It’s been a good week for knitting. Projects have progressed; knitters have been met; non-knitters have been swayed; and, er, yarn has been acquired. Somehow. It happened very quickly, my memory’s kind of hazy on the subject.
The meeting of knitters was particularly good. Expedition Crimson was a success: I met two lovely knitters who happened to have seen my note here (hi, Gabrielle and Mel! Stick around!), and I got my not-so-much-knitting friend Claire to start a scarf. Noises were made about returning for more. I’ll keep you all posted.
As for the accidental yarn acquisition — well, I suppose it was too much to expect that I’d escape Ally Pally empty handed, wasn’t it? I went for networking purposes; that was fairly successful, but I did end up carrying about three bags of yarn home. Oh. Um. (What did I get? Texere’s so-soft alpaca mohair at £1 a ball, and some Lang Silk Dream (merino/silk) at £3.99 a ball. Seriously, at those prices? Rude not to. I’m sure you’ll agree. Let’s pass lightly over the fact that in my rush of blood to the head, I managed to grab a bag of mulberry instead of the red I intended, and that instead of exchanging it like a sensible person, I will be keeping the mulberry and ordering red as and when I’m ready to knit that particular project. Conforming to the First Law of Stash: once yarn has entered a knitter’s possession, it will never leave it except under circumstances of exceptional generosity, or of course once it has undergone successful conversion to FO status.)
Now, I know you want to see all this — and the knitting progress below — but consider: right now, while it’s raining outside; I’m under the duvet with Armin next to me, both of us tap-tapping away on our laptops, and two purring cats at our feet. You wouldn’t make me go get the camera. Would you?
Exercise your imagination, instead, as you picture my knitting.
I finished the coat, and am really rather pleased; it’s the most fully fitted thing I’ve ever made — full-on hip, waist and bust shaping, plus set-in sleeves of course, and everything goes just where it’s supposed to. Success!
I’ve also made progress on a silk scarf (er, cravat? one skein only), and on Gecko Ridge. What is Gecko Ridge, I hear you ask? Well, it’s like this.
I fell in love with Lizard Ridge about 5 seconds after the new Knitty came out. But the thought of all those short rows… not so much. (I have no fear of short rows. I’m fine with them, really. But maybe not *quite* so many.) So I thought, how about a crochet version? No-hassle waves, plus it’s the perfect portable project. (Never too big, no need for a pattern or any special tools — it’s pretty mindless repetition Ô no worries about dropping stitches, no need for stick-waving elbow room on the train. Perfect.) Hence, Gecko Ridge: like Lizard Ridge, but different.
I love, love, love the project, by the way. The colour changing enthralls me. The only problem is that it goes too quickly (if I set out for a day that will involve a few train rides, I have to pack two to three balls). So I keep running out of Kureyon colours; and I fear the day it will all be over. When that happens, I’m not sure how I’m going to stop myself reaching out for a few balls of Silk Garden, to start a new and altogether more extravagant version…
Woolly thoughts (and fuzzy logic) 