeves up.
Some energetic friends will be coming to stay with us this weekend here in Edinburgh -- it will be quite impossible to knit the Stillwater while talking to them. That project can only tolerate the company of a silent husband and uninteresting television. That was the great attraction of the idea of bringing Mungo's sweater back -- it's blissfully mindless knitting. But I didn't, so I'll either have to start something else (I know what) or just knit the current travel-sock after solving the problem that presented itself at the doctor's office last week.
Here, with colours somewhat garishly enhanced is
Mungo's Koigu sweater
as I left it behind in Kirkmichael on Saturday morning. The first two inches are in a knit-and-purl diamond pattern. While I was doing it, I thought the beautiful Koigu was completely swallowing the stitch pattern, but now that I've left it behind, I think it looks rather well -- and much more legible than this photo suggests. Sort of like brocade.
The rest is a simple series of ten-row stripes from my ample Koigu stash. I think I'm about halfway to the armpits. The whole enterprise looks rather large, but, hey! he'll grow into it. I'll use ordinary ribbing for the start of the sleeves, not the diamond pattern -- a chap needs to be able to push his sleeves up.
Some energetic friends will be coming to stay with us this weekend here in Edinburgh -- it will be quite impossible to knit the Stillwater while talking to them. That project can only tolerate the company of a silent husband and uninteresting television. That was the great attraction of the idea of bringing Mungo's sweater back -- it's blissfully mindless knitting. But I didn't, so I'll either have to start something else (I know what) or just knit the current travel-sock after solving the problem that presented itself at the doctor's office last week.
Sunday, October 24, 2004
Back from Kirkmichael
I got a lot done on Mungo's Koigu sweater while we were there -- I'll post a picture tomorrow. For today, here's a picture (also taken at Kirkmichael, in August) of
Jamie in his Koigu sweater
and me in my political tee-shirt. Jamie's sweater is compound of sufficient different elements that I regard it as my own pattern -- it's given in full on my website www.jeanmile.demon.co.uk. I went to the supermarket one day with tape measure in hand, to measure something plausible in their children's clothing section for size. The children's clothing section was shut that day, so I picked a likely-looking boy in the vegetable section and asked his mother if I could measure him.
She was very nice about it, and my victim's brother gave me a parsnip. The baby himself looked as if he would have liked to call security had he had the vocabulary. But the result was spot-on, size-wise.
I had a lovely time at Kirkmichael knitting Mungo's Koigu. Our next visit (which should be soon, d.v.) will get me to the armpits. The Tempter suggested that I bring it back -- Koigu is delicious to knit with. If I worked on it in Edinburgh, Mungo could have it for Christmas....
I resisted. Good thing, too. The heart utterly sank when I picked up the Stillwater last night. I will never again knit a Fair Isle pattern which isn't symmetrical. Is there a break-even point in a knitting project after which one carries on and finishes it, no matter what? I doubt it. It was hard (despite good notes) to figure out where I was and what was going on. I succeeded in the end, and knit a couple of rounds, but it wasn't fun.
Jamie in his Koigu sweater
and me in my political tee-shirt. Jamie's sweater is compound of sufficient different elements that I regard it as my own pattern -- it's given in full on my website www.jeanmile.demon.co.uk. I went to the supermarket one day with tape measure in hand, to measure something plausible in their children's clothing section for size. The children's clothing section was shut that day, so I picked a likely-looking boy in the vegetable section and asked his mother if I could measure him.
She was very nice about it, and my victim's brother gave me a parsnip. The baby himself looked as if he would have liked to call security had he had the vocabulary. But the result was spot-on, size-wise.
I had a lovely time at Kirkmichael knitting Mungo's Koigu. Our next visit (which should be soon, d.v.) will get me to the armpits. The Tempter suggested that I bring it back -- Koigu is delicious to knit with. If I worked on it in Edinburgh, Mungo could have it for Christmas....
I resisted. Good thing, too. The heart utterly sank when I picked up the Stillwater last night. I will never again knit a Fair Isle pattern which isn't symmetrical. Is there a break-even point in a knitting project after which one carries on and finishes it, no matter what? I doubt it. It was hard (despite good notes) to figure out where I was and what was going on. I succeeded in the end, and knit a couple of rounds, but it wasn't fun.
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