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Old-Fashioned Update + Current Knitting Project

I took some (awful) photos of the latest batch of squares for the Old-Fashioned Sampler afghan.  Here's the mosaic:



1. Danish Square, 2. Italian Cross, 3. Peony, 4. Bright Flower, 5. Lemon Stripe, 6. Fudge, 7. Framed Flower, 8. Circle in a Square, 9. Daisy Chain, 10. Seville, 11. Edwardian Fancy, 12. Peony

The colors are off, and some of them are very blurry if seen up close-- not to mention that the squares haven't been even remotely blocked-- but at least it gives you an impression of them.  (Heh.  A bad impression, maybe.)

- - - - - - -

I picked up the Billowy Delight (a.k.a. Billowy Clouds of Alpaca) scarf again!  Sadly, I'm still not loving it.  I mean, I love the way the finished projects look, on Ravelry, but I'm not loving the actual knitting.  I keep hoping that will change, and it's not so bad as I remembered, but still not joy in every stitch.

The problems are these:

First, tension.  Keeping the tension right with this laceweight yarn isn't the easiest ever-- particularly during all the (many) rows of purls.  So my tension's far from perfect, but I can deal with that.  (I think it's getting better with practice, but also, I think that with this pattern, it won't matter so much, in the long run.)

Second, kf&b.  I don't remember having a problem with kf&b before-- certainly not to this extent.  I'm not sure why it's so bad this time.  Maybe I've simply never had to knit into the back of a stitch of laceweight before.  It's very tricky to get the needle under the back leg of the stitch, and I find myself wishing I had pointier needles, but I'm not planning to buy any more needles for a good long time.  (I have two interchangeable sets already, for goodness' sake!  I would possibly consider buying one or two fixed circulars, but I'm not sure yet which sizes I'm most likely to use again and again...)  There's probably a trick to making it easier.  (Time for some research.)

Anyway, I guess I'll keep slogging away at it until it becomes fun-- or I finish.  Whichever comes first.  (And I may sneak some other projects into the mix, on the sly, and let this one take forever, if it must.)

Here's an artistically blurry photo of the yarn and the back of the WIP (wonderful planning, there):

Billowy Delight

The yarn is Knit Picks Alpaca Cloud in "Wonderland Heather"-- a very springtime-y sky blue.  Soft, fluffy, and light as a feather.  Should be a pleasure to wear, next autumn!