also known as What Stole My Sanity...
I am trying to knit this lace stole, it is called Voyager. The pattern is a free one from Elann Yarns. The plan is for me to do this as a KAL (knit along) for the re-read of Voyager by Diana Gabaldon with the Outlander Fans over at Ravelry.
I am trying to knit it with the yarn pictured above. It's lace weight yarn from Spirit Trail called Clotho in the Autumn Harvest Colourway. I love the colourway as it's has got two of my favorite colours in it.
So to the point of this post... I have cast on 99 stitches to start five times already. Today, I got the farthest along, six whole rows of garter stitch and 6 whole rows of pattern (out of 10, sigh). I found a mistake in the number of stitches on the sixth row of pattern (two to many, sigh), realized that I didn't have a lifeline in, yet another sigh. So, now I have to rip it, rip it, rip it (frogging). You just can't tink (knit backwards) a lace pattern without having a lifeline in. If you try to un-knit, you tend to lose the yarn overs that are inherent in lace knitting. Bleh, poopers, caca occurs, meh, and an even bigger sigh! Yes, I am starting YET again. Yes, I will get this. Yes, I can do this. Yes, I have knit lace before. Yes, I am that determined. Yes, more shall be revealed.
However, my Knitpicks Harmony Wood Interchangeables have been a real boon to my lace knitting. At least I stitch better with them. I just can't count better. They have really lovely points for finding the stitches. The wood has enough tooth to hold onto the yarn, yet the needles are pretty slick and let's the stitches slide off when you need them to. I am so glad that Erin gifted me them to my birthday.
9 comments:
This is why I don't knit lace.
I love, love, love those needles. Where did you get them?
That is so beautiful, Leslie! I admit that I envy knitters. I apparently was born without the gene.
Just read the post more closely. Wow! Someone gifted them to you. Awesome. Just found them on the web....must have them....where's my credit card...
Listen, I learned a long time ago from navajo rugs---there should be a mistake in everything because only God is perfect and that way the Devil gets sidetracked early in the project.....
Do you have any idea how many mistakes are in my lace knitting? And do you think I rip them out?
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...............
(part of the charm, ya know...)
Just knit.
Or give it a break, then knit.
And I love the pattern! Yes, I would knit this one!!!! :)
Knitpicks.com for the needles, don't forget to order cables. I love them!
The yarn was a gift as well from a Ravelry Outlander Swap.
I don't tempt the Gods, there is always a mistake in my work. I just have to be better at this then at any others, as I have to try and get the next row to work.. Sigh
You can do it, I have faith in you. I finished the green doily this morning on the train downstate from Chicago. I am making plain jane socks now as well as baby booties. Oh that reminds me can I have the Jane hat pattern when I get back?
I love your description of the 'lifeline'--- That's absolutely what it's like...!
There's something in your tone though that tells me that your knit-desire and preserverance will prevail in this endeavor. And before long, your 'magic needles' will turn that gorgeous yarn into the most beautiful Voyager ever!
I had to rip it back to the garter stitch a couple of times in the beginning until I "found" my rhythm with the pattern. Add in being a left-handed knitter with a congenital inability to read a chart and well, there you go.
Then, as my pattern notes say, gnomes fiddled with the row counter and I managed to knit a whole wrong row in and I did tink that - very carefully and amazingly, it worked out.
Ugh.
It's almost done now.
Thank goodness.
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