Monday, May 19, 2008

The neverending test knit

My goodness. Only once before have I knit something that has over 300 stitches on the needles at once, and that was a shawl that I was knitting just because I didn't have anything else to knit right then. I finished it, decided it was pretty hideous (just what possessed me to buy that particular shade of.....orange?), and just put it away. Someday, if I need a hideous orange something, I've got the yarn for it.

But this has to be finished, and soon. I've been knitting it for 3 weeks now, and I think that's about two weeks too long.

I'm up to 327 stitches. 3. 2. 7. It takes 20 minutes to knit one row. I have only 3 more rows to knit, then the bind-off, then it's done. For now. I think that Claudia wants to measure it as knit, then block it, measure it, then add the crochet-and-beaded edging.

I do think that it's going to turn out nice, though. After all the agony of ripping it out (or, since it's too difficult to pick up the stitches, I unknit it each time, which takes at least as much time as the knitting did), I think it's going to be pretty. The colors are gorgeous; it's Claudia's Fingering 55, 55% silk/45% merino, colorway (I think) Walk in the Woods, and this stuff takes color so beautifully. It's luminous. I'm itching to make something for myself from this stuff.

But probably not a shawl.

4 comments:

Knit and fall back in it said...

20 minutes to knit one row, huh? I'm cheering for you and I cna't wait to see it.

rita said...

Ugh. I thought this would be such an eady pattern because it's all knit, slip one, purl one at end of row, etc. But these last oh, 30 rows are not fun!!!

I took a photo this morning but haven't downloaded it to my laptop. I was hoping I'd finish it yesterday and photograph it in the sun; the sunlight would really bring out the luminescence. Or however that's spelled!

Debbie T said...

I think you're right...it looks like Walk in the Woods colorway. It sounds like this would be a great project for Fall, but I'm not much of a shawl wearer...not yet anyway! :=)

rita said...

Here I work for Claudia and can't tell some of the colorways apart, even when they're side by side. Thank goodness for labels!