Wibbly Bits
This weekend saw a Significant Purging Of The Stash and Tidying Of The Bins. And one of the things that came up along the way was this, which was like 75% of a skein of a very pretty yarn. A very pretty yarn that I happen to have another skein of. So I decided that since there was definitely enough to use it for something in the future, I'd go ahead and rescue it. Step one was finding an end (the one down side to weaving in your ends very very very neatly is that it can be a bear [...]
Mend my ways
You know how I'm always saying you should swatch? Mmmmm. Yes. Well. The one time I said 'eh, it's just a tiny hat, I don't need to bother to swatch,' I ended up with a hat that was so dense that it was more of a helmet than a hat. This is how far I got before I sighed (loudly), swore (softly), and ripped the whole thing back. I mean it's fine. I've already moved on to the project's next iteration. But I just figured I should confess my sins and mend my wicked ways.
Under the influence
I am not knitting a sock. I am not knitting a sock. I am not knitting a sock. I'm really really really super not. But I am under the influence of a sock. And will be for the next little while.
Every time
Every time a pattern for a tiny thing gets popular I get comments like this. These read "I would recommend checking the price again. It is disproportionate to patterns for sweaters in 7 sizes" & "Nice design and commentary, but I simply cannot justify $10 for a washcloth….nor do I want to download 26 pages….a less expensive pattern would sell much better, imo". And I'll be honest, they used to wreck me. But not anymore. My full response is in the screenshots (transcribed below in case it's hard to read or you want the links), but the gist is [...]
Terrifyingly Competent
Does brioche feel scary? If so, I have some good news... First, a bit of confession. It felt scary to me at first too! I mean look at it, how could it not be a little scary? But, as with so many things, once you spend a little bit of time playing with it, it gets a lot less intimidating. The thing that made it start making sense to me was realizing It's Just Fancy Ribbing. No really, (most) brioche is knit/purl rib with some sneaky yarnovers/slip stitches tossed in for extra texture. And yeah, as with most new things, [...]
Lather
Yes, yes knitting yourself beautiful, squishy, scrubby, luxurious washcloths is a little indulgent. But guess what? You are allowed to be indulgent with yourself. I actually think you should find ways to make the ordinary moments in your life as pleasant as possible. Use the nice napkins, even if you're eating takeout pizza. Wear your favorite lipstick, even if you're home alone. Keep a tiny vase by the kitchen sink, even if you're just filling it with pretty weeds from the vacant lot. Make the little moments better. Because sometimes you cannot fix the big things! But you can probably [...]
Involved
With all the Squishy Feelings Nonsense yesterday, I didn't actually talk much about the knitting. Let's fix that! This is a swatch to work out out some sizing for the first of the socks I'm revisiting. Like I said yesterday, a lot of the earliest patterns only came in one or two sizes, and That's Not How We Do Things Now. And while sometimes adding more sizes is just a matter of adding an extra stitch repeat, sometimes you have to do something a little more involved. Here, each and every size requires five different charts. One for the cuff [...]
Old Flame
Remember how I said I was having a fling with an old flame (aka socks, my first knitting love)? Well, it's official, I'm still fond of socks (even if my shoulder doesn't allow for a long term relationship). And next month will mark fifteen YEARS since my first pattern came out. So I decided to spend a little time with some of those very earliest patterns. And oh...oh I can see the enthusiasm of a new fascination stamped all over them! I really did just knit whatever amused me and then figure out how to write it down after the [...]
Bullseye
What do you think, did I hit the goal (not invisible, but fairly subtle)? I'm pretty happy with it! The first pic is the mend after the sweater was washed and let to dry, the second pic is before I washed it. Just like with most any other knitting project, mended fabric looks better after you've gotten it wet, smoothed it out, and let it dry. It's basically blocking your mend. And, just like any other project, blocking it lets the stitches relax and even out and settle into their final spots. This probably took about three hours of stitching [...]
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