Mona's Knitting Room

Every Monday my friend, Paula, sends an e-mail that reminds me to work on my UnFinished Objects (UFOs). Since I have a relatively short attention span, I have many UFOs. I've set a goal for myself to finish up by the end of the year those projects that have languished for many months or years. Last fall, I started my first Shetland lace knitting project using singles yarn. It is a stole called Legends of the Shetland Seas, designed by Hazel Carter and distributed by Blackberry Ridge. Here's a picture of the stole from the pattern:


I purchased this as a kit from Beth Collins of Unique One at the 2004 NETA Knit and Spin SPA weekend in Portland, Maine. The kit includes the pattern, with a nice note from Ms. Carter describing the history of the design, and two hanks of Blackberry Ridge's Thistledown yarn (100% wool, single ply, 750 yds. per 2 ounce hank). This is the thinnest yarn I've ever knit!


Now, I don't know whether I will get this project finished by the end of the year because it is so intricate and time consuming and I have so many other projects in the works. It will be fun to make progress, though. Here's what I've accomplished so far:


I learned to knit from my Dutch mama on long needles, holding the right needle under my arm. Until recently, I used long needles for all of my projects. Then, when I decided to try to make socks, I used two circular needles. I'm finding that I knit more slowly with circular needles but it's a lot more comfortable for my neck and shoulders. I started my LoSS stole with long size 2.5mm needles (US #1.5). I tried to knit another row today and remembered why I put this project aside -- I'm having a lot of trouble manipulating the needles to knit the yo stitches and even more trouble trying to k2tog when the stitches include a yo. I think I'm going to change from long needles to a circular needle to see if that goes any easier for me.