Steam Roller

Oh, man, I'm just a finishing machine these days!

Quick update:

1. Rowan Felted Tweed Sweater: Done, washed, ready to wear!

2. Colinette Jacket: All seams sewn, all ends worked in, just have to get some yarn and a crochet hook to try to do the edging. This means a trip to the yarn shop, when I have a moment.

So, back to the abandoned objects box I went:

3. Colinette AbFab afghan

This is kind of a symbolic project for me. I bought the kit as a kind of reward just before we moved over here. I wound the yarn, and put it, the pattern, and the needle in my suitcase.

It was my jet-lag and get adapted knitting in the early days that we were here.

Why did I abandon it? I don't know. It doesn't fit the general rules I discovered when I sorted through things. I do know I ended up quite sick for close to a year, and a bunch of stuff got set aside then, so I'm assuming this was part of that.

I took it out, realized there wasn't much left to do, and finished knitting it Sunday night.

It just needs the trim. I need a crochet hook for that. I don't have one big enough, the only crochet hooks I have are finer. I can use the same one I get for the Colinette jacket to finish this.

I've also decided I only want it fringed in mohair, so I'm going to buy some plain mohair in colours to coordinate with the variegated mohairs I have leftover from the kit, to make them go a little farther.

I really love this afghan. The colourway is "Versace" -- I'd always been a fan of the late Gianni Versace, and I continue to admire what his sister Donatella does. The colours in this are so perfect, and it seems quite appropriate to be finishing it now, just before we move back to Canada.

The Other wants it put in our air shipment. He likes.

4. Colinette Isis Swing Coat

I bought the yarn for this back in Canada, too (remember, I used to work in a shop, and got a discount!).

It was a bit of a splurge. We'd had a customer order 10 hanks of Isis in the colourway Venezia to make this same coat -- we had it on display in the shop, and she decided she wanted Exactly the Same Thing.

Except, if you're familiar with Colinette, you know that the colours can differ dramatically from dyelot to dyelot. This lot came in, but the customer found it too turquoise.

To me, it looked EXACTLY like venetian glass. Rather than send it back for an exchange, I took this lot, and she ordered again to try to get what she wanted.

The slight challenge with this is that even within this dyelot, there's a variation. Several of the hanks were more red/dark blue. I tried working two slightly different hanks together, but found it just looked blah.

So what I did, and I think you can see this in the picture, is I started with the darker skeins near the bottom, and gradually worked upwards to the more turquoise skeins.

It's more subtle in person than in the photo, but you can still see that happening.

Why did I abandon? I discovered another reason -- I get started on something too close to a major change or happening. I think I was zooming along on this, then made a trip back to Canada, which meant that things were in a bit of upheaval for close to a month. I never seem to get back to things when that happens.

I finished the sleeve last night, so it just needs seaming. Again, a trip to the yarn shop, because I'm NOT going to seem it with the Isis. I'm wavering between cotton and wool. Cotton for stability, wool because the Isis is very drapey, and might need a seem that's more giving.

I can't decide...

Comments

[katherine:]

I am, I am. It's been a long time since I felt the glow of accomplishment, so I'm very pleased the last couple of weeks to be getting these things done.

[Ginny]

The Colinette is gorgeous! Both pieces are very different, and look beautiful. You most definitely should be proud of yourself!