Nearly FO - Wisp

When I first saw this month's Knitty, I was a little disappointed. None of the patterns really grabbed me. It's not as if I didn't like some of the cute summer tops, like Coachella and Zin Zin; but I didn't know if anything would be worth making for myself. When I went back for a second look though, Wisp really caught my attention. Plus, I just happened to have the perfect yarn for it - Douceur et Soie mohair/silk in soft seafoam - it was meant to be!

Detail shot of the backwards loop cast on.

Since it's a wrap I didn't bother swatching, just went up to size 10 needles and followed the pattern. I did write out the 15-row repeat, though - it was too much for my brain to remember the eyelet placing along the lace & garter sections. Eventually I got the hang of it, but I was glad to have it written out the first couple repeats.

I used to be really intimidated of lace, thinking it was only done on teeny-tiny needles. Now I know better, and I'm really enjoying this project. It was pretty easy to memorize, after I got the hang of where the eyelets went; and it knit up very fast, too. I started last Thursday, and I'm nearly finished already! (I actually finished the knitting Wednesday night.) I even got the suggested shell buttons, in both sizes no less! LOL All I have left to do is sew the cast off edge. I like to match my cast on* & off edges, I find traditional bind-offs to be very noticable, and not very stretchy. I still use a regular bind of every now & again, but for anything lacey or stretchy I tend to use what works best for me.

It's funny when I think about how personal knitting really is. Even though it's a craft lots of others do, I think we all have to find our own personal style and decide what techniques we like or don't, for ourselves. I feel like I've really pushed my knitting to the next level this year, though. I've never finished a project so fast, or been so satisfied with how it finished. My Clapotis came close, but after wearing it out a few times I decided I really should have added a few more straight repeats, to make it just a bit longer. Oh well, I can always make another Clap! LOL I've tackled my first sweater, skirt, circular, and lace projects this year, and I've gained a ton of confidence in knitting from a pattern. Not all of those projects were sucessful, but I'm not nearly as intimidated by the patterns or techniques that seem complex to me anymore.

*Note - When I knit wraps, stoles or anything stretchy, I use a backwards loop cast on. It's tricky to knit evenly from, and I end up having to even things out a bit after the fact; but it's much stretchier than cable, knitted or long-tail cast on for me, and so I use what works.