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Thursday, July 28, 2016

There is something to be said for consistency

We all do it.  Start a project and then for one reason or another it goes into hibernation or long-term parking (whatever you like to call it).

For a long time I was really good about sticking to four projects.  Some of you may think that's a lot. Some of you may consider me a slacker ;)

At present I have 8 projects on needles:

Actively knitting:


Cirrus Poncho It's this project that brought the importance of consistency came to mind.  I'm knitting this Portuguese Style.  You have to work left and right slanted increases. 


Clearly every time I picked up the project I worked them differently.  One would think I would make notes, but no. No notes, no trail of bread crumbs.  The trail is cold.  And we fudge forward. Cirrus is knit with two Shibui yarns held together: Pebble (Light Fingering: 48% Silk, 36% Merino, 16% Cashmere, 224 yards) and Silk Cloud (Fingering: 60% Mohair, 40% silk, 330 yards).

The differences may not be noticeable to the "naked eye" when not enlarged.  If you are the type of knitter who likes things to be perfect or you rip it out and begin again, this may offend your sensibilities.  For me, it's not "a hill to die on".  It doesn't affect the integrity of the piece and ripping out mohair is not worth the trouble. When a mistake is noticeable, I rip out. 


Poncho Air Lux Love the look of the lace. This is a morning coffee project or at a minimum one I cannot knit with other people around.  It requires paying attention on both rows. I've modified the pattern to insert a i-cord edge instead of garter.


Hitchhiker  Mindless with the exception that I didn't like how the increases looked.  Again, I modified the way the increases are worked without making notes.


Twice when I picked it up, I work the increases a little differently.  It's a scarf, I move on. Note to self: paper/pen in project bag - WRITE IT DOWN.


Trains, Planes, and Automobiles Mindless and good for travel ~ small and squishy so it tucks into my bag nicely. I began this project because Skacel discontinued Kid Paillettes. This is a shop pattern at Westport Yarns that made up of three colors: two skeins of  Kid Paillettes (Lace: 42% Mohair, 40% Polyester, 18% Silk, 137 yards) and one skein each of two other colors of Kidsilk Haze (Lace: 70% Mohair, 30% Silk, 229 yards).


Building in Color Shop Sample/Future Class knit with Plymouth Select Superwash (Worsted: 100% Merino 218 yards).

In hibernation for the summer: 


Misty Scarf knit with Rowan Kidsilk Haze Stripe (Lace: 70% Mohair, 30% Silk). 


Icicle Scarf knit with Zen Serenity 20 (Fingering: 70% Merino, 20% Cashmere, 10% Nylon, 400 yards).

In long-term parking:


Lizard Ridge Pillow knit with Kureyon (Aran: 100% Wool, 110 yards).

We always have a (seemingly) good reason for putting down a project.  Moral of the story: make good notes while you knit.  We don't always know when we put down our knitting that it may not get picked up again for a while. Things change ~ gauge changes, interest wanes, and most importantly we forget.

Not included in the list are design projects I'm working on.  Oy.



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