We had a week-long stretch of gray, rainy, sometimes sleety weather, and I needed to knit with color. I wound my skein of Colorwheel from Gauge Dyeworks in anticipation of working on a colorful Musselburgh hat.
This pitiful bit of knitting is what I have to show. I attempted Emily Ocker's Circular Cast On 10 or 20 times with little success and lots of frustration. I moved on to the Disappearing Loop Cast On, with slightly better results after only five or 10 attempts. Too late, I remembered that Sarah had posted her own unvented circular cast on, but I will definitely be giving it a try next time.
I thought this hat would be perfect car knitting as we drove down to MD, and it might have been if I had gotten the increases done. I thought I had finished the deceases as we crossed the Delaware Memorial Bridge, but when I sat down last night to transfer my knitting to a circular needle, I was a stitch short and the whole thing looked pretty wonky. So I patiently tinked back to the problem area, and I think/hope it's fixed now. I'll see after I knit some more today.
Reading was off to a not-stellar start for the New Year. I read two books, The Personal Librarian and Altered Traits, that were just barely three stars. But then I was approved for The Fell by Sarah Moss from Netgalley, and it was brilliant. I haven't reviewed it yet on Goodreads because I want to try and do it justice, but it was easily my favorite Sarah Moss novel (so far).
What are you making and reading this week?
Starting this style of hat is definitely the worst/hardest part. I think I am going to write up my pattern, such as it is, and I think I've figured out a slight adaptation to my cast-on that should make it a bit less fiddly. Anyway, I'm looking forward to seeing the colors of your yarn come out!
ReplyDeleteI'm still working on finishing up WIPs and will be for the foreseeable future. I finished my first book of the year yesterday, started a new audiobook for walking, and have to pick something new to read with my eyes.
I read Altered Traits, and I found parts of it interesting, but overall, it was just an OK book. I don't why I rated it so highly. I was thinking of reading The Personal Librarian, but I may put that on the back burner since you were unimpressed. I am reading The Matrix, and she better get happier or more competent soon, or I am going to give up on this very depressing book. However, it is not that long, so I will hang in. I am disappointed that my library does not have any Sarah Moss books or Claire Keegan books! I am impressed you are hanging in there on getting that hat started. Some projects are just so frustrating to get started, but I love that yarn, Bonny.
ReplyDeleteThat small circular cast on is the fiddliest thing in knitting (I think) but when you get it right it is just so smart looking! All you Musselburgher's are tempting me!
ReplyDeleteI have some sock yarn that I tried to knit into socks but the pooling was to bad to continue, after reading Kym's blog today... I might have found a use for that yarn!
(I just requested The Fell from Netgalley... thank you!)
What a beautiful shade of blue for your hat Bonny and it will be fun to see the color progression as you knit. But yikes the sound of your cast on woes makes me think I don't want to make that hat (though the start is so pretty). My reading (Matrix) is a real slog...but I am persevering.
ReplyDeleteIt took me a long time to "get" the Emily Ocker cast on method, but I think I've finally mastered it. (I knit lots of little fiddly stuff, so I've had a lot of practice.) It looks like you have a GREAT start to your hat, and you'll soon be in the smooth-sailing portion of the journey . . . where you just knit endlessly with beautiful yarn. (And wait til you try the finished hat on! You'll forget all about that fiddly start.) (Kind of like . . . childbirth.) XO
ReplyDeleteOh I am so jealous that you got The Fell so soon!! *sigh* I will languish and wait until March 1st for my copy.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with your Musselburgh hat!
I started the Musselburgh hat in Iceland and I used the Emily Ocker cast on. It was SO long ago now that I don't even remember how I did it but I do know I didn't have any trouble. Must have been the Icelandic vibes! I hope you have smooth sailing from this point forward!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad I'm not the only one who had to try the cast on about 1000 times ...
ReplyDeleteI love the color of your yarn! I am very tempted to start a Musselburgh hat and have the perfect yarn in my stash right now!
ReplyDeleteI love the yarn, too, and that's the only thing that kept me going on getting the hat started. I'm not very good at fiddly knitting, so don't let the fact that I was all thumbs casting on deter you!
DeleteOooh, that's pretty yarn! I hope you're back on track!
ReplyDeleteWhat pretty yarn. Blue always calls to me and this is a very pretty shade. I wonder how the colors will play out in your hat. I'd like to give that pattern a try. I certainly have plenty of single skeins from which to choose. (I just tossed the stash so they are fresh in my mind.)
ReplyDeletewhat a pretty beginning to a beautiful project!!
ReplyDeleteYour not the only one with a problematic start to Musselburgh. I am finally on my way to the "just knit" section and I rather like the hat now. :) Good luck, we'll both need it for the happy ending. I'm looking forward to the Sarah Moss book as I really liked Summerwater.
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