Flip
Alright, so when last we spoke, the hat was looking a little something like this. Which is totally cute...but may be a bit too...enthusiastic? for my tastes. But then, in a happy accident (also known as weaving in the ends), I flipped it inside out. And look what the top does! That's really rather magical. And just just like that a plan was hatched. I wanted a second version with a few modifications. And the good folks over at The Lemonade Shop were happy to oblige (this is their Stormy Day colorway), and more yarn is on the way. I [...]
Meanwhile…
So, I'm eyebrows deep in Curls 3 swatches. Which is a fairly pleasant place to be (this is the part where I get to have All The Ideas), but it does make for rather limited blogging. I did start getting twitchy about not having finished anything just lately though and so finished up the World's Most Cheerful Hat. It started out looking something like this. Then with a bit of a fold here and a pinch there and a wiggle there looked like this. And with a bit of strategic fiddling that turned into this. Which is all well and [...]
And done
And this lovely bit of business is what happens when you pull up all those pins and see what your blocking has done! Now, the other fun thing about blocking is you can actually make some pretty big changes in how the finished piece looks. So for example on this one, I could have pinned the whole edge out evenly (instead of pulling out points) and it would have been more of a circle. But I'm a sucker for making points pop on things like this, so that's the way I went. I'm sort of suspecting I'm going to write [...]
Greenhorn (plus giveaway)
So if you've been here any length of time at all, you know I'm a firm believer in top down socks with a heel flap. But...every once and a while, the urge to do something a little (but let's be real...only a little) bit different strikes me. Greenhorn was one of those times! These are actually a very mellow way to depart from traditional top down heel flap socks. The leg is the same, the foot is the same, just the heel and gusset are handled a bit differently. Instead of working flat over half the stitches to make a [...]
Joining on
So remember the terribly dreary and grim hat? The somber and surly one? The one that's a little storm cloud on your head? Yeah...most cheerful yarn you'll ever meet in your life. But sometimes, due to the intervention of kittens or an error in judgement or some other mishap, you may find you need to join on more yarn. With a yarn like this, where there is a Very Distinctive Color pattern, you need to be careful how you do that. If you want to keep that progression you've established (and I assure you, you do, that's the whole point [...]
Blocking 201 – Flared Cuffs
So, I've given this lecture before, but everything you knit can benefit from being blocked. Everything. And if you've been around long enough to hear that lecture, you've been around long enough to know about my love for flared cuffs. So of course I have a way to block them too! Let's break this down. You've got a few goals here. One is to stretch the lace out evenly so you can see the pretty stitches you worked so hard on. Another is to make sure the wrist is nice and straight. And the final one is to have the [...]
Option one
So, I hear from a lot of you that you're scared of blocking or that it's hard or that you just don't want to do it. And I sympathize...but I sort of need you to get over it. If you have the skill to knit the thing, you have the skill to block it. And your knitting will look so much better if you do. I promise. Remember, at its heart, blocking is just 'get the thing wet...let it dry in the shape you like.' That's it. That's the minimum necessary requirement. You can get all fancy and use pins [...]
Toldya they were quick…
First one's done (yay)! And the second one's on the needles. Now, please note that 'done' in this case means 'done being knit' not 'done being worked on.' It's still going to need some attention when I block it. Because wow will it look different after it's blocked. Promise. And yes, you can assume there's a 'block your knits' lecture coming up shortly (complete with props). [pextestim pex_attr_set="looking-for-this-pattern" pex_attr_autoplay="false"][/pextestim]
A little distraction
A pipe in my basement is doing something gurgly and distasteful. Qualified adults have been summoned, and I'm sure they will handle the problem. But I need a little distraction. And as is the tradition around here, the distraction of choice is teeny tiny cuffs. The yarn is Yummy 3-ply from Miss Babs in the color quicksilver. I found myself in posession of a little 100 yard skein of it and thought I'd see what I could do with it. This is the part in the proceedings where I mention how lace Always Looks Crumpled on the needles. Don't worry, [...]
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