On the Needles

Check me out--I'm knitting! "Knitting" was one of the very first categories I created when I started blogging back in 2008, but you don't see me do much of it. As I explained back in one of my very first posts, I really only like to knit very basic, mindless things. That's fine, but you can only make so many scarves. I've even given up knitting scarves for charity, because I see huge piles of handknits scarves at the thrift shop.

But when I found this project stuffed in a bag, the knitting bug came back. I loved the idea of that wrap--just a rectangle with three openings for your arms--but the sample, let's face it, is hideous. I was attempting to adjust the proportions so it wouldn't be so drapey and engulfing, but it wasn't coming out the way I'd imagined.

I took to the internet, hoping to find someone who'd made something similar, and TA DA! I found exactly what I was looking for! Leonie on Cuppa & Cake has instructions for a simple knitted wrap vest which is exactly what I had in mind!

Well, as soon as I saw her adorable version, I unraveled the loosely knit craziness I'd been working on and decided to start over. This all happened earlier this month during the Fiscal Fast, so I had to work with what I had. Luckily, I had a huge skein of yarn from Ireland stashed in one of my plastic totes. (See, I KNEW I bought that for a reason!) Here are my scribbles, figuring out how many stitches to cast on, where to put the armholes, etc. And get this: I even made a SWATCH to get my gauge right! I know, right?

See how this works? It's just a big block of garter stitch with slits in it. It's all about the wrapping and draping. I've been sticking my arm through the first slit and admiring the drape in the mirror, but I can't wait 'til it's finished and I can try it on properly! If I'd spend more time knitting and less time admiring...

Help.

DURING:

Okay, it looks worse, doesn't it? However, believe it or not, it took a lot of work to make it look this bad. I've been shredding, sorting, organizing, culling, doing laundry, and rearranging all day. Now I have TWO messy rooms--this one as well as the dining room, which is full of all the stuff that's on the way out. I hate this stage, when everything gets worse before it gets better. I'm trying not to panic!

Cleaning up this room is like being on an archeological dig. I found this thing wadded up in a bag. I didn't even remember working on it and had to look at the instructions to figure out what it was. Any ideas? At first, I was thinking the hole was for my head to go through. Turns out, it's a wrap/shawl thing from the Lion Brand yarn site. It looks like I had to good sense to reduce the width of the thing, so it won't be as blanket-like as the one pictured, but I'm still not sure this is worth finishing. What do you think? Does it deserve a chance?

Creative Hands

A visit to the thrift shop back in March yielded this set of books: Greystone's Creative Hands, The Complete Knitting, Dressmaking, and Needlecraft Guide. Twenty two volumes in all, I think Gerry was a little horrified when he saw me piling them into my cart. Hey, at fifty cents each (they were $1, but half off), they were cheaper than magazines!

Unlike magazines, I will not be throwing these into the recycling bin. (Sorry, Gerry, they're sticking around.) The range of needlecrafts they cover is amazing! Besides knitting and crochet, there are all different kinds of embroidery projects, lace, chapters on tailoring, natural dyes, making lampshades (yikes!), applique, toy making...you name it. A lot of the projects are completely out of my league (I don't even know how to crochet), but many others have made it onto my to-do list.

See all those pages I've bookmarked? I'm going to share TEN of my favorites with you over the next several days. I may never get around to completing any of these projects, but they're too cute to keep to myself!

Warm As Toast

Next in the guest room series...

I'm a sucker for crazy, colorful afghans that look like they were made out of all the random balls of leftover yarn that have collected in Granny's knitting bag. I've had this one tucked away for years, just waiting for the right place to use it. I think the colors are especially appealing AND it has a lot of wool in it, so this is a special one!




Having spent all that time in the attic, the blanket needed some freshening up. I checked my copy of Watkins Household Hints that I bought back in September. It's advice: "Feed the blanket through a power wringer several times, dipping into the suds each time. After five wringings, the soil has been pressed out."

Assuming my blanket wasn't THAT filthy, I used the delicate cycle on my washing machine and Woolite.




After a time in the dryer, set to fluff, my blanket emerged rejuvenated! It's softer, it smells nice, and it's warm as toast.

Now tell me, does anyone know how to do this stitch with the little jags poking into the previous color? I just love it, but I have no idea where to even start looking.

Snowball Ready

Remember way back on January 20th when I started this pair of mittens? Forgot all about them, hadn't you? Well, they've been nagging at me from on top of my dresser for the past two weeks. Not the knitting part--I finished that right away. But sewing up the seams...sigh...I hate sewing seams.


Adding to the problem...this yarn is Magico and changes color, so the seam went from pink to yellow to green to blue to purple to brown and back to pink. I'm sure someone more skilled at sewing seams would have no problem with that, but I ended up with this big, pink scar down the sides of my mittens. What else could I do but tear it out and start over? So I sewed each section with matching yarn. Boring. Tedious. Not my idea of fun.

But they're done! I did it! And now I have mittens to wear with my brown coat! I'm happy.

Edited to add: The pattern I used can be found right here.

Yes I Can

It's been a long time since I last knitted a pair of mittens. It was during Winter break from my first year of college, and I'd just learned to knit from the girl who lived in the room next door. I had one of those old Learn to Knit books, featuring dweeby models wearing all manner of knitted garments, including ponchos, a funny cowl/hat combo dubbed "a helmet," and several versions of the ubiquitous booties with pompoms.

I picked a pattern for two-needle, cabled mittens. I followed the directions and was amazed to see my first cables appear. The mittens were a success, save for one small detail: The yarn was ugly. I never wore them, but I think those mittens are still in a drawer somewhere at my mom's house.

Subsequent attempts to make mittens have been disappointing. Never a fan of sewing up the seams, I've chosen patterns for four-needle mittens. I'm comfortable with four needles and have made several things using them, but for some reason my mittens never turn out.

Then, the other day, I realized I should just go back to what works for me and make the two-needle mittens. That Learn to Knit book is long gone, but I found a new pattern, and I'm giving it a go. I can do this.

Lest You Think I've Been Lazy

Something about snow on the ground and low temperatures makes me want to knit, so I've been doing some stash busting. As with sewing, I have the hardest time deciding which yarn to use with which pattern, so I started with some of my least favorite yarns and made some scarves to donate to charity. With these textured yarns, I stick to simple garter stitch, because nothing shows up anyway.



Don't those fence posts look warm? I'm definitely not a knitting enthusiast, but it is nice to get something done while watching tv or riding in the car.

I've also had a few requests for handbags. For the top one, the request was for "greens and browns" for "a retro girl." I hope it fills the bill! I love how the bottom one came out. The no-wale corduroy looks almost like suede.



And finally...aprons! I have one done and three in the works.

"Ward?! Dinner will be ready in ten minutes. We're having pineapple upside down cake for dessert. Your favorite."

Remember Knitting?

Yes, I used to knit. I'll bet you forgot!

While digging through some stuff in the spare room, I came across a scarf I'd started, oh, probably about three years ago. I needed an easy project to work on with my knitting group--something that didn't require counting or keeping track of anything--so I dreamed up this scarf.

I started the scarf on really big needles, knit for a few inches, k2tog, and then continued in garter stitch on much smaller needles. The problem? When I picked it up after all this time, I couldn't remember what size needles I started with. As I knitted towards the end, I tried to picture what I used when I started, to no avail. So, when the time came, it was trial and error. The first set I tried was too small. The second set was too big. The third set wasn't exactly right, either, but too bad! I think it looks okay.

Bonus...it looks pretty good with my purpley coat! I don't think I even had this coat when I started the scarf!

One Fish, Two Fish

Red fish, blue fish.

It Fits!

Many thanks to my friend for waiting so patiently (three years, I think) for the kitty pi bed. And thanks to Buttercup for obliging us with a photo session.

Want a good laugh?

Have you seen those cute, knitted apple cozies? It seemed like a good idea to try one, now that the gargantuan cat bed is finished. I found this pattern at what was I Think I'm Gonna Purl and is now ThinkingMama. I latched onto the line in the instructions that says "Gauge doesn't really matter," and ignored the part where it says, "you just want it to fit an apple." That's an orange in there. A rather large, navel orange. Stay tuned for take two.

Wooly Goodness

It's finished! The cat bed I promised to someone YEARS ago is finally done! The kitty pi beds aren't difficult to make, and they don't take that long, but after making four of them in a row, I was burned out. Sorry I don't have a picture of this one with a cat nestled inside, but I'm keeping it away from Isabella. Once its intended owner receives it, I'll post a picture. In the meantime, here are the others I've made! (From top: Isabella, Toby, Spook, Stella)

Improvising

This is what happens when your pattern calls for nine rows of straight knitting and you don't have a pen handy.

The project is the Kitty Pi Bed, and I'm finally in the homestretch!

When I'm Not Reading...

Knitting is not my passion. I know how to knit. I enjoy knitting simple things. I even started a knitting group at my library. But you're not going to catch me knitting anything lacy, ruffled, complicated, or --heaven forbid--anything that needs to be sewn together.

Enter the cooperative blanket.

Someone in my knitting group suggested a project: we could all make blocks in different patterns, sew them together, and donate the results to charity. I'm in, I said, as long as I don't have to sew them together. So far, we have 21 blocks. I think 16 of them are mine. I've done plain garter stitch blocks, blocks with cables, checkerboard blocks, and striped blocks. One block is seed stitch (never again) and a couple are sand stitch (I think--I was winging it).

Part of the fun is seeing our progress. Not so fun is trying to arrange knitted blocks on the floor of the screen porch on a windy day. I finally pinned them down, which solves the blowing away problem but makes rearranging a pain. This isn't the final configuration--I would never put two of the cable blocks side by side like that--but it gives you an idea of what we have so far. I was afraid it would look like the dog's breakfast with all the different yarns, but I'm really pleased with it.