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Category: Knit (page 22 of 25)

Ah Capri!

February 22, 2006 / / 14 Comments

In the 2006 Knitting Olympics Lace event is Amy Artisan with The Capri Shawl!

Capri!

(Pardon the “lack of natural light” pictures – when the weather is warmer I may post some pictures of Capri “in action” outside.)

The Details…
Pattern: Capri Shawl from Morehouse Farms

Yarn: Aqua Morehouse Merino Lace

Needles: Brittany Birch – US10 – 14″

Cast On: Friday, February 10th (2nd Cast On: Sunday, February 12th)
Bind Off: Sunday, February 19th

Customizations: I spaced the triangles 20 stitches apart since I was knitting during the 20th Winter Olympics. The “open” triangle is 10 rows because my 2005 Italy/Greece trip was 10 days long.

Notes: Overall this was a fun project – even with the assorted detours that I had to take on the route to Capri. As I mentioned earlier, the pattern had very light instructions for adding additional triangles into the design & I had to come up with my own notes for how to do them. (I’ll be happy to share the Amy Arithmetic if anyone wants it for future reference.) Looking at the blocked & finished shawl I notice some bobbles (not the intentional knit ones – the “oops” ones) that will not be making an appearance in future lace projects – but they are part of the process of learning something new. Previously I had mentioned that this was knitting tight & I would probably use size 10 needles (instead of the recommended 9) for any future knits of this pattern – after the blocking it doesn’t look as tight so I might use the 9s again.

Capri in Repose

I can’t wait to wear this shawl! Wrapping it around me this evening brought a huge smile to my face – this is the first knitwear that I’ve completed for myself that wasn’t a scarf or a hat.

Since I finished knitting the shawl I’ve decided that the color of the yarn, while still representing a favorite color from my Italy/Greece trip, is closer to the color of the water along the Greek coast instead of Capri. Here is a picture of the water that will give you a better representation of the yarn color.

The water along the coast of Greece

And here is the artistic shot of the Shawl draped over my computer that currently has the Greek Water picture as my desktop wallpaper.

Capri & the computer

Beyond Capri…what has the Knitting Olympics taught me? I can knit to a deadline if I have to – but I’m not sure that’s how I want to approach my knitting. (Must start on Christmas gifts now!) I enjoy having a couple of things going so that if boredom sets in I can switch to something different. I’m ready to try some more new things – at first glance this pattern seemed so much like my standard baby blanket pattern; however, it managed to trip me up more than once & yet I was still able to get it done.

p.s. Dad continues to make progress in his Needlepoint Olympics – sometime in the future (currently no ETA) you all will get to see his finished object!

Off the needles & onto blocking

February 19, 2006 / / 6 Comments

Whew! Capri is successfully off the needles at 2:30 PM. This is the second time today that I finished the shawl. Around 9:30 this morning I finished binding off (with just a bit of yarn leftover) & when I went to stretch the shawl out along the bind off edge I heard a horrible sound – the breaking of yarn. That’s right, the bind off was way too tight & there was no way that it could be worn – the break of the yarn was actually a good thing. I managed to pick up all the stitches on a row about 12 back from the bind off – I placed them all on my biggest stitch holder – then transfered them onto one of the needles. After a break to go have brunch with friends I returned to the mess – I took to unraveling the remaining rows & after a couple of yarn breaks discovered that the stitches were “backwards” on the needle so I had to transfer them to the other needle. I then knit about 4 rows & started the bind off row again. This time the bind off is much looser & I will be able to block the shawl into a better shape.

Here is a picture of the “rough” shawl now before I begin blocking & dealing with the few ends that need to be woven.

Capri - Before Blocking

Next up…blocking! The next blog entry about Capri will be introducing you to the finished object!

Four Rows Forward…Four Rows Back…

February 16, 2006 / / 5 Comments

I had great plans for making a lot of progress on Capri last night. I got started right away & noticed that my stitch counter seemed to show more middle stitches than I thought I had completed on Tuesday. Did I stop & do a physical count of stitches? Oh no, that would be too easy. So I continued knitting & moved ahead 4 rows. It was time to add the 3rd triangle repeat into the mix & as I was nearing the end of the “add” row I was coming out with the wrong number of stitches.

Count…hmm…count again…hmm…time to start taking out rows…1 row…2 rows…3 rows…count…hmm…count again…hmm…another row back…another row back…count…count again…count again – ok time to restart this row…count midway through…on schedule…count at the end…it works! 1 row down…knit another…knit another…knit another…knit another…knit another…time to call it an evening.

Total rows knit in the evening = 10; Total progress in the evening = 6.

Needless to say, I’m looking forward to making more progress this evening!

P.S. Have you seen the “fun” little Countdown to Closing Ceremonies counter that Anny & her husband have put together? (See sidebar) The colors will move from green to yellow to red as Feb. 26th draws near. Just a little motivation to Knit On!

Like Father…Like Daughter

February 13, 2006 / / 11 Comments

My first reaction to The Yarn Harlot’s call to “Citius, Alitius Fortius” was a bit of a chuckle. I have fond memories of Olympic crafting occuring in our house when I was growing up – specifically my Dad needlepointing. (A bit of history…my dad learned to needlepoint in the ’70s when he was on missile crew alert for 24 hours at a time underground in Kansas.) I remember the Needlepoint Winter Olympics of 1988 when my Dad worked on this piece – 18 years later it still hangs in the entry of the house (albeit a couple of states & homes removed from 1988).

From the 1988 Winter Olympics

For Christmas this past year I bought Dad this needlepoint kit – specifically looking ahead to the 2006 Winter Games in Torino.

Poppy Pillow Needlepoint Kit

So, while I was casting on my for knit event in Chicago during the opening ceremonies Dad was starting his own Needle Games in Georgia.

Dad starting on the poppy

Even though Dad isn’t planning to finish his project in the course of the games it is fun to know that “Amy Artisan” & “Dad Artisan” are both needling along with the athletes.

A few notes about the 2006 needlepoint – it is perfect for our family for a couple of reason: The Tiffany glass style (the whole family loves Tiffany windows & Dad used to do stained glass) & the California poppy (Mom is a native Californian, my parents met in CA & I have fond memories of growing up there while in elementary school).

Olympic Update: Judges Allow a Do Over

February 12, 2006 / / 4 Comments

Thankfully the Knitting Olympics are not a “one chance & you’re out” type of event!

I continued to make progress on Saturday with the Capri Shawl. Around noon on Sunday when I started to add the 2nd triangle pattern into the shawl I discovered that I had messed up the 1st triangle. Since I want to enjoy this shawl long after the games are over I decided that the best option was to frog the whole thing & start over. Definitely a good choice! I have recovered & advanced passed where I was at noon.

Knitting Olympics Update #1
(The triangle designs are a bit hard to see when all the stitches are squished on 1 needle.)

What have I learned so far during my event? The directions for Capri are very light & have a bit of “do what you want” to them; however, the few “number of stitch” instructions that they have haven’t been quite right in my book. After a bit of “Amy Arithmetic” I feel good about this pattern & the progress I’m making. I’m probably about 30 minutes away from finishing up skein 1 of 3. I feel this is knitting tight even using the size 9 needles that were recommended – next time I’ll go with the 10. It has been a long time since I’ve knit on straight needles so that is taking some time to get used to again but is better now that so many stitches are on the needle.

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