Let the past sleep, but let it sleep in the sweet embrace of Christ, and let us go on into the invincible future with Him. (Oswalt Chambers)

Saturday, March 24, 2007

Foggy Sky and Finished Swatch

Foggy sky on March 24With no sunshine to wake them up, everybody (3 dogs, 2 humans) slept in this morning.

By the time we got outside for our first walk of the day, it was 9 am with fog and drizzle. As you can see in the picture, we don't have much color yet in SW Michigan - not even green.

Now, at lunchtime, the fog has lifted but the sky is still solid gray. It's warm, 56 F/13 C, and I'm thinking of opening some windows and letting the spring air in the house.


Finished Gansey swatch in dusk Gloss


I finished the gansey swatch (details here) in Knitpicks Gloss, a fingering weight yarn of 70% Merino, 30% silk. The color is dusk. Needles #2. Gauge is approximately 7.5 st/inch, 10 row/inch. Approximate because the swatch is still damp.

Today's thoughts on project:
  • Even after hours of tiny stitches, I still want to knit the gansey.

  • Gloss might work OK, but it needs to be a different color. I don't want the sweater the same color as the jeans I plan on wearing with it. Also, a lighter color will show off the stitches better.

  • Pat reported in an email about her Gloss socks:
    "I'm washing them by hand and they are fuzzing/pilling quite noticeably - probably wouldn't be so bad with a sweater, but STILL - that could be really upsetting after knitting a gansey on size 2 needles!"

  • I prefer not to wash this sweater by hand and I really really don't want to get upset about fuzzing and pilling. Another strike again the Gloss.

  • The "gloss" is another negative. I don't want a shiny gansey. I didn't know that until I knit the swatch.

  • Enabler Fluffy Knitter Deb suggested a different yarn:
    "Louet Gems Pearl - the base yarn used for Koigu, Cherry Tree Hill and Claudia's handpaint but beautiful solids. A dream to knit with, brilliant stitch definition and you can get it on a cone so less ends to weave."

  • From reading Deb's Blog I know she knows what she's talking about so I have to try this stuff. I ordered some swatching skeins in three weights, fingering, sport, and worsted from Handknitting. Plus a color card.

  • Dorothy suggested Dale Baby Ull. I wanted to order and try some of that also, but my stash control monitor kicked in after the Handknitting order and I decided to pass for now.

All three of the above knitters, Pat, Fluffy Knitter Deb, and Dorothy have excellent blogs with beautiful knitting. If they're not on your reading list, I encourage you to give them a try.

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