Wednesday 12 October 2011

Hyperactivity

You'd think, having been facecd last week with the full list of all my outstanding projects, that I would be content to work on them and not start any more.

You'd be wrong.

I finished the Thinking of Me scarf at the weekend and immediately started thinking about what to cast on next. It had to be a pattern from my Year of Projects list, and it had to be knit. Sojourn Falls was ruled out because my 4mm needles are still being used for Forest Lace, so it came down to a fight between Hypernova and 198yds of heaven. Wollmeise 80/20 Twin, or Rowan Pure Wool Aran. Both purple, both very pretty yarns.

Of course the Wollmeise won!

Purple and brown loveliness.

The main draw (apart from it being the fabled Wollmeise) was that to use the yarn, I had to wind it, which meant getting out my shiny new swift, which I've had for nearly a month now and still hadn't used beyond getting it out of the box to test it worked.

First hurdle jumped - the skein fits!

Because of space issues, and table height issues, it turned into a two man job. Luckily, Jamie was on hand to help out.



He manned the winder, while I kept an eye on the swift. It has a tendancy to spin too quickly, and if you're not careful the yarn catches on the loops of metal where the corners are. But for £20, it was definitely worth the money!

With my yarn cake wound and looking beautiful (the colours look even nicer in the cake than they did in the skein), I faced my next new challenge - the long tail cast on. I found a really good video online, which made the whole thing a lot easier. I did struggle with estimating how long my tail should be though, I had a real Goldilocks moment as my first was too long, the second too short, and the third is, if not just right, then right enough! I certainly wasn't going to frog and re-do 126 stitches for the sake of wasting a few inches of yarn.

Look at the amazing colours!
The photo above shows my progress after getting back from knit night last night. Four rows into the first chart, and already I am comfortable with the pattern. The third hurdle with this project is that the pattern is entirely charted. No written instructions whatsoever. Luckily, the charts are very clear, and I've got the hang of them already. It helps, I think, once you've done a few rows, as you understand what the pattern is trying to achieve. It's a lot harder to visualise a knitting chart than it is a crochet chart. At least with a crochet chart, the stitch symbols actually vaguely resemble the stitches you are going to do!


Hopefully you can see in this picture the pointy bits starting to emerge. I've done a few more rows on it since taking this picture, and it really is taking shape very quickly. I think this might be my favourite project to date!

If you haven't already cast your vote, check out my post from yesterday and help me choose a yarn colour for my Leafy Fingerless Gloves! And don't forget to head on over to Tami's to see what the rest of the WIP Wednesday crowd are working on this week!

20 comments:

  1. Yay for using your Wollmeise (and the pic on twitter of your new skein.... so jealous!) 

    The colours look gorgeous, and I love how they look even better in your wound ball. And go you with the fully charted pattern, I have still never knit from a chart, big scaredy cat that I am ;)

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  2. Ooooh! You must be so excited about your swift! I just got a ball winder, and I'm thrilled!

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  3. Yay for winding up fabled yarn for the first time with a swift!  I just use a ghetto swift, and the yarn is always catching on the clothespins. I did manage to fix the spinning too fast problem by putting some weight in the middle of it, though since the middle of mine is a small box, that makes it easier.

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  4. All looks lovely. I keep toying with the idea of getting a swift and ball winder and really should TBH its just finding the right one LOL

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  5. That's how you get tons of WIPs.  Every time I finish one thing, I want to start three more. 

    I love that yarn, it will look perfect with that pattern.  Looking forward to watching more progress.

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  6. I love Wollmeise too - I'm currently (amongst many other things!) knitting a Hitchhiker with it. That colourway is gorgeous, it looks gorgeous knitted up. 

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  7. The swift and a ball winder are great investments. The Wollmeise is a beautiful way to initiate the swift :-)

    There are some strategies for making the long tail cast on less problematic for large numbers of stitches -- if you search around on Ravelry, there's a formula for stitches related to inches of tail yarn. Some people also like to do the long tail using two balls of yarn or working from both ends of a single ball.

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  8. Wow that yarn looks gorgeous!

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  9. I'm the same way.  I finish one project and it's a 50/50 chance of whether I finish another WIP or start a whole new one.  I'm finding my YOP list to be very helpful too as I will pick something from that to cast on.  Love the yarn!  It's going too be very pretty.

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  10. That's such a beautiful colour yarn. I've just bought my first hank of yarn and am seriously thinking of getting a swift and ball winder, looking at yours makes me more than ever want to get one now...

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  11. That is such a pretty colorway.  Love that purple.  When I first learned how to knit, I learned the long-tail CO.  What I do is wrap the yarn around the needle 10x so I get an estimate of how much yarn 10 sts take.  Then I fold the yarn over and over using that length as measure until I get the # of sts rounded up to the nearest 10.  When I CO, I make sure I CO st right after st, having the CO sts near the needle's point where it starts narrowing b/c if you CO and the sts are all stretched out all over the place, you'll use up more yarn from the short tail and may not have enough in the end.

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  12. omg the yarn is gorgeous.  I have yet to see woolmeise in real life.  *jealous*

    Can't wait to see your thinking of you blocked!  That's next on my knitting list :D

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  13. A little bit sheepish13 October 2011 at 07:26

    Lovely purples and a super pattern choice. I have a skein of Wollmeise but can't decide from about five patterns! 

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  14. Oh my, I love the colour of your hitchhiker. The pink is amazing!

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  15. Thanks for the tips! I will try that next time I need to do the long-tail.

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  16. I've just acquired a second skein in rather shocking oranges and yellows and I can't decide what to do with that at all.

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  17. I keep meaning to get it soaked and pinned out, but I've been so busy this week I haven't had a chance yet! Hopefully tomorrow :)

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  18. Your yarn is gorgeous! I have read to allow about an inch per stitch for casting on. I usually just eye-ball it. 

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  19. I've been pretty much only using the Long Tail Cast On for at least ten years- since when I started knitting- and I usually have to pick it out at least once or twice because I haven't given myself enough tail. Don't worry- I think it's just a standard knitting danger...

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  20. You do so much! If you run the yarn through your hand between the skein holder and ball winder  you can keep some tension on the yarn and stop the skein winder going so fast.  It's a pain when it all gets tangled up.

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