Icarus is Done!
But not blocked yet, so no photo. The last four rows plus the bind off kicked my butt. Seriously. There are 637 stitches in row 3 of the border. Gah.I promised myself I wouldn't start any new projects until I had finished a few of the old ones first. This is why:
Big pile of knitting.
Big pile of knitting.Clockwise from the top left: Tubey in a maroon chenile, Mason-Dixon dishcloth, Icarus Shawl, Absorba, Trellis Scarf, Mystery Stole 2, zippered cardi from Vogue, Prairie Tunic, and Welt Fantastic Sock (middle). This does not count one secret project that I can't show yet and several sad projects from a time gone by which will inevitably get ripped. The stories behind the piles:
I started Tubey back when Tubey was, well, popular, and everyone was doing it. (If everyone jumped off a bridge would you? Apparently yes.) Then I moved across the country, and then across town, and then got a new job...
I have no excuse for the Mason-Dixon dishcloth. I have a problem. It is called knitting ADD. I cannot help it. (The pattern is called Butterfly Stitch from Vogue Knitting Stitchionary).
Icarus Shawl will continue to be considered unfinished until it is blocked!
I also have no excuse for Absorba (from Mason-Dixon Knitting) except that I need a little carpet for next to my bed. And I just got 2 cones of Sugar & Cream worsted (closest I could get to Peaches & Cream). It will be a rug, yes it will. I am knitting it doubled on size 10 straights until I run out of room on the needles from the number of stitches. At this point I will cry or call it done, because I am not buying another size 10 needle!
Trellis Scarf is from IK Spring 2006 in a lovely (tiny) deep purple mohair. You may have noticed, however, that it is not currently on any needles. I lent them (size 4 bamboo) to my roommate for the Mystery Stole 2 Knitalong. She is on row 5 of the gauge swatch. I won't be getting back to that one any time soon. (Sorry M!)
The blue cardi is from Vogue Knitting Holiday 2005 where it is called "Zippered Cardigan". I just love their names (sigh!). The back is done and one of the fronts. Of course I changed the panel on the front to cables. Ask me if I know what size needle I used. Or if I know how to sew in a zipper. The yarn is Araucania Nature Wool, which makes everything right in the world.
Prairie Tunic, also from IK Spring 2006. The sad thing about this piece is that it is finished - except that the front triangles are all messed up. I didn't see the errata note on the website until it was too late. I have even made the twisted cord (which came out quite well, if I do say so myself. It is so close that I will have to rip back to fix it and make it perfect. One of these days.
Finally, the Welt Fantastic Socks are from Sensational Knitted Socks. I am 1 1/2 socks done, but the sock was put on hold beause I needed the needles for something else.Oh how I love a good sock.
My new project moratorium became immediately problematic for my knitting ADD and I cast on for the Shetland Tea Shawl from A Gathering of Lace. I mostly just wanted to see if I could do it and see what that yarn would look like knitted up. I have never knitted lace in the round before, or with reclaimed yarn (although I have reclaimed yarn from several sweaters to date).
The yarn! It is 100% silk reclaimed from a short-sleeved top found at a thrift store for about $5. 100% silk! I thought the weight was maybe DK from just looking at the stitches, but unfortunately the singles weren't actually plied and came apart when I unraveled it... I have come to understand that this is somewhat common with machine-made sweaters. At any rate, the "yarn" separated into 1 separate strands of very fine pink silk.
I normally am not a pink person, but look at it! It is silk! It has so much luster, I love it.
One other problem is that I don't actually know how much I have. Could be problematic. I don't have a yarn scale, or any other scale, and my initial attempt to wind it around a box to measure it resulted in yarn vomit (I was also trying to separate the plies at the same time. Big mistake.)
You can see from the overexposed photo below that the points where I changed needle sizes (especially from 1 to 3) are obvious. I had to cast onto some ridiculously small needles (like size 00 maybe?), otherwise the yarn just slid right off the second I tried to manipulate it in any way. Every few rows I went up a size. The pattern specifies size 3's, but who knows how close this yarn is to that which is specified (Morehouse Lace, 1oz = 230 yds). There is also some laddering going on, and I can't very easily manipulate such a small number of stitches on a circular needle. Clearly I need some size 3 wooden dpns, or some even smaller size. I do like the way the stitches looked at size 1. Any opinions?
Kinda looks likes a spider's web.By the way, look what the new camera can do!
Oxalis getting ready to bloom.I still haven't figured out how to get the best photos from indoor shots, but wow, look at what the macro lens could do on the porch!
Hang in there secret lace swap pal - I haven't forgotten you!
posted by Carrie @ 6:25 PM
2 Comments:
Looks like you will be a very busy knitter! You've helped inspire me to get my Diamond Fantasy Shawl blocked too. Thanks!
I'm glad I'm not the only one with a big stack of unfinished projects! You're absolutely right - my Retro Rib sock has been mateless since last fall, and that's perfectly shameful. I vow to complete its mate before it's a year old! Thanks for visiting my blog!
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