Tuesday, January 24, 2006

Revelations of a Swatch


There you have it. The "training" was completed last night. It didn't take nearly as long as I thought it would, which could mean one of two things: either I am a better and faster knitter than I give myself credit for, or the pattern is not challenging enough. I hesitate to go with the former and sit here patting myself on the back. No matter how good it would be for my ego. Honestly, the pattern wasn't all that difficult. Once I did the foundation rows, I barely looked at the chart. Nothing to it.

Now the revelations: the stash yarn (Patons Country Garden DK--made in Canada!--100%Pure Machine Washable Merino Wool) is not going to cut it. Too bad. The gauge is off. I had to calculate the repeats and add 12 stitches just for a hat. I didn't even want to contemplate how much extra knitting that would mean for a sweater or cardigan. Back to the drawing board or the LYS. Revelation two: I must learn that technique where the end and beginning of each round doesn't show. I don't like how it looks, that little jump. Revelation three: it is in fact helpful to use a stitch marker at the start of each round. I got somewhat cocky, ok, ok, didn't even open my box of stitch markers, and you don't want to know how wonky things started to look. Lost time to fix goof ups and dig out markers. Serves me right. Revelation four: I need a form for blocking hats. The 1kg coffee can only do so much.

4 comments:

Knitsworthy said...

I love your hat! I also have a lot of trouble with the jump where 2 colours change... let me know if you figure it out!

By the way, I found your blog from the Winter Olympics list... I am also a Nova Scotian knitter. Nice to "meet" you. :)

~Lori

Lene Andersen said...

Gorgeous!

What about matching mitts to up the challenge?

Dorothy said...

Hi,
Another Nova Scotia popping in to say "hi" to you; I found your blog from Lori's blog, which I found from someone else's blog (if I remember correctly LOL)

Seems Nova Scotia is having a good representation at the knitting olympics; I'm doing a square baby blanket - and I don't like knitting baby things.

craftoholic said...

Thanks for your comment on my blog, Barbara. I loved Poland and just wish I could have spent more time to see a little of the country side as well. And the desserts! So good.
Your hat looks amazing. I have yet to tackle a fair isle project, but I will this year!