all warm and cozy

Pattern: Cozy, from Knitty



Yarn: Exactly as requested, Reynolds Mandalay in 'Oatfield.' I was slightly disappointed to find the yarn much darker than I expected (the pictures at the purchase location were accurate, but it looked a lot lighter in the pattern photographs, which I had judged to be more accurate in ordinary light).

Needles: US size 8, aluminum, knit straight on circs.

Time: I started this sometime around late March/early April, I think. Obviously, then, it took me quite a while, but there were a few weeks here and there where it went untouched, as well.

Modifications: I stopped knitting after seven skeins, as it was already quite long enough. The eighth might have been useful were I taller, though. The only other modification I made was more a matter of misinterpretation, and might be corrected at a later date (see my comments below).



Comments: This is my largest project to date (in terms of sheer size). It's definitely a lovely pattern---quite easy for my first lace project (it probably helped using a relatively thick yarn), although I certainly learned the value of lifelines. The pattern calls for ending with row eight, but I wasn't surewhether that meant stop before knitting row 8, or after. I chose after, but as it turns out, I should have ignored the eighth row of the last repeat---it left me with a tiny stockinette section once I added the gartet stitch border. A minor issue, thought I might go back and fix it at some point, easy as it is to remedy.

another one bites the dust

After putting in six hours of knitting yesterday and easily another four today, I can finally say that I have finished Cozy. What a relief. It is done well ahead of the deadline (6 September) I set for myself two weeks ago, which thankfully leaves me an extra two weeks to work on the agfhan that I hope to have done in time for Thanksgiving (even more ideally, the middle of October---however, that is unrealistic at this point).

Expect another update in the next few days with modeled photos and project notes.

Getting to Know You

I've been working on Cozy on and off since April, and I'm finally nearing the half-way point, at least in terms of yarn. I'll probably start ball 5 sometime this weekend. It's been quite the learning experience (lifelines have been my savior many, many times), since this is my first lace project. As you can see, it's getting quite long.



I really can't wait to see what it's like once I block it.

It's the little things that have been driving me nuts, though. Whenever I've made a mistake, I've had to unravel at least two rows. Since each repeat (maybe a little over an inch tall, unblocked) is taking me about an hour---yes, I'm a slow knitter---it's been frustrating, and many hours have been lost.

Now that I'm getting a better feel for what the different stitches do and how they act in relation to each other, I've been taking a closer look at my mistakes. When I noticed the other day that after a 'sl1 k2tog psso' sequence I had forgotten to pass the slipped stitch over, I got bold. I had already done the purl row over it and was working on the next right-side row, but instead of unraveling the whole thing, I decided to drop the two stitches in question, pass the slipped stitch over, and then redo the top row (knits, not purls, working from the front). I definitely need to get a few more crochet hooks, because they are lifesavers. Every time I've made that mistake since, I've been able to fix it in about 30 seconds. It's a beautiful thing.

Here's a detail of the lace pattern.



Now all I have to do is figure out how easy it is (or isn't) to fix a missed yarn over, my other common (albeit, much less so) mistake. Or, perhaps I should just stop knitting when I'm watching TV---but let's not get too hopeful. At least I'm finally starting to dread working on this less.