It has taken me 5 attempts to cast on
297 stitches so far. Every time I count them I get a different total
and it is driving me to distraction. Has anyone out there in Giny's Yarn Along got any hints or tips on how to do this painlessly? I am trying to cast on my first
shawl, ostensibly to extend my lace knitting skills but also of
course to justify this beautiful yarn which I spun from 100g of hand
dyed, slinky, silk/yak blend. The fibre was
an impulse buy from a lovely chap on Ravelry called Longdrawjames who
was undertaking such a massive destash that I felt it would have been
positively churlish not to have helped him out a bit. He, in turn,
had bought the fibre from Mandacrafts who
had actually dyed it – it is the Estuary colour
way.
 |
| Lighting not really doing justice to the colours here, the yarn is deep blue and green, lusterous and shot with dark gold. |
The pattern is
called Damask and is written by Kitman Figueroa, I downloaded it from
Ravelry having been sucked into the world of shawl envy as a result
of browsing on the forums and seeing all the beautiful things people
were wrapping round themselves. It has been designed with Malabrigo
Sock Yarn in mind so I have cast on the medium size and will be
interested to see what difference the finer gauge of my yarn makes to
the final size of the shawl – assuming I get that far because if
the casting on process is anything to go by it is going to be a long
haul to a medium shawl!
Reading this week is
A Rural Affair by Catherine Alliott. This is a light and very
readable novel which I am trying not to get too sucked into as I have
not yet mastered the art of reading and knitting at the same time
(unlike my incredibly talented mother!)
If I have a large amount of stitches to count what I usually do is grab some stitch markers (the ones you can open and close) count 50 stitches and place a marker, repeat after every 50 stitches. Then all I need to do is count all the fifties plus the remaining couple of stitches. Plus if I get distracted (happens quite a bit) I only have to go back to the last marker.
ReplyDeleteHope that helps?
x
I do the same as Natalie - stitch markers to the rescue! It just makes things so much easier.
ReplyDeleteYep I third what Natalie suggested - stitch markers every 50 stitches - I even double and triple count the 50 to be sure!
ReplyDeleteThank you lovely people, that is what I will do next time - which may well be in the next day or two if I don't concentrate properly on this knitting. I think I will be double checking the 50s and it will be more manageable.
ReplyDeleteThat is what I was going to say too - the stitch markers. I have been knitting for 30+ years (that sounds scary, but I was VERY young when I started!) and have only in the last few months started to read and knit at the same time, and only straight stockinette. My mum can do lace and read at the same time! How, I do not know!
ReplyDeleteThat is what I was going to say too - the stitch markers. I have been knitting for 30+ years (that sounds scary, but I was VERY young when I started!) and have only in the last few months started to read and knit at the same time, and only straight stockinette. My mum can do lace and read at the same time! How, I do not know!
ReplyDeleteI agree with the above...stitch markers. I make my own markers using bits of brightly colored yarn that I knot into a ring shape. I keep them on the needles throughout the pattern to help me keep count.
ReplyDeletecan only say, Amen, stitch markers have saved my sanity
ReplyDeleteI have the same problem, too, and I would never be able to do anything requiring serious counting without stitch markers! Good luck!
ReplyDelete