The Front

I've almost finished knitting the yarn I unravelled from the failed cardigan. That will be a milestone.

Making Up For Lost Time

I've been knitting away, needles flashing, and finished the back of Jack's pullover. I tend to start new projects in a rush. Eventually the real world intervenes and the project slows down. So, chances are the front won't be finished as quickly as the back. But so far, so good.

Jack's Gain

I've given up on the cardigan. Enough already! I'm using the yarn to knit a pullover for my husband instead. I liked this pattern as soon as I saw it. The friend who gave me the 'Knitted Favourites' magazine has knitted it twice, so that gives me confidence that I'm not dealing with another dodgy pattern. It's pretty straightforward, with just enough pattern to keep it interesting.

The Pattern is Wrong

I undid my cardigan front to just above the cable shaping. The pattern says I should have 51 stitches at this stage. I have 46. That's because the pattern writer has taken into account the decreases between the cables, but has forgotten the side shaping! I found another mistake in the pattern too. It says to increase the garter stitch for the collar 17 times, when it should be 'until there are 17 stitches', or 11 times - the garter stitches already on the needle haven't been taken into account. The thing is, the pattern is very complicated, so if there are mistakes in it, the whole thing becomes impossible. Sure, it was a free pattern, but I feel I've wasted a lot of time on it.

Double Knitting

As a distraction from my cardigan front that needs re-doing, I decided to try out double knitting. Issue 17 of Knit Now magazine has clear, step-by-step instructions. The hearts in these pictures are back to back and created simultaneously. I cast on again and did a few rows so you can see how it looks during working:

On this row the green stitches were knitted and the orange stitches purled, taking both yarns back and forth between each stitch. Then on the next row, the orange stitches will be knitted and the green purled, to create two layers of stocking stitch, back to back. My tension is not great, but I see the principle and think it's rather clever.

It's Complicated!

I reknitted the triangle, decreasing every 6th row instead of every 4th, and it worked fine, hooray. But now I find I have the wrong number of stitches. The sides are shaped, the armhole is shaped, the collar is shaped and I've done one of them wrong. Oh dear. Perhaps this isn't the best project for evenings after all.

One Flower

I've finished the first flower on my embroidery piece. Hooray. I want to show it to Corlie at our craft group meeting on Wednesday before I go on to the next one. I haven't blocked it. I think it would be better to block at the end of the project, but I'll check with Corlie. I changed the shading a little from my sample, working the small petals at the back in medium instead of dark. I think it works better.