Kathryn Ivy

September 20, 2007 - Posted by Alice Schnebly

A shaky start...

At this rate it will take me years to finish Icarus!Thank you so much for all the nice comments on the Tomten Jacket. It’s a good feeling when you finish up a project and others love it as much as you do! Since finishing I’ve started on my Icarus Shawl and it hasn’t been an easy transition. I was very comfortable with the yarn, the techniques, and knitting the Tomten, now I feel like I’m in a whole new world and I’m finding myself very unsure of my knitting skills. Lace weight yarn is SO thin. I’ve knit with fingering weight before, and at the time I thought that was thin, but this is stuff is insane. With the new yarn and new needles I feel very clumsy. I bought some of the Knit Picks Metal Options fixed circulars in a size 3, and they sure are slick! I’m not so used to knitting with metal needles, and I mostly use my Denise set or bamboo DPNs. At this point I’m feeling pretty insecure and it hasn’t made the knitting super enjoyable so far.

Yarn for Dashing mitts—Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran Tweed.Last night I decided to start on an easier project to mix it up a bit, and also get a jump on holiday knitting. I chose some yarn from my stash, Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran Tweed, and started on a pair of Dashing mitts for my husband, Kenny. Isn’t he lucky? He’s also getting that great scarf Grace is making, and if all goes as planned a couple of other things from me :) I’d been wanting to make this pattern for awhile, and thought it would be a fun chance to try out my Clover Mini-Circulars that I’ve had for over a year now. I bought a couple pairs of these little plastic 8” circulars before I was used to using DPNs, but I never got an opportunity to use them. The one I’m using is stamped as a size 8, but my needle gauge says it’s a 7 so I decided to go with it. The first row was a bit awkward and difficult, but after that I was able to move at a pretty quick pace.

I have about 10 rounds before placing the thumb stitches on waste yarn and the glove is already seems quite long. My row gauge is right on so I guess these are just intended to be really long! I’m thinking about taking out some rows at this point and maybe some after the thumb too to fit my taste a little more. Have any of you out there made Dashing? Did the length turn out okay? I’m just a little apprehensive I guess since I won’t be able to try them on Kenny to check the fit since they’re going to be a gift!

I started my Christmas knitting!