Sleeve Progress

When I started the second sleeve, I found the instructions for the line up the centre of the sleeve. It was me being thick, as usual. Sigh. I am still cabling without a needle, but it isn't going any better as yet. I will not give up. If other people can do it, then I can do it. It just takes me longer, that's all.

I frogged my first attempt at the raglan sleeve - I thought the right side of the cable looked sore where it hit the raglan. I made the cables twist the other way on that side, so they kind of slide into the raglan edging rather than hitting it in a lump. At this moment, I think it looks better, but I hope I haven't made trouble for myself further along the line.

Protocosy is a big success. The recipient does not want a 'proper' version in sexy Rowan yarn. He likes Protocosy exactly as it is. Basking in unusual glow of knitting with a successful outcome.

Aran Yarn Arrived!

I don't have a teapot, so here's a picture of the tea cosy draped around a lamp.

The new yarn came quickly! It looks stone, rather than wheat-coloured in reality, but m-i-l has cool colouring so it'll look fine. nice big exciting parcel, but packed by a smoker, alas!

I struggled to begin the pattern, despite doing a test swatch and writing out the instructions before I started, I kept coming out two stitches wrong. I hunted on the Internet for 'People's Friend Country Casuals Patons Diploma Aran Errata' and all variations upon, but couldn't find any notes at all. The mail order chappie said (in a fruity Essex accent) that he'd sold at least 50 packs of the yarn since that pattern came out (People's Friend issue 7250 dated January 17 2009)but I guess they are all non-blogging knitters. Expert, non-blogging knitters, so they knew what to do!

Eventually I realised that the two missing stitches were the ones that should be a line of two knits running down in between the cable pattern. Once I'd added them (although I still can't find the bit in the pattern that tells you to do that) everything made sense and I was off.

I'm trying to cable without a needle, and mostly managing it now - although the crotchet hook has to stay close for the escape attempts. It's harder on Diploma Aran because it's a very smooth yarn. The vintage Aran was fuzzy and the stitches clung to one another, making me think I was getting the hang of it - I wasn't!

Because one can't email small knitted objects, I'm sending my test or prototype teapot cosy (now known as PROTOCOSY) to friend in the post.

Heave Ho!

I started trying to frog Cloud 3 and gave up after half an hour. I couldn't undo the seams so I cut off the buttons and put the whole thing in the bin.

Then I threw away my third attempt at the Aran shrug - the one made by knitting together four strands from a cone of 2-ply wool. It looked rubbish. I won't do that again. (One strand with another yarn can look OK, though.)

I would have thrown away the garter stitch jacket I made such a mess off as well, being in a kind of bury your mistakes mood, but we are decorating so I couldn't get into the cupboard.

Then I got out the yarn I'm collecting for a Ralph Lauren ski sweater. I keep picking up odds and ends of brown and orange yarn, and I still don't have enough! I pulled back my first attempt. I'd done a back and a sleeve which were wrong in so MANY ways. I did these before my Lucy Neatby DVD's arrived, and I can see that I'm improving. I threw away all the small lengths of yarn. I did keep the brown background colour. I can wash the wrinkles out of it if I need it to finish the garment.

Ended up with two piles of yarn and realised that they fell into warm and cool colours. The reason I don't have enough for one jumper is that I only like the cools together and the warms together. They don't look right mixed. Put it all away. Will carry on collecting odd balls. One day I'll have enough!

Then I finished a tea cosy in mistake rib. The teapot lives 30 miles away, so it's a test item in an odd ball of brown tweed. Mistake rib is lovely. It would make a good man's sweater.

Knitting a Cosy

My friend's teapot needs a cosy. Here's a picture. I will look for a good pattern. Colour work? Cartoon character? No frills? There's so many things to decide. I'll have plenty of time to decide, because the cream Aran shrug is far from finished. It's been a busy week so not much knitting got done.

I can purl backwards quickly and easily now, so that technique was well worth learning. It makes bobbles easy to do. What I can't get the hang of is cabling without a needle. I did try, but it's so much easier with a needle! Every time I slide the stitches off the main needle they instantly and viciously unravel. Then I have to spend ages poking around with a crotchet hook to get them all back. I've given up for this now, but I might try again on a different Aran project.