Making Headway

Cornelia had a wonderful knitting aha moment this weekend. After finishing the first side of her poncho, she transferred the cast on row she had parked on a spare needle.  Somehow she worked in stockinette stitch vs garter.  When she realized, she ripped it all out, cast on and all back to the slip knot for the cast on.

At first tried to youtube the long tail cast on.  It was quite a juggling match to watch the video and follow along on her needles with her yarn rolling away.

Finally she turned off the video and tried it from memory. It took some practice and before she knew it, she had one st cast on, then another, then another. 

Normally Cornelia would have put her knitting aside until she could come to the shop for assistance. This time she felt empowered and capable to give it a go on her own.  The feeling of success and accomplishment has stayed with her in the days since. I'm really proud of how she handled the situation.

Jane was experiencing a problem with row 3 of her pattern. It was just not ending right. She tried a few different things at home and we emailed back and forth trying to figure it out.  The dark yarn didn't make it any easier. She had read the stitches, counted the stitches, and was still short directions for 6 stitches. 

We took a hard look at the written instructions and I looked ahead to what was supposed to happen on the next cable row.   It turned out that there was a missing a cable at the end of the row.   Based on the direction the cables were traveling,  it needed a 2/1 cable  The rest of the cable pattern was error free. Jane's relief was palpable.

Calann was swatching for a ballet top knitting pattern in dk weight for her 7 year old granddaughter.

Eleanor came in wearing her Rivoletto Cowl (DK: 100% Yak, yards). This is a really nice, low yardage cowl in dk weight with written and charted instructions.

I guilted her into picking up her Madison poncho (knit with Rowan Creative Focus Worsted: 75% Wool, 25% Alpaca, 220 yards) because I wrote about it in a recent blog post.  She is going to work on it a little every day. Part of her motivation is her desire to knit the Two Harbors Poncho.  It's hard to rationalize (even for me) starting a new poncho when you haven't finished the first.  This is a fickle rule subject to change at a moment's notice.

Rosie brought her mother-in-law, Nora, who is visiting from England. Nora wanted to try a crochet pattern. She knows how to crochet, but not read the crochet abbreviations. After working on the pattern for a while, she said, "I will not be beaten!" I love the attitude.

Rosie, try her hand at crochet in solidarity to her mother-in-law. She learned the chain and single crochet before picking up her lace square from Building Blocks.  Rosie learned that lace knitting isn't a proper project for tennis watching.

It is, however, perfect for swatching for her upcoming CustomFit class at Westport Yarns.  She'll be knitting her sweater in Berroco Ultra Alpaca (Worsted: 50% Alpaca, 50% Wool, 198 yards).

Eleanor has a specific project for watching tennis. The Summer Poncho from Nancy O's knit with madelinetosh tosh merino (Worsted: 100% Merino, 210 yards).

Mary got lost like Chris the sheep. She flipped her right side and wrong sides and worked 4 rows that way.  We ripped those out and she began again.

We picked colors for Twin Harbors poncho.  She can't wear wool against her skin but loved the poncho. It occurred to me that she could knit turtleneck in Worsted Cotton (Worsted: 100% Cotton, 150 yards). I happen to know she has several single skeins of it in her stash. The she could knit the body in Extra (Aran: 55% Alpaca, 45% Merino, 218 yards).  Since it will be cold out, she will be wearing long sleeves and won't feel the alpaca/wool. This is a great solution for non-wool wearers. We asked the village, and everyone liked both color options.  There were two people that were concerned about the white getting dirty.  Final choice, purple cotton turtleneck, grey body.

When Danni got in, she shared the Watercolor shawl she is knitting for the shop in Artyarns Ensemble Light (DK: 50% Silk, 50% Cashmere, 400 yards).

These two colors of Ensemble Light have been calling to me from across the shop and I finally succumbed to the call from the yarn sirens.  It's on the back burner until I finish my deadline projects. Call it incentive.

Very. Busy. Knitters and one seriously focused crocheter.