Friday, February 26, 2016

70,000 Stitches

Or at least that is one estimate I have heard.  I started the Blue Nuvem a couple of weeks ago on Sunday just before my surgery.  The first week, I knitted on it pretty exclusively, like that is all I did was sit on the couch and knit on it.  I had other projects  but they were too complicated for my poor fuzzy brain.   I also had  Laundry and floors and all that a house takes to keep it running, but all I could do was sit and knit.  My dear sweet Husband did a wonderful job of keeping me warm and fed and happy on the couch.

As you know if you have read my previous posts "Nuvem" by Martina Behm is a monumental project, done almost exclusively in the knit stitch.  Round and round you go after the cast on.  Round and round and round.  I am getting dizzy typing this, but the actually knitting doesn't make you dizzy.  I had 3 out of the 5 skeins knitted by the end of that first week, and I began to wonder if I might be able to get this shawl done within a month of starting it.  It would really be quite the undertaking, and I wasn't sure if I could, because I was starting to feel much better, and I was beginning to take on some of my normal activities.

Every chance I got, I worked on it during the day, and in the evening,  while watching TV and first thing in the morning.  I sent my daughter updates, put marker in and added the 4th skein, round and round.  Almost done with the 4th skein, round and round.  Finished the 4th skein and adding the 5th, time to double the stitches!  (Which by my estimate would make it well above 2000 stitches per round!)  The pattern continues in the knit stitch for a lovely ruffle, but I decided to do 2x2 rib instead.  That first round I was sweating, not wanting to make a mistake that would cause me to have to unknit those 2000 stitches and start the row over.

As it turns out I did end up fudging it a bit here and there, and after about 6 rows I saw a couple of places that looked more like garter stitch than 2x2 rib, but I managed to make it all look presentable.  Row 7, round and round, row 8, round and round.  Finally this morning, I finished row 9, time to bind off!

I wanted to do a Jenny's surprisingly stretchy bind off, but I didn't want it to flair too much, so I went down a needle size and switched the yarn to my right hand, which makes me knit a little bit tighter.
What do you think?  I think it is perfect!


The color is off a bit on this, but it is close enough.  It may take a day or 2 to finish this bind off, but if I can finish it by Sunday, it will  have only taken me 3 weeks to knit over 70,000 stitches!   For me that is a huge accomplishment!









Some of my long term duties that have kept me busy over the last year or two are coming to an end.  I think that means that I may be able to get up to the weaving studio very soon.  My mind is actually thinking about project possibilities.  Does that mean my mojo is coming back?!

Until next time, Happy Crafting, Tina

ETA: I finished it on Saturday!




2 comments:

LA said...

Actually, your mojo never left....it was just otherwise occupied. That shawl is simply amazing....can't wait to see it.

Maggie said...

Wow. You amaze me.
By the way, I'm teaching my co-workers to knit, and one of them holds her needle under her arm. I thought about your needle holster, and how she could use one. We'll see if it's just a beginner's thing, or she sticks with it.