Good Morning Everyone!
Adventures in knitting, need I say more? I was giving my Emsworth vest lots of attention, it has the most interesting construction, I simply couldn't put it down. I was affectionately calling it my Edward Scissorhands vest, so many appendages of held stitches with cords dangling. I give Isabell Kraemer a ton of credit for her ability to create a garment that requires little to no seaming, no easy task. I also absolutely love the beautiful lacey panel that adorns the front and the back, it is so much fun to knit. This is a huge admission for me, I typically am not too fond of knitting lace, it's too fussy. This design, however, has been interesting to watch grow and take shape, it's going to be so pretty! What could possibly take me away from such an enjoyable little knit? Enter Marsali....
There's no use denying that I have a bit of a competitive edge. When Andra professed that she knit her Marsali in 3 days I was intrigued and impressed. No doubt a bulky yarn knit on 11's certainly grows quickly, but 3 days? I do love a challenge...I should have known my fate when I misread the number of stitches to cast on, I was initially upset with the length of the tail leftover from my cast on. Only moments later did I realize that I needed another 32 stitches, thank goodness for that extra long tail, it is important to begin with the correct number of stitches. I love the look of seed stitch, I don't necessarily enjoy doing it. Thankfully it doesn't allow you to get very far if you've made a mistake, like knitting 2 stitches in a row, oops. I started on row 2 only to discover my stitch repeat was off. One guess where I discovered my mistake, yep the beginning of the first row, I'm good at that. No doubt it was the result of me talking, there were a dozen of us starting our KAL and lots of chatting going on. I get myself back on track and manage to get through the 3" required before changing to my larger needles and placing markers.
I love that this is another sweater knit in one piece, and of course, I LOVE CABLING!! Because this sweater is worked from the bottom up, flat, there is a lot going on at the same time. Decreasing the front edges every 6th row, the sides every 8th while maintaining and following the right and left front charts and the back chart, just like juggling. I get out my highlighter tape and two row counters, they will serve as my compasses as I make my way toward the armhole shaping. I tell myself that it will be easy once I've established the pattern and can see the design. Let's just say I was having a small issue with the results of the back chart, my stitches were off, but the count was correct. I had no trouble on the RS of the work, the WS was completely screwing me up, why??? I was able to fix my mistakes as I came to them but I couldn't figure out what my problem was, it doesn't make any sense. Then it occured to me, I was stupidly reading the RS and WS chart rows from right to left, DUH!! In my defense, I've been knitting a fair amount of color work sweaters in the round and simply forgot that on the WS of my work, I need to read it from left to right. Adventures in knitting....Not that it matters, but Carrie's is blocked and drying. My goal is to be finished by our next KAL which is November 20th, time will tell.
I have another huge order coming from Malabrigo, Rasta is finally back in stock along with several colors of Rios that were backordered. I also have a new source for Poms, wait until you see them! I ordered over 40 yesterday in a gorgeous variety of colors that will be the perfect finishing touch for your hats. If you're looking for pattern ideas, I have several using just one skein of Rasta or Rios. They would make the perfect gift either knit up for someone or given as a kit. I'll let you know when the new inventory begins to arrive.
Speaking of new, I'm meeting with Andra next week to look at and order the latest Spring and Summer yarns and designs from Berroco, Lang and Lopi. I received a lovely package of yarns to swatch and patterns to preview before we meet, so exciting! I also participated in a Zoom call yesterday hosted by Berroco, featuring the latest collection of patterns by Lopi, it's their 40th anniversary edition and LOVELY!! It won't be available until January 2022, but I will be taking preorders of the book which I simply must have. The first sweater I ever knit was a Lopi sweater, way back in 1985, my freshman year at UVM. I still have that pattern book and went on to knit several more through the years.
Lastly, I'm so excited that the Canadian Border has finally reopened! I've missed seeing so many of you and hope that you will be making your way to me soon! Of course none of you have been able to visit my new location, and I'm excited for you to see my shop. Please let me know if you need to make an appointment should you decide to take a road trip on one of my days off, I'm usually around. We will be meeting tomorrow, Wednesday evening, from 6-7:30 for Stitch and Bitch at the shop, I hope you can join in the fun! Make it a great day and I'll see you soon.
Katy