Sunday, March 23, 2008

The Next Project


This is such a tantalizingly fun knit so far. The main stitch pattern, from The Swedish Mitten Book (which was republished under a different name about a decade ago), really involves only two different stitch sequences. Honest. I find it very hard to stop even when my muscles are aching and my nerves are twitching because I want to get to the next color section and see how they'll line up. I'm fervently hoping that the pink in my lighter colorway will line up with the dark rusty brown section. Of course, I could have been a diligent designer and started my skeins at the perfect spots to insure this, but I didn't. You know, I didn't even swatch this.

GASP! Did I just say that?

Well, yeah. Here's the deal. I made a swatch from this yarn in another chart (one that was all my own original work) and washed that one. And sent it off to a magazine a while back. The magazine must be planning to reject my submission, because the deadline for completed work for that issue is tomorrow. BUT they haven't yet sent me back my stuff, including my swatch. So, I'm kind of working from memory about what gauge I got and on what needles. No matter. I figure this sweater will fit someone and since it doesn't have to fit me, I just went with some plausible numbers. But, I didn't swatch this particular chart, or the border one (from Anatolian Knitting Designs), so I really didn't know how they would look together until I started. Well, I saw it in my mind, but that's not exactly the same, right?

Anyway. Bezzie, I did wind that great big round ball by hand. It took the better part of an evening back in the fall. Do you know how hard it is to wind a cone shape onto a cone by hand?

11 comments:

Bezzie said...

That's what drew me to comment about it--the ball on the cone!

Now I want to see the pink...

Cindy G said...

Love the combination of patterns. I'm really taken by that Anatolian one.
Really, designing on the needles can be (for me, usually is) so much more interesting and fun.

Lynn said...

I hope Bezzie's mother doesn't read knitting blogs!

That's beautiful knitting - I can't wait to see how it turns out.

Terby said...

I usually like what you knit, but I am really taken by this. How is the Kauni to knit with? The rainbow versions are pretty but too bright for me personally; but the color you're using is gorgeous.

Wendy said...

I just love the colors!

Batty said...

The shading of the colors is gorgeous!

Kathy Kathy Kathy said...

Ooh la la!

dale-harriet said...

Soooo beautiful! And - as I write, over here by me I have the window open; I can HEAR robins - if I close one eye I can almost see a snow-free area on the lawn. Do you suppose....dare we hope? SPRING????

(My code word is "tpdcalm" - sounds like a suggestion...)

Anonymous said...

I thought that chart from Anatolian Knitting Designs looked familiar. I made your Alishar hat using that chart as the border instead of the one in your pattern. My hat didn't come out exactly like yours (come to think of it I didn't swatch either), but it was okay.
Cathy

zippiknits...sometimes said...

Thank you so much for a new reason to worry less about making a swatch. ;o)

Carol said...

That's gorgeous! OMG, I can't you wound that all! But, the yarn isn't going to get knittable all by itself ;-)