Recently in River Along Category

  

Oh yeah, she's done!

First off...a public apology to all those I took down with me on this one. Oh my, this was a boring knit. Yes it was a very long repeat...but guess what? Every row was pretty much the same -- just off by a stitch at a time. Ugh!

The results, though, I'm quite happy with.

Specs

Pattern River by Sharon Miller in Rowan 38
Yarn KnitPicks Alpaca Cloud 100% Baby Alpaca in Tidepool. Approx 350 yards.
Needles 5mm (US 8) Bryspun circs
Mods & Thoughts

• The needles -- I wanted to like them, I really did. The cord is amazing. I could sit and play with the cord, bending it this way and that. It's a great tactile experience. I even really like the way the needles feel in my hand. Their points are nice -- not too sharp, not too dull. But, I don't like their lack of weight. Would I use them again? Probably not.
• Number of repeats I did 14 or 15 repeats instead of 11. I could have done 1 or 2 more but I just wanted this thing to be over!
• Yarn This is very nice yarn, and for the price this is amazing yarn. It gets a tad fuzzy -- sorta like a mohair halo -- and is wonderfully soft.
• Blocking This was so quick to block! It went from a big puddle of yarn (pic on the left) to a lovely undulating lacy thing (pic on the right) in just a couple hours. The hardest part was finding a place to pin it out that had a fan and could be Isabella-free until it dried. In the end a spray bottle of water ensured the latter. poor Isabella

I sub'd a non-mohair yarn because I wanted to make something that I could wear everyday. I think I succeeded. In the pic above I'm wearing it with my denim jacket. I know you don't see the intricacies of the lace but I'm OK with that. I'm not a traditional lace-wearing sorta girl. I like knitting lace though, so this is a perfect compromise. I get to knit it and wear it.

I could have picked a color with more contrast (maybe one of the light blue shades?) but green is my favorite color.

I finished this thing just in time. This weekend is was windy and in the 30s, and my lacy alpaca scarf was just the ticket to keeping me warm without feeling like a bundled up kid during the first snowstorm of the season.

KALers -- how ya doin?

I stopped the weekly posts because the progress slowed down a lot. Drop me a line or leave me a comment when you're done and I'll link to you in a post!

Done!

• Anmiryam is thrilled to get this one off the needles.
• Cambria is done too. When do we get to see a pic?
• Ev finished as well. Judging by her pic I think she did over 20 repeats!
• Kate is done too, and looks great in her pic with a matching top.

Getting Started

• Marisa cast on and is wondering if she'll be able to add any repeats and still do the knot. Those of you who used KSH and knit the knot, did you have any leftover?

As for me, I have 14 or 15 repeats done.

Knitting this on US 8's instead of 10.5's makes for a lot more repeats! Here's another shot showing its full length. It's about 2/3rds the length of my couch now -- and that's unblocked!

Even though it's so long I keep on knitting because I hate leaving a mini-ball of yarn at the end of a project. I can't seem to throw it out, and yet there's virtually no use for it! I can probably do another 3 or 4 repeats but I've lost steam. Now that it's getting cooler I'll probably pick this up again soon (nothing like actually being able to wear a project to motivate you to finish it up!)

And finally, if you asked to join recently and I haven't added you to the sidebar please let me know. I've been trying to keep up but I'm pretty sure I missed a few of you!

We have some FOs this week!

Brenda finished her beautiful white river!

Diana finished up her longer version and includes some great pattern notes.

Melissa finished a couple weeks back but somehow I missed her post! She used Kid Silk Night and shares her thoughts on how it worked up.

What to do?

A couple KALers our there want our input:

Kate is trying to decide if she's knit enough.

Kellee has ripped again and is trying to decide what needle size to use this go round.

Casting On

Nancy cast on this week with the blue shade of Kid Silk Spray. She has a nice closeup of the slightly variegated look this yarn is giving her River. Very pretty!

Need a Raft?

A couple of your fellow KALers have emailed me saying how frustrated they are with this project.

Jacqueline has ripped several times and is wondering why River is causing so many problems (she knit Birch just fine!)

Jackie is also not feeling the love and is unsure of her color.