Tuesday, June 13, 2006

Pirate - oh dear!

Thank you everyone so much for your comments on the Irish Hiking Scarf :-) I am keeping my fingers crossed that my dad likes it! It certainly does feel as good as it looks, it's hard to describe the "hand" of this yarn when knitted up. Very soft, excellent drape but with a great structure (I guess the rib helps with that too).

I have to admit that poor Pirate was frogged tonight. It almost hit the pond last night but I decided to persevere. However, it seems the combination of trying to keep the pattern "as set" while decreasing has ultimately defeated me! Working out where to start the row, I could do, but I seemed to "lose" a stitch on some rows, and this last row was the final straw as the pattern went wrong part way through. I've knitted lace e.g. Branching Out, but not with decreases either side before, and I have he sneaky feeling this pattern isn't the greatest for clarity. I don't make a habit of losing stitches either and if I had a dodgy stitch count on Branching Out I could work out what had gone wrong and fix it (and that's a much more complex lace pattern than this top).

In the end I figured I was really going to struggle keeping the pattern correct on this and frankly it was becoming demoralising! It bothers me that I can't figure out why it kept going so wrong. However I'm still determined to make a top to wear on holiday, so am off to look for either a Rowan Handknit Cotton pattern (same tension) or something else that I can adapt. The DB cotton is lovely yarn with a very soft feel to it so hopeflly I can come up with something else for it.

Thanks Hazel for the info. about the Rowan Club pattern books, I'll be ordering no. 39 from somewhere then as I've decided to make Jewel, the cardigan in Calmer. No lace involved LOL - but either stranding or intarsia or something along those lines. There may be further cries of anguish when I start that ;-)

EDIT - I've found the sort of thing I was looking for - Tulip. Even though I just had to look up how to knit reverse stockinette in the round (purl every row), obviously my brain was adversely affected by the heat this weekend as I'm sure I knew that ....

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8 Comments:

At 5:56 am, June 14, 2006, Blogger Dipsy Doodle said...

Oy, poor Pirate! But I sure know what you mean, I've been stuck with a similar lace pattern a while ago, and for the life of me, I couldn't get the hang with the yarn overs and decreases for a long while. I saw it as a challenge though and kept trying and ripping and trying and ripping as long as I managed to get it completed, but it's been a true trial for sure - one that I won't ever do again, I think!

 
At 10:04 am, June 14, 2006, Blogger Seahorse said...

Ugh! 'whilst continuing [ ] as set' is my least favourite instruction ever! Sometimes it's better just to leave these things, knitting is meant to be fun after all. Tulip is lovely!

 
At 11:03 am, June 14, 2006, Blogger T said...

You can have my Rowan 39 (when I find it!)and I'm sorry about Pirate :(

 
At 3:54 pm, June 14, 2006, Blogger Rain said...

Hope pirate works out better next time. I find it easier to rewrite the pattern on a piece of paper in large grid squares keeping the same set of stitches in a column, so if it's p3tog on one row and k,p,k into 1 st in the next row they sit one above the other so I can see what goes together, it may help you keep track of where you are.

There's nothing like a bit of lace to induce swearing with me.

 
At 6:01 pm, June 14, 2006, Blogger acrylik said...

Lace and side decreases reduce me to temper tantrums and frustration - I know how you feel!

Tulip looks gorgeous - great choice!

 
At 8:35 pm, June 14, 2006, Blogger Alice said...

Yep, if it's making you feel that bad......stop. Until you feel enough renewed vigour to try again. Maybe.

I have admired Tulip and can't wait to see how you get on. Cool top!

 
At 9:42 am, June 15, 2006, Blogger KnitYoga said...

If you weren't enjoying it in the end, you definitely need a break and I think the Tulip pattern is lovely. Nice choice. Don't be put off permanently though by decreasing with lace. One of the things on my 'to do' list is the Elann lace cropped cardi. That has a note on how to absorb increased stitches into a lace pattern http://secure.elann.com/ShowFreePattern.asp?Id=104024 and is done by using stitchmarkers. I wondered if this method could be adapted to achieve the opposite, i.e. decreases?

 
At 9:49 am, June 16, 2006, Blogger yarnivorous said...

Mmm, tulip does look nice (but the green bits of yarn around the bottoms of the cut out look a bit odd..)
I've never done decreases and increases with lace before, well not shaped ones, so I'm learning from others too!

 

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