Progress

I’m moving along with the Surplice Lace Top. I’ve finished the back lower half and am beginning the back yoke. Then on to the front.

Yarn: Rowan Calmer; color: 476. Garment pattern is Nashua’s Surplice Lace Top, but lace pattern is transplanted from IK’s Apres Surf Hoodie.

The marker is where I had intended to change needle sizes to bring the lace in a bit at the waist. But then I tried to change the needles back to the original size and discovered that I had never actually changed the needles in the first place. Good grief.

Fortunately, the lace dips in there anyway as you can see, so I’m glad I didn’t change the needles after all. Still, it was a little surreal because I had convinced myself that the smaller needles were causing the dipped in waist until I discovered my error.

I’m not starting socks now because I’d work on them and ignore the top. I knit worsted socks now—which I can wear clear through spring here in the Rockies—and I don’t pattern them, just use stockinette. So it’s easy to work on them as opposed to knitting lace or following a written pattern.

But I really want to finish this cotton top so I can wear it this summer, so I’m trying to stay focused.

I think I finally found a way to hold the yarn for continental knitting that works for me, with the kind and generous help of Stitchywitch. I am using a slightly revised version of how she holds the yarn, which I never thought would work for me, but surprisingly it does. Maybe that’s because I used to crochet.

I don’t know if I’ll ever be confident enough to use continental knitting in anything but a basic project, but still it’s a skill, and I always enjoy having new options when it comes to knitting.

When I finish the continental scarf I have OTN now, I’ll start another continental-knitting project, aiming to become fluent over time. I would like my continental gauge to become dependable enough that I could tackle a more demanding project. I’ve found that washing continental swatches really evens out the gauge, but I don’t want to depend on that for a major project.

I have had an extended migraine for the past seven days and am now dealing with the tail end of it, I hope. These headaches run in my family, although they don’t usually last this long with me—usually four days max. Fortunately, with some pharmaceutical help, I can knit my way through them.

And the knitting is pure pleasure.