Tuesday 26 November 2013

Learning lessons

Today on the blog: hinting at a new collection of baby knits that I'm working on.
So this is what my night is looking like. And it was totally my fault, trying to speed up the drying time by putting the wet skein in the dryer. What was I thinking!? #i'dratherbeknitting
And done! It wasn't so bad after all. Still, I don't recommend a wet skein in the dryer...
I've got a few lovely new knits happening over here. Not quite ready for FO posts, but coming along. These projects have not been without curve balls however. That adorable little vest up there? Really cute, but the colourwork pattern is a totally impractical motif. I settled on a lovely and simple gradiant pattern and then started knitting away. It was only after I divided for the front and back that I realized that the way I was going I'd have to cut the contrasting colour after every row in order to get it back to the right side of the work to start the next row. Does that make sense? Anyways, it meant that instead of a simple 2 colour project I had designed the worlds smallest vest with the most ends to weave in imaginable, about 40 or so... ridiculous. That chart will get a bit of fine tuning, I wouldn't put you knitter's through that! 

Then there is that beautiful skein of dk weight merino/cashmere/silk up there. Think Orange Label, only dk rather than worsted. I wanted to cast on for a Brixter and I wanted to do so immediately. I soaked the skein (it's Natural, but even the undyed yarns need a bit of TLC before they are ready to work with) and then because I am impatient I thought "hey, it's superwash, I'll just toss this soaking wet skein in the dryer in order to speed up the process." And boom! 15 minutes later that crazy, static filled, coiled up mess was waiting for me to spend the rest of the evening painstakingly winding into a workable ball. In the end, it wasn't as bad as it looks. It only took about an hour and the yarn is still in perfect condition. I'm working away on my Brixter and will report back soon!