progress, mail, and nearly there ...

Today, progress reports on my two main projects (Hedgerow and Fannigan), more mail arrived, and a Queue update.

So progress on Hedgerow is good, I've turned a very nice heel, many thanks to Jane, and now am working on decreasing the gusset stitches all away. Sock progress always seems quicker once the heel is done, top down or toe up, doesn't matter, just quicker. Jane's instructions are very very clear, and very sensible, down to picking up and decreasing out extra stitches to hide the typical gap between gusset and heel flap. And explaining why the heel cup starts with a wrong side row (nicer finish).


And more progress reporting, Fannigan has both sleeves completed, and I'm now working on the yoke, I've decided to work Fannigan as a knit in the round raglan. I was thinking of a saddle shouldered shaping, but two things stopped me. First the arrangement of the stripes as I worked the saddle was an issue I could not resolve for a saddle shouldered stripped sweater- would I keep the stripes, would I abandon them and replace them with more stars across the saddle, would I knit the saddle plain or stripped - and how would I get it all matching up? I sketched various options - but none appealed. My other option was to knit fannigan as a raglan, with the stripes continuing around the body, until just below the neck line shaping. That is what I did for Poppy's mint merino raglan, and it worked well. I did knit the last portion where short rows lift the back neck - in one colour. I think this is a nicer option for Fannigan as well, partly as I would rather not short row in fair isle (read purl back and risk this), and also because I'm not sure what to do with the pattern as rows disapear into the neck line.

You might notice I've worked the first inch or so on two circs - which helps with knitting past that narrow section where the underarm stitches are on a holder and there is not enough distance there to stretch out for ease of knitting the sleeve section. I've now moved to a single circular, but realise that I really need to make sure I have two of each circs in the sizes I use most to make this easier when knitting sweaters in the round.

Fannigan will probably have a square neck line, so I need to think through what to do after casting off the front neck stitches. Do I shape the back in a curve - or try and plan it straight. I also need to work on what do do once she is steeked along the center front - will I fold and face with gros-grain, will I knit a facing, or an extension as on the baby blanket, can I find fabric the right colour to bind it with as in the originals? Decisions, decisons ...


I also found that working the first row of a corrugated rib in K1Green,P1Red was not a good way to prevent flick up, see.... Won't be doing that again any time soon. The sleeves were worked this way, but the body had a single row of K1P1 in green to set the rib before working the corrugated K1P1 rib in colour. That is not showing any tendency to flick up.


So, today when I got home from a v.looooong day of meetings with students, its a mid project checkpoint, and then finishing with recording a nearly hour long interview with a first year student for my study ... there were not one but two parcels on the table for me. How nice, there were also two huggy kids and a Bear cooking pasta for dinner - I felt truely spoilt. Parcel one was Folk socks by Nancy Bush, and it looks good. Lots of toe and heel options to study in more detail. My kind of book. I'm planning to work my way through a book or so a month. This is something I do occasionally - build up my library collection in one area - right now it is sock technique books. Parcel number two (from the knittingzone)- had two items, Trekking sock yarn, an undyed skein, and a set of 4" steel dpns in 2.25mm. I love my brittany needles, the warmth and the shortness, but after that one broke I feel the need for something more sturdy in that smaller size. The undyed Trekking I plan to semi-solid dye fire and brimstone colours (flames with a hint of dark charcoal maybe...?) and use in Brother Amos socks.



Nearly there, so close and yet so far, I'm expecting my 'invite' to arrive tomorrow, this is where I am tonight (12th sept)
* 226 people are ahead of you in line.
* 19935 people are behind you in line. (nearly 20,000 waiting!)

and this is where I was this time last week,
# 952 people are ahead of you in line.
# 18496 people are behind you in line
so 726 people invited in this last week(?), yet a whopping 1,439 added to the queue! Its hard to imagine so many net savvy knitters out there in(on?) the web. Also hard to imagine how so many people can be added at any one time when Ravelry eventually goes live, without some sort of bottle neck.

But it will be next week before I can take a day off work and play away some time in Ravelry. Next Tuesday or Thursday to be exact .... until then I'll be snatching time in the evenings and not knitting .....