Another Knitting Update

I'm now knitting the lace pattern on my cardi. I've completed two pattern row repeats and now getting ready to work on the armhole areas. This will require some quiet time and solitude as I have to do some BOs and decreases on a few rows and be able to knit and maintain the lace pattern. Sounds like the appropriate time to put in a lifeline incase I make a mistake and need to frog back to a starting point. So, I'm copying the lace pattern chart and writing notes to myself. We'll see what happens.

The only minor issue I'm having is with the yarn. This Debbie Bliss yarn is a bit splitty. Still, it's a joy to knit with as it has a lovely silk/rayon/cotton mix. The color is just gorgeous.

Here are a few pictures of my progress:

Backside piece attached to SusieQ

I am thoroughly enjoying my knitting time with this cardigan. So far, it has been a pleasurable knitting experience.

Close up of lace pattern


I attempted to work on my lace scarf. I found another issue. Apparently, I lost one or two stitches in each of the repeat pattern. I'm at the point of frogging this project. Or I could "tink" back to the problem area...probably two rows worth of knitting. I've lost interest in the yarn color, too many errors in this project, and well, it's not as exciting as knitting the Hey Teach cardi. What am I to do?

Vogue lace scarf. Tink or frog?

Knitting Updates

I have to say that knitting a simple lace pattern actually requires some quiet time. Focus time. A block of solitude time. I tried to knit this while watching TV, while at work, or while rushing to knit a section...only to have made mistakes. I decided not to frog any of the mistakes and just keep knitting. This will be my original piece of knit work. Lessons learned and a reminder of what not to do on my next lace scarf project.

Moving right along with the lace

One thing that helped me to knit the repeat pattern is to place stitch markers between the repeats and also at the side. Of course I got distracted and I missed some garter stitches on one side.

Using my stitch markers with this lace project


I'm still working on my weekend cardi. I'm in the body area where it's pretty much straight forward stockinette stitch. I only need to knit about 1-1/2 inches and then do the ribbing. Then I can move onto the sleeves and rib the front and neckline.

Progress being made

Back side view

I frogged my Plymouth Yarn Royal Llama Silk Shrug. It's been sitting on my needles for 2 months with no progress at all. I was halfway through knitting it and lost interest back in March. You know, it's one of those garments that just doesn't do anything for me. Since the Royal Llama Silk yarn is worsted weight, I know I won't have any problems finding a cute top to knit instead.

Plymouth Royal Llama Silk Shrug...frogged and gone


I found this fabulous yarn at my LYS. It reminds me of the beautiful Caribbean.

Lorna's Lace yarn in Georgetown color

Trying Something New

I mentioned a few posts back, that Sabine started working on her lace scarf and is making progress. I saw the pattern in the lastest Vogue Knitting magazine (Spring/Summer 09). It's project #30, appropriately called Lace Scarf. The pattern and chart looked simple to follow. I thought that would be a wonderful first lace project for me.

Since I was the first one up this morning (and I can't run my sewing machine), I thought I would get started. Here's the results:

The beginnings of my lace scarf

The yarn I'm using is Premier Yarns-Coral in beige. I'm using a #4 needle. I'm using this non-lace yarn so I can see the stitches and learn how to read the chart and knit. So far, so good. I'm finding that this lace project is knitting fast.

(Note: I've added some pictures of my DIY swift and ball winder to my previous post)

Making a Cake & Knitting it Too!

Guess what arrived today?!? A small box from KnitPicks! As you can see, my ball winder is inside along with some merino/silk yarn I'm trying out and I also received a sample card of their shine worsted yarn.

Knit Picks box arrived today!


Inside my ball winder box

Here are the pieces for the ball winder.

The pieces and the instructions on the box

Here the thread guide is swung into the winder, shipped this way.

Ball winder shown shipped with thread guide


Before you can wind your yarns, you have to swing the thread guide away from the winder like this:

Thread guide extended and ready for use


Here, I have attached the hand held grip to the winder. This gives me the option to hold the winder in my hand.

The "handheld" version of my ball winder

I've attached the ball winder to my DH's desk to test the winder out. Notice the thread guide is extended.

Attached to table and ready for some action


This is my 2nd attempt at winding. As you can see, the results are wonderful!

Like magic, I have a "cake" of yarn (Premier Yarns Coral in beige)

Note: my first attempt at winding caused my ball of yarn to fly off the winder at top speed. No injuries were caused by this operator. Since this is an inexpensive ball winder and not the Royal-brand ball winder at my work, I have to wind the yarn a tiny bit slower. No cranking at great speeds. So instead of cranking at 75 mph, I just crank at 60 mph. Anyways, what's the rush?

This ball winder is a keeper. I highly recommend it for home use and going normal speed limit.

Oh, the yarns that came in my order are Shadow Kettle Hand Dye and Gloss Lace...both lace weight yarns. The shadow kettle is 100% merino (Begonia & Bordeaux on the right) and the Gloss Lace is 70% merino and 30% silk (Pinot & Ultramarine on the left). The colors are amazing! Look at the sheen on the Gloss Lace.

My Knit Picks lace yarns

This evening I will test drive my DIY swift with my new ball winder. I'll be back with more pictures. :)

**Update**

Here's some pictures of the swift and ball winder.

I moved the swift closer to the winder to take this picture. Normally, you would move the swift further away from the winder

My DIY swift in action. I placed the clothes pins above the yarn to keep the yarn from moving up too fast

Another "cake" created