Weaver & Weber

My ancestry includes my maternal grandmother, born with the surname Weaver, and a paternal great-grandmother with the surname Weber (German for Weaver). So perhaps my reluctance to knot the ends behind the work of my stranded knitting has an ancestral origin. Abbe asked if I was worried that Elizabeth Zimmerman would haunt me in my dreams –which may well have something to do with it. But for whatever reason, weave I will.

The process I discussed in the last post is working pretty well, and I’m getting faster at it. I’m not entirely consistent, but I try to start weaving in the new colors behind the working strands about 10 stitches before the round change. Then, I weave the ends of the old colors behind the strands of the new colors for 10 stitches or so into the new round. Most the time I switch from two colors to two different colors, but often I’m only changing the background color while keeping the oyster heather pattern color. And in a few rows, I get to work with the same two colors for two complete rounds  -- my favorite.

It’s amazing how grabby the yarn is. Probably not as sticky as actual Shetland wool, but it does work its way in rather quickly. After weaving in behind one stitch, it slips out at the slightest tug. But by the time the yarn has been woven in behind three stitches, it would probably break before coming unwoven. I’ve chosen to leave the ends hanging just for shock value, but in truth, all of the ends you see dangling in the first picture are ready to be trimmed. I’ll trim them eventually.

Progress is going faster than I thought it would. My two-fisted knitting is getting more coordinated. Things still look lumpy on the needle, but when I spread the fabric out, it looks pretty good. Unlike some projects, I’m really looking forward to the blocking on this one. I’m just shy of 2 full pattern repeats. At 4.5 repeats, I get to decrease for the sleeves and start the sleeve and neck steeks.