Thursday, November 15, 2007

A Bit of Princess

My coral Diva cash/silk finally arrived and I managed to eke my way through two repeats. I am having difficulty memorizing the pattern, so I have to keep my nose glued to to diagram for each row. Bummer.

I was amazed to read that someone could knit a repeat in 20 minutes--it takes me about an hour to do the set of twenty rows.


Notice the green thread running up the right side of the picture--that's my vertical lifeline. No way I am going to pick up 800+ stitches. Thanks to the vertical lifeline, all I will need to do is run a needle through the bumps--no squinting and counting required. I'll add the extra 15 stitches on the next row.

The green thread at the bottom is the waste yarn for grafting. It's actually Row 20, that is, the last row of the repeat. When I get around to the other end, I'll knit Row 20 again in waste yarn, then use the live yarn to graft the two waste yarn rows together, forming a real Row 20.

Two repeats down, 82 to go...

34 comments:

Unknown said...

Love the idea of the vertical lifeline. Thanks for sharing that tip!

Jason said...

Thank you for the vertical lifeline idea!

missalicefaye said...

oooh--what a beautiful color! and the edging will start to go faster eventually. :)

Anonymous said...

Lovely idea, though I usually use dental floss because its waxed and easy to remove.

Laritza said...

I will get faster as you go. Don't loose your place! That cost me about an hour grumble!

Anonymous said...

So you knit the edging first, for Princess?

Anonymous said...

Well, hello there! I've found you again. [My laptop crashed and wiped out all my bloglines - it's been a loooong and tedious process.]

Opal said...

Oh it's beautiful!

KnitYoga said...

The coral is so pretty!

z's momma said...

Love the vertical lifeline. And that is beautiful yarn.

Anonymous said...

Oh so pretty! I'll be following this since I'm hoping to start knitting this after the holidays I think. LOVE the vertical lifeline idea. I'll have to borrow that too.

J

StashDiva said...

I love the color and the vertical lifeline is a neat idea

Lacefreak said...

Diva is a beautiful color! Whoever is able to knit this one so quickly should get a medal. It takes me forever to make one full repeat and there is no way I can memorize this pattern. I use both highlighter tape and a row counter to keep track! Your vertical lifeline is,as usual,wonderful:-)

Courtney said...

I love the color... It looks great :-)

Anonymous said...

Your vertical lifeline idea is fantastic! I'll have to remember that, I recently gave up on a border all around a scarf because I just couldn't bear to pick up all those stitches. Oh well...so I modified a pattern...as if nobody else does that. hee hee hee.

Pat

Anonymous said...

Love the lifeline. Planning ahead to make knitting easier is not my strongest side. Thanks for shearing.
I'm still thinking about needle sizes. Think I'll swatch with both 1,5mm and 2mm.

Carol said...

Ooh, sneaky idea for the vertical lifeline. I LIKE it! When I get home I am writing it down in my journal of ideas to remember!

BadCatDesigns said...

Thanks for the vertical lifeline. I looked back through your old posts when you suggested it and it is such a good idea. You are almost talking me into casting on and joining you...I just have to finish a dozen other things first! The color is lovely, by the way.

Anonymous said...

I am loving the coral color! Have you decided on Yubina's cash/silk or are you using Colourmart's? I have not had the pleasure of using Colourmart yarns yet and so far I have about 10 choices in my stash for my Princess... But I could be swayed in trying Colourmart! ;-)

Anonymous said...

Wow, vertical lifeline...who'da thought! What a useful idea. thanks.

fleegle said...

Dear Rose--

I am using Colourmart 45/3 cash/silk. It was the final winner. I loved Yarn Place's Angel, but the color choices were limited. I love the Yubina, but the Colourmart just felt nicer. And it won the most votes, too.

Anonymous said...

Hi again,

Thanks so much for replying! I may have to look into ordering some Colourmart cash/silk! I have so many gossamer/cobweb yarns (incl. YP Angel and Yubina cash/silk) to swatch for Princess, I may wait till the holidays are over to begin. Can you believe I have been collecting yarn for Princess for over a year!!! I even made my Mum explore the back streets of China so she could score me some lovely gossamer cashmere! ;-)

fleegle said...

Dear Rose--

I believe you, because I have been swatching since July.

Did your Mum find you anything wonderful in the alleyways?

Anonymous said...

Hi!

Yes, my Mum found some lovely light grey and very light pink gossamer/cobweb cashmere (each about 16,000 meters) in a little shop in Yangtai, China... During a typhoon! She was cooped up in a hotel for three days, not able to leave and decided to venture out, leaving my father at the hotel. Crazy lady, dedicated Mum!

Batty said...

Very clever! I think I'll have to try the vertical lifeline.

LittleBerry said...

looks great, the colour is lovely and vibrant...

This is why I'm glad I'm waiting until next year then I can gather all this useful info to help a novice knitter like me along.... vertical lifelines and your method for grafting.... thanks for sharing your advice

Soo said...

I love the colour and ANOTHER great tip!! Thanks!!

Anonymous said...

Gorgeous color!!! I've done the vertical lifeline thing before, too. What a time saver, huh? :)

I asked for this pattern for Christmas. Fingers crossed that Santa doesn't forget.

yarnlot said...

Will you arrange a meeting between Dapne the Coral Reef and this beautiful Coral Princess in the making? The two octopi would be delighted...

Hege said...

The vertical lifeline is great! And I love your color. It will be a showpiece!

Anonymous said...

Genius! Thank you a million, a million, a million what? I don't know. Let's just say, thank you very much for that idea.

June said...

As always you inspire all of us lace knitter's out here! :) It's looking great, and I'm sure you will find your rhythm soon!

Lorette said...

Oh girl, I love that Diva color! I saw that on Colourmart today and almost bought it, but restrained myself. I'm not going to get to the Princess for a very long time, and by then I'll probably have changed my mind about the color a million times.
And your vertical lifeline is simply brilliant.

Knit Witch said...

AMEN for the lifeline. I have very often been glad I used one. Makes me stay at least a little more sane. Love the pattern!