just another raveller

I managed to get through though last week by deluding myself that I was on the third and final repeat of the hundred row chart on page 38-39 of the Pine Tree Palatine pattern. It's hellishly repetitive and without any of the usual aids that you find in lace patterns, such as bold or coloured vertical lines to help you determine where you are in the pattern, or numbers printed in the long runs of knit stitches. Russian knitters must view such devices as crutches to proper knitting. I'm finally getting it though. You're supposed to glance at the chart and think something like, "Oh, for this row, I've got to knit past so many holes and when I get to the Nth yarnover from the row below, then I knit the next row of the Pine Tree motif." Or maybe, "If the Pine Tree motif doesn't start right after a yo from the row below, then maybe it starts right after one from 2 rows below." It's all about knitting the motif rather than about counting stitches....

I've been working on the Pine Tree Palatine Scarf all week with little visible result. This is supposed to be a scarf? In what universe does this pass for a scarf? I think the answer is technical - there is no border pattern to the lace. The pattern of mouseprints, peas and diagonals continues in one direction. Never mind that it will probably go across a single bed once it's finished and stretched out. If. Ever. I think I'm only on row 291 out of 735. I occasionally have delusions that I'm actually on the second or third repeat of the charts on page 38, when really, I'm just coming up to the end of the first repeat. It's taken me over a year and a half to get this far. But come to think of it, I'm getting on for being half done, aren't I? I just did the math: I'm 40% through. Not so bad, though I obviously won't be finished this month. OKAY, so I'll live. Whine over. NOT QUITE. My fingers are shot for lace because of all the snow I'm ha...

I bet you forgot I was even knitting the Pine Tree Palatine. I put it on waste yarn last Fall when I  went to England, but never worked on it again until this March. It was tricky to figure out where I had left off and what size needles I had been using. Thanks to my project page on Ravelry, it didn't take me too long to figure it out. I left off on row 103, at the end of the first chart. That chart does have a well defined repeat outlined in red, but it's the last one which does. The others are all spread across two pages and require a magnifying glass to read. My theory is that Russian knitters have memorized the knitting of the various traditional motifs to such an extent that they think things like, OKAY, I've done with that mouse. Now I'll just knit past these trees and knit a line in this strawberry. They know what they're doing. They're not used to following patterns. They just do it. The rest of us struggle to catch up. With Galina's patterns I must ...

We need this rain, we need this rain, we need this rain. Mantra. I've been feeling shattered all week. A tooth broke off at the gum line. I'm anxiously waiting for my passport to be renewed. Work is well, work.  I've been turning for solace to the Pine Tree Palatine Scarf. It's a big project for me. I'm on row 49. The rows seem long and until tonight I thought I was knitting back and forth on the long edge of the scarf. I have now figured out that I have been knitting on the narrow edge, that is the width, and it's actually very wide. I have 225 stitches on the needle. There is no way I'll have enough yarn. I'm using a lace weight called Impressions by "A Touch of Twist."  They're located between Amsterdam and Rotterdam, New York (I just had to work that in). Hopefully, they will be at Hemlock again this year and I can buy more in a close enough match. Actually, I just noticed on their web page that they will dye yarn to specifications. We...

I have a new set of wips. 1. The Pine Tree Palatine scarf is creeping along on lace addis. I decided to do it in two colours for the usual reason - not enough yarn in one colour. I've gotten two teeth done in the body of the scarf, thus: 2. My short lived romance with the triangle shaped Heartland Lace Shaw l is over. Not that it isn't a beautiful shawl! It is. I'm using Berroco Ultra Alpaca Fine and I'm up to 215 atitches which is the number where you would normally start the border if you were using the yarn the pattern calls for - a somewhat heavier yarn. The alpaca is quite fine and I will have to slog on for a while before this will make even a suitably sized winter scarf. It's the kind of pattern you have to do with a clear mind, preferably early in the day. The the regular addis (2.75 mm) are very slippery. In short, I'm giving this project a tiny rest. 3. The Side to Side Pullover . Only guilt will lead me to finish this dull piece of knitting, hopefull...