When I picked my knitting up on Friday evening I noticed the most recent row on my shawl was all out of sync with the rest of the pattern.
Beginning of hole on current row is shifted to the right
I decided it was time to learn to unknit. This was something I had tried before and failed miserably as I was dropping stitches all over the place! This time I started slowly and had my smallest crochet hook on hand to pick up dropped stitches along the way. I actually had to unknit 2 rows to get back to the root of the problem but it actually went rather well I only dropped a couple of stitches and managed to rescue them with a crochet hook (I think!)
I then knitted another 4 rows so net gain this weekend was 2 rows of knitting!! Hopefully things will start speeding up soon.
Another long weekend is over! I hope everyone made the most of it!
I don’t have a lot to show you for this weekends progress as my dropbox became full without me realising so none of my photos have uploaded but I can tell you about what I got up to and hopefully manage to retrieve a few photos along the way!
Firstly I have been making some slow progress on my knitted shawl, sadly no pictures here. However I have now completed 3 full reps of the pattern. Only 3 more to go and then onto the lace work border! This may sound like great progress but actually I am not even nearly half way as each rep is around 20 rows (I cant remember exactly) and the number of stitches increases by 2 every row so its getting slower and slower! Oh well some progress is better than none!
I also did a fair chunk of sewing as I decided to use my extra day off to have some fun so I played my keyboard and guitar for a bit and then started on some capri trousers. These are from the latest GBSB book “Fashion with Fabric”. I bought this book as soon as it came out but this is the first thing I have tried making from it. It actually seems really straight forward and easy to follow so they are coming together really quickly!
I also spent a chunk of time sorting through my fabric and separating the good size scraps from the useless bits. I also decided to start sewing together all of my offcuts from seam allowances and rolling them up into a great big ball of yarn. I’ve not quite decided what I am going to do with it yet but I just couldn’t let it go to waste! Maybe I will crochet a rag rug.
Only 2 days left of KCBW6. I hope everyone is still having loads of fun!
Today is the day when you get to have your say rather than just listen to me rambling on and on!
I want to know what makes you want to read this blog? What do you want to see more of? As well as the poll itself which we will get to in just a minute I would love to hear your comments on the style of my posts, their length and what you think of the content. If there is anything you would like to see more of (or less of) jsut let me know. Today is your turn to speak!
So here’s my poll…I want to know what your favourite type of blog post to read is. You can tick more than one box if you just cant decide! Below the poll I have given some examples of my previous posts that fall into each category if you want to check them out!
I look forward to hearing what you think and hopefully, from now on, I will be able to write more of the sort of posts you want to read
Seeing a work in progress
By this type of post I meana post that describes a project I am working on right now but its not finished. The post could be just an update on how the project is going or a discussion about why it isn’t finished.
These types of post are basically a chance for you to see a porject I have finished. There will often be a roundup of the pattern and what I thought of it, including how easy it was to follow. I might also discuss the yarn I used and how well it worked with that project and any general comments about the construction or finished feel of the project.
This could be an explanation of how to do a simple craft project or even how to do a complicated stitch pattern. I like to include these posts as I learn something new, especially if I have struggled to find a useful tutorial myself.
This sort of post can be quite varied and covers everything from random crafting related thoughts that pop into my head to questions for you about how to fix a problem I’ve been having.
Recently I’ve found myself struggling with the knitting pattern I’m working on. Its a knitted cowl with some lacework. The pattern offered two options for the length and I really loved the look of the longer one so that’s what I went for. However as its a cowl rather than a scarf this meant working the long edge so each row has 130 stitches. This was not great for my motivation as it felt like I was making no progress. Also, with it being my first attempt at any sort of lacework I was finding it quite tricky to follow the pattern and occasionally I would reach my stitch marker for the end of a row but instead of being at the end of the row on the pattern I was mid-motif. When each row was taking almost an hour this is not something I wanted to unpick! I decided to stick with it but after a while it was becoming more of a chore than something I was doing for fun.
So I made the decision to shelve the project, perhaps till I am a bit more confident with lace. Maybe if I come back to it again I will remember why I started it in the first place – I do still really love the pattern and the yarn but I just did not want to continue with a project that was more stressful than my day job!
I decided to try another knitting pattern with a small amount of lacework – it is a shawl that is basically a flat knit with periodic holes in it. Having started this new pattern I am remembering why I like knitting. It is fun and doesn’t require too much concentration allowing me to watch TV or chat to my friends as I go! I also seem to be making reasonable progress – look what I have achieved in a week! (along with work on my other projects)
Look how much progress I’ve made in a week
It uses a much simpler pattern with periodic holes
Any idea why my knitting looks like spirals rather than flat ‘v’s? Am I twisting something at some point?
Have you ever reached the point where you have to shelve a project because it just isnt working for you? How did you decide when to stop?
There seem to be plenty of Sunburst Blankets on-the-go at the moment and I am no exception. I have been working on mine slowly for almost a year now. It is a really great project to pick up and complete granny whenever you are feeling disheartened with your current project or only have 10 minutes to spare.
I really love this pattern. It seems to be so versatile and looks good in pretty much every colour combination I have seen it. The most popular by far seems to be colourful circles on a white background but I think some of my favourite examples are those that mix it up a bit.
My aim with this blanket is to incorporate some of my favourite bright shades of blue, green and yellow with a couple of pinks and purples thrown in. I will then add a dark blue square to provide the main body of the blanket.
I currently have about 30 circles completed and another 30 in progress. I hope to have around 100 in total for the blanket. Although, reading some of the other blanket posts out there I fear I may have grossly underestimated this! Only time will tell.
Sunburst Grannies in progress
To see some of my favourite examples of others using this pattern why not check out the links below
Coco Rose Diaies – A lovely mixture of pastels and brights on a grey background
