This sweater is an albatross. I love the look of it, I love the lace, which is easily memorizable, I love that the color perfectly matches the skirt that my mother requested this for. However, I now know that I do NOT like figuring out lace shaping on my own. These patterns should come with mandatory charts, Rowan! CHARTS! I think I will try and stick with some simpler patterns for the next few projects just to remove the memory of this one. And now, all that seaming. All. That. Seaming. However, I realize that after I finish all that seaming, this will officially be my first completed sweater. I think this calls for champagne.
Other areas of interest: I am now ordering yarn for Joy, a Kim Hargreaves pattern from Rowan Vintage Style.
This is pretty much the same pattern as Agnes in Rowan 35, but with 4-ply wool and not Cotton Glace. And with beads, not french knots. I'm making this for my aunt, who is a preacher's wife living in L.A. This is the beginning of a long line of knitting for family members. I figure as long as I am generous with the knitting I can't chastise myself for my obsession. I'm going to go with Knit Picks Gloss on this one and pick up the beads at one of the stores in midtown.
While I wait for the yarn to arrive, however, I have these to keep me occupied:
The first time I flipped through Fitted Knits, I was not impressed. However, after looking through it a few more times at Barnes and Noble, I'm actually wanting to make a few of Stefanie Japel's designs. So when I saw this in the fall Knitscene and realized it only requires four balls of yarn, I was sold. Literally. I bought four balls of Lang's Venezia in a deep wine red and also the copy of Knitscene. Although I think I might actually modify and make it into a deep-V cardi.
As for this, I just have to knit up the sleeves and collar on this baby cardi, another one from Simply Baby. I made the 9-12 month size, but this seems a bit large even for a one-year old. Maybe I don't hang around babies often enough. Anyway, also for the baby niece. I love this yarn. I thought I was about to swear off cotton yarn because the Rowan 4-ply Cotton I'm using on Posy is a bit hard on the hands. Rowan Handknit Cotton, however, is scrumptious. It's still a tiny bit stiff in terms of give, but it's buttery soft sliding through my fingers. I could eat it. The color is actually a gorgeously muted grape/lavendar. Flash sucks.
Thus, the melon shawl. I saw this on a few other blogs but was intimidated by the stitch. That is, until I did a good deed and returned a lost bag to a tourist and he thanked me by giving me a gift card to Barnes and Noble. Yay for karma! With that gift card, I purchased Victorian Lace Today and immediately took a look at the Melon stitch. Wait, that can't be...it looks...simple? I love everything about the one in the book. The electric green, the fuzzy mohair, the size. But instead of Kidsilk Haze, I decided to try out a different yarn--namely, Louet Kidlin. And I am now officially in love with both Melon stitch and Melon yarn. This pattern is so easy that I can watch television while knitting lace. Television! Lace!
My non-knitting friends suggested I do the border with the yarn I used for the provisional cast-on. I explained that the provisional yarn is a fingering cotton, not a laceweight linen-mohair blend. They still don't get it. They just like the colors together. Which is tempting me to think up some sort of shawl pattern using a pale green and deep blue. Speaking of deep blue...
The modest beginnings of Joy. I heart moss stitch. The yarn is soft. The color is much more muted than the photo suggests. Although I've learned my lesson with reversible knitting and now employ a handy row counter. This sweater is making me hum the Three Dog Night song, "Joy to the fishes in the deep blue sea and Joy to you and me." Amen.
