Webs

This is my first adventure with lace, based on another pattern in Hoverson's book. It's a little cobwebby scarf made with Rowan Kidsilk Mohair (Candy) and size 10 needles. A bit of dark pink fluff goes a long way, especially against the steeliness of a cloudy day.

I must admit that I do find it difficult to work with lace-weight yarn. Everything feels so slippery and when I do drop a stitch the mending requires micro-surgery. I'm also finding that it's important to keep the stitches loose because when I pull too tight the piece twists as I knit. So I feel like I'm knitting on the edge with this one, and not completely happy with the results. But I do like the challenge.

I'm also venturing into the delightful but very tangled web of fair isle knitting. Last night, I made a swatch for a baby-sized cardigan with a diamond pattern:



At first, I found it difficult to manage both colors, but once I understood the structure of the pattern, I was switching between them pretty easily. I did have a lot of tangling, and I'm not sure if that is something I'm doing wrong, or just one of the messy side effects of fair isle knitting. [eta: I received some generous guidance from a fellow knitter at the Angel Yarns Knitting Forum who recommended looking at http://nonaknits.typepad.com/nonaknits/2006/01/yarn_dominance.html. Now I think I know why my yarns were tangling. Hopefully this will solve the problem, if I can follow the instructions.]

I'm really excited to knit this one for Elsa.