Sat 6 Feb 2010
I’m not usually much of a product knitter. I don’t mind projects that go on (and on) for months at a time. I like sinking into one thing and working my way, stitch by stitch, through from beginning to end.
Sometimes, though, it’s good to see some progress. It may be because I don’t feel like there’s been a lot of progress happening at work lately, or it may be for some other completely random and unfathomable reason, but right now I really want to see things move.
Fast.
Go! Go!
I’m not sure that that this week was a success in that regard, but things have progressed a little since last we spoke.
I pinned the stole out this time, partly so that you can see the pattern and partly because it makes it look just a leettle bit bigger.
This project has taken a long time to get off the ground. I’ve been tweaking my design process lately, and the current method puts a lot of the planning at the beginning before the knitting begins (this will generally be a very good thing, but it’s also a pretty big change, since I generally like to feel my way through a design rather than planning out every last thing). Then we found out that I was knitting it with the wrong yarn, and then the wrong needles. Fussing here and there.
But I think we have it now. The fabric is pretty dense for lace, but I like the visual weight of it. The yarn (Misti Alpaca) is fine enough that it is very light despite the stockinette base. I like how the three stitch patterns are working together, even if they do have different and non-compatible row counts so that each row is unique (they’re easy enough to memorize, so there’s not much need for charts except as a reference after the first few repeats). I love the color, and it’s working much, much better with the pattern. And the needles sing. I love Addi lace.
So. A few inches, but really quite a bit of progress.
Now, I wonder how far I can go before switching to the next stitch pattern?
Sometimes I think we all need a little progress in our lives! I tend to be a process knitter as well, but sometimes I feel like I just want to cross things off my list, to know that they’re no longer hanging over my head.
The stole is pretty – I’ve always been a fan of the main motif.
Those really do work well together! And it’s funny you should write that about product/process, because I find that what I need in my knitting is usually related to (and the exact opposite of) what’s going on in the rest of my life. If things aren’t moving Out There, I want something concrete to be happening with my knitting. If things are complicated Out There, I want stockinette. Thank goodness knitting can provide, eh?
Very nice. I love how the lace columns work together. The repetition yet difference in the stitch patterns is very aesthetically pleasing.
I understand the idea of progress that isn’t totally visible. It is just as satisfying. You know the road ahead and so can travel with confidence. I’ll enjoy the vicarious journey.