14 August 2007

Ugh (WIPs)

It was a slow week, knitting-wise. I was a little obsessive with the laptop cover. I'm almost finished with the knitting, and I'm completely sick of it. Now I know why I have to have several projects going at one time. Working on just one project is like sensory-overload for my knitting mojo.

laptop cover 081407

Initially, I wanted to crochet the seams on the outside. After finishing one seam, I realized that it was too stiff. I worried that when I felted it, the seams wouldn't felt at the same rate as the sides/top/bottom. So, I switched to a whip stitch that worked pretty well. I'm a little stuck on what to do with the flap closure. I originally wanted a flap as wide as the opening, but that didn't work out. I started over again with the flap and made it just a few inches wide. My intention is to iron on some velcro as a closure. The flap is meant to hold the opening closed, not to hold the weight of the laptop.

I have this fear that after doing all this work, the felting won't happen the way I want it to and the project will be ruined. Felting is such an imprecise art, which is a lot of why I'm not partial to it. I tried to calculate with the swatch the percentage that the fabric would shrink in width and length. It remains to be seen if my calculations were correct.

As a result of focusing so much on the laptop cover, I didn't work on much else. Lady E. has only a few more squares. I haven't picked up the Celtic Knot afghan in over a week.

I did, however, pick up the Ribbed Lace socks last night, after a month-long hiatus. It's amazing how happy it made me to be knitting on some socks again. I've been feeling a bit burdened by the gift knitting I've been doing, and picking up the socks was just what I needed. I'm beginning to understand that sock knitting is what I like doing most. Something about the small needles and thin yarn just appeals to me. I can be the uber-tight knitter that I am, and it's a good thing. I love that they don't take forever to finish. I love the colors of hand-painted yarn. And I am seriously in love with magic loop.

I was admiring Cristi's Eye of Partridge heel flap yesterday. Mine is not as textured as hers is. I'm hoping that the texture will show a bit better after the socks are blocked. The interesting thing about the stitch when used with the Koigu yarn is the play of colors.

EOP heel3

The stitch creates a checkerboard-type effect with the short color repeats.

Well, that's all she wrote on the knitting this past week. Maybe I'll have the laptop cover felted by next week. Wish me luck.

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Abbey stayed asleep with her head twisted upside-down long enough for me to get a picture. She usually hears me focusing the camera and wakes up. She's cute, but she's pure evil.

sleeping kitty

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