Knit Blackwater Abbey Yarns

Vest Back

Hi Ladies,

Long time no post but I'm back. I've been working fairly steadily along on Mark's vest and am pleased to be able to report that the back is finished! All 192 rows of it. :) I'm happy that it's done because it was getting a little too heavy to carry.

You can see pictures of it on my blog. Now I get to cast on for the fronts. Woo hoo!

Celtic Nightmare

I'd show you pictures, but I'm too damned irritated with myself and everything around me to attempt it.

So I get to what is nearly the bottom of the Celtic Dreams sweater and begin the "skirt" portion only to discover that I'd gone and hosed up the center panel, only working the 22 stitches of the actual center panel rather than including the full 34 (or whatever it is) to include the two neighboring cables. Rip back five rows or just undo those areas as I get to them? I attempted the latter, but I don't like the way it looks. I might still have to rip it back, but I've put it away for tonight, hoping it looks a little better in the morning, lest I rip the whole freaking thing out and have a good cry. Bah!

8 and 1/2 Inches

Just a quick update to let you all know that I'm at row 63 and roughly 8 1/2 inches into the vest.

I'd expected to be farther by know, but I have been working on this vest solely while commuting to and from work. (I have a 40 minute to 1 hour subway commute between Brooklyn and Manhattan, NY.) Even so, I'm seeing what I consider decent progress on this piece, mainly because I've been consistent about knitting a few rows each day. Never mind that I have a bit to go before I do anything other than just follow the pattern. The height of the back is 27" and armhole shaping begins at 15" which seems like forever and a day from now.

But, still, it's getting done, and I love looking at the BWA. The heathery blues are gorgeous and every time Mark sees the vest, he says "Wow, that's gorgeous!" He's even said that he can't wait to wear it on our wedding day -- even though I know it will make him incredibly hot!

I've been thinking of adding his initials and our wedding date to the vest -- maybe by knitting a separate flat piece, embroidering it, then attaching it to the inside back, kinda like a coat hook hanger strap (if you know what I mean). I'm not sure if this is the best option, though, and welcome suggestions.

No pictures because a) I'm lazy and b) there isn't much point at the moment.

6 1/2"

This past Friday was a holiday for me but instead of doing the personal work and wedding stuff that I needed to get done, I worked on my wonderful Black Water Abbey vest.

You see, when I woke up, I felt sluggish and lazy. I didn't want to do anything that required any effort or that might even vaguely be considered work. I picked up my knitting with the goal to knit until I felt like doing something else, like working or house cleaning.

Ha!

I got from row 24 to row 44 over the course of the day. (That's 20 rows of working 192 stitches!) I knit for a few hours at a shot, taking long breaks to rest my carpal tunnel prone hands & wrists. I wanted to get to row 48 -- double what I started with -- but I could only manage to get to row 44 since my hands were getting tired and achey and I feared that my stitches would become tight or uneven.

I'm glad that I did such a huge batch of marathon knitting on Friday. As it turned out, I didn't get any other knitting done over the weekend, since the aforementioned personal work and house cleaning still needed to be done.

There's a new picture of my progress posted over at my blog.

I think I've managed

I think I've managed to catch up with Mary Beth in my progress, but it took having five days off work to do a thorough spring cleaning of my house knit. I really adore the construction of this sweater and am having delusions of creating other aran style sweaters on this basis. I'm not sure if I've got that sort of thing in me, but we shall see.

Meanwhile, we've had several new members join, but I haven't put anything up in that sidebar yet. If you're one of those members, please email me and let me know what you'd like to see in the little bio portion. That goes double for anyone who'd like theirs changed or updated. I have a lot of things to get to yet!

Joined Today

Hello everyone!

Another Liz here! I've just joined and I'd like to thank Liz and Snow for hosting what I'm sure will be a fabu knit along.

I'm knitting the "Cabled Rib Vest" from Men In Knits. The pattern actually calls for Blackwater Abbey yarn so for once I'm not substituting yarn and don't have to worry about drape or fit or those other tetchy things that happen when you stray from the original yarn.

The color I'm using is "dark slate." Mark, my SO, picked out the pattern and the yarn last year when I asked him to choose this year's birthday present. I wanted to make him something that he would love wearing and involving him in the process of picking colors was fun.

When he proposed this year, it became my goal to have the vest finished in time for him to wear it at our wedding. I think for once I've actually given myself enough time!

I cast on for the back yesterday -- 192 stitches! -- and worked about an inch of the pattern before calling it a day. The fantastic thing is that the pattern is easily memorable. Purl, knit, purl, work cable, purl, knit, purl, etc. Then you knit on the knits, purl on the purls for three rows. Start with the cable row again, and keep repeating until you're done. I think I'll be able to knit it in my sleep -- or at least on my subway commute.

Liz

Celtic Dreams

Here's the beginning of my Celtic Dreams sweater. I'm still not entirely thrilled with my cast-on neckline, but I'll be damned if I'm going to rip it out again.

Gaaaaaaaaah!

I knit a few rows on my Tina shawl while dinner was simmering. It must have gotten me in a lace-going mode. That's the only excuse I can think of. It's a lousy one, but bear with me, here.

After my son was in bed and his sister reading quietly in her room, I picked up the two shoulder saddles for my Celtic Dreams sweater and began to attach them. I didn't like the way my cast-on for the neck looked. I ripped back and did it again. Twice. I decided I could live with it, since I'd be picking it all up to knit a rolled neck later on. My shoulders were joined and I had the right number of stitches. I began the first row of the pattern and knit happily along

(get this)

as if it were STOCKINETTE STITCH

and then started back with the charts for Row 2, which should already have been knit instead of a whole blasted purl row.

You'd think I'd have noticed that right away, wouldn't you. Nooooooooo, not me. I knit eight more rows in the exact same way before I realized that things looked way too funky to be right. Sure, I'm an experienced knitter. I've been knitting since I was seven or eight. And hosing things up regularly.

I've ripped back. And it's definitely time for bed. But I think I'll just knit a couple of rows and contemplate the nature of my knitting, see if doing it right gives me any satisfaction at all. No pictures of my poor, overworked yarn tonight. If I keep this up, it will be dry felted before the sweater is finished.