I've finished the colorwork band on the bottom of Besseggen and I'm into the long stretch of navy blue which goes on for quite some time. I'll post more photos of this sweater when I hit the band of colorwork around the chest.
In other news, I'm itching to start another project of some sort. Perhaps weaving, quilting or even *gasp* more knitting. Any fun knitting patterns out there I should know about?
Recently I was sent a review copy of Melissa Leapman's Mastering Color Knitting
Being the crazy on again, off again knitter that I have become, this book actually inspired me to pull out the yarn I bought way back in 2004 for a Dale of Norway sweater for Pete.
Believe it or not, I've almost finished the bottom band! For those interested in details, this is Besseggen from book #121. And thank goodness for Mastering Color Knitting
It's time to lay it all out. Well not all. . . I know I have more wip's than I'm showing here, but these are the ones I'll probably finish. (Well mostly. . .)
Keepsake Shawl knit in many colors of Koigu. I started this in 2004, I believe and I came up with a great system for knitting it so that I could just pick it up and remember exactly which yarn to use and which row I was on. So why does is sit? Who knows. I really want to finish this one up, so I think I will make it my #1 knitting priority.
Ingeborg, oh Ingeborg. I started you back when the knit-along began. Was that 2004 also? And every winter I pick you up and get re-invigorated . . . for about 15-20 rows. Maybe this will be they year that you get finished!
Trekking socks started for the "Trek along with Me" knit-along. I never did take a picture of me trekking along. Is it still going on? I'm *awful* with knit-alongs (see Ingeborg above) and should never, ever join them. These socks will get finished though. I love Trekking yarn! It just takes me several months to finish a pair.
New felted bag design I'm playing around with. It's a smallish bag and I'll finish it up in the next week or two.
What is this thing???? Why am I making it? Okay, this is the Amineko and I decided to make it with Encore from the stash. I should have gotten a different yarn. I didn't really want a red cat and I don't really care for this yarn, so I never work on this project and the featureless head is all that has been made. Time to rip this one out and start over with a new yarn, I think. This was my only crochet project in the works and it's a failure. Ugh!
Oh! My quilt! I love these fabrics and want to get back to work on this soon. The last month has been so busy and I really need time when I want to quilt, so this has been neglected. I know that cooler, quieter weekends are on the way though, so it will progress!
Mountain Colors woven scarf. I love how the weaver's wool from Mt. Colors is sort of striping, sort of not in this scarf. A free hour or two and some good podcasts to listen to and this will be finished!
I'm still making good progress on that lovely pink fiber from Blue Moon Fiber Arts. The third bobbin is well on it's way to getting filled up and then it's on to plying. I have no doubt that this will be finished up very soon.
Paradigm Lost cross-stitch sampler. I often want to work on this but there are several impediments to my progress -- First, I don't have good lighting pretty much anywhere in the house and I really need it to work with this dark thread on linen. Second, it's in a small basket, so I have to keep it stored off it's stretcher bars. So I can't just pick it up and stitch a bit -- it requires set up time. Third, my eyes get tired at night and that's usually when I find time to craft. Hmmm. . .
Elsa Williams Jacobean Crewel Embroidery. Not sure why this has stalled, other than the fact that I have so much going on.
I realized that I haven't listed the Kumihimo braid I'm working on either. And I'm sure there are other things. Maybe posting photos of my wip's on a regular basis will get me excited about them again. It seems to have worked. I'm already looking forward to getting in some rows on the Keepsake Shawl!
In other news, guess what tomorrow is. It's not my birthday, or wedding anniversary, but it is *an* anniversary for me. . .
Despite a very busy week & weekend, I did manage to get some knitting in on Ingeborg. (Here's the week 1 photo for comparison.)
Still going quite well. . . still enjoying the knitting and the pattern. . . but I am having a bit of start-itis. I need strength to persevere!
So here I am, deciding that I must finish Ingeborg before the holidays. How to stay on track? Commit to weekly progress photos on the blog. Think it will work?
I've finished one pattern repeat. (I think it may be about 4 pattern repeats from the bottom to the shoulder.) This close-up shows how my technique is progressing. I use a two handed method and it's going pretty quickly. And as you can probably see, my tension has improved quite a bit.
There was no way that I was going to rip this out due to some tension issues. This is my first Dale stranded sweater and I'm viewing it entirely as a learning experience. Besides, I figure a good blocking will even out that bit of wobbliness at the start.
In other news. . . Theresa and I went to The Fold in Marengo, IL for a spinning lesson. Toni, who owns the shop, is incredible, generous and very knowledgeable!! She got Theresa's wheel up and running in no time and fixed mine up too. If you are going to Rhinebeck, make sure you stop by and see her!
The picture from a few posts ago? It was Ingeborg. I'm really determined to finish it this time. Since this is my first fair isle (stranded?) sweater, I'm kind of nervous about tension issues. However, I'm pressing on and doing at least 2 rows a day. I'll post pictures about once a week to keep me honest.
Do you know what this is?
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