Palm blog - April 24
Even though my mind was spinning with alpaca color choices for another project, lace variations for a shawl I want to try, and fascination with the super cropped "Sideways Spencer" from last fall's Interweave, I stuck to the plan and made steady progress on the back of my Must Have this weekend. Relative to the number of rows left to do, I was feeling discouraged by my progress. M. walked in and exclaimed in surprise at how quickly it was going. I guess it's all a matter of perspective.
It's the first "garment" I've worked on in a while, so I'm giving myself some leeway. I know I have a history of being more of a starter than a finisher, but I'm doing better. I just can't let myself get too sidetracked. The thrill of starting something new is intense, but I'm really looking forward to the glow of accomplishment that comes with finishing a big project. Guess my knitting attitude is growing up!
A cautionary tale...
I cast my back on using wooden 6's, the same ones I used for the fronts. After doing the rib, I wanted to switch to a circular needle, so I had scouted through my portfolio of needles and turned up just one wooden 6. It's shortish, but I figured it would work. As I got ready to work onto the circular, I happened to look down and notice that my straights are a 4.25mm/6 but the circular is the more standard 4mm/6. They may be close, and they may both be sold as a 6, but as far as I'm concerned, they're not interchangeable! I felt lucky to have noticed before making the switch. It could have thrown my gague off on the back for sure.
So, I'm stuck working on straights. It's less convenient overall, and already, just a quarter of the way up the length, the needles feel heavy to me. But, I'm still glad to have caught the potential problem now rather than later when I couldn't figure out why it was smaller than it should be.
The moral of this story is... before you switch needles during a project, make sure you doublecheck that they are the same. 6's are one instance where this discrepancy occurs between manufacturers. I'm not sure off-hand, but I think it happens with one of the smaller sizes, too - I'm thinking it's the 3.
Thanks for your comment on my blog. The ruffle for Charlotte goes as follows: Into each edge stitch triple crochet three stitches. On mine I thougt I was triple crocheting, but being an inexperienced crocheter I think I was really double crocheting. I think I would have liked the triple better as it was a petite ruffle.
I LOVE the colours in your picture.
Li