Beginnings and Endings

Finished Objects have been in short supply around here this winter.  But there are some.  And along with the FOs there are some new beginnings.  See my parade.

Finished:  The felted Clogs via my pattern re-write are now felted and feeted.  (Ask any knitter how to make the English language evolve)

Beginning:  A baby cardi from this great Cabin Fever Book. 

 

This is being knit with the King Cole Wicked purchased at True North Yarns in Barrie.  There is method in my madness of beginning another cardi while working on Colour Block.  I keep torturing myself by reading groups such as  13 Sweaters in 2013 on ravelry and bemoaning my lack of finished anything, let alone sweaters.  When finally the light went on, I realized that a sweater is a sweater is a sweater - regardless of size.  This little one is meant to re-stock my box of baby knits, ramp up my FOs list and let me read my ravelry groups without guilt.

Finished:  The Kitimat hat and matching mittens. 

 

The mittens are simply a 36 stitch mitten worked with the Kitimat  colour chart.  They have the after-thought thumb and finger tips shaped like toes of a sock.  In retrospect, that is the wrong finger-tip shaping for that thumb design.  I think.  The mitten seems to twist a bit, and I am constantly re-aligning the shape-lines along my finger tips.  Perhaps, a better decrease style for this kind of thumb would be to decrease like a hat.  Decreasing the stitches down to a centre few and pulling the yarn through the stitches to close the hole.  Next time.

Beginning:  Victorian Beaded Lace Pullover. 

Designed by my friend Patti-Ann from London Yarns, it has been in my queue for some time. A lovely pullover with beads in the lace trim.   This straight forward sweater I will translate to machine knitting.  You can see my gauge swatch beside the pattern.  Note the size of machine-knit gauge swatches.  That's  the way to test gauge!

Always the carrot in front of the nose, beginnings motivate.  They make finishings faster.    That's my story ----.

Spring Scarf

While contemplating thee construction details of Colour Block, I knit my first spring scarf.  The yarn is Bolivia, purchased on my recent yarn crawl day.  True North Yarns in Barrie are clever people.  The first thing I saw when entering the store was a delightful spring-coloured scarf.  Who can resist that on a snowy winter's day.  Not me, it seems.

The scarf is an easy knit - 10mm needles, 18 stitches, and knit until the yarn runs out.  In my case that gave me a scarf the length of my queen size bed. 

 

80 inches I believe that is.

Bolivia, true to it's hand spun origins, has lots of thick and thin parts. 

 

While knitting, this gave the scarf an extremely  wonky border.  Severe blocking later and it is  tamed into an almost  perfect rectangle.  Just enough wonkiness left to show off the hand-spun ness.


It will be wonderful with a light, spring jacket.  Lucky me, I have scored 2 such coats recently at ridiculously low prices during Zellers  closing out sale.  It was meant to be. 

Happy Dance

There is progress.   Colour Block  has been planned, re planned and   - TA DA! - started.

So far, I am thrilled.  

Suzie M's  newer, creative method of knitting a  top-down sweater with set-in-sleeves, known as The Contiguous Method,  has intrigued me since I first came across it on ravelry a year or so ago.  What better time to try it, than now.  On Colour Block 

Since this type of construction  begins with a 'measurement times gauge'  thing, there was a bit of math before I could start.  Colour changes, when/where I wanted them to occur  and how long I wanted each to last meant even more math. 

Several sheets of paper, a pencil nub, one tired brain, a winter's storm and hours of TV coverage of the Provincial  Curling Championships on the weekend  and here I am. 

Thrilled. The plan is for  a top down, set-in-sleeve garment, with a neck line about as low as a 'v' neck, but scooped rather than veed,   and  an off-set, front opening.  Buttons to be many, smaller and ending between bust and waist where there will be shaping.

Look at this set-in-sleeve!  Happy dance.

 
At this point, I  do think I have gone a bit too far and will be ripping back an inch or so.  There are body section increases required as the sleeve nears the underarm section to enlarge the sweater  from shoulder width to bust width.  In my Happy Dance  state of knitting euphoria, I went too far.  But this is one of those knits that is just so thrilling to work on  that ripping back doesn't bother me.  Just another chance to be thrilled all over again. 


My knitting, so far this winter, has seemed without focus, on the back burner and further from the top of  life's pile of  must do's than normal, for me.  To have Colour Block finally start to take shape, appear successful and like-able - wow!  That's worth a Happy Dance.