Sunday, August 29, 2004

Veni, Vedi, Vici

Finally, I have conquered the border of the Madli's Shawl. I found it helpful to count the stitches as I made them, not just making sure I ended up with the right number of stitches left at the end of each section. This helped me to realize right away when I missed a yarnover. I also "got it"; I started to understand which stitches should be knit and where the yarnovers should be falling, so if I was off, I could tell. Here we are half a row away from starting the middle section (look at all those lifelines!)



I'm in love again. I no longer feel that it is the devil's spawn.

Tonight was also the closing ceremony of the Olympics. Since I actually wanted to watch the ceremony instead of just listening to it, I worked on the Cabaret Raglan, which is just stockinette right now. It's 10 inches now, and the raglan decreases start at 14, so I'm getting close. Unfortunately, summer is pretty much over, and I'm busy, busy, busy again, so I don't know how fast it will go, what with the Madli's Shawl, too. I can't work on the shawl at Wednesday night knitting, so I'll get a lot done there.

For a long time now I've been wanting to use some Koigu for something, but I didn't want to take such a wonderful (expensive) yarn and wear it in my shoes, and making a sweater is cost prohibitive for me right now. I've come up with a solution. If you've been following my blog lately, you know that I am sometimes plagued with killer headaches, and if you haven't been following my blog lately, well, now you know: I am sometimes plagued with killer headaches. They are mostly tension headaches, and my shoulders are very tense when this happens. What does this have to do with Koigu? Well, I'm going to make a shoulder-warmer! I'll just take a skein of Koigu, knit it in a sock-sized tube until it's gone, fill it with rice, and when I feel I need it, I'll throw it in the microwave for a few minutes, and let it sit on my neck and shoulders. Doesn't that sound nice? Talk about a simple project. And it's my favorite kind - no leftover yarn. Christmas present idea, anyone? But I'm still not going to do it anytime soon. NO MORE YARN for a LONG TIME. Especially yarn I have to pay S&H on. By the time I get through the yarn I have, it'll be Stitches time again, and I'll go get my neck-warmer yarn. I think Koigu is a yarn you should pick out in person, don't you? I thought you would.

4 comments:

Gwen said...

Yeah Beth!!! Have almost finished sleeve from two-toned sweater. Per your experience, I'll be buying bamboo needles prior to making my next attempt at the Madli.

Teri said...

Hooray! I know exactly what you mean when you say you "got it". Counting as I go has worked for me on my shawl immensely. Also, I learned how to read my knitting even better once I started working with lace. A;though seeing all your lifelines makes me think that I'm absolutely crazy for never putting one in my shawl and I'm on round 90-something. Ack!

alison said...

Madli's shawl looks awesome! And what a great idea for the Koigu. Brilliant way to use your favorite yarn in a reasonable way.

Melicrious said...

wow!!! the shawl is sooo beautiful!! I also love love love the new look!!! that devil sheep is just the cutest :)