Why this journey?

I've been retired now for over a year. Husband has been sick but is now doing quite well with new pacemaker. I continue to knit and knit and crochet. Recently I became friends again with my sewing machine so you will see some of those projects, too. Thanks for reading.

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Moving along -- shawl, cowl, and scarf

Good news on several fronts, tho the weather is quite unsettled, wet, and gray.  Good weather for knitting.

The white shawl is growing.  I've up-sized the needle to the final size, a US 9.  I've confirmed that the pattern stitches are building upon one another in the correct fashion.  Pattern is from Victorian Lace by Jane Sowerby.

The cowl using Bernat Mosaic is almost complete.  The long side needs to be 28"; it's now 26.5".  After I reach the required length for the 'long side' I'll reduce the finishing end to a triangle, similar to the one that began the cowl.

The Rick Rack scarf from Purl Bee is just wonderful.  Despite the somewhat intricate nature of the stitches on both right and wrong sides, it is possible to develop some rhythm.  Rhythm makes the knitting satisfying and relaxing, IMHO.

Here are the update pix.
The handy fix-it tool is lying across the first row of the
challenging pattern.  The black cord, thru the stitches,
now has a US 9 on each end.  No more up-sizing....
. . . just lots of knitting (and keeping the pattern on track.)

Wonderful colors in this yarn from Bernat.  The little pink
pin tells me this is the right side (helps for keeping the
pattern on track.)  The book is a favorite:
Knitter's Handbook.  It's concise and quite portable.
Running between the book and the cowl is a tape measure.
It reads 26.5" as you will see in next picture.

The gray point is the beginning 3 stitches where the
cowl began.  I've measured the long side and it's at 26.5"

And finally, that wonderful Rick Rack scarf.  The yarn is Rowan wool and the needles are 6.00mm, Aeros.

The first time I showed this one it was a wider scarf.
I decided I didn't like it quite so wide so using Whit's
directions for the "multiple plus" number of stitches,
I reduced the size by casting on fewer stitches.

Each project offers something wonderful for a knitter.  

  • The white lace shawl is good for total concentration, blocking out everything while I focus on the 6-stitch repeat with its add and take-away stitches.
  • The cowl is an easy and relaxing 2-row pattern.  The yarn and needle size combo make for fast progress.  I can work on this while I watch football or listen to a book.
  • The Rick Rack scarf is so portable because of the size.  The pattern is only 2 rows, repeated over and over. The yarn is wool so it's wonderful to work with.  I can see progress, though not as quickly as with the cowl.

Knitting projects and their relative demands are selected so as to match both my mood and my place on the concentration spectrum.  Today I've worked mostly on the lace shawl, needing to get the pattern established as well as seeing progress when I shift to the final up-sized needle.

Today has been a heavy concentration knitting day.  Leftovers for dinner -- they take no concentration.  And meanwhile, I've left laundry in the washer.  Get it?  Some knitting concentration takes the knitter totally into a quiet world with only a lovely lace shawl sharing space with the knitter.






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