Tilted Blocks Again

I ripped the lavender Scottish Tweed and am converting it into Tilting Blocks. See the sidebar for a jigsaw of it, if you've got something you want to put off doing for a while.

The yarn is a lovely colour. It's for my aunt as a Christmas present; I think I'll get some nail polish in the same shade too. That will amuse her.

I've remembered that I have some pearly grey Malabrigo which would look very good as Meandering Stripes and would show off the short rows well. It was intended to be an Elizabeth Zimmermann ribwarmer, but that project has been unravelling in my mind for a while and now that I've seen Steffi's photos I think it's just the thing.

Counting Rows

Lynne has asked me about the pink wriggly row counter I mentioned here. This isn't my own idea, but one that I got from a website a few years ago when I first started surfing knitting websites. I've looked for it today but I can't find it.

As I said, I can't be relied upon to turn one of those little row counters that slides on to the needle, and although I'm a little better with five-bar gates I'm still not very good. I bought a clicker at one point and that was quite good for a while but then I sort of trailed off and forgot about that. I know you can get those clever bangles that have numbered beads on them, but I would probably still forget that after the novelty had worn off.

The beauty of this is that it sits on the needle between stitches, so you can't miss it. When you reach it, you slip the next loop on to the needle, so when you get to the last loop you know it's time to start again. When I'm shaping a sleeve, I'll have a four-row one and a six-row one and so on, and I can relax. I like to make them out of a yarn which contrasts very sharply, so that I don't knit them into the thing I'm knitting while I stare glassy-eyed at the television.

You need a piece of yarn longer than you think you'll need. Nowadays I always make them on one of the needles I'm going to use, ever since the time I made a very long one and then discovered that the loops were too small. Sigh.

Pictures for Helen

Hey Helen, even though you seem to have decided to keep 'shagging', I thought I would post the pictures I took of my stacked wedges anyway.

Enjoy!

Thanks for the Thoughts

Thanks for the thoughts about the Meandering Not Stripes. I still think the tweed doesn't show up the structure enough, and anyway it looks better in stripes (fancy that!) because they show off the structure too. I was looking at the Tilted Squares I already did and decided to do that again, because it's a fun shape, and I am putting to the back of my mind the thought that the recipient would really like Shag. Still, I don't have to decide just yet, because I am still busy with the second Noro Shag. I'm still endlessly fascinated by the colour changes. Oh good, there's a turquoise bit coming up, I think.

Sign Ups

There are some invitations which haven't been taken up yet; if you're waiting for one, please check your spam trap in case it's got stuck. But if you've got distracted by having to knit ten presents, that's OK.

Jeanne, Lynne is waiting breathlessly to hear about your problems with the Hourglass :)

Do drop in on Flickr and see some of the New Scarves that are showing up over there.

Decisions, decisions, decisions

I'm confused. I am undecided. I don't know what to do.

I bought some Rowan Scottish Tweed Aran in a shade of pinky lavender which someone I know loves, so that I can make her a scarf for Christmas. I cast on Meandering Stripes (yes, I know my scarf isn't striped) and I've done one right curve and almost all of a left curve, and I just don't think it suits this yarn.

The ones that Larry and Steffi have shown here look as if they're from a softer yarn, and I don' t think this fabric will lie properly. (What does this look like on a human? Can someone post a picture?)

I've pretty well resolved to rip this, but before I do I would like to know what pattern I am going to use instead. Should I do another Tilted Blocks? I know it looks good in a tweedy yarn. Or should I do yet another Shag? It shows off every yarn so well and I know the recipient would love it. Or is there another pattern in the book that I should consider? I want to do Drifting Pleats and some others, but I just don't think the tweed will suit them.
Comments and suggestions, please. Help me to decide.

Another Shag, and Another

I finished another Shag, this time in Noro Silk Garden. It's shade 47. I've wanted to make one in graduated yarn ever since I saw Wendi's here. The colours are all naturals, grey, brown, charcoal and a lovely gingery shade. Who would have thought brown could be so interesting?
It took slightly less than two balls, and is 51 inches long. This is the back, looking very dinosaurish and scaly... but in a good way.

And guess what I did when I'd finished? Cast on another one, this time in Silk Garden 236? Surely not?

I'm sorry the photograph isn't very good, but we only had about ten minutes of daylight today, and I missed it.

The pink wriggly thing is my 17-row counter. I have proved incapable of turning a revolving row counter consistently, and of marking five-bar gates, but even I can't miss this.

I am toying with the idea of flicking some of the flaps, but haven't quite worked up the nerve yet, so these all face the front.