We had a peaceful weekend, which I really needed. Yesterday, we took the dogs for a nice long hike at Calavera, which was exactly what the doctor ordered. I think we wore Kia out.
Even Tilly slowed down for a little while, although she was happy to help out when Rick and the girls washed the cars.I got caught up on some grading, which was a relief, and got a little bit of knitting done (I'll show you when I have a picture). I also ordered some bobbins and a niddy-noddy on eBay. I figured that only having one bobbin was going to be annoying at some point, and that plying might be more successful if done from two bobbins rather than from both ends of a center-pull ball (these are the things I tell myself to feel better when I compare my spinning to "real" yarn).
I got the niddy-noddy not only to make skeins of spun yarn, but also because of a thought I'd had about knitting Aberlady (yup, that's still floating around in my head). Remember this?
This is the lovely yarn that my friend Jill brought me all the way from Iceland for my birthday. It's laceweight, and I've been admiring it and petting it and carefully considering what I might knit with it. And then, as I was contemplating Aberlady, and thinking indignantly to myself that 9 sts/in is, if you really think about it, laceweight, for goodness' sake, it occurred to me that I have laceweight. Lovely laceweight in a color I adore.But I don't know how much I have. And it occurred to me that if I had a niddy-noddy, I could wind off a certain number of yards, and, if I had a good scale, I could weigh those yards, then weigh all the yarn, and then do some basic arithmetic (I think I'm good for it), and then I'd know whether I had enough to make a sweater. Of course, I could also go with the ol' eyeball method ("this certainly looks like enough yarn for a sweater!"), which brings a certain je ne sais quoi to the knitting process, a frisson, if you will. But I'm thinking that for this one, maybe I'll go with the surefire method. What do you think?
(P.S. Marilyn -- Those mitts that you asked about are Anne Hanson's ZigZag mitts; you can get to them from the pattern store link on her blog. They were a great pattern, and I had a blast making them; I used Fearless Fibers merino for them, and they turned out beautifully.)
9 comments:
I do love that Icelandic yarn. And what a good strategy you've devised! Don't worry, you have a math lifeline if you need it.
:)
Three weeks until finals! Yay! (I know what you mean about the research--I am supposed to put together a panel and my own contribution thereto ... by June 15th, for a conference in early Oct. I don't know if I can think that fast.)
Oh, man, if you are going to knit Aberlady, you want to be sure you have enough yarn. Definitely do the weighing and calculating. It just isn't a sweater meant for 3/4 sleeves, I'm thinking.
By all means, measure and weigh a few ounces then do the math - it'll be worth the time, for sure.
Only three weeks left of school! The best part, so it seems to me, is that the girls will still have a couple more weeks of school. Weeks to call your own. :-)
Sounds like you did have a wonderful weekend!!!
(((hugs)))
That yarn is gorgeous, but I'm much too timid for the "eyeballing it" method! I think I'd have to do the measuring, weighing, and arithmetic process (plus, I love little math problems like that!).
Good luck with finals and the end of the year. I always had a feeling that finals were probably (almost) equally stressful and definitely equally relieving for professors as they were for students. :)
Aberlady is gorgeous, but be careful - it IS a sport weight yarn KNIT to that gauge (maybe even a DK, have to look it up), not a lace weight yarn. And a wool silk blend for drape.
Swatch for serious. Lots.
Also be careful of the icelandic laceweight - that's a single isn't it? You're going to get a very different texture that the picture, which is a discontinued yarn, but I'm betting a three-ply.
I'm such a downer, aren't I? Sorry about that. I've been staring at that sweater for years and think it will be very unforgiving of the wrong yarn choice.
I think Juno might be right, but I do like that yarn and I want to see you knit it up. I think the only answer is for you to buy a niddy noddy.
I can't remember the last part of The Poisonwood Bible; what happened? I do tend to forget the ends of books but I remember being disappointed and relieved by the end of Prodigal Summer; relieved because I didn't want it to end badly, and disappointed because I thought it was soppy.
Go for the surefire. I think laceweight can be more difficult to frog if you've knit a whole sweater with stitches that small. Plus you can't really get more of it easily if you run out...
I don't know why Monday always comes as such a surprise, but it does, doesn't it? At least you're on the home stretch...you can make three weeks!
I'm all for eyeballing it, but on a 9 st/in sweater? That might be tempting fate. I think I'd measure. And swatch. And I should probably go take my temperature, saying things like that...
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