Technical Innovations, and Knit Night

Last night a couple of the girls came over for knitting, and Sergei was inspired to take this picture, not least because - as Aline (center) pointed out - each of us were knitting something that coordinated with our respective outfits. Kim, on the right, is working on her version of the ballet sweater (see below) in denim blue, Aline is making a scarf with an alpaca/tencel blend, and I'm working on the Icarus.

As of right now, I'm halfway through the fifth and final repeat of chart one. Ura!! I've made some technical innovations, with advice from folks at the KAL. I switched from using sewing thread for my lifelines to dental floss (spearmint, waxed, very fresh-tasting!). It works great - I can thread it on a tapestry needle, so no risk of splitting the yarn when I weave it through, and its slighter greater weight seems to make it easier to knit around on the next row. In addition, I finally got some new stitch markers (since the coil-less safety pins I was using were driving me crazy by flopping over to whichever side I didn't want them on). I haven't had a chance to get to a sewing store, for drapery rings, or to a jewelry-making store for little metal rings (though Sophie_vf is probably right that the joins would snag anyway), but I did find some Singer brand markers at Rite Aid, of all places, that are working pretty well. The set included some very tiny ones of the right size for this project, and they're flat, with no sticky or floppy parts. And I'm getting used to the Addis' slipperiness - just in time to put it to the test with the harder parts coming up for the edge of the shawl.

Now back to knitting...