~ my merry way ~
I engaged in a substantial amount of knitting this weekend, finally completing an entire sleeve. Woo-wee! From this experience, I can assertively state that I am a novice sleeve knitter. I wish that I could spend a week experimenting with different types of sleeves to determine my preference. For the sleeve on my Neaty, I had a vision of knitting it in a certain way that I found difficult to reconcile in practice. I engaged in A LOT of research on sleeve construction and was not able to locate a method that corresponded to my vision. And so, I kept trying over, and over, and over. I'm quite please with what I've come up with, even though my shaping is extremely pronounced - - I think it looks good when worn over an actual shoulder. Below is a detail - - please note, I stuffed the shoulder with some socks, which does not accurately represent the shape or fit. More photos are available on my flickr page.
Regarding the yarn, I don't normally go for self-striping yarn, but the Berroco Jasper is simply glorious. The yarn, however, does not maintain a consistent thickness. According to Berroco, this adds a uniqueness to the knitted garment. I, however, feel that it makes some parts in my knitting appear to have mistakes. Am wondering if a good dose of blocking will settle it down. The ribbing, as I've mentioned, is Berroco Ultra Alpaca, and even though I don't excell at matching, I'm pleased at how much the yarns compliment each other.
In other news, I am ready for cycling season! Over the weekend, I brought my road bike over to Josh's place and we did some spinning on his trainers while watching crime shows. It was fun and all, but does nothing to compare to an actual ride. I've been keeping myself up at night fantasizing about all of the mountain biking I'll get to do on my new bike. Josh and I have been discussing possible vacations for this year and many of our discussions have centered around mountain bike-focused trips. I just keep thinking about my favorite road rides, my favorite trails, and all of the possibilities for discovering more biking adventures...it is very exciting!
Definately try the blocking. I have found that it is the best fix for my feral knitted sleeves. And all I can say about that Berroco Jasper is "mama mia!".
Posted by: Josh | February 27, 2008 6:15 PM