about not knitting...

I just can't do without. So I had to start a new project while I wait for the yarn shipment from Denmark. I seem to have figured that my shoulder got injured not from the knitting motion, but from the jerk I make, when I pull more thread from the center of the ball. So I have been trying to avoid this and if nothing else, the pain has not become worse.

This mystery project is from a gathering of lace with a relatively thick Junghans yarn. While it is a stole pattern, it will become more like a lap throw, I think. But nothing is decided and we will see how it turns out.

Imagine...

When we emigrated to the US from Germany five years ago, a lot of stuff ended up with my parents for further disposal. Well... as a born again knitter on vacation in Germany, I just got a stash of wonderful white and dark blue cotton, 10 skeins to be precise. Mom said, they were in the things we left behind. I have no recollection of the yarn. But then, who cares. My hands are busy while we are vacationing in Germany.

I chose a pattern from Sabrina and instead of making the sweater all white, I am starting with blue at the bottom. Because I was not sure how far the white would reach, I made the sleeves right after I used up all of the blue. Then I knitted the front and back of the sweater and the collar. This left me with 2 white skeins. Since I wanted the top longer anyhow, I then proceeded to cut the sweater apart just above the blue section. Currently I am knitting away the two extras and then I will put it all back together again in knit-stitch and no-one will be any wiser...

Knitting in Germany

I am in sock fever. I love the yarn that creates these beautiful patterns just by the way it has been dyed.

Blogging from Germany

On only via dial-up and very occasionally.

See ya soonnnnnn.... but still knitting (socks now)

by the way

I am really frustrated with the yarn I picked, Sinfonia Cotton, which I bought at Hobby Lobby. I think, there was no skein that did not have at least 2 knots in the thread. Only in the rose-leaf pattern now, from the same skein, I have had 3 knots already. This means a lot of weaving in, and I am getting rather annoyed, really!

Isabella resisting

Well, it turns out that Isabella is not half as easy as I thought. I must have undone the right front twice and the left one just as many times. First I forgot some bindoffs. Then I had added some knit-togethers in order to make the front opening, which I felt went too high and straight, swoop away from the center a little. I finally got that done, sewed the shoulders together only to find upon trying it on, that, although I followed the measurements in the instructions to a T, it just did not look all that good on the stranded whale in the mirror. As a matter of fact, the top was way too short, and my belly button was quite scared being so exposed.

Since I did not want to undo the whole thing, I did the next best. I reached for a pair of scissors and cut off the hem I had been so proud of not so long ago:










So now I am knitting in the other direction, trying to make it longer. I chose the rose-leaf pattern from "A Gathering of Lace" to adorn the bottom of the top. I think it is going look really good - even on a whale.

Isabella

Isabella

Isabella is the next thing on the needle. I am trying to do it in one piece though. So far this afternoon, I have done the hem, i.e. 4 rows, piquot row and rows. In the 5th row after the piquot, I picked up the cast-on with a crochethook and knitted it together. No sewing needed in the end.

Yeah....

So...

I'm on the eighth repetition of the pattern... getting bored here. Nothing good on TV to occupy my mind. Oh well, gotta do, what you gotta do. 8 down only 26 to go.

I also got some other ideas floating through my mind. Wish I had 6 hands - work three projects at the same time - I like that thought!

I declare...

the bazaar open... uh, nope.
the first attempt a failure.

After row 16, I gave up, tried to unravel only to break the yarn... so it is time to start over with a sample of the pattern to get a better feel for it!

Eunny Jang Waves Stole

I started this stole but I don't like the concept of grafting it in the center and the funky attachment of the edge turns me off. So I decided to attempt knitting the outside edge right away by adding 17 stitches on each side and leaving out the inner edge. I also want to try not to graft the center, but simply to reverse the pattern, when I get to half the length. Will I succeed? Will it happen? We will see. I got to row eight, yesterday, but think I may have miscounted already, since my hubby was watching TV and I am not on autopilot yet with this pattern.

Oh yeah and my yarn... it is so gorgeous! Inspired by Schmollfisch, I ordered Uruwool from handpaintedyarn in the most breath-taking color: Mykonos

I will keep you posted!

Work in Progress

I have started on the Lotus Blossom Tank from the Summer 2006 Interweave Knits. I just finished the lace bottom and I am using some cotton yarn I have "inherited" from a dear friend. Bright red, knobbly cotton. I should post a photo. I also should grade more essays... Red is also our university's color... I should grade more papers... I should grade more papers...

Think I'll go to bed now.