Sunday, April 30, 2006

Shaping the neck in entrelac

Quote of the Post

"Every fighter has one fight that makes or breaks him."
Elia Kazan


I run into a problem shaping the neck.
How do I continue from here ???



The problem is that the pattern does not say how to achive the same decrease ( as the one in the red circle) on the other side of neck. Should I say again how poorly decribed this pattern is?
I am just going to try to mirror the description for the left side.

Monday, April 03, 2006

Noro Entrelac sweater

Quote of the Post:

"I hope you realize nobody likes smart women."
- My Partner

A few months ago I became quite keen on trying the Forest Path shawl.
I've seen so many shawls I like but they are just nice or very nice. This one has the X-Factor.
I did a bit of googling about it and some blogs say it's not a good idea to think you can learn entrelac on this project.
RIGHT. Next step was to start looking for another (easier) entrelac project.
Back to Google search again ( in images as usually) and voila: I got the perfect combination : entrelac and Noro.
I was having some fantasies about Noro yarns and colors for a while now.
So, to cut a long story short, this is why I am knitting thick wool sweaters in the spring AND in 2006 (which is suppose to be the Year of the Lace).

That's the pattern I chose - now, isn't it AG (Absolutely Gorgeous) ?



I am going with the same yarn and same colours as well.
I am tired of modifying patterns.
That's my stage after three days of doing nothing but knitting :).


A few thoughts about entrelac

Great technique and very, very easy to learn. After finishing one line of squares you'll not need the instructions again. A bit slower than traditional knitting, a lot of 'turning', but highly rewarding. And highly addictive as well.
I really can not see entrelac adding difficulty to any project.
You will make a swatch anyway and it will take you a maximum of 30 minutes doing 2 or 3 lines in order to get the idea.
Now be aware, there might a trap: the Entrelac how-to instructions.
The instructions in my book are weird. I did not get anywhere with them.
I found a few sources on the net, read them in parallel and finally got the point.
Soon I will write down my own tutorial :), so stay tuned.

Things I don't like about the pattern

No schematics, diagrams, etc. , I hate this.
Another thing: my gauge was correct, even so the (L) size I've chose is smaller then the (M) one from the book. So my advice would be : swatch, measure and decide for yourself.
And bear in mind the entrelac grows a lot after the plain knitted ribbing.

Noro yarns

Kureyon is 100% wool - quite thick, difficult to handle and uneven. A few times I had to take out parts which were very very thin in the overall context.
I've decided next time I will try a softer type - maybe Silk Garden.
The colours are great though. I simply love this yarn.
You will see the world differently after knitting these colours.
I went out this morning - had a look in the garden and really felt like I was knitting my pansies.