WIPs

WIPs

Liesl

Most of my recent knitting time has been taken up with this. It's another Ysolda pattern.  I can't even begin to express the frustration I had with starting this. The tension on the pattern says "Worsted to Chunky weight yarn, any yarn with recommended gauge of 18-14 sts per 4" can be used to give different effects". Fair enough; but then it says to use 7mm needles, and the sizes are from 30 to 54 inches, going up 4 inches each time. Result: I hadn't a bloomin clue what size to go for as I was using Aran weight.

So I hit Ravelry, with no luck. All the gorgeous finished Liesls were mocking me! I decided to wing it, and swatched about 4 times. Then I cast on and frogged with a variety of different sizes and different sized needles. This must have happened about 6 times. To say it wasn't going well is an understatement!

But I loved the pattern so much, and my yarn is such a gorgeous colour; so I went back to Ravelry. My big problem was getting it to fit around my neck. I stumbled upon a suggestion to cast on with larger needles and knit a few rows of garter stitch before changing to smaller needles and starting the pattern. Also, a lot of people using Aran had gone up two sizes on the pattern.

I would usually go with 32 inches, but as this went from 30 to 34 inches, I took a punt on 38 inches, and cast on with 8mm needles. I did 3 rows of garter stitch, changed to 7mms, and here is the result:

I love it so much!! And it fits perfectly!! Hurray!!! :) It's a much nicer colour than in this photo, and I've done a bit more of the left sleeve. I've detailed everything on my Rav page. I'll post a photo as soon as it's finished.

OXO Socks

My sock is coming along slowly as I have only managed to do a few rows every morning when I'm having my breakfast. I've very pleased with it though, and I love the colours!

Cobweb Frill Camisole

 

I made a top similar to this last year, and wear it a lot. I found this pattern on Rav, it's been in my queue (and the yarn has been in my stash) for ages. I finally cast it on last week. Unfortunately I haven't got too far with it, but I'm blaming Liesl on that.

 

Once it's finished, you have to drop a lot of stitches to make the cobweb look. I'm using King Cole Mirage, which is gorgeous. I can forsee problems though, because I used this yarn for my Clapotis. It's a bit fluffy, and tends to stick to itself, so I ended up having to use a crochet hook to get the stitches to drop.