Monday, February 13, 2006

Knitting Olympics - 1st weekend

Day 1 (2/11) Knitting Olympics:
Knowing I had dinner plans for the evening I knit the whole afternoon. Towards the end of the 1st repeat I finally got it. I finally could see the relationship between the different stitches. Suddenly lace knitting was a lot more fun than I expected. The picture here shows one full 32 row repeat and 6 rows of the next. There was also an equipment change that day. Wednesday night, after I swatched, I realized I really needed a pair of good circulars for lace knitting (I'm so used to knitting with circ's that I kept letting go of the right hand needle expecting it to stay where it was, only to have the needle drop out- Doh!). So, this was my chance to order from a store I'd been wanting to try out - Angelika's Yarn Store. Even though I chose regular shipping I got my order Saturday! I switched out my Balene straight needles to the Bryspun circulars and I am rather pleased. Overall, I really like the tips of the Bryspun needles. They have a kind of indent that lets you really get into those tighter stitches. The flexible cord is fantastic too. I'm not thrilled with the join between the cord and needle, but I think that may be due to how tight some of my stitches are right now.

Day 2 (2/12) Knitting Olympics:
Sunday I knit and knit and knit. M was in the lab the whole day and part of the evening so I plopped myself on the couch, turned on the Olympics, and knit. I was trying to get a little extra done yesterday as I know it will be hard to keep to my schedule with Valentine's Day this week. The picture at right shows a total of 2 repeats and 95% of a 3rd! I really really really like this project. All along I was unsure about lace. I thought it was so fussy and it sounded so frustrating (big needles, little yarn). Even while swatching I was skeptical. Sometime over this past weekend it did finally click for me and I can honestly say that I'm enjoying the process and the product is lovely (and that's not even blocked yet!). The Lorna's Laces Helen's Lace is just fantastic to knit with and the color is so deep.

How is everyone else doing with their Olympic knitting?

2 comments:

Chicago Jen said...

OMG!! Alyssa that's beautiful!! I'm so happy for you the color is magnificent and the pattern is stunning even un-blocked. While I'm not "olympic knitting" per se, I am trying to complete a couple of projects in the time. I'd like to finish Ene and Clapotis in the next several days.

knit_chick said...

That is turning really nice. Good time management on your part for Saturday. I'm still chugging away on my socks.