The Fair Isle Vest is too demanding to work on while doing anything else. I work on it mostly on weekends, first sitting at the table by the kitchen and now on the sunporch. Every weekend I try to complete one of the OXO bands and one peerie band. I bought the kit for the vest while attending one of Meg Swansen's Knitting Camps quite a few years ago. It just never seemed the right time to work on it. Two balls of the oatmeal shetland wool are AWOL, the apparent victims of a Shetland wool binge, so I ordered two from Meg at Schoolhouse Press. The slight difference in color doesn't bother me with all that is going on in the vest. I also purchased the DVD of Meg knitting the vest since my knitting videos seem to have walked away since our move to this house. This DVD was filmed on Washington Island in Door County, one of our favorite places, so it is very enjoyable. As Meg suggested I used a provisional cast on (crochet chain) in order to knit the corrugated ribbing later. That will enable me to adjust the length of the vest for my tall husband. He will look very handsome in the vest!
Another tip I learned from the DVD is to weave a circular needle through the bottom of the vest to make a "nest" for the balls of wool while knitting. Great idea! This also keeps the bottom of the vest from curling upwards as I knit.
While enjoying the challenge of an intense project I needed something to do while watching the British television series that we are currently enjoying on Netflix. We are big fans of Netflix because we can get all sorts of BBC productions. Some of our recent viewings are Hamish Macbeth (I call it the Andy of Mayberry of Scotland) and Inspector Lynley. Tonight we're going to watch a P.D. James mystery. I completed two little bootie sets with scraps of sock yarn. The first pair (all green) seemed a bit small so on the second pair, I lengthed the instep just a bit. They are adorable if I must say so myself and the atypical colors make them even more appealing. Both are knit with Knit Picks Essential. The only seam is up the back from heel to top of cuff. The pattern, Oh! Baby Baby Booties by Judy Nemish was free on Ravelry and knitlist.com.
3 comments:
Booties are adorable! You are so talented...can't wait to see fair isle done!
I have never tried fair isle; I just don't have the patience for it. But, the results are always stunning.
Cute booties!
At the end of my very first visit to my guild five years ago, I was hauled over to our library by our resident curmudgeon, who just knew I needed to learn something about the right way to do fair isle. I was sent home with that very video! (I was working on a Debbie Bliss baby sweater, done in fair isle - but in cotton and done flat.) Fair isle remains one of my favorites, but sadly I've only managed one other piece in the years since.
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