Weighing up knitting progress, yes really

Quickly now, as this week is again hectic, I'm on the team organizing a conference and so last night was make the name tag night, tonight is knit night, then the next 2 nights and 2 days are gone in conference activity. At least this one is local so I can go home at nights. I think I will take a sock to knit - but maybe not Salto - something mindless? Then again - between organising food, and writing receipts and handing out info, maybe there will not be much knitting.



Salto grows well, and the yarn is soft and silky and lovely to knit. I like the shape of the sock as the increases and decreases move the cables forward ready to meet at center front, but it almost looks backwards. I'm sure it will fit.


The plain stocking stitch panel at the back is a nice feature, growing slowly between the ribbed sections. And I love the little column of plain knit stitches that the paired lifted increase results in. I'm not to keen on the paired decreases at the front - in hindsight a double decrease that resulted in the middle stitch creating a similar line down the front might have been better - but its to late now to alter, and these have to match.



And the baby blanket, well I started to wonder if there would be enough yarn to finish, the center wound balls were looking very open in the middle. I have knit half the blanket - which is made of 4 sections, 2 sets of two shapes. Two small L's, and two back-to-back double L's. One advantage of old fashioned balance scales - is that you can compare two items, so thats what I did.

There is most definitely an art to arranging and balancing large blanket pieces on a scale, but I managed. Weighting the half that is done on one side, against the remaining two balls of yarn, and the small section I had knitted told me Yes! I had enough yarn to finish. This way I can knit on without any angst and worry about running out of yarn.

And I've finally mastered double-short-row turn. Maybe it was using larger-than-sock needles and heavier yarn so seeing the stitches clearly - but I've worked out what and how to pick up both wraps and knit them. I've never been happy with double short rows before. I know in garter stitch you don't have to pick up the wraps, but if you do then you don't get little holes. Now that I've worked out how to pick up both wraps and knit them as one - well the decrease line is a little row of plaited stitches on the right side, or a giant row of stocking stitch V's. I like, I like very much.

Take care - have fun - there might not be a weekend post so no promises, but I'll be back here next week. If you are in Dunedin and into designery things look out for the open to the public talk by Douglas Lloyd Jenkins at the conference. He wrote a very good book recently, and has fronted two arts series on tv. Its on at 12 in the Hutton theater, at the Otago Musuem, his session is open to the public by gold coin donation.
Stella