Finishing it was a definite achievement, it's the biggest thing I'd attempted, and confirmed everything I suspected about myself and the danger of losing steam half way through a thing and abandoning it for months on end. It also taught me a lot about combining colours, which I do not find as easy as I assumed it would be. So far I've come to the conclusion that you can either start with the limited palate that traditional fair isle patterns use (dictated by the colour of the sheep and I guess the dyes that could be made locally) and which I didn't have because they hadn't especially caught my eye. Or you should probably start with a particular point of reference for inspiration. I didn't do that either.
What I did have was a bag of yarn that I'd bought in the same way I might have chosen pick and mix sweets - a ball of everything that appealed to me, with no thought at all about how they might work together. The idea behind the cushion cover was that it would let me knit something sizeable with all those balls of wool and the variety of colours wouldn't be such a problem.
Mostly that's worked, and at least I now know how to make a better job of it next time - which can be summed up as plan everything properly. Meanwhile it'll be comfortable to sit on and I've become quite fond of it, faults and all.
Showed this to my daughter, who's becoming quite the knitter. She made me a pair of socks in two days! I don't think I'm capable of such precise work, but I wish I were. It's gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteThat's impressive sock knitting, I haven't got to the point of tackling socks yet. One of the things I love about stranded colour work is that it's really easy a a basic level. Traditionally it would be knitted in the round for speed but i just did this flat. The convention is no more than 2 colours per row, and there tend not to be long gaps between colours because you don't want great loose loops of wool on the back all of which makes counting your way along easy. Because the patterns are geometric and mirror themselves they're easy to get the hang of, and the previous row gives lots of clues too - so it's hard to go very wrong on this kind of thing.
DeleteYes it is gorgeous. You did not mention the results of the blood work that you were waiting for so I hope that all is well. Did they test you for Lyme disease? We have so many nasty ticks here (the bloody deer of which we have too many) that if any one gets sick with aches, pains, malaise, general crappy feeling, and/or a bullseye rash which is a sure sign, we all go for the antibiotics. There are many other tick borne diseases but the incidence of Lyme here is very high. And you do have ticks there I believe.
ReplyDeleteThank you for asking! I haven't had the blood test yet - there's a wait for the phlebotomist, but for various reasons anaemia is most likely. We do get ticks here, but I'm City based so don't often encounter them. Nasty things that they are.
DeleteIt's beautiful. Well done!
ReplyDeleteThank you - it's a bit lumper in life but it's the thought that counts...
DeleteThat's really pretty. Am so envious of anyone who's good at craft things, but I seem to have two left hands for anything that doesn't involve music.
ReplyDeleteI have no musical skill whatsoever which is a sometime source of regret, craft wise my sister is rather better with anything textile based, and mum is amazing. I just like playing with all the lovely yarn!
DeleteI like the way you have blended the colours so that they go from dark to light in a very pleasing manner.
ReplyDeleteIt was a bit of an experiment. If I can raise enough enthusiasm to ever do another one I'll make sure I have a better plan in place, but I like the craziness of this one too.
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