Avail (plus giveaway)
Do you ever get a mental block about something...you tell yourself it's going to be hard, or fiddly, or you're going to feel like an idiot while you try it? Well I had that mental block about short rows...but then I had a hat in my head that just flat out required short rows...and then I decided to get over it. Avail is the result! Now if you're where I was and thinking short rows are hard, here's the part where I say that they're not. All you do (for this hat at least) is stop knitting in the round [...]
Twisted
Let's talk about twisted rib. So start by taking a look at this side of the heel flap... And then take a look at the back side. Basically it's 1x1 ribbing, with the knits twisted on one side (there's a bit of slipping going on, but that's the general idea). Flip back and forth between the pictures and see how much of a difference it really does make. The one with the twisted rib is just So Much More Tidy. Now sometimes, I'll have you do both your knits and purls twisted (usually when it's a hat brim you might [...]
Slipper, reincarnated
So when last we left the slipper, he was languishing after a bit of a rip. I put him in time out to see if I was going to pick back up or try the same general idea with a different yarn. And somehow while he was in time out, this skein kept coming to the top of the stash. Funny how that happens sometimes. And then? Well then this happened and I think we're pretty much done for. The yarn is Opulence DK by String Theory in the color Tourmaline. And yes, yes it does change color from picture [...]
Block All The Things…yes even your swatches
Remember the gray speckled swatch on the needle from the other day? The one with the Daintree yarn from Skein? Well it came off the needles and looked fine...but like most knitting (all...not most...all), it was a bit rumpled and untidy. That's just the nature of knitting. It needed to be blocked. All I did was squeeze it under water a few times then lay it flat beside the sink to dry. No pins, no wires, no tension, no real effort. Just soak it and lay it flat to dry. And look what a difference that made. I hear from people [...]
Time out
No one likes yarn ramen. This is in contrast to real ramen, which everyone with good taste dearly loves and eats whenever possible, preferably with a soy egg. The slipper has been ripped way back and is in time out while I evaluate whether I want to fix it or ditch it (translation, cast it on with another yarn and see who wins my fickle affection). I'll report back as events unfold. After I make some soy eggs...
Vagaries (plus giveaway)
From time to time I have one of those days where I very much want to knit...maybe even need to knit...but I absolutely do not have the extra brain cycles to knit anything more complicated than plain stockinette in the round. On those days, a pattern like Vagaries can be just the thing. The vast majority of this really is just stockinette in the round. But somehow those adorable little welts and the contrast color stripes provide just enough distraction to keep it interesting. I'm pretty sure the secret is picking a yarn you really like (this is Kunlun by [...]
No I didn’t forget
So somehow over the space of a little less than 12 weeks this summer I found a house, bought a house, sold a house, launched a book, and moved across the country. I don't particularly recommend that timeline (let's just say I picked a book launch schedule long before I knew we were moving), but it turns out, it is more or less possible (if you don't mind not getting much sleep for a while in the middle there). However, it didn't leave me with much time for swatching. Luckily, I'm all settled in now (unpacked, and even most of [...]
At least my feet will be warm…
I'm absolutely positively convinced that warm feet make all the difference on cold days. And you all know I have a slew of wool socks (perks of the trade...). But sometimes you want an extra layer, and that's where the slippers come in. I've been rocking the slippers over socks thing the last few mornings (what can I say, it's chilly...) and found that I wanted some taller ones. So these are going to come up all the way over my ankles. And they're out of seriously thick yarn (Malabrigo's Twist in the color Zinc) knit just as tight as [...]
Swatching swatching swatching
It really is shocking just how much of my knitting is actually swatching. Because sometimes, the thing you think will be lovely just isn't quite right. But I promise it's better to rip it out and try again than to push on with an unsuitable pairing. And sometimes what doesn't work with one colorway will be just fine with that same base, just in another color. Which is why you'll be seeing those leaves again, just in a rather more subdued gray, in the not too distant future...
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