River Along: September 2005 Archives
I missed a week of updates and wow do we have a lot of FOs!
Finished
Agnes finished hers a couple of weeks ago, but now she's thinking about seaming it into a shrug. I like it! Go tell her what you think.
Christine is done and ready to block!
Estee is done but she's waiting for her trip to Venice for a photoshoot. Poor Estee!
Felicia finished up too!
Kirsty WH is done!
Marichan finished up as well!
Yahaira is done and blocked as well.
Moving Along
Anmiryam decided on US 7s as well, but got a little off on one of the repeats and needs to frog.
Brenda is almost done!
Diana would be done except she decided to keep going until she finished up both balls of KSH. She's at 17 repeats and counting!
Kate has done several repeats and is plugging along.
Getting Started
Alison is starting for the third time. Go wish her better luck.
Audrey also likes her River now that she went down a few needle sizes.
Cambria also re-cast on with smaller needles and likes it better too.
Jessica re-cast on and modified the pattern to be stockinette stich lace rather than garter.
Julia is back at it again and is happy with the way it looks this time!
Kim re-cast on and is doing a single repeat instead.
Chart Update
When I made the chart I was supposed to flip it when I was done -- but I didn't. So the chart I posted is inverted. Sorry guys! Here's a new one. A special thanks goes out to Diana for bringing this to my attention.
Finished
Agnes finished hers and it looks wonderful. Can you believe she knit this in a couple of weeks and it was her first lace project?
Moving Along
Brenda is about 4 repeats in now. You can see the rivery pattern emerging.
Felicia has done about 5 repeats. She's using the elusive Holz & Stein needles and shared the link where she bought them from -- Thanks Felicia!
Marichan's purple River is coming along nicely.
Melissa is making good progress too. She reports she's getting bored with it though and might plow through to finish it up quickly.
Just Starting
Amy got the hang of the lace cast on and started this week .
Audrey cast on too but might have to tink back. Tinking back KSH -- wish her luck!
Cambria finally got her yarn and cast on immediately.
Chrissy also cast on and will be working on River on the train ride to Boston.
Christine just received some KSN and is considering starting her River over in it.
Diana cast on too. She's using Addi Turbos and noted a sharper point would really help.
Eklectika cast on as well and changed up the decrease to better mesh with her knitting style.
Estee was 3 repeats in when she discovered a dropped stitch and had to frog. Go give her some support!
Gabby is past the setup rows and happily reports she hasn't had to tink back yet!
Jessica cast on and is using smaller needles too. Like me, she's planning to use it more as a scarf than a dressy stole/shawl.
Julia's camera shy River will be taking a trip to the frog pond. She's going to go down a couple needle sizes and add a repeat to keep the width.
Kellee tried a little too much multitasking and might have to frog her River too.
Kim cast on too and is really happy with her progress after just a couple hours.
Kirsty WH subbed a heavier weight mohair and is wondering if she should go UP a needle size.
Yahaira cast on and reports that she really likes the Clover Ivory needles she's using.
KALer News
Go congratulate Jessica if you haven't done so already. Her sock pattern -- Falling Leaves -- was published in Knitty this week! Go Jessica!
It's been a slow week for the KAL -- I'm sure partly because of the Labor Day weekend in the U.S.
Here's my progress this week -- I've knitted through the setup rows.
Needles
The needle comments just keep rolling in! With all this talk about Bryspun I was really curious to try them.
Then on Saturday I noticed one of my LYS started carrying Bryspun circs. We're pretty friendly so I mentioned to her that I had heard there was a problem and they had been discontinued or recalled. She said she just received the shipment a few days ago. Hmmm.
I walked around the store a little more and she popped back over and offered to give me a pair to take home for free to try out. If I like them and they stay together, then just come back and pay for them (I'm in there at least once a weekend anyway, plus I'm teaching a class there in a couple weeks), and if I don't like them or there's a join problem just bring them back and let her know.
So I took them home and cast on for River. I knit the entire setup rows without a hitch. Then I stretched out the lace and bam (no, the needles didn't break apart!) the lace was HUGE. Those YOs were almost the size of quarters. They looked like holes rather than eyelets.
I've had this happen before. Usually I'm a right on gauge knitter (the recommended needles seem to work for me) but every now and then the combo of needle and yarn completely distort my gauge.
So I went back on Sunday and exchanged them for a much smaller size (4.5mm/US 7). I've again knit through the setup rows and it's looking much nicer. And the joins still seem fine.
I will say that the tip on the 6.5mm/US 10.5 was not quite as sharp as I would have liked. But it's a pretty big needle (and how often are you knitting lace on that large a size?). The 4.5mm point is quite nice.
As for whether or not I'll knit other lace with these needles -- I'm not sure. They're OK. They're certainly not crap. And I actually like the cable alot -- more than my Addi's. Why? It's made of a flexible rubber that doesn't kink and relaxes as soon as you take it out of the case. Yes I can boil my Addis to make them relax, but still, every now and then, the cable gets a little funky and needs to be dealt with. This Bryspun cable has none of that.
My perfect needle would be Addi circs with the Bryspun cable. Heaven.
As for the problem with Bryspun circs -- caveat emptor. I'm not sure if I've gotten lucky or if a new batch recently came out. So be careful! It'd be horrible to be knitting away on lace and have the needles fall apart.
Progress
Brenda has also completed the setup rows.
This is Estee's first lace project. She had one false start and has re-cast on. Go give her a little encouragement!
Heather was motoring along when she realized she was doing half of the repeat incorrectly and is probably going to start anew. I think Heather needs a little TLC too.
Kellee also cast on this week. I think she's about halfway through the setup rows (it's always hard to tell in lace). She's using the autumn colorway of Alpaca Cloud -- very pretty!
Liz also completed the cast on rows. She's using KSS and the subtle variations look gorgeous for River! The yarn is a perfect match for this pattern.
Other FOs in the KAL
A huge benefit to hosting a KAL is that you get to visit ALOT of blogs. I try to checkout everyone on the KAL at some point each weekend and note who's made River progress. This week I came across 2 non-River FOs that are really worth mentioning.
Marichan finished her Union Square Market Pullover. The sweater is great. You really have to look at all the details -- she's done a FABULOUS job making all those edges look so perfect.
If you love lace you'll flip over Melissa's amazing shawl. It's nothing short of stunning.
Non-bloggers in the KAL -- how are you doing? Leave a comment so we know, and feel free to send me pics to post.
Today's the official kick off of the River Along. I know many of you have started (and at least one of you has finished!) but I still couldn't let the day go by without mentioning it.
Our numbers continue to grow and we've exceeded the 50 mark. I still have a few participants to put in the sidebar.
Needles
The needle discussion over the past week or two has been interesting. I'm not intrigued enough to try out some Bryspuns but I'd rather stick with circs. I've read they had a manufacturing problem with the glue at the joins and I've had problem tracking down Bryspun circs. Anyone have a suggestion for where to find them?
Another Blocked River
Hazel has blocked her River and wrote up a nice entry summarizing her experience. She gives some good tips for new lace knitters as well as another pic of that crazy beaded scrunchy holder thingy. Go take a look.
Katrina Relief
And finally, I can't end a post today without mentioning Margene's and Susan's hurricane relief drive. Donate money to the Red Cross or donate a prize for them to give away. So many people need our help, so please do whatever you can.
