On the Needles

I have been delinquent in posting entries even though I have been working on content. I was knitting away on the large black thing, hoping to have it completed to deliver to the recipient tonight. However, it took a lot longer than I anticipated to do the second half of the wrap and I have 1 full repeat (28 rows) to complete the other side of the body. Then I have to pick up all around the front opening and rib the shawl collar. Stay tuned as I work out the details. I’ll post them as I get to them. The wrap itself is on hiatus as I’m traveling and it is too hot and heavy and large to work on. I’ll be completing it on my return after my travels. I took it with me last week when the second side was being knitted but even then it was cumbersome. So I’m working on socks out of Opal’s Rainforest II collection. The Frog one to be more specific. Since I’m on the road, photos are not readily available so text and links are all I have now.

Ever the optimist, I brought two more skeins with me in case I run out of knitting. Will I be able to make 2 pairs of socks in 2 weeks and still need the third skein? Who knows? But a 100 gm ball of sock yarn doesn’t take up too much space or add weight and so it was easy to just throw it in. I am almost all the way up the leg with the first sock so maybe it is not that optimistic. The socks go so fast after the wrap - where it takes me 10 mins to do a row if I don't make any mistakes and have to work back a few sts.

Back to the wrap: I didn’t do the little chevrons down the center back as I had planned. I made little rectangles instead. I didn’t think the chevrons would stand out enough and I was afraid they’d look like a mistake. I wanted it to look deliberate, rather than accidental. If I had had more time, I would have done the chevrons and ripped them out had they not looked good. Since I didn’t have that luxury, I did 8 row rectangles and set off the center with a single line of the opposing sts:

Row 1-8: K6, p6
Row 9: P6, k6
Row 10: K6,p6
Row 11-16: P6,k6

After I was done with the back neck section, I knitted a row of scrap yarn into the sts for the front opening so I would have live sts for the band/collar. Then I short-rowed the second front to match the first and continued on knitting the second half. Those who love symmetry, cover your ears and eyes now. I didn’t mirror the second half. I did it exactly the same way as the first half. In the black yarn, it won’t be noticeable. I had the pattern memorized and was afraid I’d make mistakes if I tried to reverse it. I like asymmetry so it doesn’t bother me and I doubt the recipient will notice.