Tuesday 22 April 2008

Knitting and Ripping

Yes, Judith, it was Bette Davis in Cabin in the Cotton, 1932. It's towards the end of this clip.



And here she is some years later, talking about kissing in the movies. Get a load of those diamonds.



Back to knitting. I was about to start the Swallowtail for the third time and I took a long hard look at it and decided that the yarn just doesn't suit the stitch. When this yarn was in the skein it looked like a lot of white with a few random dashes of pale blue and green, but once it's swatched there's a lot more colour. So I ripped it and started another Forest Canopy.
I thought maybe the angularity of the pattern would let it overtake the yarn. But that didn't really work so I ripped it and started a Montego Bay Scarf, from IK, Summer 2007. I've meant to do this for a while and even have a skein of Seasilk somewhere, but I decided this was the time to start it. But after a while I decided it would be better in a silky, drapey yarn (like the pattern says, doh!) so I ripped that too.

And I started Argosy, from Knitty. This is designed for a heavier yarn, but I think that if I make it a repeat or two wider and block it so that the points are long and curvy instead of being right angles, it might do very nicely. (Take a look at her other lace; it's beautiful.) This stitch pattern doesn't seem to fight with the colours.
I haven't altogether decided. I'll do a few repeats more and then see what I think. I suppose that I could use this pattern to make a triangular shawl, but one of the intriguing things about the scarf is that the stripes formed by the colours run at right angles to the stripes formed by the stitches, like the Clapotis.

Interspersed with all this ripping and starting, I've gone round and round on Chrissy and have separated the front and back, and am now chugging up the back. It's very wide. The pattern is so oversized that I'm knitting the one for someone five sizes smaller than I am. I wonder what size she's wearing.

5 comments:

Knitting Linguist said...

The argosy is definitely looking nice with those color changes; I'll be interested to see whether you settle on that one. And, of course, I'm still dying to see you start a large triangle lace project (I'm test-knitting one for Anne right now that might be just perfect...) :) Good luck making it through the back and front of the sweater!

Lee said...

Hey, I've knit that sweater! It *must* be clipped in back on that model -- mine is a square, with a goodly amount more ease than the picture is showing. Very comfortable, but not exactly flattering.

That yarn is lovely! It looks like the Argosy suits it well and should be a lovely, light-as-air scarf.

Olugbemisola (Mrs.Pilkington) said...

Love the Montego Bay scarf. Ack, you have such lovely yarn!

Spinningfishwife said...

You've really taken to that Forest Canopy pattern, haven't you?

Have you seen the new one by the same designer? It's gone straight on my To Do list...

http://knittingasfastasican.com/spring-things-shawl/

Mary Lou said...

Argosy could be the ticket -- and I loved the movie meme. Children of Paradise may not be the best ever made, but it's in the top 10. Cocteau's Beauty and the Beast is up there for me.