We’ve had fog in the morning recently. I love how it looks over the lake, so I’ve been sitting with my end-of-year knitting in its companionable quitet.
Even though the old carol suggests a speedy end to the year and “hail the new,” I’ve been trying to savor each of the remaining days. I’m not sure I’m quite ready for what next year has to offer.
The Wednesday knitting group has finished another project. The Hitchhiker scarf by Martina Behm. I confess mine was knitted a few years ago, but I was happy to join in the celebration.
A new group project hasn’t been identified, but we’ve been kicking a few around. One is a tree of knitted ornaments for a library fund raiser for next year. We do like to plan ahead.
These last days are focused on finishing as many of the languishing projects as possible. The half-hap is done, and I’ll admit it makes me pretty happy. It turns out that although it’s long enough to tie over something light-weight, it’s not long enough to go over a sweater, so I’ve added a button with a loop to give it another inch of room. I hate feeling constricted.
I think what I like the most is the drama of the differently colored natural wool stripes. The eyelets also add a little zip, and I think the crochet edging is a nice touch. It’s simple enough that it doesn’t scream “frilly.”
This is the knitting I was sweating over to get finished before Christmas (and the due date for a new family member). The baby bunting with a hood is quite pretty, but took way too long to knit. Note to self: simple is good! Of course, the most fun part was the little lamb to go inside. I’ve made this a few times, and it always takes me by surprise that something so small could take so long. It’s all of the little bits that have to be sewn on after they are knitted. The end result, however, is so worth it.
There is another baby due this spring, so I’ve already started on a blanket. Hopefully with a long lead time I won’t be furiously knitting the last bits on the week the next one is due!
The big finish was the fisherman’s kep from my machine knitting class at Shetland Wool Week. There was a lot of finishing work to do on this one, including grafting on the narrow orange ribbing, sewing up, and making the tassel. It has now been finished and blocked, and I’m happy with it in spite of the number of rookie mistakes (mainly dropped stitches). The other thing that’s off is the decreases that are supposed to occur along the body of the hat, made by increasing the tension on the machine several times as the pattern builds. So, rather than the tailored look of the traditional kep, this one is a little bulky at the end. Working in the round does have its advantages.
Finally, I got the yoke sweater that went off the rails ripped back, the yarn soaked and re-skeined. It has been cast back on with the hope that it will get finished before winter is over.
I’m hoping twice, rather than 3 times is the charm for this one. There were several mistakes, but the most important one will be the block of stitches for the front steek (to turn it from a pullover to a cardigan).
I’m also doing some planning to organize the start of next year. The Scotland book is front and center, and I need to have another chapter written for proposal evaluation. I’m having a little bit of a hard time figuring out the best publisher to approach since it’s not just a pattern book. In fact, patterns are actually a fairly small portion of the whole, at least as I’m planning it right now. I do have 3 designers committed for pattern development, and all are really exciting. I’m also looking for some local photographers to spice up the images I have already accumulated. Mine are ok, but I’d really like “brilliant.”
The other important writing is for a no-math book for knitters. The impetus behind it is, of course, Bruce. He thinks I need to gather all of the short-cuts he’s developed for me to streamline the design process. There are some on-line resources for a few of these, but sleeve caps and armscye curves still have to be done with the “magic formula.” The first time Bruce saw me struggling with that he came up with a little tool I now use to calculate the decreases and spacing for those curves. I don’t pretend to understand how it works, but fortunately, I don’t need to. All blessings to the engineer! Here is the mock-up for the cover.
Meanwhile…
Not yet cast on, but planned for January 1 is knitting an Alice Starmore pattern…the Henry VIII hat and fingerless gloves.
I did a tam from one of her designs a few years ago, and it remains one of my favorite knits. I love the depth and complexity of her designs, and the gloves for this design have a wonderful cuff.
Also coming shortly will be two yarn reviews from the remaining makers from Shetland. That will finish up those islands and hopefully give me some breathing space to decide what’s next in knitting from Scotland. It probably needs to be a gansey, but that seems like such a huge project at the moment. I think I’ve pretty well decided that I really like accessories…me and my short attention span.
And with that said, keep calm in the face of too much political chatter, and craft on. Do what makes you happy, and……..
I do so look forward to your newsletters, Sara. Keep travelling, exploring all things wool, and sharing your adventures with us. So glad we met back in 2012. Cheers, Shelagh.
Thank you, Sara! I really enjoy reading about what you are up to. I hope our paths cross again!