so close he can almost wear it

TJB's gansey is so close he could almost wear it. Well he could wear it but soon won't be able to, Over the weekend and the first few days of this week I completed both sleeves, ripped back the edging on the first sleeve to match the second ... and worked the neck, that means we have a frog report today. I've even woven in the ends ... but Toby can't wear it ... for obvious reasons that will become clear in this post. Knitting camp was good, real good, 12 of us knitted away, threading and dropping beads and making progress on a variety of beaded knitted projects. There was even a night of show and tell and knitting activities planned. I'm keen to go again next year.


I finished the sleeves soon after returning from camp, the first one I had worked with a 2.2 garter rib and an edge of 4 rounds of garter stitch with a sewn off binding. The second I worked the same only switching to 2mm knitting pins for the garter to stop the slight flare. It worked .. so well I frogged the bind off and garter on the first sleeve back and reworked it on 2mm knitting pins. The rest of the gansey is worked on 2.5mm knitting pins. I think you can see the difference, the sleeve on the left is the firmer edge, the one of the right is looser but is now frogged and reworked.

Then I moved onto the neck, I picked up the live stitches and gartered 4 rounds. My stitch count was 153 stitches ..which was about 58% of my total. I knit Poppy's sweaters with a neckline of 60-65% .. so that seemed a good fit. I don't really like EZ'ds high close necklines, the ones you get when you knit a neckline with a stitch count of 40% of the chest measurement. But this is the opposite and this isn't going to work, its loose and floppy ....and it has a sewn bind off which makes frogging more difficult. I'll frog tomorrow night, probably by snipping and pulling a thread and reknit it with fewer stitches ... and maybe shorter? Toby wanted it tall so he could tuck his chin into it .. but we will see.

And Camp Knitting, where I was knitting Rani ... this is my progress. 2 stands of mohair laceweight and size 11 beads on 2mm needles ... sublte. I love the shine and the fuzz and the colour and the softness, but I will rework it with larger needles as it is a bit firm. Its also long, to long for a cuff for a 7 year old so I'll knit it shorter. I think the beads are to small to show up in pattern, so I might just work random amounts of beads on the right side rows. Gansey first.

And last a knitted star, Sunday was Elizabeth Zimmermans birthday, or it would have been if she was still knitting. I didn't discover her until after her death in 1999 ... but she has influenced my knitting and living a lot. Lorna, camp organiser and knit guru found little things to make in the August section of EZ's Almanac ... christmas decorations. This little star is five rows of garter and a tiny seam. And I'm still floored by the knowledge the lady was thinking of and designing and making Christmas decorations in August!

We had good news tonight, N (C on ravelry) is to quit her more than full time stressful day job and resume a more civilized life, working only a few days of the work week, we celebrated her birthday with a dinner out, and she promised to become once again a regular at our spinning and knitting nights.

ok - take care I'm off to the frog pond .. or the spinning wheel, I'll decide when I get to the lounge :-)
stella