Friday, January 19, 2007

MY CHEATING HEART I may cheat (at least with my knitting) but I don't lie (not that I need to go into heavy detail). I went ahead and finished one of the rib and cable mitts. They turned out more like gauntlets. I seem to have made gauge at least for the stitches but not for the row count. I like them though - I like them a lot. I was unsure I would have enough yarn and was loath to hunt down another skein (bought in Los Altos) for just a few yards. I still don't know if I'll have enough for the green trim for the second one (and won't know till the bitter end). I may have to use a trick taught to me by Sharon on how to felt the ends together so I can utilize all the bits and pieces leftover from making the first pair. The yarn is Classic Elite/Waterlily. 100% extra fine merino. Very smooth and springy to work with. The only problems I experienced were when I frogged and had to pick up stitches. The yarn poofs up into many small, single minded individual threads which have to be arm wrestled back into a single strand. I started out on size 3's and switched after about an inch (where the regular cable pattern started) to size 2's). It seemed to work out well. Having knit these up before things went very, very fast. They were done over a long evening with just a bit more the next morning.
The second photo is more true to the actual colors. I have picked up my somewhat cowl and cast on all the cowl stitches and am now knitting around and around and around. I had 26 too many and somehow dropped two too many when I went back causing me to stuff in two around the back so I could keep the ribbing straight. I'm not sure that this will work. I also ended up with a rather loose pickup because 26/28 stitches are a lot to drop. I will see how it all flows and then decided whether to go back and redo it. I've already decided to undo the bottom and re cast-off using an elastic cast-off method. I sent an email to Grumperina yesterday asking if she knew a good way to get a looser cast-off and the elastic cast-off was one of her suggestions. Thank you Grumperina!
EYE CANDY FRIDAY

Note to self: Do not go surfing to Sundara's website unless you are sure you can resist buying yarn. Sundara, the creator of ECF, periodically puts out small batches of exquisitely dyed yarn of the very highest quality. I (and I admit I knew that she was putting out new yarn) surfed over and fell in love (several times). Could you resist this (Rose over Salmon)? I also bought my first silk lace yarn and I think I know what I'm going to do with it.
The late afternoon sky looking north.

One of my plum trees against the sky.

4 Comments:

At 5:02 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

The mitt came out gorgeous! You're going to wear them a lot in this weather.. I love the color combo. It makes me think of watermelon. Which is a summery thought that makes me feel warm.

I notice that you got 12 cable crosses in your mitts. I made mine extra-short, for my shrimpy hands, and that was 8 cable crosses. When I followed the pattern as written for a friend's mitts, I got 9. I don't know what that means, except that might be why yours are so long? Nice and cozy though!

 
At 5:39 PM, Blogger Earin Marybird said...

I wanted to make them a little longer but I don't remember making the decision to make them sooooo long (and I would have done one more round if I'd had the yarn so the final open cable would match the beginning). Still, they work for me. The yarn just hugs my hands, it's very springy. I am pleased (and glad I don't need a third skein). I like the colors too they're "perky".

Just think: you're the driving force behind the mitts. If you hadn't been so kind to mail the IK magazine with the pattern to me *and* knitted up such a beautiful pair in the first place I would be, well, mitt-less and cold!

 
At 8:02 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ooh, that yarn looks good enough to eat. (Except I don't think I'd like rose/salmon flavored anything.) Your mit is so nifty! I know I have a started-but-just-barely sweater that's calls to me quietly from the closet but it's been so cold lately that I've been tempted to try making (very, very simple) mits.

 
At 3:28 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

and who is that up in the tree? Is it Ollie? Is it Opie? Is it someone new?

 

Post a Comment

<< Home