Wednesday, September 12, 2012


A good day. I got my confirmation from Loop and put it tenderly in the London Pile. I had written to Franklin after I booked the classes, not really expecting an answer and wondering whether he would even remember my name – and had a lovely note back yesterday. The trouble with email is that it’s sort of awkward for keeping under your pillow.

Woolgathering turned up, too. I like that gilet (although definitely without the waist), I like brioche stitch a lot, I have long wanted to experience Unspun Icelandic. My new, severe self, however, doesn’t order yarn until it’s nearly time to knit it – and, even so, look how long it took me to get around to the current madelinetosh Dried Rose which my sister courier-ed over for me last year.

[I also like the line Meg quotes, when she told her campers that several of her new designs included waist shaping, and someone said, ‘You mean they go out in the middle?’]

I’ve printed “Wingspan” -- see yesterday. I am very grateful for all your enthusiastic comments. Some of the examples in Ravelry look so clever I thought maybe you had to spend time winding yarn to the right place or even breaking and rejoining. Zauberballs should do splendidly, shouldn’t they? Crazy or no.

And Marcella wrote suggesting madelinetosh sock yarn. It might be the perfect answer for that souvenir skein I want to buy on November 18 (Franklin Day) – and still time to finish for Christmas. So far, my madelinetosh experience has been confined to nearly solids (which I love):  Thomas-the-Elder’s Electric Red sweater,  my Japanese shirt,  my husband’s v-neck vest, and now the mitered cardigan.

But a lot of the shades (including Ed’s forthcoming gardening sweater in Firewood) are much more variegated, and might make splendid Wingspans.

It’s funny how sometimes life seems flat, stale and unprofitable and there’s nothing in the whole universe one wants to knit, and at other times (like this one) projects come flooding in, too many to deal with. I’ve called up my electronic Christmas list and pencilled “Wingspan” into a couple of the slots.

Anyway…

Here’s the current state of the Mitered Cardigan. No buttonholes. Slightly blurry because the colour is truer without flash. The truth on that subject is closer to the top than the bottom photograph.



And here’s a close-up of the double mitres at the top front. Observe that the corners they form are turning in different directions. It looks so easy. It is easy. But it involves clever engineering. At least so it appears to my simple mind.


The garter stitch band goes on down to the bottom, obviously. One more mitre, then it completes the circumference of the body and is grafted to the initial, provisionally-cast-on stitches. Will that work, since a provisional cast-on offsets the stitches? I did some garter stitch grafting on Round the Bend, and was very pleased with the result. But I don’t think a provisional cast-on was involved. I must look out that pattern and see exactly how it was done. 

6 comments:

  1. Oh,it looks so interesting but rather complicated!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous12:45 PM

    I love Madelinetosh sock, but as yet haven't used it for socks! I have, however, used it several times for a lovely 'shawlette' (that silly word again!) pattern by Wendyknits. It's available on Ravelry under either Sheldon shawl, or wendyknits. Madelinetosh is the perfect yarn for this simple, but oh so plwasing design. All the people I've knitted one for love it.
    Liz Phillips

    ReplyDelete
  3. I have made 3 wingspans, in vastly different yarns; acrylic boucle, Regia sock yarn, and a dk weight single-ply wool. All of them turned out beautifully, and worked up quickly. Addictive to knit, too!

    ReplyDelete
  4. The stitches for your grafting shouldn't be offset since you are only traveling in one direction.

    You get the offset when you've knit a front and back bottom up (or the sole and instep of a cuff down sock) -- at the meeting (grafting) point the tow sets of stitches are coming from different directions.

    With your project you'll be matching an 'approaching' end to a 'departing' end.

    ReplyDelete
  5. What you need to do with Franklin's email is print it out on pretty paper so you can tuck it under your pillow. ;)

    I'm delighted that you're able to go see him! Yay!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous9:50 PM

    Lucky you to have a day with Franklin. I hope you enjoy it very much. I looked at Wingspan yesterday and printed it out also. I think it will be perfect for some charitable knitting I've planned. - Joe-in Wyoming

    ReplyDelete