Author Archives: lauren

Level 1 Results

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I actually got the results back some time ago, but with one thing and another, haven't had the time and energy to post. The committee had some very kind things to say about my work, as well as pointing out some weak spots. I have to resubmit two swatches, but not the ones I feared, funnily enough. I also have to rewrite the pattern I submitted.

What I do well: good tension, although with some weak spots in the edge stitches, particularly on the purl rows. They found the written work good (just as well, given the amount of time I put into it!).

What I need to work on: transition tension in ribbing, tension in the edges, measuring, making sure that swatches are square. They also pointed out my gauge varied in the hat, with the gauge at the top being smaller. I'm not sure if that was due to my blocking, or whether my gauge changed when I switched to two circular needles from one. It's something to look out for, anyway.

I was impressed at the amount of detail they went into with the comments. Even though almost all the swatches were accepted, they still said what was good and weak about each one, with tips on how to correct the weak areas. And those swatches I have to resubmit? I managed to twist the increases on swatch 5 and the decreases on swatch 7, which are clearly visible when I look at the swatches. I guess I was in "I have to get this out" mode, and didn't step back and look at the details. I'm planning on knitting those in the next week or two, rewriting the pattern, and sending it all off. Then I'll take a break before Level 2 as I will need to practise things like stranded knitting and intarsia first.

Catkins

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I've liked the look of Niebling doilies for many years, even though ours is not really a doily house, and I tend not to surround myself with frilly things, or wear frilly clothes. They're structured beautifully, and are very appealing. Eventually I joined the Yahoo! NieblingLaceKnitters, and started the summer's knit-along, the birch catkins doily.

I've made a little more progress than in this photo, but my camera is busy charging right now. I'm currently on row 88 of 104; some distance to go, but the bulk is done. I had a few problems getting started. I tried various suggestions ("belly button" start, "easy beginner's" start) and ended up doing the standard Emily Ocker start, as it was the easiest for me to get right. Then it was mostly hex mesh (fun!), using a single yarnover for rows 9 - 19, a reverse yarnover from 21 - 25, and the double yarnover from 27 on. I started on four dpns, moved to two circs and one dpn fairly fast, lost the dpn on row 13, and was on a single small circular needle by row 18.

Thread: J & Coats Royale Classic Crochet Thread, size 10, in mint green 9 (colour 428); I just bought a second ball as the first one is almost done, with its 320m. I started on 3mm needles, and moved to 3.25 mm at row 63. I was thinking about moving up another size, but never quite figured out the right place for it.

The trickiest part for me was row 83, since before then when you see the double yarnover, and the skp and k2tog, it's hex mesh. In row 83 you have the same stitches, but in a different arrangement since it isn't hex mesh any more. This threw me for a bit as I thought I'd made a mistake; I had to go and look at a few pictures of finished doilies to convince myself that it really did change there.

Oh yes, I worked the k3tog as sl1, k2tog, psso.

early view of Niebling birch catkins

early view of Niebling birch catkins

Pooling Sweater

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I finished my son's sweater some time ago, but finally got around to taking the photo and cropping it and uploading. He likes it, it's none too big but will probably last a while since kids of his age tend to grow up rather than out. There's a bit of pooling; I actually quite like the way it came out. The zig-zags somehow match the speed at which he usually hurtles around.

kid\'s sweater front

the front

kid\'s sweater back

the back

kid\'s sweater front

another photo of the front

TKGA Level 1 Swatches

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I finally got around to getting the swatch photos off my camera, and doing the minor colour correction and cropping needed to put them online. So here you are, documentary evidence. The swatches were the most interesting part of the whole thing, I thought, so it wasn't a big problem to reknit them as required. Except for the seed stitch swatch, number 3, which was a slog.

level 1 project - hat level 1 project - hat
Swatches 1 - 3 Swatches 1 - 3
Swatches 4 - 6 Swatches 4 - 6
Swatches 7 - 9 Swatches 7 - 9
Swatches 10 - 12 Swatches 10 - 12
Swatches 13 - 15 Swatches 13 - 15
Back of swatch 16 Back of swatch 16
Front of swatch 16 Front of swatch 16

Saturday

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It's Saturday, and the boy is reading, the toddler amusing herself with this and that, and just maybe I'll have time to finish this post.

Somewhat later, after responding to toddler demands for a second breakfast...

I've finished the main knitting on the Baby Ull roses cardigan. I want to soak and block the body before cutting the armhole steeks, to see how much of the "embossing" effect I can get rid of. And at the moment I don't have the energy for all that and then the finishing, so it's resting. In the meantime I cast on for the Niebling Yahoo group KAL, the birch catkins doily. It's reasonably easy to knit so far (mind you, I'm only up to round 31); all the hints the group had have helped with that. I find I'm getting into the "one more round" trap of wanting to keep knitting, just to watch it grow. I can see why knitting Niebling doilies seems to be addictive, judging by the people on the list. Ours is not really a doily house, so I have no idea what to do with it once I have it finished. I guess that makes me a process knitter, at least for these.

Susanna Hansson is coming to town at the end of September, and I've signed up for the workshop. It calls for "Knitters with experience making mittens and doing complex colour work"; given I've only done the one stranded piece and never knitted mittens, I guess I should knit a pair before then! I'm thinking of the endpaper mitts, or maybe the new ones from Knitting Daily, depending on what I have in my stash.