Thursday, September 21, 2006

When every stitch counts

This is the second on the series of DancesWithFool.
When every stitch counts...
I have wanted - so much - to cast on something easy and fast forwarding - like socks from the lovely sock yarn from Dave - but I am so determined to finish this sweater that I have abandoned those thoughts. So this knit accompanies me everywhere. I really ought to name her since she has become such a big part of my daily life - too bad I am not able to knit while sleeping, because I think knitting would only improve my sleep...
But I have not come up with a good name so far. I think she needs to grow a bit to reveal her true character. But her growth is so slow. I timed my row, to knit one whole round row of the body takes more than 15 minutes but less than 20, depending on how much yarn I have available to take on the twist. See, there is no avoiding of the twisting. The yarn is supposed to twist; you hold two yarns on your right hand and always the one worked goes over the other.
There is a site by Anne-Maj Ling which has lots of information on twined knitting. But it is in Swedish. This is the place I have got my yarn from. There are few books about twined knitting, the site has a list of the reading but I'm not sure if all of the books are still available. Anne-Maj Ling has written a book about twined knitting and you can either order it from her or from the Schoolhouse Press. (The embroidery book that I mentioned a long time ago is out of print I have heard.)
But here the progress picture of the hem (the other sleeve has not grown...)

This lower picture shows the detail of the picot edge. It is quite ordinary picot edge but there is a crocheted band where the green yarn meets the red.

This is all so far...

21 comments:

  1. Anonymous15:54

    Are you planning on embroidery only on the sleeves? And how will it look, similar to the previous one? Good luck on your progress. I've just finished my twined mittens, and I thought they took a long time to knit. I could never take on a project like this (I think...).

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  2. Lene, I so missed your blog while I was away. Am looking forward to following you along with your sweater and embroidery. You always inspire me in my knitting. Brought lots of yarn home and some great photos to put on my blog in the coming days!

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  3. It is slow going when one row or round takes so much time. It will be all the more prescoius when you are finished.

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  4. Anonymous16:59

    Keep going, Lene!
    By the way, what are the benefits of knitting the sleeves first?

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  5. It's so lovely! But maybe you would enjoy it more if you let yourself take a little "sock break" every now and then?... ;-)

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  6. I think all handknits are special, but this one is going to be a real treasure.

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  7. Like watching grass grow...

    I don't mean for you to feel bad! I respect your commitment.

    I tried twined knitting once. But I only had s-twist yarn, and it was SLOW, and then there's the untangling.

    I would take one of my DPNs and pin it through the yarn cake to hold my two strands so they wouldn't unwind from the ball. Then stand up, wait for the spinning to stop, and start knitting again.

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  8. Anonymous18:33

    The colours are so beautiful, I really look forward to see the embroidery. I have patience, and lot of it, but you take the price. I don't think I would ever start a sweater with that knitting speed. I admire you very much. I'll think about this sweater next time I think I'm working on something that goes slowly ;-)

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  9. Another chance for vicarious knitting. I have many projects to finish then I will tackle the twined knitting mittens again. I thought Scandinavian Knitting by Sheila MacGregor had a very good section on this method. And it's in English ;-)

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  10. Anonymous22:57

    Waw, this is twin knit? I had not understood!

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  11. Anonymous23:41

    Lovely, Lene!
    It looks like a sunset!
    Margie

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  12. You are a brave woman to take on a twined knit sweater. Beth Brown Reisel spoke at our last knitters' guild meeting about twined knitting--or did I already tell you that. At any rate, Beth said that twined knitting is tedious in that it takes forever. But the results are so very, very beautiful. when you are 90 and wearing that gorgeous sweater, you will appreciate every minute spent on it.

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  13. Anonymous00:04

    I see from your very good close-ups how the yarns twist together. I am afraid I would very quickly get everything into a hopeless tangle. How do you prevent that? You say it's going very slowly, but I think you are making great progress! I especially like the picot edge.

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  14. Anonymous00:55

    Here you go.
    http://www.knitty.com/issuewinter05/FEATwin05TT.html
    Directions for twined knitting in English, with pictures too. I've done two color Fair Isle knitting and it looks very much the same. Not too hard once you get the hang of it. Your work is beautiful, and I love the way you draw too. Thanks for the nice site. Tracy

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  15. Drawing! Finnish lessons! When will your sweet bird be flying back to winter in Finland and teach us more words?

    On second thought, you're rather twinned into the sweater: no time for drawing.

    Knitting in your sleep! Wouldn't it be grand if we could be so talented!

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  16. Anonymous14:13

    It's beautifiul, am looking forward to finding out what you name it. I have had nights where I knit..all night long...in my dreams..but wouldn't it be fabulous if we could actually knit in our sleep.

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  17. This is gonna be a masterpiece! I can't wait to see the continuing progress!

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  18. Also Knitty has a basic introduction to twined knitting. Here is the link. http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEwinter05/FEATwin05TT.html

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  19. I got inspired by you and tried to do the twined knitting again, but of course I did it wrong.
    The wonderful book I have says that twined knits have a firm but flexible structure to them when finished. How flexible is the finished product and what does the inside look like?

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  20. P.S. I think the benefits of knitting the sleeves first is that you can wear them on your arms to keep yourself encouraged to finish the never ending body! :)

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  21. I love your knits - they are such classic, thoughtfully designed treasures.

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