There hasn’t been much craft going on around my way for the last couple of months. There hasn’t been much exercise, proper nutrition or socialising either, all due to a huge edit I've been doing. That's done now though, to my relief, and as soon as it was finished I headed straight for the craft. Although I've done some mindless knitting in front the of the TV, and have finished a simple scarf for my friend Siobhan, I haven't done anything that required planning or more than half a brain, and I've been missing it.
First up was finishing off the chunky pinkish-purple lace scarf I started at Easter. I made two halves the same — lace ends and a 1x1 rib for the central part — intending to graft the two pieces together along the middle of the scarf. In my usual fashion I didn't bother researching this technique until the two bits were completed. Then I discovered that it's apparently quite hard to graft 1x1 rib, especially if you want it to be invisible. Bugger.
Despite that I did a couple of test swatches in 1x1 rib and attempted to graft them together. Within five minutes it became apparent that this was beyond me, so I ended up doing a three-needle cast-off to join the two pieces. Not ideal, but better than having another unfinished project on my hands.
And while I love the result as a knitted object, I don't love it on me. Note to self: opposites attract. Chunky knits look good on skinny chicks. Not on me. On me, finer yarns work better. If I remember this, I'll waste much less time and yarn making things that don't really suit me.
On the plus side, though, it's warm. I'm going to the Blue Mountains for the weekend soon and this is the first thing I will pack. I still love this pattern though and I might make it in a finer yarn. One day.
Then a couple of weekends ago I went to the annual craft fair at Darling Harbour. I went in suffering craft withdrawal and came out suffering craft overload and pulsating retinas due to the large number of migraine-inducingly bright quilts on display. I also came out with two more lots of yarn, one of which, a silk from Kaalund Yarns, I've already crocheted up into yet another scarf. This project doesn't really belong in this blog — it's finished, after all — but I'm pretty chuffed with myself for completing it so quickly. That's enough pink scarves for the moment, though!
The other skein of yarn is a peacock-coloured laceweight silk. I want to make a lace shawl out of that, despite my previous misadventures with lace, but that's a longer-term project. Much longer.
Despite that I did a couple of test swatches in 1x1 rib and attempted to graft them together. Within five minutes it became apparent that this was beyond me, so I ended up doing a three-needle cast-off to join the two pieces. Not ideal, but better than having another unfinished project on my hands.
And while I love the result as a knitted object, I don't love it on me. Note to self: opposites attract. Chunky knits look good on skinny chicks. Not on me. On me, finer yarns work better. If I remember this, I'll waste much less time and yarn making things that don't really suit me.
On the plus side, though, it's warm. I'm going to the Blue Mountains for the weekend soon and this is the first thing I will pack. I still love this pattern though and I might make it in a finer yarn. One day.
Then a couple of weekends ago I went to the annual craft fair at Darling Harbour. I went in suffering craft withdrawal and came out suffering craft overload and pulsating retinas due to the large number of migraine-inducingly bright quilts on display. I also came out with two more lots of yarn, one of which, a silk from Kaalund Yarns, I've already crocheted up into yet another scarf. This project doesn't really belong in this blog — it's finished, after all — but I'm pretty chuffed with myself for completing it so quickly. That's enough pink scarves for the moment, though!
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| The pattern is one row of double-treble clusters and three rows of double crochet. |
The other skein of yarn is a peacock-coloured laceweight silk. I want to make a lace shawl out of that, despite my previous misadventures with lace, but that's a longer-term project. Much longer.
