February 4, 2004
Banff Begins in Earnest
The Back of Banff
No earthshattering developments tonight. I'm exactly halfway through the ribbing on the back piece of Banff. I have a feeling that this sweater is going to be in the "fun to knit, boring to blog about" category. But I also think it's going to knit up fairly fast. Gotta love bulky yarn and size 10 needles.
Manos is an interesting yarn. It seems to me to be very lightly spun. As I am knitting, I come to sections that seem almost like roving. These are usually big thick areas. Then you come to areas that seem so thin that they should break, but they don't because their twist is so tight. It's the sort of yarn that almost makes gauge relative to particular areas in the fabric.
At any rate, I'm very much enjoying it as it slips through my fingers. The resulting fabric is quite nice, too. It's firm without having boardlike qualities. And the color is very rich. My camera seems to be reproducing the color well, in spite of the flash conditions.
I just had to show off my spiffy new measuring tape. Julie gifted me with it as a little Christmas present to go along with a very nice set of hand-stamped cards for all sorts of occasions (I will have a very hard time giving them away since they are so nice!) Very fun. I now have enough tape measures to keep one in almost every place I like to knit -- which is a very handy thing, since that means that I don't re-distribute them around my house and my knitting bag and lose track of them.
BTW... if you haven't checked out Julie's new Kristina bag, you should head on over to her blog for a look. Kristina is very cute and is a great opportunity to do some two color knitting.
Banff will look fabulous in that Manos! With all that ribbing texture to break up the color variations, there really isn't any need to knit from two balls at once.
Oooh, such a pretty colour of Manos - I just finished up 10 skeins of the olive MdU. At first, before I worked with it, I was dismayed by the thick and thin quality but I ended up falling in love with the resulting fabric VERY quickly. I love how, instead of being all lumpy and sloppy looking, everything manages to come together into a cohesive fabric.
I did cheat a bit though and untwisted, re-drafted and then re-twisted the especially thick parts when they were followed or preceded by especially thin bits.
I can't wait to see your finished banff - and I disagree about the 'boring blogging', as it pertains to us watching your progress.
Hey there, as a maker of Banff too I kind of agree that blogging about it is dull. I mean, technique is minimal in this project, and most people have similar reactions to working with the Manos yarn, right? :)
I'm 2/3 done with the ribbing on the front piece of mine. Can't wait to finish it!
Okay, I didn't want you to start and finish your Banff while I was still waiting around to block mine. I brought my "board" over from the old house last night and I've got the sleeves pinned and blocked right now. Tonight I'll get the front and back and hopefully some finishing will happen in the next few days.
I love your color too. I love all those Manos colors. I just want to eat it!
Love the color! Manos is such a yummy yarn, isn't it? And speeds through the needles.
Hey you're knitting Banff too! Cool! The Manos is lovely to knit with isn't it? And seeing so many Manos Banff's is making me think I need another one in some pretty Manos too.
Chuckle. I'm not going to be as speedy on this project because I think work is going to get in the way. But I am loving this yarn and the texture it creates. It has so much character.
Wow! You are such a prolific knitter! Before we know it we'll see a finished Banff. Can I have some of that knitting speed? :-)