As this is the first blog in ages with photos, I am pleased that I am doing it on a Wednesday so I can hook up with the linky party on Tami's Amis & Other Creations. By the way, have you seen her scrummy new yarn website, Candy Skein - NOM! I wish I were richer! To look at our other lovely friends' blogs, click on the button below, there are lots of great blogs that take part in this hook up, please check them out.
So back to my recent knitting. The Recovery Sweater, has stalled of late, as I seem to be hypnotized by the Wrapigan. However, before I stalled I got this far:
All I need to do is pick up the armholes and knit the cuffs. Its a stupid place to stop, but I can't face the picking up of the correct number of stitches. I could get it finished in an evening, but like I said before, I've been hypnotized. Plus I'm not sure what to do with the neck line. It is meant to be the same as the hem, which looks like this:
The hem sits nicely, and I think it might be because I knit more than half an inch, unlike the pattern instructions. It also only has to hang straight down. The top edge, however, falls downwards. I think if it still happens after blocking, I will have to crochet the edge with a slightly smaller hook to help it pull towards the inside, instead of the outside. I really must pull my finger out and get this top finished as the fabric is lovely.
Going on to the hypnotizing Wrapigan, I can't seem to stop knitting this hugely long rows. They pull me ever onwards. I have been listening to some audio books and this pattern seems to suit being read to as an accompaniment! I have got a good long way through this garment.
I am alternating skeins every two rows to ensure there is no glaring change in dye, however you can see that the top part of the garment is slightly darker than the bottom half. I suppose that this is the nature of the kettle dyed yarn, no two skeins will ever be same, and that is part of it's beauty.
I am really like how the fronts on this garment are shaped. I did the neck shaping on the fly, increasing as I saw fit, simply mirroring on both sides.
I need to knit around another 3" to get the length right. I keep trying the garment on to gauge length, and I want it to sit flush with a seat, at the back, when I am sitting down, to stop drafts!
I don't know how much yarn I'll have left to make sleeves, and I'm half inclined to leave the sleeves short. Maybe I'll just knit both sleeves at the same time, until I run out of yarn. I would like to put an i-cord cast off on all edges, and applied i-cord on the cast on edge and the wrap edges. I think this will give a really nice finish and weight the wrap edges so they fall better. If I run out of this yarn, I have a skein of Araucania Ranco Solid in a shade of dark grey that may work for the i-cord edgings, if necessary.
Before the lure of the Wrapigan got me, I was addicted to my new Ribbed Leg Socks. The colour of this yarn is so happy and sunny, it cheered me up so much when I came out of hospital. Plus you can't go wrong with miles of endless stocking stitch on teeny needles, when you want to lull your brain into submission.
The rib pattern is very simple, K2, P1 and repeat forever! I really want to make these into knee high socks, which I haven't worn since I was a teenager.
I am getting to the point when I think I'm going to have to do some increases as the ribbing is getting a little tighter as works it's way up my calves. Making increases in stitch counts will require decisions to be made and maths to be done, so I've sort of cast these socks aside for now. Like I said, the Wrapigan is all encompassing at the moment, but I'm sure I'll get back to other knits shortly.
I haven't worked on any other knits at all, except these three, since my last update. Hopefully as life gets a bit more back to normal and my social life resumes I will be doing more mindless knitting out and about, and I will have more brain power to use for making decisions when I'm at home alone. I guess we shall see what happens, this time next week, won't we ;-)
