sweetgeorgia

Your mileage may vary.

Last week, the frenzy surrounding Stephanie’s [Knitting Olympics](http://www.yarnharlot.ca/blog/olympics2006.html) got me thinking — what would be challenging for me to knit in 16 days? And really, the answer would be “anything”. Even a single sock would be challenging for me to knit in 16 days — the challenge being finding the time to do it.

But during my decision making process, I considered knitting up Starmore’s Grant Avenue… which led me to consider buying the [Virtual Yarns kit](http://www.virtualyarns.com/scripts/showitem.asp?ID=119) from Alice directly… which led me to thinking about buying yarn for Elizabeth Zimmerman’s Fair Isle Yoke Sweater (from the Opinionated Knitter)… which led me to think that I really (really, really) should knit something from my stash… which led me to pick up the Fair Isle Cardigan that I’m already working on.

Is it depressing when your mileage is measured in millimetres per hour?

No, no, not depressing at all. I love making each and every stitch, spreading them out on the lovely ebony Holz & Stein circs and watching the colours ebb and flow. The cardi is nearly 300 stitches around, so yeah, it’s going to take a while. But no rush. No 16-day deadline.

Starting with Meg

After a bit of swatching (in the round, well, flat with long loops), I finally decided on a colourway for Meg’s Fair Isle Cardigan. Instead of the warmer browns/heathers in the original cardigan, I chose cooler greys and plums for my version. I’m using Jamieson’s Spindrift in Black, Granite, Oxford, White, Loganberry, and Raspberry. See, I’ve started the body:

There’s my first 6 rows of corrugated ribbing in black and raspberry. I learned the _German Twisted Cast On_ to prevent the ribbing from curling and love this method of cast on now. It’s more elastic and so I’ve used it for a pair of socks now too.

Rather than knit at Meg’s gauge of 6.75 spi for a 48″ circumference cardi, I’m using smaller needles to knit at 7.75 to 8 spi for something closer to a 40″ circumference. Besides, I think the recommended gauge for Spindrift is 7.5 spi… I figure I have some wiggle room here. The good thing about knitting at a slightly tighter gauge is that I don’t have to resize the cardi or cut out repeats, etc. I can just (hopefully) follow Meg’s instructions as is.