Monday, July 31, 2006

The Wedding Ring Shawl (snail paced progress)






So we are up to row 20 on the WRS . I couldn't resist posting these because I needed to see what little progress I have made. It's not much, but it is still pretty and it encourages me to continue with it now that the weather is better. I will put in another lifeline at this spot before I move forward. Also, see above current attempt to spin thin singles on my Schacht. I spin a bit in between everything else and will attempt to spin enough to make a stole or shawl. Short post tonight! This weekend I will not be around to knit. I will be visiting a friend in Seattle who is going to be giving a poetry reading. Will leave Friday, back Monday. No greater love hath one friend for another than to give up knitting and spinning time to be supportive of their artistic endeavors!

To Good Knitting and Good Vision!

6 comments:

Laritza said...

Very nice! I do wonder why the yarn would come apart with tinking. Are you sure it will hold for washing and blocking? Might it need a bit more twist? I would knit a swatch and wash and block, just to make sure.

Anonymous said...

You mean to say that WRS isn't casual travel knitting? :)

Lacefreak said...

Dear alice,

If I took the WRS on a trip I'd have a nervous breakdown! I timed myself. To do one row with my bad vision without mistakes takes about 20 minutes. This is in the middle of the night, when it's real quite and my sister is asleep and the dogs are too. It's only because I don't want to have to pick back if I can help it. I really have to concentrate and it's hard to do this when you are tired after a days work and commute traffic! If I was not so concerned about errors, I would knit faster but it's mighty small yarn and very fragil. I think I'm beginning to speed up as my stitch memory improves for the pattern!

I will take some lace that is not so demanding and that I can actually see without holding it up 2 inches from my face LOL

Thanks for the input. Always nice to hear from you.

Lacefreak said...

Dear laritza,

The Shetland cobweb is very tightly spun but very thin. The picking back is only bad because it's tough to see the stitches for me (I have crappy vision) so I end up mauling the yarn. I did a swatch, it will bear up beautifully to blocking if I don't damage the yarn. It's not the fault of the yarn, it's me! I could use a bigger yarn but I'm stubborn. Even I screw it up and have to start again, I will eventually prevail! Still I hope not to screw up in the near future!

Thanks for your comments! As always, in a knitting adventure, it's the journey...

Jason said...

Jane, your WRS in progress is truly beautiful. The yarn seems to be perfect for it! And the singles you are spinning... oh my gosh! I can really appreciate the effort you put into it after my limited experience with spinning. Just awesome!

Lacefreak said...

Dear Jason,

Thank you for looking in on me and my progress, what little there is. I am really amazed and pleased for you that you are able to spin so well and so thin with your spindle! I confess, I never got the spindle but went almost immediately to a wheel. The trick of spinning thin with a wheel is to get a high speed flyer/bobbin so the twist can happen before the small number of fibers you are trying to twist, can fall apart! It's actually really easy at that high speed as long as you take the time to "pre draft" your fiber. I think you will love spinning on a wheel because your feet turn the wheel freeing up your hands to focus on manipulating the fibers in the draft zone.

Just remember. You may think your experience is limited, but you now know more than the majority of the population out there that don't spin at all! :)