Plodding Along

Gypsy Girl shawl in progress

That heading sounds as if this were tedious or boring, which it is not. But it is painstaking, especially as the arrangement of the motifs in the center section keeps changing. And I am trying to "read" the knitting carefully as I go, because at the width I've reached I don't even want to think about ripping back. So it takes a lot of concentration. Which means I have to be in the right mood, and have a clear block of time with no possibility of interruption before I pick it up. Question to self: can I have it done by June 1?

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The latest issue of "Creative Knitting magazine arrived the other day. It's probably unsophisticated to admit this, but I kind of like the publication. It seems to be aimed at beginning to intermediate knitters with the intention of bringing them along in their skills/techniques, and I think it does a pretty good job of this.

There are always lots of projects that I wouldn't dream of knitting (though I have to say this often holds true for "Knitter's" and IK as well). But this month's cover sweater ain't bad.

And I fairly often come across a stitch pattern or detail that gives me ideas.

The photos don't qualify as "eye candy", but they usually give you a very clear idea of the garment construction.

There are always good schematics. Though I do wish they would chart their lace patterns more often.

There is generally an article introducing the basics of a technique (this month it's Kitchner Stitch)

One feature that I wish the "big guns" would copy: The last page of each issue is made up of thumbnail photos of all the projects in the issue, keyed with page numbers. Boy, does this make looking for something in back issues easy.

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I still haven't decided what to do with my ball of nice grey alpaca from the Argyle Fiber Mill. Maybe a hat? Maybe with a lace pattern on the crown? I stopped by the Mill yesterday, and they have expanded the color range on the alpaca to include a very pretty cream, camel, brown range. Tempting.