Back at It

I've returned from Montreal, and am back working on the whale with plans to finish the knitting this week.

Here's a couple of shots of one of the sides being blocked:

Also, I had an interview with CBC today about the whale project, which will air tonight on Here and Now at 5:30pm Newfoundland time!

Knitting the Sides of the Whale

So I've been working on knitting the side panels for the whale:

Each panel tapers on either end. It remains at it's widest point, 30 inches, for 3 feet in the middle of the panel. This 3 foot length will span the distance between the 2 largest ribs (which are equal size). 

So that I'd be able to place that 3 foot section precisely when it goes on the whale, I tied marker points on either side of the panel at the beginning and end of the 3 foot section:

Everything was going pretty smoothly until I was one foot from the end of one of the panels. A screw had come loose from the underside of the carriage (the thing that slides back and forth across the knitting machine), and caught on one of the needles, causing it to bend:

Normally when a needle gets bent, you just take it out and replace it. This one had gotten so messed up that it was stuck inside the knitting machine, and ended up taking a couple of hours to get it out.

And then I had to figure out where the screw had come loose from the underside of the carriage, which looks like this:

And has about a billion screws.

But, anyway, I finally got it all working and continued with the knitting. Here's a finished side panel, ready to be blocked:

And here's a shot of my new wool, waiting to be dyed (which will have to wait until I get back from my trip in a week!)