Jared Flood

Last Sunday I went to Jared Flood's (aka brooklyntweed's) lace class in Roslyn. I consider myself an intermediate lace knitter and learned a lot more than I expected. It was fabulous!

He handed out a lace chart for us to work on while he told us about techniques and tips. As we knitted, we implemented what he discussed: we did a provisional/crochet CO (different than the one I used for Muir), made selvedge stitches up the sides, practiced our chart reading skills, learned about different joins (Russian, felted/spit), got advice about lifelines, learned how to do knitted-on edging so the lace doesn't have a hard edge, and learned how to turn a corner.

I got about two panels of the lace sampler chart done before starting the knitted-on edging/bind off he talked about (pic on left). When I got home, I finished the BO, turned a corner, and knitted down one of the sides using those selvedge sts. Very exciting. I plan to finish the swatch so I can test out the provisional CO, which supposedly unzips easily.

I had never been to Knit before and really liked the space. They had two tables and lots of yarn and accessories. You can see some of it in this picture:

I got his book for Christmas and brought it along for him to sign.

And...he brought his Girasole. I have wanted to make the blanket version since I saw it in December 2008. Now that I've seen it in person, I'm extra motivated.

I went home and bought the pattern and 9 balls of Cascade 220 Superwash in "Dark Ginger" - an orangish brown. I swatched last night (flat instead of in the round; I know, I know) and am stressing out about which size needle to use.

The recommended #10.5 seemed way too loose before washing (when we're supposed to measure), but not so bad after. The #9 swatch looks nice but I'm a loose purler and am worried it won't look this way when I knit in the round. This is the most money I've ever spent on a project so I really want it to come out perfectly. I'll think about it for another day and then CO. Can't wait to wrap myself up in Girasole while watching TV!