Monday, February 25, 2008

bore-realis

yup,



...it's a black cowl-neck sweater.

pattern: Borealis sweater from Twinkle's Weekend Knits
yarn: LionBrand Woolease thick n quick in black (3.5 balls for the medium size)
needles: US #19

On the plus side: cheap yarn, super-duper-uber fast knit, and it appears that these new Twinkle patterns are written A LOT better than in Big City Knits.

On the down side (and this is mainly due to *my* choices...): it's a totally boring black sweater. But in my defence, I am finally at a point in my life where I KNOW to avoid horizontal stripes. Horizontal stripes or no though, I'm still a big blob in. But it's comfy and plain (like me!) and will no doubt get some wear.



Sorry 'bout the crap photos. Even the pictures I took of the sweater on it's own were essentially unusable---just a big black garter-stitched blob of yarn. Ta-da!

Here's a question for all of you though: what is the freakin' secret to weaving in ends on a sweater like this? Big yarn and a loose gauge equals yarn ends that keep poking through (and are therefore visible) or that leave me constantly having to push them back in. I'm starting to think that I should just leave a long tail hanging lose on the inside for each yarn end. (well ok not really, but still).

Also in the realm of chunky knits, I cast on for another Mercy beret from Rowan's Ribbon Twist, and this time with much better (see: smaller) and more wearable results.



This was made with Rowan Big Wool in "Bohemian" (red). Again, yarn purchased when I was still a brunette. You will probably be seeing more greens from me from here on in, rather than the usual cranberries and raspberries. (Though even as a brunette, was definitely starting to get a bit sick of those colours anyway).

Also this weekend I finally managed to cast on for the Iceland sweater. This is one reapeat of the pattern (which took up almost an entire ball of Rowan Cocoon).



I think it's going to be a real yarn monster. By my calculations I'm looking at about 8 pattern repeats in total, and I've only got nine balls for the whole sweater. You may seriously see me sobbing at some point in the next couple of months.

Anyway, I hope everyone had a great weekend. Mine involved rushing my cat to the "pet emergency" (and subsequent crazy-costs incurred), stepping in shit, and now currently nursing a concussion/tailbone injury due to some deadly toboganning at Greens creek. Major moguls, major ice, and an apparent inability to not go down the hill backwards, has left me way bruised and sore this morning. And even though one other person there chipped her tooth and BROKE her tailbone...I still managed to claim the award for "wipeout of the night". I am SO proud.

Ok, think I hear more Advil calling my name...

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

For the ends I always spit splice if it's natural fibres or you could separate the strands and weave them in separately.

I'm totally petrified of Green's Creek, even more so now. I went down once when I was 11 with my mum and we both bruised our asses and I went once more a couple of years ago and vowed never again. Were there any tards there going down on bikes or in suitcases?

Reckless Glue said...

i think most of the crazies were with me unfortunately... one of the guys I was with fashioned a bob sled out of cardboard (tho in the end it wound up being kind of slow). In a previous year we lit a kayak on fire and took it down camp fortune...I think i am getting too old for this shit.
those are good tips...tho the spit splicing might not work with that yarn (also previous attempts to split splice have been unsucessful for me. I like the seperating ths strands tip tho--thanks!

Happily Knit said...

Oh my goodness! That's a pretty intense accident! I've had some pretty bad sledding experiences myself (think clotheslined). Your chunky sweater looks cute and comfy and as for Mercy, well, she looks beautiful as usual :)

Reckless Glue said...

all thanks to you!

Anonymous said...

Perhaps one of these methods would work for you:

http://techknitting.blogspot.com/2007/02/adding-new-ball-of-yarn-in-same-color.html

http://techknitting.blogspot.com/2007/06/working-in-ends-on-multicolor-knitting.html

http://www.knittinganyway.com/freethings/russianjoin.htm

lomester said...

I like what you think is a boring sweater. You will get so much wear out of it, i think I want to make it for myself, especially if it was so quick (and cheap) to make!

Jada said...

Cute hat!!

Nadine Fawell said...

I also love your sweater: it makes me want one of my own. I was sad to see your comment on Julia's blog that you are thinking of frogging it...
I split splice too, wish I had learned how to do that sooner. I actually call it spit splicing since that's what it amounts to!