Tue 19 Aug 2014
I don’t know about where you are, but here in Massachusetts we’re beginning to see the signs of fall. The maple seeds are browning up and falling from the trees. My bleeding hearts are yellowing and going into hibernation for the winter. The days are getting shorter, and there’s an unmistakable chill in the air. Usually we’d be in the middle of a heat wave around this time, but this year it seems that fall is coming more gently, and early.
To me, that means two things. First, summer is almost over, and a new semester is upon us. Any crafting time I want before the school year starts has to happen now, or not happen at all. It also means that it’s almost time to wear warm things again, so I’d better get knitting.
The Kneon cowl is coming along nicely at last. I’m well past the point where I pulled back, but you’d never be able to tell it from the photo. That’s how it is with moebius knitting; you just can’t see how far you’re getting until all of a sudden you’re done. At least it makes a nice, small project to take on the train to work with me on the days that I’m going in to campus.
The tiny needles and invisible progress weren’t helping with my sense of building pressure to make warm things, though. So, I returned to a project that had stalled, and started over.
I bought this yarn this spring from Coveted Yarn. It’s Plymouth Yarns Chunky Merino Superwash, and it is huge. I never knit bulky yarn or on big needles, so it’s amazing to me that I can polish off a ball of this in just a couple of hours. I abandoned the hexagon lace pattern that I’d been using before in favor of a simple 2×2 rib, and I’m really happy with the change. The lace just wasn’t popping the way I’d hoped it would, and the ribbing is working really well with the yarn.
I realized about 3/4 of a skein in that I could actually have gone back to my original width on the scarf (I’d decreased because the lace was eating up yarn too fast), but decided to just keep going full steam ahead. It means that I’ll probably have a skein left over and the scarf won’t be quite as wide as I’d like, but this is a project for progress.
The size 13 needles really do help with the progress, too. My hands don’t quite know what to do with needles that big, but the fabric is coming out beautifully at the looser gauge. There’s at least some hope that I’ll have one project done in time for fall!
It was feeling a little Fall-ish here, but the weather here is a little bipolar and jumps back and forth. Since Fall is so short here though, I am hoping it waits a bit longer, they are predicting a longer and colder Winter than last and that just isn’t something I want to consider! 🙂
Love the colors of both, I knit so many socks that even when I use 5s or 6s my hands are like, what are these huge sticks for . . . so I can understand how 13s must feel!
We’re in a heat wave/thunder storm/downpour around here. Per haps summer isn’t over yet!!
I like to switch needles/yarn weights sometime too. After lingering on a tedious knit and then whipping through something else brightens the day!!
The scarf color is beautiful.
Elaine
Yes, fall is almost upon us, too, and minds turn to wooly things. The bulky yarn is lovely, but really, what has happened to you? Neon? Bulky? I’m a bit concerned, but not enough to get you into treatment until you finish these lovely things.
Absolutely love your Plymouth Yarns scarf – such a nice squishy yarn! And your Kneon cowl is coming along nicely. I bet you’ve made a lot of progress. Another gorgeous yarn!