Knitting update

6 October 2008

I live in a fantasy world in which the readers of my blog actually care about my knitting, so today I’m going to share with you a knitting triumph and let you know what I’m working on.

First, the exciting news. I actually finished a sweater with sleeves (albeit short sleeves). And it fits! This is just the third sweater I’ve knit. The first two, which I created early in my knitting career, scared me off of sweater knitting, because I ended up unravelling both of them. It took me a couple of years to try again.

Here it is:

It’s the Tempting II from knitty.com. It’s a simple 1 × 1 rib, knit as a tube in Rowan Calmer, a delightful yarn made of cotton and microfiber. There’s actually no shaping — it’s form fitting (your body shapes it), so perhaps it’s not that big an achievement.

Anyway it was a lesson in perseverance. The neck band was way too large when I knit it according to the pattern directions. (If you’re not a knitter, skip to the next paragraph). The pattern called for a decrease round of k1, k2tog all the way around. After I finished it, I tried on the sweater and the neck was huge. So I ripped out the neckband and reknit the decrease round k2tog all the way around. Still too big. So I tore out the neckband again and k2tog on the front and back and k3tog on the shoulders. That did the trick. I also changed the pattern by tying the ends of the neckband, rather than using a buckle. The buckle I’d purchased was too heavy.

Speaking of perseverance, I’ve cast on for the Reversible Brioche Hat at least 10 times. It’s proven to be a challenge, but I think I have it now. I’m about 8 rounds in and its looking okay, thank goodness. In a couple of weeks’ time, after I have my second class on making this hat (that class will cover the decreases), I’ll have something to post.

In other knitting news, I’m working on the Felted Knitting Basket. It’s an adaptation of the Ballband Bag Recipe by Monica Jines. This adaptation, by Lynn, who’s ravelry avatar is Ravellyn, is a larger knitting basket. Here’s a photo of Ravellyn’s Felted Knitting Basket.

Isn't this basket beautiful?

I love it! So I’ve used a different colorway and am about halfway through mine. It’s a very simple knit. Here’s a photo of the work in progress:

I like the autumnal colors.

I’m mildly concerned that the needles I’m using are too small (usually I knit objects that will be felted in the washing machine on larger needles), but I’m following Ravellyn’s instructions, so I’m hopeful.

My friend, Sally, gave me a skein of Fleece Artist Sea Wool, which is 70 percent merino wool and 30 percent seacell, which is derived from seaweed. It’s in a beautiful purple, green and blue colorway. I’m looking forward to finding just the right project to knit with it.

So there’s the knitting update. I leave tomorrow for six days in Walla Walla, Washington, my hometown. I’m hoping get some good knitting time in there.

Tagged with: knitting, sally brown