I haven’t been able to get as much done as I would like recently, due to peripheral neuropathy from the chemo (this is numbness, tingling, and motor dysfunction in one’s extremities, in my case specifically in both my hands, all 10 fingers). Even knitting, which is pretty much second nature to me, where I often don’t have to watch closely what I’m doing, is difficult.
But I have been getting some stuff done.
I frogged the cabled pillowcase because of the pattern errata that called out the wrong size yarn so that I had just enough to do half the project. I also steamed and re-skeined the yarn so now it’s all pretty and waiting in my stash for a new project to crop up for which it is the perfect yarn.
I started and finished the Vortex hat from Knitty.com’s Winter line-up:
Vortex hat
Instead of weaving in all the ends from the shortrow work at the point of the hat, I braided them on the outside, so in addition to having the pointy part, it also has a funky tail. I used Paton’s Lacette and Allure to make the different color stripes – had to double the lacette to get the right gauge.
Then I started working on this WIP:
Brian's red sweater
This is a very basic sweater – I’m making it to the measurements of a sweater that Brian really likes, out of Lion Brand Homespun in Candy Apple Red. It’s just K1/P1 ribbing and stockinette with drop shoulder sleeves. When I pulled it out, I had the back done, and about 1/3 of the front. After shaping the neck, I realized that I’d completely bound off the back, when I was supposed to have left the shoulder-seam stitches on holders so that I can do a three-needle bind-off. Perhaps that’s why I set it aside, although it shouldn’t be too big a deal to undo the bind-off and the last row. I am about halfway done with the first sleeve, but because of the peripheral neuropathy, I’m finding it hard to knit for any length of time without getting frustrated at the lack of mobility in my hands. Even though I’m using size 11 needles, that doesn’t seem to help.
And finally, I was looking in a basket down by my recliner for a pair of scissors, and discovered this all folded up at the bottom:
Trellis shawl
Trellis shawl - detail
This is made with Lion Brand Trellis yarn, in the Pastel Garden variegated colorway. I had long ago finished knitting the shawl and cutting the fringe for it, but adding fringe is just about as bad as doing I-cord, so it sat in its mostly complete state for who knows how long! I spent about 2-1/2 or 3 hours adding fringe, and voila – it is done. Yet one more UFO off the list ;-}
The Irish Chain quilt has been sitting for quite a while because my sewing set-up isn’t really suitable for quilting, although it works fine for piecing. I have to sit higher to quilt than to piece, so we have to rig up a special platform for my foot pedal to be raised; we have to bring my office chair downstairs; and there’s a support board under the dining room table that prevents me from sitting close enough to the machine, so my neck, arms, and shoulders get very painful after just a little bit of quilting. Nevertheless, I’m slightly over halfway done with it, and am persevering with it, since that’s one of the things I can do that the peripheral neuropathy doesn’t affect so much. Of course, I’m starting my next quilting class (the one planned exception to my stash diet year) in a week, which means I really want to get this one done so I can show it off. I’m a little disappointed in how the quilting looks – I’m doing a curvy stitch (one of the built-in machine stitches, not free-motion), and it varies in length, probably because I’m not preventing the weight of the quilt from dragging on the needle. I am getting better at it though. Good thing it’s for us!
After I finish the Brian sweater and get *that* UFO off the list, I’m planning on starting a new knitting project instead of picking up another WIP – I’m actually running low on knitting WIPs, and I hope to keep it that way. Right now I’m trying to decide which yarn I should use, and from there, I’ll figure out what pattern. Hopefully, the further away I get from my last chemo, the better the PN symptoms will get, and I’ll be able to focus more on the knitting.
Oh yeah – I finished the top-down sweater way long ago (sometime in March), but we got an e-mail from the niece whose son I made it for, and she’s going to be here this weekend, so instead of mailing it, I get to give it to her in person – yay!
