My knitting is still languishing quite a bit. The only 'update' I have is those projects that I didn't say anything about in my last post.
This is a close-up shot of my Drops Viscose Cotton top in purple. I love the yarn, it is so smooth and glossy and sumptuous! A bit splitty so you have to pay attention to where you put the tips of your needle but nice to knit with otherwise: it flows off one needle and onto the other one.
I got stuck knitting this when I got to the armholes. I should say that I am, again, making up the pattern as I go along. Not the easiest of ways to be knitting, I'm sure. I decided to knit the back of this in plain stocking stitch and only the front in this pattern (from one of my stitch dictionaries). It makes for an interesting difference in texture and also stretchiness!
I managed to make three different kinds of swatches: the ribbing at the hem, the stocking stitch and the pattern. Because Viscose/Cotton won't block well I just went with how the fabric lies, I didn't even attempt to stretch it. I reckon that if this were to stretch more over my boobs and less over other areas then the entire thing would look out of whack. Don't want that to happen.
I think I'm stuck now because I'm not quite sure how to edge the armsholes and the neckline. I have the feeling that a garter stitch edging wouldn't be the best, I think a bit of ribbing would be better. It would also stretch a lot more so that ought to make the garment work better? I should just go for it really.
In further comment to the Trachtentuch to be dyed a rich, warm, dark brown (I don't have a shawl in that colour yet). I just bought four more lots of 100 gram skeins of undyed BFL yarn at Alexandra Pally - I really ought to get into yarn dyeing or otherwise I'll have all of those kinds of things (yarn and WIPs) lying around for ages. It would be really good to just dye up some of those skeins 'on spec', - I don't suppose that I need to know -exactly- what I'm going to do with the yarn. As long as I go for colours that I haven't got already: I reckon that would be good. A nice rich dark red/wine type of colour, a mid blue? Ooh, and grey! But I'm not sure how successful I would be at dyeing a grey. Purple should be a lot easier to achieve, I would be very interested in a purple that's almost only red and another one that almost only blue. And an exact half/half measure. Maybe I could try mixing that up in Polymer Clay (Fimo) first, just to get an idea?
The Cascade jumper in blue and grey: I really do not know why I put this one down. The yarn is really great to knit with, the colours look fantastic with each other and it is now getting colder and colder to the point where I'd like to be able to wear this already. Plus: I have a pattern for it! The only sticking point is where I'll switch from blue to grey. But I just realised: if I don't my first stab attempt, then I could just rip down and try again. That's miles better than not trying at all. So, who knows this may get picked up again very soon.
I also have a black jumper that I loved knitting back when it was a current project. To my shame I have to admit that I took my measurements (in order to achieve the best fit possible) and then proceeded to apply the wrong measurement to the armhole depth. I must admit that I was pulled up short about there being two inches in differences but I just assumed that the pattern must have been written for a petite figure, and not mine. I should have thought it through a bit better!
So I need to rip this down quite a bit. Not a problem because I like knitting and this is easy stocking stitch. Just what the doctor ordered. The problem is though that the yarn has incredible memory: I did re-knit a bit and the resulting fabric is glaringly different in texture. I will have to rip this bit down as well and then wind the ripped yarn over a board, wet it down and see if it goes back to being smooth once it's dry again. I seem to remember reading about a treatment like that to 'de-kink' yarn. It's been a while and I didn't exactly expect that I would ever need to know, so I don't remember exactly. I ought to google that.
This black jumper was the first full size garment that I started when the knitting bug really struck, about two years ago. I have been knitting for about 30 years but it's only been the last few years that I discovered it as a craft and an obsession!
It is such a shame that this black jumper has been lying around unfinished for all this time. Not as bad as my black and white (piano key neckline) top, but still.
Wouldn't it be nice if I could finish even just one item out of the whole lot?
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