Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Needlework Tuesday - Knitting Woes

Needlework Tuesday is an occasional post detailing my needlework and/or crafting projects.

I had hoped to be posting more often in this new year, but it's the 4th week and only my second post. Oh, well. Even though I haven't posted much, I've been busy knitting up a storm.

Again, I'm going to start off with the baby blanket. It's bigger than I thought it was going to be, but I really like the result so far. Only the border remains...in solid pink. I don't care for the look of it on the pattern photo and the instructions don't make a lot of sense to me. Perhaps they are mitering the corners or doing a fancy edge. Not sure. Anyway, I'm contemplating doing something a little different. So far, I've come up with two options:
  • do a few rows of crochet (singles/doubles or triples) around the edge. This would allow me to practice crocheting and wouldn't require me to pick up another ton (several hundred) of stitches around the edge.  I'm leaning towards this option.
  • pick up stitches and knit a few rows (for the border) on the two shorter edges, then pick up stitches and knit borders for the longer edges. Straightforward. 
Anyway, here's what it looks like now:



The next project from the Mary Maxim's Knit Club of the Month showed up and at first I was thrilled. I adore wraps and shawls:


The yarn on this project has an alternating thick/thin silver thread running through it.  The pattern suggests that it would be good for a New Years party or anytime you need a little sparkle.  LOL.

After going out and purchasing the required circular needle and starting it, I've been swearing up a storm since. I've already had a false start and ripped it out after doing about 6 inches. Now I have a almost a whole ball knitted up and I'm thinking about doing that again. I'm not entirely sure, but I think at least one of my problems involves missing one yarn over (yo) in the pattern. Not every time. Just occasionally. That explains the lacy section. However, there's a straight knitting section that not working out and I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. Here's a photo:


You knit this one from the neck edge down, so the piece is upside down in the photo. I laid it out as flat as I could, but it's still hard to see. However, see the straight unmistakable centre line on the pattern photo? See the wavering centre line on mine piece? Also, notice how the bottom stitch marker and the top stitch marker don't line up? When I first noticed my error, I decided to let it go and continue. However, it's just gotten worse to the point that I need to do something. The good thing is that it really hasn't taken that long to get to this point, so I won't be so heartbroken about starting again.  I think I might sit down with just the pattern and do some counting of the middle section that's not lining up for me.  I could be misreading the pattern.

I've made some substantial progress on a couple of other projects, but I'll leave that until next week.

Needlework Tuesday is hosted by Heather over at Books and Quilts.    If you'd done any crafting this week that you'd like to share with others, please head over to Heather's blog and use the Mr. Linky to link up your post, so others can enjoy your creations.

3 comments:

  1. the afghan looks great. I think I'd go with a single crochet all around and then maybe 2 or 3 rows of double crochet.

    as for the shawl, looks like you need to start again. are you using a stitch marker for the centre? is the centre a yo knit one yo. have you used a life line in knitting. I haven't but I think they are brilliant. here's a link that should help. http://www.endlessknits.com/how-tos/lifelines/

    It is a very pretty pattern and well worth the effort you are going through.

    Thanks for linking up with Needlework Tuesday.

    ReplyDelete
  2. If you are using a single marker to mark the center stitch, try two markers, one on either side, to remind yourself to do something on each side. Then when you are doing the wrong side row, you are reminded to check that you did the yarn over, and if you forgot, you can fix it there.

    ReplyDelete
  3. If you are using a single marker to mark the center stitch, try two markers, one on either side, to remind yourself to do something on each side. Then when you are doing the wrong side row, you are reminded to check that you did the yarn over, and if you forgot, you can fix it there.

    ReplyDelete

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