Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Hello Lyttelton



Look what's back on the needles: the Lyttelton that I started what feels like ages ago!



My apologies to Kate Davies: I disregarded the instructions to backstitch the side seams together, opting instead to crochet them together. My logic was that the crochet seam would be just as firm as the backstitch, with the bonus of me having my sanity after its completion. And it worked!

I am now happily on to the sleeve edgings, which cinch in the ends of the sleeves, giving them a dainty little puff. Not very well visible in the image above, but I swear, it's there!

After stepping back from knitting to make the neverending Modern Vintage Potholder, returning to simple, unadorned ribbing is glorious.

Monday, July 18, 2011

New Week, With Red Shoes



Of late, there has been something about Mondays that necessitates wearing red shoes.

Yes, with a green purse. Criticize not: it's a Namaste bag.

These are not red shoes worn in a desperate attempt to make the week survivable, but red shoes worn in triumph, for I have conquered the festering mess that was my corner of the universe.

Behold:



Clean dog on clean rug next to comforter waiting to be put atop clean sheets.

I will not subject anyone to a blow-by-blow account of my day spent cleaning, but suffice to say that not only can you see the surface of my desk, you can walk up to it without tripping over anything and put things in the drawers without having to ram them shut afterwards.

The bliss!

My knitting got a good ordering, too. Among the items cleared out of the desk drawer was a size 5 circular. When was the last time I used a size 5 circular? January. Some odds of skeins joined the circular in their proper home, and, better still, I finished off my latest never-ending project:




Yes, my latest never-ending project was a potholder. What should have taken 2 days, max, took me 2 1/2 weeks. The pattern, Modern Vintage Potholder by Maryse Roudier, was the essence of simplicity: 9 rounds, 2 sides, smack them together and voila you have a elegant little household accessory.

That's how it might work for you. I, on the other hand, have a wonky little household accessory: On one side, the sections fan out in tidy little pie-shaped sections, on the other, they pinwheel. The rumpling, which no amount of blocking will flatten out, is the result of the two sides being different sizes (different mistake than caused the pinwheeling).

It was agonizing. It would not allow itself to be finished. And yet, I really want to make another.

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

One Down



1. My second Haruni, called Silver Leaves for the obvious reasons, is completed, blocked, and gifted.

2. In spite of my ridiculous mistake, resulting in a border of single leaves where pairs should have been, it was a quick knit.

3. Knitting the body was faster the second time around. The looped i-cord border was not.

4. My room is still overflowing with yarn.

5. I am knitting another shawl.