I finished the rib, hurray

As you can probably guess from the title of this post, I finished the rib on the Fair Isle top.  I'm very pleased with the way it's turning out.  I've got used to having the wool over two fingers, and making sure one always goes over the top of the other.  It looks very neat if I do say so myself.

pretty rib

first line of pattern

I knitted my first row of pattern, while watching Con Air (I'd forgotten how dreadful a film it was).  I got to the end of the row and had four too many stitches, which puzzled me for a moment.  I shrugged philosophically and knitted them together so I had the right amount of stitches, then I carried on with my second row.  And then half way round the row I noticed my first mistake, inevitably.  I'm blaming the film for the lack of concentration.  Normally I would just drop the stitches down and pick them back up and fix the mistake.  Of course I didn't know how to do that in Fair Isle so I dutifully unpicked the second row, and half the first row, fixing the mistake.

the first mistake


Then I continued on my merry way to the end of the first row,and what do you know, I had even more stitches left over than before.  At this point I smelt a rat.  Had I started the pattern in the wrong place, or cast on too many stitches perhaps?  I double checked my cast on stitches (easy with a colourful 2 x 2 rib at least) and that was OK.  Then I re-read the instructions for the first line of pattern, which is an increase line...yes, I was supposed to increase every 15 stitches as I knitted the first line.  So I unpicked it again, breathing deeply  and thinking calming thoughts.  The last time I got it right.  It took me 2 hours of really awful film to knit two lines.  On the plus side....no there really isn't a plus side.

The moral of the story?  Double check the pattern every time you start a new bit, and keep reminding yourself you do it because you love it!


the second unpick

Comments

  1. Bossymamma10 April 2013 at 23:37

    Of course there's a plus side - in fact there are two!

    You have managed to knit the first row the way it should be, plus another row besides...AND

    The awful film has finished!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Beaker Button12 April 2013 at 21:19

    yes, you're right. And I never have to watch it again, ever.
    Actually I'm nearly finished on the first pattern repeat, which I'll post soon, and that's working out nicely. :-)

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

No Sew Mitred Square Blanket and the point of knitting!

Image
No Sew Mitred Square Blanket This was one of those projects that made me consider why I knit. I don't need a blanket. I spend most of my time overheating, especially at night so actually a blanket is probably the last thing I need. I did have a huge amount of fibre from my Mum's stash, which prompted the idea.  A small selection from mine and Mum's stash! I'm finding spinning very soothing at the moment, with all the crazy going on. But why a blanket? I love to knit mitred squares. They way they get smaller as you make them, the look of the stripes as they form that distinctive V. I made a jacket a couple of years ago, well more of a coat really, with the huge amount of 4ply yarns I have. That started life as a blanket, but morphed into a coat as I was working it.  Me in my Mitred Square Coat I wanted something simple to work, and no sewing, and mindless, hence the blanket. Who knows, maybe next year it will be cold enough to use it. This project did it's job though...
Read more

Lyra Hat, for people with a BAHA hearing aid.

Image
As some of you may know, I have a BAHA (bone anchored hearing aid). This is a fabulous piece of kit. I have a metal screw in the mastoid bone in my head (which incidently has to be tightened each year so I do occasionally have a screw loose),and my heading aid clips onto this screw. I hear through the bone rather than through my broken ear. This does, however, make it a little difficult wearing hats, as the hearing aid sits proud of my head and anything placed on top of it makes it whistle like a tea kettle on the boil! Lyra Hat is my solution so I'm sharing it here for other people like me. It would also be useful if you wear a ponytail. Lyra Hat www.beakerbutton.co.uk   ©Jen Best 2019   Skills required. This hat is worked in the round from the top down.  Working in the round. M1r increases, knit front and back increases. Ability to recognise and work knit and purl stitches as they appear in the work without the need for a written pattern. Casting on and off within ...
Read more

Shirtlace or Dorset button?

Image
I had an interesting Facebook exchange with someone yesterday regarding some new thread buttons I've been teaching myself to make. These buttons are called shirtlace buttons, also known as zwirnkopfe, which means thread button. They are often mistaken for Dorset buttons, because they're hand stitched around a ring, but they are made differently and from a not from Dorset. I thought it might be a good idea to try and explain the difference here.  Dorset buttons are made by stitching in a blanket stitch around a ring (casting), turning the ridge around the edge into the middle (slicking), wrapping the thread around the ring to form spokes (laying), and then stitching in a back stitch over the spokes to form the inside pattern. Dorset buttons were made all over East Dorset, and sent all over the world. They were started by Abraham Case in 1622 and were an industry until 1851.  I know very little about the history of Shirtlace buttons, other than they were made in Germany, Austria...
Read more