Month: September 2007

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An odd sight

Sheep in woodsThis afternoon we took a short drive over to the east side of the mountains to look for chanterelle mushrooms and came across this ram standing near the side of a small dirt road, tied to a small tree. A couple of guys with an odd trailer were not far away talking to people in a car. I tried asking about it but didn’t get much of a response. I don’t think the guy spoke English. What an odd sight.

Thanks to everyone for all the info and suggestions concerning the herringbone stitch. I wish I had more time to sit down and figure it out but things got hectic this week. Besides getting a bit frantic with my Nihon Vogue homework, Mittens had to be taken to the vet after I discovered blood in her urine. She’s now on antibiotics for a bacterial infection. I hope I caught it soon enough so that it doesn’t get worse.

Raglan_one_sleeve_2It’s been two weeks since the last Nihon Vogue class and I’ve only managed to finish one sleeve on the raglan.

Just as I was about to finish both sleeves last week I happened to read over my notes and was horrified to find I had jotted down the underarm decreases incorrectly. After correcting my notes I ripped back to the underarm and I started the left sleeve for the second time.  It was going well until I reached the last row and realized I was off by one stitch. Darn it! I should have double checked the stitch count after picking up the armhole stitches. Not knowing the consequences of turning in a project that was off one stitch, I went ahead and ripped out the sleeve again. I’m now back on track and should have the right sleeve done in the next few days.

 

 

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Herringbone mystery

Racket scarf from Ninian

That herringbone stitch I came across while shopping at Ninian haunted me until I purchased this Racket scarf from them. It has the same pattern.

With a closer view you can perhaps make out the zig-zag traveling stockinette stitches. It looks the same on both sides so it’s some sort of interlocking double knit stitch. It’s still a mystery to me how this is done. I couldn’t find it in any stitch book and haven’t found time to decipher it. I’m pretty sure it’s machine made.

Check out the cute tag on the side.

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Three garments in progress

Nihon Vogue class

We just completed our third session and have three garments in
progress. I’m itching to complete at least one of these since it’s not in my nature to have so many going at once but alas I have to wait
until the next class.

Besides many other things, this weekend we tried memorizing an invisible bind off for 1×1 rib (in the round).

Invisible bind off

I just kept muttering my own mantra  …

– knitwise, pull stitch off , enter next knit stitch purlwise and pull through
– purl stitch purlwise, pull off and yarn through,  from back to front between knit and purl stitch, into purl stitch knitwise and pull yarn through
– repeat

… and before I knew it my ribbing was done.

Hopefully I’ll remember this when I get to the cuffs, if not I’ll pull out Jean’s DVD.

My projects aren’t much to look at –  just plain old stockinette stitch. The challenging part is drawing the patterns correctly, writing legible notes and doing the calculations correctly .

top downvestroundneck pullover

Pullover: Cascade 200 heather
Vest: Rowan  Felted Tweed
Round-neck Pullover: Panda Cotton

Next garment will be V-neck pullover. Yarn and stitch pattern for that one is still up in the air.

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A few more photos

National Museum of Scotland

While in Edinburgh we visited the National Museum of Scotland which had an excellent display of textile machinery and a small display of Fair Isle knits. Click on the photo to enter my photo gallery.

I’ve also included several photos taken outside Joyce Forsyth‘s shop. We happened across her shop while wandering the streets. Her garments are amazing.

Joyce Forsyth

Yes, I am still knitting. I just finished the knitting portion of my Nihon Vogue homework for the next class. We’re working on three garments; a top-down raglan, a round-neck vest and a round-neck pullover. All are in various stages. Unlike most of the other students, mine are in plain old stockinette stitch. Yes, it’s boring but it’s been a busy summer so keeping these first three garments simple has helped me keep my sanity. But, at this point I’m bored to tears and need to find a stitch pattern or colorwork for the next garment. a v-neck pullover with 1×1 rib.