In an effort to continue with my plan to finish WIPs, I picked up my Ginkophyte (in Tyrian purple) to keep moving forward. It is sufficiently complicated to hold my interest, but the pattern can be memorized after a couple of repeats. It is, however, a pretty slow knit, so I’m already thinking that the back may not be the same as the front. On the other hand, it would be a good idea to have the whole thing open and lacy for upcoming warmer weather…what to do! what to do!
Actually, you can see right in the center a little white spot — my only quarrel with Quince & Company Tern is that there are little undyed tufts of fiber here and there. Some I’ve been able to pull off like it were lint or pilling, but the one you see is dead center of a whole stitch. I will probably need to do a duplicate stitch over it at the end to hide it, since of course it’s right in the front.
Part of the reason for Manic Monday is that I started out by trying to get Skype to work properly. I’m not sure how it happened, but my user name seems to have changed (did I do that?), so when Bruce called me with a test, he couldn’t find me. And, I couldn’t find him as he had suddenly become someone else as well. I’m really glad we left an hour to get set up, because I’m doing an interview for my book on Sweden/knitting, and would like to look only semi-foolish! More on that later.
Meanwhile, I’ve finally finished charting poppies for a stranded sweater. This will be just a white background with the red/red-orange poppies. I got a little carried away with the chart, so it’s actually too large for just the front. The conundrum is whether or not to carry them all the way around to make it easier to do the stranding. It will be a pullover, round neck, and elbow or 3/4 sleeves, but that’s as far into the design as I’ve gotten. I really prefer constructed rather than seamless sweaters, so the big decision is about steeking.
Now don’t get me wrong — I’m not against the steek, but I’ve just it with varying success. The first time I tried it, I sort of didn’t care if I made a mess because the sweater I was working on was a lost cause. It didn’t fit well, and it was clear that it should have been a cardigan rather than a pullover. Of course, it turned out perfectly with my only following the directions that I had made up as I went along. The next two times, following very careful instructions, I made a mess, lost the edges in raveling, and couldn’t get the two sides to line up for a zipper to save my life (I’d stretched one side in the process).
So now, I’ve actually passed from Monday into Tuesday, and today I started a new project. A shawl made from a 4-strand cotton. More about that another day.