still knitting..

Over the weekend I hemmed my Sahara and it's looking quite nice. I had one ball of wool from the wrong dye lot, and it was noticably darker than the rest (only once I'd started knitting into it of course), but it has worked out wonderfully for the diamond ribbed hems and I am really happy with how it's looking. I was considering a contrasting colour, but it seemed to clashing and this has worked out well.

I have just about finished the neckline. Only 5 rows to go and then I can bind it off and try it on, see how well it fits. I have seen some of the others being completed and they are looking really good, so I can't wait to finish mine.

My mum gave me a huge stash of wool, which includes some very nice white mohair which I think I might knit into a lacy shawl. And some bright red wool which would be nice as a vest or cabled shell or something.

sahara progress

I have been knitting my Sahara, which is coming along rather quickly, with a few little hitches so far. The first was a ball of yarn which snuck into my stash from a different dye lot. It still took me a while to notice that it was knitting up a different colour, but noticed I did, and had to rip it back. I might keep that ball for the hems.

My second major drama was that I somehow knitted back along a row I'd already started, and had created an extra half row without noticing. So when I did notice, I had to rip out about 3 inches, just when I was about to join the front.

The 3rd drama I have is that I neglected to notice that the bust is missing about 5 inches that I kinda need. It should be ok though.

knitting recap

I took up knitting again after a 20 year hiatus in January this year. I taught myself to cast on, the major inhibiter to my knitting career, because I had never learned to cast on when I last knitted at the age of 8. Luckily we have the Internet now, which wasn't around when I was a kid, so rather than braving the derision of my mother and grandmother for not knowing something so simple, I just followed some pictures on the web and voila, I was knitting. The first thing I noticed once I got going was that not only did I remember how to knit fairly well, but that I could also do it without looking. That was pretty exciting, and also has led me to an excess of TV for the last 4 months as I sit and watch Neighbours and cop dramas while I knit, and I don't normally watch tv at all so maybe it wasn't a good thing.

Anyways, some doll blankets for my daughters 'friends', a scarf and a couple of beanies later I attempted my first jumper, which I call the Misshapen Jumper, which isn't actually that bad looking, I just call it that because that was how I expected it to turn out. I am going to insist my daughter wear it.

I am now halfway through knitting a broken rib sweater for myself, which is coming along nicely, and I have also begun knitting the Sahara which is the current SKC KAL, and if you don't know what that is I am not going to tell you. I will post progress pictures later for shits and giggles.