things are looking up
I think my fair isle is improving. The Feral Knitter kindly wrote a post in response to some of my questions. I'm delighted to hear that the color stranded on the bottom does indeed usually show up better, which is what I'm finding. I thought I heard the opposite at some point, which is why I was confused when switching things up didn't improve things. But now I know that my knitting isn't mutant, but normal. Yay! I also think that my tension on the metal needles is improving, so there is minimal to no puckering in the several rows I knit since my post yesterday. I will post pictures this weekend or early next week, when there is more progress. I am more than halfway through the second pattern repeat, which I find amazing. Despite all the futzing around with technique, I'm definitely getting faster. Actually, I think that the continental-only method is faster in and of itself for me. I haven't timed myself, but it's a gut feeling. (Timing myself would be pointless, anyway. Even if I did want to know how long it took to knit a row, that time would vary greatly depending on the row. Because the pattern changes so much from row to row, some rows are a lot faster to knit than others.)
In related news, there has been a positive response to my post to the Ingeborg Knitalong Yahoo! group. There are a bunch of people who either didn't knit her the first time around, or who started but didn't get very far for various reasons. The goal is to start round 2 of the knitalong in October or November. Are any of you guys interested in joining us? (eldil, I'm looking at you! You know you want to give in to the temptation.) I asked my LYS owner if she carries any Dale pattern books, and she said she thinks she has some at home. She's going to search for #126 for me. I don't know if that means she owns them personally, or if she just moved some stock to her house for some reason. I hope it's the latter, as I'm looking to buy it, not borrow it.
I'm also very close to finishing the first sockapal-2-za sock. In fact, all I have left is to kitchener the toe and weave in the 2 ends. No picture, as I'd rather wait until it's officially done. I'm surprised at how fast this sock went. I started it last Saturday night, and have not been working exclusively on it by any stretch of the imagination. Despite it being much bigger than my foot, I guess the 5" cuff and all-stockinette foot really made things go quickly. Now to decide if I want to knit GWTF #2 next, or if I want to finish sockapal-2-za #2 first. (I'm using different needles for each, so I could theoretically have both going at once. But I don't really want that.)
In related news, there has been a positive response to my post to the Ingeborg Knitalong Yahoo! group. There are a bunch of people who either didn't knit her the first time around, or who started but didn't get very far for various reasons. The goal is to start round 2 of the knitalong in October or November. Are any of you guys interested in joining us? (eldil, I'm looking at you! You know you want to give in to the temptation.) I asked my LYS owner if she carries any Dale pattern books, and she said she thinks she has some at home. She's going to search for #126 for me. I don't know if that means she owns them personally, or if she just moved some stock to her house for some reason. I hope it's the latter, as I'm looking to buy it, not borrow it.
I'm also very close to finishing the first sockapal-2-za sock. In fact, all I have left is to kitchener the toe and weave in the 2 ends. No picture, as I'd rather wait until it's officially done. I'm surprised at how fast this sock went. I started it last Saturday night, and have not been working exclusively on it by any stretch of the imagination. Despite it being much bigger than my foot, I guess the 5" cuff and all-stockinette foot really made things go quickly. Now to decide if I want to knit GWTF #2 next, or if I want to finish sockapal-2-za #2 first. (I'm using different needles for each, so I could theoretically have both going at once. But I don't really want that.)