Confession

Just to avoid someone else repeating my mistake.
The Silky Tweed was a very bad choice for the Elfin Bride.
And now I've learned that it is not enough that something feels right, or looks right (and beautiful) or knits to gauge perfectly, if it starts acting up once finished and worn happily for a few hours.
Something I didn't know before.
For some reason the Silky Tweed wanted to be a shorter and wider Elfin when worn.
That is apparently its nature.
But I still loved knitting it. And the cats love snuggling it, and I will just frog and figure out what the yarn wants to be instead.
No disaster as such.
And I will start on a new one June 15, once the last exam paper has been handed in.
I have my eyes and fingers on some lovely dusty greyish lavender mercerised cotton for that same purpose.

She's done

I finished "her" this morning.
(Now the photos could be better, but it was a bit of a fight keeping the cats away)

There is nothing quite like canceled classes and unexpected time off.

I am not quite sure if the Elsebeth Lavold Silky Tweed was the perfect choice.
To me it is very close to perfect, even if the wool/silk/cotton/viscose blend probably lacks some of the firmness of the 100% cotton.
And the colours reminded me of the photos of the first Elfin in the forest setting.

And I love it.
And I love the softness of it (and so do the cats).


Towards the end I realized that I have done the sl2-k1-psso's wrong. I have carefully slipped one stitch, then a second stitch, knit one, then passed one stitch and a second stitch - and this doesn't give that clean line of the right way. Instead it gives a slightly leafy look, which I am quite fond of, in particular in this yarn.
But with my next, white cotton Elfin, I will do it the right way.
I will.

And I may have been a bit too eager and careful with my wrapped stitches and so I do not have that clear line marking the front and back panels.
But I really do like it like this.
Maybe I should not have knitted the wraps as well?

And ..... once I got to the neckline it was a bit unclear to me where to end the short rows to start with. At this point I had the Center front and the Neck foundation row.
The pattern says k to and including wrapped stitch from prev row. And I had no wrapped stitches from previous row. And I could not quite see that I should have a wrapped stitch from the previous row, and looking at the progress photos didn't make me any wiser, so I just decided that the first wrapped stitch would be the last stitch of the Center front.
And it works, and it fits like a dream.
But I'm not sure if it's right.

I had not quite understood the point of putting the last five stitches of the Lower fronts on hold for grafting rather than just binding them off - until they were actually grafted.

And while spending a good half hour weaving in ends and checking everything I realized that I had never done grafting before, or mattress stitch, or a picot edge, or increased in lace (which is done so brilliantly, and works so wonderfully, I just wonder why it's not done more).
I had met short rows before, but not to this extent.
So most of it is my "first meeting".

And now she's actually done.
And she's the first sweaterly thing I've started AND finished.
And now I can properly concentrate on those exam papers without "her" distracting me.
And I like to think of "her" as my good exam luck charm in all her green, soft, comfortable and rather complicated knittedness.
Unfortunately I've banned myself from starting my white Elfin until post-exams.
(So I may work a bit on the City Coat)

Tailfeathers for the third time

I don't know exactly what's wrong with me, but I seem to be pattern-reading challenged.
I have now knit the center back and the lovely tailfeathers for the third time.
And I have started the Left side Back to front for the second time.
Somehow I have managed to get myself into some kind of autopilot state of not paying attention at all (with or without red wine) - and I have not figured out how to rewrap unwrapped wrapped stitches. Prettily.
But it seems that the third time is a charm, or maybe I've just learned my lesson.
I still love the pattern, and still think it's incredibly well written, and once this green one is done I want one in crisp white cotton.
Post exams, though.
It is a strangely addictive piece of knitting.
Tailfeathers and wrapped stitches and short rows and all.

Elfin progress

In between the five exam papers and projects I try to keep ahead of, I have managed to squeeze in a bit of Elfin knitting.
Not as much as I would like but enough to have finished the tail feathers.
And I love the tail feathers.
My home-modem is a bit burned out these days, and have been for a few weeks, but I will post photos of progress once I get a new one.
I have now moved on to the left side, which is very interesting, especially as I managed to thoroughly mess up the first attempt, quite possibly due to red wine, and thus I spent the morning very carefully frogging it.
Frogging shortrow knitting and wrapped stitches is something I hope to never have to do again. Ever.
Especially not with the assistance of the very helpful cats.
When I left for work, all stitches were there, but those that were once wrapped are now quite unwrapped and I'll try to figure out how to solve that.

And while I'm a bit slow, Arlene most certainly is not.
She has finished her beautiful Elfin.
Very impressive. And so very beautiful.

Starting Elfin Bride

Hello everyone,

I'm Mairead and I live in Ireland. I've just started Elfin Bride and here's where I've got to so far. My next step will probably be to start the other side of the yoke, as I don't think I want to make any decisions about the length of the sleeve until I have a better idea of how the whole garment will hang together. I think I want to make it more like the original Elfin Goth, i.e. as a jacket with a higher neck. But I won't need to make that decision until I have the back done.

I didn't realise there were 'tail feathers' until I had a closer look at the Domiknitrix gallery pictures, but I love them. Looking forward to getting to that part.

The beginning of the Elfin Bride

I have found my camera, and can now prove that not only has the Elfin Bride/Gothlet pattern been released but I have actually had the courage to start.

The pattern is exceptionally well written and very detailed and precise, and in addition to this Jennifer Stafford offers a brilliant visual aid gallery showing the complete process.
I fell in love with this piece of knitted genius during my first forays into the online world of knitting.


And it still seems a bit unreal that I am actually attempting it.

Of course I have already shown disobedience by not using the recommended cotton, mostly because I was eager and impatient to start, and March will be a bit low on the money front, but also because my lovely green Silky Tweed seems so very perfect for it.

And the first sign that it's meant to be, is that first swatch hit gauge right on.