A quick update

A very quick update on my Ravelympics sweater as I'm on my lunch break and the knitting must continue! The back is blocked, I finished the front last night and will probably be blocked tomorrow. I've cast on for the first sleeve, but I have long arms so I'm pretty sure I won't get the thing finished by Sunday's closing ceremony. I am, however, pleased with what I have done. The stitch pattern's very effective and I think it's a sweater I'll wear a lot. So what if I'm not an olympic speed knitter? I've never got this much of a sweater made in such a short time, so I've definately beat my personal record, and that pleases me!

When I heard about the Ravelympics, I was in two minds about whether or not to join; after all, there are currently 2 projects otn, do I really want another? I've knit to deadlines before and don't really like it, but it is after all just a bit of fun, so I decided to go for the brocade leaves sweater from the fall issue of Knitscene. Although it isn't my favourite design from the magazine, it was the only one I could find suitable yarn for from stash. It's a dk that I got from my mum when she had a de-stash a few months ago in cream with subtle splashes of very pale pink and green, really pretty. I swatched last week and I'm having to use smaller needles to get the right gauge; with 4mm it was very loose, so I've had to go down to 3.5mm - the fabric's a bit firmer, but still works ok. So, cast on was yesterday, during the opening ceremony of the real olympics, (which I'm afraid I didn't watch because all those drums drove me batty after 5 minutes!) and as I've had a day to myself today, I've done quite a bit of knitting. The challenge for me will simply be getting a sweater finished in just over 2 weeks, so I really wanted to get a good start. I've just had a message from Mr.Diviknitty to say his plane from Belfast has been delayed an hour, so no more time to blog - there's knitting to be done!

To "art kane"

I've just read your comment on my post dated 2nd July, I'm so sorry I missed it until now! Our next meeting in the Lamb is on August 7th at 7pm; we have all ages and abilities there and you'll be most welcome to join us. If you need any more information either leave me another comment (I promise to keep up to date!) or go to the ktog website here. Look forward to meeting you soon.

This is the first half of the cobweb lace stole which I cast on about two weeks ago. The stitch patterns in this are gorgeous, and there's a lot going on to keep it interesting. I don't follow charts very well, I lose my place easily, so to avoid the dreaded ripping back which I've been having so much trouble with of late, I'm translating the chart into a written pattern. Not so bad as it sounds - some bits of the chart are easy to follow, the rest can be written out in fairly short blocks and it's well worth the trouble. The yarn is hipknits cashmere lace weight; I think it's finer than the original yarn used, and thus the stole will be narrower, but that's ok.
I have a confession to make - I've succumbed to start-itis and cast on for a sweater as a bit of light relief from the intensity of the stole. My reasoning is sound (or so I keep telling myself!) - I could never work on the stole at a ktog, so I need something else to take along that I can work on and talk/drink at the same time. No photos yet, unfortunately.

In the absence of a suitable human candidate, a rather large cuddly horse made a good stand in model for the lace weight shawl I made for my youngest daughter! He didn't complain, as teenage daughters often do, nor did he move very far, just very obligingly stayed eaxctly where I put him and kept quiet!
The colour has come out worringly orange though. It's more of a vibrant mix of rainbow shades; I must learn how to use Mr.Diviknitty's posh camera but at least you can see how many times horse wrapped it around his ample neck!
So, a nice ripple stitch edging, Rosie, with a simple diagonal lace for the main body.I knit the two ripple edges first, put one piece on a holder, then knit the main panel until I ran out of yarn, and grafted the two pieces together.
I've started the cobweb lace stole (scroll down) which I'll post about soon.

Thank Goodness for Ravelry!

Before casting on for the cobweb stole (scroll down) a little voice at the back of my mind told me to see if anyone on Ravelry was making it. I found out that there's a mistake in the materials section of the pattern; the magazine states 230m per ball (7balls=1610m) but it should read 169m per ball. That's a big difference, meaning that the stole takes only 1183m, and I have more than enough hipknits cashmere (1500m) to make it without having to skimp on size. In fact, I might even make it longer; as a winter scarf it'll keep out those chilly fenland winds!
I should finish the lace weight scarf I'm making for my daughter during the coming weekend of much Wimbledon watching, so hopefully I can get started on the cobweb stole soon. I'm actually sticking to my one-project-at-a-time strategy without getting bored. I try to practise the art of mindful knitting, not always possible, especially when keeping up with a tennis match, but I do find it keeps me focused and helps me to avoid start-itis.

As I only have one wip at the moment, I thought I'd use a couple of posts to show projects that I'd like to make.

I love this cobweb lace stole from Interweave spring 2008. The stitch patterns are interesting and unusual, and I've got plenty of laceweight stashed to choose from. I think I might use some Hipknits cashmere that I bought at Ally Pally two years ago, in a pale turquoise shade. The pattern calls for 1610m and I've only got 1500m, so I'll have to make it either shorter or narrower