Saturday 23 January 2016

Some knitting gymnastics

The yarn - Skein Australia Top Draw Sock in the True Love colour

I purchased this red-purple yarn in Skein's 2014 Black Friday sale.  I used 3 full skeins to knit a pullover which I'll blog about at some stage.  I had used the start of the 4th skein to swatch for that pullover so had about 90% of it left for this project. The pattern called for a full skein of yarn so I was a little concerned about running out mid-project! 

The pattern - Intrepid by Norah Gaughan for the Fiber Company

I found 2 difficult moments in the pattern.  The first, absolutely mor eminor, was that the chart should be read flat - that is, right to left on the knit side, and left to right on the purl side.  I emailed the designer as I suspected this was the case, but it would have been better if it had been written on the pattern itself. 

Norah Gaughan, Fiber Company, Intrepid, Skein, Skein Australia, Top Draw Sock
 Just a few rows into the chart, the yarn over loops look quite messy

The more significant gripe relates to the layout.  The chart is laid out across 2 pages, oriented to portrait.  However, there is no 2-page view provided so I ended up printing the pattern and cutting off the edges, and sticking it together. This meant that the project wasn't particularly portable as I needed an A3 space to layout the pattenr.  I wonder if the chart could have been rotated 90 degrees in a landscape orientation. 

The knitting

This is not a pattern that is suitable for beginners.  Firstly, it calls for a yarn over at the start of each row.  Patterning is on the right side only, and calls for increases, decreases and twisted stitches, and then kept in pattern on the purl side. 

The flat, pointed, lower section is 91 rows long, starting with just a couple of stitches.  I used about 30grams to complete this section. I then joined in the round and knit a few rows before my first set of knitting gymnastics. As I mentioned, I was worried that I didn't have enough yarn so I decided to knit the bottom edging - so I had 2 sets of needles on the project at once. 

Norah Gaughan, Fiber Company, Intrepid, Skein, Skein Australia, Top Draw Sock
While knitting the bottom edging

The next piece of gymnastics came when I was knitting on the top border, because I don't have any double-pointed needles.  I had to use a 2nd circular needle to knit the top border, which is knitted perpendicular to the cowl, over just a few stitches.  

Norah Gaughan, Fiber Company, Intrepid, Skein, Skein Australia, Top Draw Sock
 Knitting the top border on Hiya Hiya needles

Wearing the cowl

It's a drapey piece that I consider more decorative than useful in January in London!  I'm looking forward to wearing this in the spring.  I love the strong lines on the lower section of the design!

Norah Gaughan, Fiber Company, Intrepid, Skein, Skein Australia, Top Draw Sock
 Blocking really brings out the clear, defined lines of the pattern

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