The FOs are coming thick and fast

The Waving Lace socks are done now. I made a few slight modifications to suit my foot shape. Apart from the extra couple of rows in the cuff, I did fewer heelflap rows and only decreased the toe stitches down to 23 instead of 12. I don't think very pointy toes fit me very well.


I've been tempted to do some more dyeing of the superwash BFL fibre I have in the stash, and before I do, I thought it would be a good idea to try knitting up some of the yarn I had already spun and have also been thinking about what to make with the purpley hand spun BFL I finished a while back. There is 450m and ever since I saw the Swallowtail shawl, I've been wanting to knit it. I finally got hold of the relevant issue of Interweave Knits (Fall '06) so I've cast on. I know that variegated yarns and lace don't always mix, but I'm hoping this will work out. Any stripes will be thinner as the rows get longer, but then I spun this yarn totally randomly, so it's not terribly predictable. Here's hoping...

Finally done

Mystic Waters is blocked and still a bit damp. It measures 1.8m x 1.0m (roughly 71"x39") which is as big as I had room to get it. It would have stretched a bit more, but this is big enough. I'm very pleased with it.

Just need to get some buttons

Well, Oblique is finished and it fits me okay. I'll have to try and get a modelled shot once I get some buttons. The sleeve length is fine thank goodness and I even had yarn left over from the 13 balls I started with. I'm thinking there might be enough for a pair of fingerless gloves. I enjoyed knitting this although I would consider knitting it in one piece if I was going to do it again. Seaming the moss stitch was quite tricky and I don't know why, I've sewn an awful lot of mattress stitch seams over the years, but this had me struggling.


Mystic Waters is also finished and waiting for blocking. I need to find time for that soon. The edging took ages and I put my first lifeline of the project through the final row before the edging. It would have been so easy to have the stitches fall off the needle while turning for each small row of edging. That possibility didn't bear thinking about.
I weighed it out of curiosity and it weighs 99.9g, so I used 903m. The 2 ply Forsell wool is 2258m per 250g cone. I used a 3.25mm Addi lace needle.

WIPs everywhere

This last week has seen steady progress on several projects, but nothing started or finished.
All the main pieces of Oblique are done, and the button band is in progress. I had blocked the fronts as a guide to the sleeve length. Hopefully it worked and the sleeves will be okay for length. I'll try it on once the sleeve seams are started, just to make sure.

I'm past the heel on the second Waving Lace sock, time to start thinking about the next pair I think. Mystic Waters is finally on the final clue. I was starting to get excited about finishing soon, until I realised that the edging along the long edge was equivalent to another 10 rows.
Secret of the Stole ii is ready to start the third clue and looking good.
My crocheted projects (the Rosemary sweater and the circular ripple afghan) have also grown a bit. I know that if I could stick with one project at a time, I might finish things more regularly instead of having lots of WIPs and then lots of FOs. Still, variety is the spice of life so they say.

Plodding along

This last week, I only started one project, a CAL circular ripple afghan. This grows quite quickly when I actually work on it. It's further along than the picture now and it lies flat which is good.
All my other projects are in the plodding along phase, where nothing very exciting happens, except for the excitement of going from one clue to the next in the case of the KALs. I'm nearly to the raglan shaping on the Oblique sleeves, but I'm not sure just how much lengthwise stretch I'll get in wear which influences when I start the shaping. This alpaca and silk yarn is quite floppy, it drapes well, but I think it could sag. I suspect I'd better block the finished pieces and hang them up and see what happens. I'd rather get the sleeve length right.


Mystic Waters is at the end of clue 6. Some of the heavily patterned rows are taking nearly 20 minutes to do. This fine yarn needs so much care and it splits a bit too easily for my liking. Still, I've started this thing and I'm determined to finish it.

This picture is just of the middle section, it's too bunched up on the needle to show it any better. Note to self, I need a better background for pictures of this. It will probably show up better when its blocked, and the holes are bigger.

Secret of the Stole ii. I'm really liking this stole so far. The pattern isn't difficult and the thicker yarn is much easier to work with. It's 3 ply on a 3.75mm needle and it's going to be quite wide, it wouldn't have been difficult to have it falling off the ends of the 60cm (24") needle. I may have yardage issues with this, so I might be incorporating some of the shortening options. I'll do some weighing of yarn and knitting at the end of clue 2. This picture was taken half way through clue 2.