Progress is being made, with minor setbacks.
My at-work knitting, a ribbed cowl made from wool and silk handspun is a visual joy to knit, though I ripped it back three times until I got a width and stitch pattern I liked. The yarn gleams and there is so much variation in the green. I’m loving every row, and it makes the meetings go faster.
My Woolford sweater is proceeding as well. I’m really looking forward to wearing it sometime soon.
My row gauge doesn’t match well with the called for gauge so I’ve made some changes in the rate of increases and decreases and I eliminated most of the lower back short rows that would have dipped the back hem as I prefer it straighter.
I’ve reached the wide lower border, which means a lot of ~300 stitch rows that I can crank out during TV or book time. The needles are getting progressively larger as well. I’m speeding through the yarn, which is a little worrisome as I have only eight skeins in the same dye lot. I’m hoping the difference won’t be as noticeable if I use the different dye lot just for the sleeves. So the first has to hold out through the lower part of the sweater.
On the quilting front , I finally faced facts and threw in the towel on the Growing Up Odd quilting. I paid my very broke son $5 to take out all the pins (he wanted a milkshake and I wanted to save my fingers!) and called up a local long arm quilting service.
I made the backing larger, ironed everything, and dropped it off yesterday with a nice man named Charlie who is going to cover it with blue thread meandering squares and get it back to me in a couple weeks. He is far better equipped to deal with a nearly king sized quilt.
It is a very impressive machine. My plan for my non-existent lottery winnings has a new addition.
Yellow Bird Stitches 