Well it is the final week of March. Much malabrigo knitting transpired this month and I enjoyed all of it. I will have two projects that don't get finished during the actual month of March but I do hope that they don't linger too long on the needles, those are the Rikke Hat and the Mira Cowl. I also have another project that I signed on to cast on and really do want to make that just has not met the needles yet. The Jeweled Cowl is one that I found a couple months ago and thought was really pretty and pssibly doable as a first foray into beading. I decided I would use Malabrigo Lace in the colorway Vaa which is a lovely deep green and blue. When it became one of the official knit-a-long projects chosen this year for Malabrigo March I decided to take part and even ordered beads for it online, a first for me. I waited a week or so for the beads to arrive and then when they did, I got cold feet and didn't want to cast on the over 200 stitches required for the cowl. Then, I got myself all nervous about the beading and the lace work pattern where the beads go. Procrastination set in. This is as far as I've gotten on that.
I wound the yarn, opened the package of beads to put them all in one bag, and took a photo for my project page. That's it! I am such a nervous knitter when it comes to new territory!
I have resurrected a project as of last night.
This project has been on the needles, I am ashamed to admit, since July of last year. I bought the Chroma yarn from KnitPicks in these two colorways, Rollerskate and Fossil, to make a Noro Striped Scarf. The scarf is very simple in theory and construction. It is striping and switching between two balls of yarn throughout, which are techniques that I have not used prior to this scarf, but it isn't that difficult. The thing that makes it waste away in hibernation land for me is the one by one ribbing. One must knit one stitch and purl one stitch all the way across the row. for a continental knitter I am sure this isn't a pain. For an English knitter, such as myself, it is a HUGE pain. I swear it takes me an hour to complete four rows. not to mention during the rows in am frustrated because I want to be able to perform the process more efficiently. I have watched videos on youtube on continental knitting. My mother knits continental style! I just can't seem to get any sort of control over the yarn or needles when holding everything in opposite fashion. Why don't I give up? I'll tell you, the Noro Striped Scarf is so squishy, so pretty, and so darn neat! I just have to get over it and stop beating myself up and just plod along at my own pace and hope that I can finish by this fall. The worst part? I have more of these planned. Have even bought the yarn for them. I want to make more and this one has sat in a bag for almost a year! I will say this, I am not completely crazy. I feel such gratification as I watch the stripes emerge. I get so happy as it grows inch by inch. The yarn is sooo soft and soooo pretty. There are reasons such as these to keep me interested and dedicated to completing this project.
On the reading front, I did read a bit more of The Cat who Could Read Backwards. I cannot remember the details of the book and so I am going to continue rereading it all the way through, although I only picked it up initially for a quick happy reunion with the characters. I have read the entire series of The Cat Who and love them all. It is such a shame that Lillian Jackson Braun passed away. I am anxiously awaiting the release of The Wind Through the Keyhole by Stephen King. This book takes place halfway through The Dark Tower series which was another series I thoroughly enjoyed. There are so many things I want to be reading and I just don't find the time lately. Maybe I will start to designate an hour before bed as reading time and see how that goes.
No comments:
Post a Comment