Apps for Knitters

While at our local Sit & Stitch this weekend, I was mildly teased about the apps I’ve downloaded. It seems I take the adage “There’s an app for that” somewhat seriously. Well, I HAVE found some good apps for knitters.

One that I’ve recently come across is 1, 2, 3 Knit. It isn’t a free app; it is, as far as apps go, a fairly expensive one at $2.99 but I’m really appreciating it.

As you can see, I have another lace project on the go. This counter is set up for the Queen Silvia shawl, from “Knitted Lace of Estonia” by Nancy Bush. In this case, the pattern is a 16-row repeat. Count A is my pattern count while the main counter, at the top, is the total number of rows completed. You can track up to 10 different pattern counts with this app. It also includes a built in calculator and you can take a photo of your project to use as a background for your counters.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the moment, I have only two projects in the app, but I can see this being a very useful app, especially for something that has multiple patterns in the project, like an Aran sweater perhaps? 

Yes, there are other row counter programs. Yes, there are free row counters out there. I have to say, though, that I’m impressed with this one. It is intuitive and, in my opinion, pretty good looking. I’ll be using it more!

And it begins again…

Call me crazy. I went online to find a replacement for the Skacel Merino Lace weight yarn I’d been using for the Shetland Christening dress. I ordered some from Heirloom Knitting and it arrived this week. Unfortunately, it’s too natural, more of a beige than white. I also received a packet with samples from Colourmart. There were four samples. Two were too beige, one of which was also too heavy.

There were two, however, that were perfect. The best of the two is the Cashmere (yes, cashmere… it’s the little ball). It is by far the whitest of the samples and I think I’ll be putting in an order… as soon as I can find it on their website! (I did find out that this yarn isn’t posted on their site, it has to be requested. I’m in the process of doing that.)

And the swatching has begun. I don’t think I really need to swatch, but I do want to reacquaint myself with the pattern before I start over for real.

If at first you don’t succeed…

…try, try again.

That’s where we’re at right now. This is the first time in a number of years that we’ve had the opportunity and space to do a bit of gardening. We’ve both been planting some things, hoping to enjoy the fruits of our labours later in the season.

John’s planted nasty urchins (that’s what he calls nasturtiums) and has put together a hanging basket with geraniums, lobelia and, when they come up, nasturtiums. I’ve been planting herbs, lettuce, spinach and green beans.

This is where the lack of success comes in. John got some corn gluten from work. It’s used to inhibit weeds in the lawns by preventing germination. He mixed it in to some potting soil, added some fertilizer and distributed it between the pots we have. He also threw some in the small garden bed outside the back door, where I planted lettuce and spinach. I used the same soil for starting the seeds. Did you catch that?

It’s used to inhibit weeds by preventing germination. Yup. None of my seeds came up. These were seeded two weeks ago and have been kept primarily indoors. They should have sprouted by now.

So, last week I tried again with different soil. However, when John asked where I’d taken the soil from, he reminded me that it also had the corn gluten in it.

And so, this morning, I had to start all over again.

In Response

In response to yesterday’s post, Colette asked the following:

Can you remind me the source of the christening gown pattern. I'm looking for something similar now, not for an existing baby but as a technical project which perhaps someday if I'm blessed with grandchildren will become an heirloom.

The pattern is out of Sarah Don’s lovely book, “The Art of Shetland Lace”, which, unfortunately, is no longer in print. It isn’t the easiest pattern to follow as all the instructions are in an old form. For instance, what we know as k2tog (knit two together), she uses T (together) and our YO (yarn over) is O (over). I did manage to chart out the edging, but not the rest of the lace.

As well, this is true lace knitting. There is patterning on each side, making the lacy sections challenging.

Yesterday was a lovely day. I went to get my hair cut and afterwards spent part of the day knitting. We did other things, too, including some social time with the neighbours, knocking a few golf balls around the yard, watching hockey and drinking wine (no, I didn’t overdo it). After the second glass of wine, though, the knitting was put away.

It is going well, though. The picture above is after two repeats. This, again, is true lace knitting, with patterning on both sides. I’m really liking the look of this. It’s an enjoyable knit, but definitely requires concentration.