Feeling ever on the edge

Much against my better judgement, I’ve cast on for several new projects over the last week or so. I’ve still got Lahaina on the go, but have set myself a goal (perhaps unachievable?) of finishing 4 new sample knits before the Sydney Craft & Quilt Fair:

I’m usually a one-thing-at-a-time type person, so it’s quite out of character for me to have multiple projects on the needles, but I thought there could be some sort of psychological advantage to attempting so many things at once. If I did one at a time, each right through to completion, I know I’d have no hope of finishing all four by the deadline - yet having all of them around the house in varying stages of progress is a constant reminder of the urgency of the situation. I can pick up a different project depending on my mood at the time and, if I get bored with one, well I can simply put it aside and work on another. Likewise, there’s car knitting, television knitting, work knitting, and so on  - each requiring a different degree of concentration.  One particular project may be more suitable than another, depending on how fit and able I am at the time.

The Banyan is proving a delight to work with. It’s a cotton blend, which produces a soft, drapey fabric and feels so comfortable against the skin. I’m betting this will be a popular yarn here in Australia (hence my urgency to get a sample knitted!). The yarn is made up of a dozen fine threads softly twisted together, and my initial thought was that it might be a bit temperamental to work with. However, I need not have feared. Once I got my cast on row done, I was away! It really is lovely as it moves across the needles, and is knitting up so quickly on 4mm needles. Here’s a section taken from the beginning of my first piece:

The cast-on I chose for this was a cabled one – knitting between the stitches. It dawned on me when I selected it that I hadn’t used this style of cast-on for decades! It was always useful back in the times when we wore (horror of horrors!) those knits with firm ribbed bands, that clung determinedly to the (then more youthful) body. But for this edging, with so many more stitches than the body itself, it’s ideal – it gives a well defined edge with a bit of body to help maintain the dimension of the stitch pattern. Instead of knitting the design as written, in stripes of 2 colourways, I’m going with one colour only, in Lichen, which may even save a hank on the given quantities.

Next to show is the Millais pattern from the Nostalgia booklet, which is worked in Parisienne kid mohair and Tao pure silk: 

I’ve actually progressed quite a bit further than the photograph shows, so I’m not really ever on the edge!  I suspect you’ll have difficulty seeing just what’s going on here: the pattern is essentially stripings of the two yarns, but the Tao (silk) has a row of a type of twisted drop stitch. Yet another cast on was used here: the regular knitted cast on, as I needed a flexible edge to allow the silk to ‘give’ enough when  the sweater gets put on or pulled off.  This sweater has proven ideal for the ‘I’m not really wanting to watch this TV program, but I’ll sit here with you and pretend I’m interested’ type knitting. I find I need to look at my work  with the fine kid mohair otherwise I sometimes knit off the stitch in a row below by accident, so it’s quite a useful project when there’s something mindnumbingly boring on TV (imvho) that Mr Knitterly Notions wants to watch, but I don’t. Definitely wasn’t Spooks type knitting….more your Robin Hood style (a declaration that may produce outrage from the Hood fans).

I’ve also started the short version of the sleeveless pullover in JitterBug – no progress pics as yet, but it’s in the gorgeous Velvet Bilberry colourway. The sizing in the JitterBug book is pretty good, with most of the patterns to suit up to a chest/bust 117cm, so I’m doing a Boogie Woogie that might possibly end up being worn by me.

So there we have it, 4 knits, each in varying stages of progress, targetted to be finished in just over 4 weeks from now!  I wonder…….?

It’s actually proving to be quite refreshing to sit down and follow an already published pattern. Most of my usual knitting is high stress stuff – designing and patternwriting for other people or organisations – and it’s been a long time since I’ve been able to sit back and….well… just follow someone else’s instructions for a change. It’s when I do this more ‘recreational’ mode of knitting that I better appreciate just how therapeutic and relaxing handknitting can be. It’s just a pity there’s a deadline attached.