Always learning
I didn't expect the Mystery Stole 3 to be a drive-me-around-the-bend kind of challenge, and it is not. (Well, except for the pace. I am a dawdler. I will always be a dawdler and even though I can make stitches at a medium-fast speed, somehow I am not a medium-fast knitter.) It is strangely compelling and I find myself knitting like the Stole is a page-turner -- maybe John Grisham or Sneaky Pie Brown -- unable to put it down.
I did expect to learn a few things and in that I am never disappointed.
I decided to use lifelines. My non-knitting readers were a little baffled by these, but they are simply thin cord threaded through the row of stitches every so often. That way if you make a big flub and have to rip out, you have a safe place to rip out to. They make it easy to pick up the stitches again, and they pull right out when you're done. Important tip: Mark on your pattern WHERE you put the lifeline, otherwise if (when) you need it you might have a safe place to rip to, but you'll have no idea where you are. It is like being lost in the woods with plenty of food and water. You might be well fed, but you are still lost.
Along the same lines, when you have a left-slanting decrease and you are trying to decide between a slip-slip-knit and a slip one-knit one-pass slipped stitch over, the slip-slip-knit is much easier to tink back (unknit), should the occasion arise. (Ask me how I know. It is how I learned the lifeline thing in the previous paragraph.)
I was explaining swatches to Cass & she pointed out they are a bit like the patch allergy test for dying your hair. You are strongly advised to do it, it takes a little time and gives you useful information, but how many of us go straight for the drama and skip that bit?
Lastly I learned there is no substitute for good light and my reading glasses.
P.S. I'd show you a photo but I am only on row 61 of the 149 that Melanie has released. 6,691 people have signed up for this knitalong. Isn't that cool? At 800 yards each, that's over 3,000 miles of yarn.
I did expect to learn a few things and in that I am never disappointed.
I decided to use lifelines. My non-knitting readers were a little baffled by these, but they are simply thin cord threaded through the row of stitches every so often. That way if you make a big flub and have to rip out, you have a safe place to rip out to. They make it easy to pick up the stitches again, and they pull right out when you're done. Important tip: Mark on your pattern WHERE you put the lifeline, otherwise if (when) you need it you might have a safe place to rip to, but you'll have no idea where you are. It is like being lost in the woods with plenty of food and water. You might be well fed, but you are still lost.
Along the same lines, when you have a left-slanting decrease and you are trying to decide between a slip-slip-knit and a slip one-knit one-pass slipped stitch over, the slip-slip-knit is much easier to tink back (unknit), should the occasion arise. (Ask me how I know. It is how I learned the lifeline thing in the previous paragraph.)
I was explaining swatches to Cass & she pointed out they are a bit like the patch allergy test for dying your hair. You are strongly advised to do it, it takes a little time and gives you useful information, but how many of us go straight for the drama and skip that bit?
Lastly I learned there is no substitute for good light and my reading glasses.
P.S. I'd show you a photo but I am only on row 61 of the 149 that Melanie has released. 6,691 people have signed up for this knitalong. Isn't that cool? At 800 yards each, that's over 3,000 miles of yarn.
posted by Gail | 9:27 PM
1 Comments:
I signed up for the Mystery Stole too - but I think I am going to try to do a crochet version -- not sure yet - haven't started. If I do try to knit it - you'll be done YEARS before I am :)
Post a Comment
<< Home