Cast on crazy	October 22, 2007 @ 11:07 pm
posted by kris	Filed under: works in progress, socks, shawls

poisonous firestarters!

The malabrigo is just ok

Hanami + marisilk = heaven

So, since I finished 2 pairs of socks, I have been casting on like crazy. Why oh why do I do this? It’s just pure torture for me. I know it’s normal for everyone else, but for me 2 projects are good. And really, I only work on one at a time anyways. So what did I cast on?

I think I already told you about the Firestarters. I started that in London. I didn’t post any pictures though. It’s with Wollmeise Poison Nr. 5 and how can you not love that color? I really want some magic pooling to occur but with Wollmeise, I almost always get stripes. Not a bad thing, but I love pooling.

Then, I have been planning to do the Hanami Stole for awhile now. Shannon of the SSK Podcast convinced me that I need to do one. So I bought the malabrigo laceweight and then I had problems finding beads. The sizes aren’t the same here, no real surprise. So I had a hard time guessing what size to get. Shannon volunteered to send me some of her leftover beads so that solved the problem. Only I waited, and waited, and waited. No beads. The damn post office is out to get me, I swear. I think it’s a conspiracy that they don’t want me knitting.

So, when I went to London, there were many bead stalls, so I picked out some (same sizing as the US yay!) and got a little extra since they were cheap. Well, relatively. OK, so now I’m ready. I had the urge a few nights ago to cast on and I had needles, I dug up the yarn and even found that I wound a ball already, and now…where did I put those dang beads. I looked everywhere twice and then finally found them in this huge cavernous yarn stash bin. Must’ve gotten in there when I put all the yarn I bought in there.

OK, I cast on! I really enjoyed doing the beaded cast on. It’s lovely. I didn’t expect to like it that much because I am not a bead person. And I love the way it just sparkles and makes the stole more dressier. Not gaudy at all. Only thing is that I didn’t like the way the malabrigo is so light and airy. It knits up nice but it has no substance. After 3 repeats, this started to bother me as the marisilk sitting on my desk starts to invade my thoughts.

I balled up the Marisilk and started knitting with US5 circs. The stitches were too loose so I cast on again with US3’s. Much, much better. I love the way the stitches are tight and defined. The fabric is just a tad bit stiff, but I’m thinking that will be ok once I wash and block. I just love the weight of the silk and the sheen. I will have a hard time giving this one up as a gift.

So I’m obsessing over this pattern. I can’t stop thinking about it and knitting it and envisioning the finished product. I think I’m setting myself up for disappointment because in my head I’m building it up so much. Why do I torture myself so? I also want to do it in Wollmeise laceweight too now. :) But I’m going to hold off and finish it before I start making plans for the next one. I think it’s that damn beaded cast on! HA!

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