Wednesday, November 21, 2007

In which Snid knits slick, slippery silk...

(How's that for a tongue twister?)

I know, I know- I promised you knitting and the problem is that I don't have a lot of knitting to share. The little bit of knitting I have done is Christmas related and other than that- I got nothin' for ya. No, wait- that's not quite true. Remember this? My 25 Rupee, 50 gram cone of silk from Bangalore? Well I tried it out.

I knit a sample swatch using my size 1 Addi lace circulars (actually more like 1 1/2, or 2.5 mm). It was a bit stiff when I first knit it, it obviously has some sort of sizing or something on it. It is also slick as - well I'll keep it clean and say it is slick. So slick that after I cast off the last row, pulled the yarn through the last stitch and cut it (leaving about my usual 3-4" length) it wasn't long before I noticed that this length had somehow slipped back through and was coming undone and dropping stitches! I quickly put a safety pin through what loops I could find, deciding that if it was that slick then ripping back and picking up stitches would be no fun, if not impossible. (It's a swatch not a garment!) I washed the swatch and it's drape and usability improved dramatically. I think this has potential!


Yay! I am planning on skeining and washing the rest of the yarn before I use it- I think it will be much easier to work with and hopefully won't be quite as slippery.

As for the move and all of the plans related to that. Well, things are progressing, although I am conflicted as to whether I want them to move faster or slower. We are still waiting for a lot of paperwork to be generated but the offer has been approved and accepted. Yet I am also feeling like time is marching towards our departure very quickly. My 18 yo daughter moved out last week which leaves us with two children left in the house...it is almost eerie quiet at times. We have boxes everywhere along with piles of things that I am sorting through and it doesn't feel very holiday-ish at all, at all. I did get both a storage space and a mail box this week so I am feeling like the business end of things is getting done. Now we just need to sell my car and rent out our house. sigh.

Well, I hope that all of you who celebrate Thanksgiving have a beautiful holiday. Enjoy your loved ones and don't eat too much!!!

5 comments:

margene said...

Good idea to wash the silk! Make sure you tie it off in lots of places so it doesn't tangle..that's my worst nightmare;-)
Happy Thanksgiving to you and good luck with your move!

Anonymous said...

The silk looks great. My grandfather was a silk farmer in China... a long ...long time ago...

I wish you and your family the best as you pack up .. we'll miss you here.

I look forward to reading about your adventures (knitting and otherwise) in your new home!

MrsFife said...

Well, the swatch looks good! Would you say it is real silk? The other thing, they never say how many yards/metres it would be. Perhaps when you skein it, you might get a rough idea.

Jo at Celtic Memory Yarns said...

Lovely to have a whole cone to play with though... I imagine it would have a lot of dressing on it - anything I buy on cone always does. Beautiful colour too.

Keep your heart strong and your feelings positive over the next few weeks. Remember we'll all be with you - you won't lose any of us along the way! And when you get settled in, why there we'll be, all ready for the first chai and chat session.

Jean said...

The swatch is lovely. I wish you so much luck with all the moving related stuff!! That huge a change is bound to be stressful/exciting/exhauting...the list goes on. You'll be in my thoughts.