All about knitting
Lots to update on the knitting front. Firstly, I realised recently that I hadn't posted pics of the wonderful books I received for Christmas
The Vogue Knitting is an absolutely wonderful resource - incredibly comprehensive, and I think I will be referring to it a lot!
Scarf Style has some wonderful patterns (I am less impressed with the Knitters magazine Shawls & Scarves, which didn't really have much in it to inspire me). Socks Soar on 2 Circular Needles is (hopefully) going to help me learn this technique this year, and the Sweater Workshop will help me master knitting in the round. Elizabeth Zimmerman's Knitting Without Tears is full of commonsense advice, and is like listening to an old friend - really so well written.
Over Christmas I knit up a scarf in the ball of Louisa Harding Impressions which I bought at Ally Pally
The yarn is 16% mohair and 84% acrylic, but so beautifully soft. This is quite a dressy scarf - good for an evening out. The pattern is just a simple K1 YO - repeat until fed up.
I'm currently working on Glampyre's Easy V neck Raglan - my first top down, in the round sweater
This second version in a bigger size is coming along nicely. Thanks to Highland Annie, I managed to get some 6" DPNs, from PM Woolcraft, and I'm finding these much easier to use than the 20cm DPNs. Nevertheless, knitting something this big is still a bit of a pain with DPNs - I'm constantly having to untwist the knitting as the sleeve grows, and the weight of the body is making it a bit unwieldy - it's not like knitting socks!
I also have a couple of small issues: firstly the cast off on the body
See the "jog"? I'm assuming this is a feature of knitting in the round, and will be something I can fix when I weave in the loose end.
Then there's the neck. This is the neck, knit according to the pattern, which includes nothing about "finishing off" the neck in any way
It looks kind of naff doesn't it? I think I'll have to pick up stitches round the neck and do a bit of ribbing to match the body and cuffs. Hmm, that will be a bit of a challenge, as I have no real idea how many stitches to pick up. Trial and error I guess.
I'm hoping to have this finished in the next week or so - having no seaming to do is a definite advantage, but I really haven't enjoyed knitting the sleeves. I think I'll wait and see how the final product turns out before passing final judgement on whether I prefer knitting in the round to straight knitting.
Plenty more waiting in the wings to keep me busy. I plan to knit a small item in between each big one, so I have scarves to knit in some of the beautiful yarn my Secret Pal sent me (now revealed to be Metamomo - hi Hanna!). Next big item will be another top down sweater pattern from Knitting Pure & Simple, with the wondeful Noro Korchoran I got in The Knit Tin's sale. I think I'll take some pics of the yarn for the Yarn Pron thread on Knitty - it's so beautiful!
The Vogue Knitting is an absolutely wonderful resource - incredibly comprehensive, and I think I will be referring to it a lot!
Scarf Style has some wonderful patterns (I am less impressed with the Knitters magazine Shawls & Scarves, which didn't really have much in it to inspire me). Socks Soar on 2 Circular Needles is (hopefully) going to help me learn this technique this year, and the Sweater Workshop will help me master knitting in the round. Elizabeth Zimmerman's Knitting Without Tears is full of commonsense advice, and is like listening to an old friend - really so well written.
Over Christmas I knit up a scarf in the ball of Louisa Harding Impressions which I bought at Ally Pally
The yarn is 16% mohair and 84% acrylic, but so beautifully soft. This is quite a dressy scarf - good for an evening out. The pattern is just a simple K1 YO - repeat until fed up.
I'm currently working on Glampyre's Easy V neck Raglan - my first top down, in the round sweater
This second version in a bigger size is coming along nicely. Thanks to Highland Annie, I managed to get some 6" DPNs, from PM Woolcraft, and I'm finding these much easier to use than the 20cm DPNs. Nevertheless, knitting something this big is still a bit of a pain with DPNs - I'm constantly having to untwist the knitting as the sleeve grows, and the weight of the body is making it a bit unwieldy - it's not like knitting socks!
I also have a couple of small issues: firstly the cast off on the body
See the "jog"? I'm assuming this is a feature of knitting in the round, and will be something I can fix when I weave in the loose end.
Then there's the neck. This is the neck, knit according to the pattern, which includes nothing about "finishing off" the neck in any way
It looks kind of naff doesn't it? I think I'll have to pick up stitches round the neck and do a bit of ribbing to match the body and cuffs. Hmm, that will be a bit of a challenge, as I have no real idea how many stitches to pick up. Trial and error I guess.
I'm hoping to have this finished in the next week or so - having no seaming to do is a definite advantage, but I really haven't enjoyed knitting the sleeves. I think I'll wait and see how the final product turns out before passing final judgement on whether I prefer knitting in the round to straight knitting.
Plenty more waiting in the wings to keep me busy. I plan to knit a small item in between each big one, so I have scarves to knit in some of the beautiful yarn my Secret Pal sent me (now revealed to be Metamomo - hi Hanna!). Next big item will be another top down sweater pattern from Knitting Pure & Simple, with the wondeful Noro Korchoran I got in The Knit Tin's sale. I think I'll take some pics of the yarn for the Yarn Pron thread on Knitty - it's so beautiful!
posted by Carolyn at 12:33 pm
4 Comments:
I'm with you on the Nancy Young book and several people on the Knittyboards also felt that it wasn't so inspiring as other books. Although I am currently making the Chrysalis Christening shawl from the Shawls and Scarves.
Having said that at the moment I am spending more time frogging it than knitting it!
Re. the dpns, I do think that an addi turbo circ with a short cord would be much easier to handle than dpns with that weight of garment hanging off 'em. I like the look of the jumper though, I've never knit anything constructed like that and fancy giving it a try - think of all the sewing that you won't have to do - how marvellous!
Hi, I also knitted this top-down sweater last year, and had to add a ribbed neckband as it looked really floppy and unfinished.
I have a WIP photo here: http://www.annarella.co.uk/projects/cardis_and_sweaters/2/41/1/easy_v_neck_sweater.htm
I hope that will give you an idea of what to do with yours. Sorry if the photo isn't wonderful, I must find some time to take a couple properly.
Good luck! :)
I think the link in my previous post got cut off. Anyway, if you go to my site: www.annarella.co.uk, then click on Projects, Cardis & sweaters, it's the fourth from the top.
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