Tuesday, August 28, 2007

knitting as fast as I can

Every so often, I start feeling as though I am somehow falling behind. All of my current projects start crying out to be finished, and a dozen ideas for new projects are clammoring to be cast on, written down or researched. That is the way I have been feeling for the last few days. My knitting bag/work bag/purse is crammed with at least five projects all in various stages of completion. Today I thought that finishing a few things would somehow make me feel better. Accordingly, this is what I have done today:
I have finished one wide-whale sock (my own pattern). Trekking XXL, for my father-in-law for Christmas, should he live that long. ( I have a backup recipient if he does not. Afterall, he is 92 years old...then again, he may be too crusty to ever die.)








This is the Scotch Thistle Lace Stole I started in May. (Pattern is by Jackie Erickson-Schweitzer.) All I had left to do is the pull-over bind off. It is supposed to be invisible. Hum...maybe it will be once it is blocked. The stole now joins the pile of things to be washed and blocked (along with my tomato sweater, the baby bolero and so on...).







Here is my layette sweater, ironically from Knit Simple. As you can see by the balls of wrinkled yarn, I had to frog back quit a lot when I realized that I had incorrectly cast off the stitches for the neck. Unfortunately, I was 2/3 of the way through the sweater when I figured this out.









Lastly--here is the Autumn Rose Sweater (Eunny Jang, from the new Simply Shetland book). As you can see, it looks nothing like the pictures in the book. That is because, after finishing the ribbing (torture ribbing in two colors) and completing 1/3 of the first pattern repeat, I realized that 1) I was making the wrong size (a VERY fitted sweater) and 2) who wanted to wear a fitted shetland sweater anyway. I decided to use the yarn and a modification of the fairisle pattern to make the sweater I have been imagining for several years. The sweater will be based on my favorite cropped, fitted sweatshirt measurements, with a wide fairisle border and a textured, solid color body. As you can see, I am working on the stocking stitch hem right now. I have some swatching to do to see if I want to combine dk weight shetland (for the main body) and the spindrift (fairisle part)