Solace in spirals

I'm knitting two projects at the moment, both in the round. One is giving me fits. It's the Mohican Hat from Morehouse Farm Merino. I'm using my leftover red and gray yarn from the rescue sweater. The pattern is simple, really. But for some reason I have managed to miscount stitches or "spike" placement on every round and have ripped out as many of the pesky spikes as I've properly placed. Now that I have about 3 inches of hat completed, I'm beginning to have serious doubts about whether it will fit either child. It looks small to me.

The other project is Cinxia from Knitty, Fall 2005. It hasn't been a barrel of laughs either. I think it was a needle/yarn compatability issue, but the body of the sweater, knit back and forth all in one piece (195 stitches) was super tight on my Bryspun needles. It may just be the twisted stitch pattern. It creates a very stiff fabric.

Now I'm working on the first sleeve, knit up in the round. The slip stitch pattern is great. Again, it could be because I'm on bamboo now. I'm very curious to see how it feels when I get to the twisted stitch again.



The yarn, incidentally, is my last purchase of 2006: Rowan DK Tweed, 50% off. I got it from Yarn Quest in Traverse City (MI) while we were vacationing there between Christmas and New Years. I couldn't pass up the price but wasn't sure what to do with it. I flipped through patterns I've earmarked and this seemed to be a good fit. As it comes along I'm very happy with my choice. The tweed and the texture go well together.