Today’s Lesson
You know how all the instructions in every knitting book ever strongly encourage you to block your swatches? Yeah. I'm here to remind you of the same thing. This time with a demonstration. You see, I'm working on a little cowl. It's a lovely fabric, open without being lacy, structured without being stiff. I'm rather taken with it. The yarn was new to me (Handmaiden's Silk Twist), so of course I swatched. And because I'm lazy and only want to knit it once, I blocked my swatch. It's a good thing I did, because the swatch grew by about 50% [...]
Naughty Designer
What I really really should knit? The last few rows of the cowl. It's achingly close to done. What I have been knitting? Swatches. For you see, I have this plan...this plan for a hat...this plan for a hat that will be either the cutest or the ugliest thing you ever did see. Only time (and more swatching) will tell. But first...I must finish this cowl. I get to see some friends this weekend and I think I will be able to sweet talk one or two of them into modeling it for me!
Hot Diggity Dog
There are people out there who say they don't like classical music. I would suggest that what at least a few of these people actually dislike sitting still and being quiet while wearing fancy clothes. Because sometimes that's what's involved in going to see such music performed. Now I'm not presumptuous enough to suggest that this is the case for everyone, but I think there might be at least a few folks for whom the outfits and the environment are the deal breaker rather than the music. If that's the case for you (and if you're in this general area), [...]
Don’t Cross the Streams
The plan is totally working. Just as important, all the math indicates that I'll be able to make the cowl significantly wider (by keeping the mitts tiny...tiny but awfully cute). So as long as I can keep from tangling the various bits and pieces of the project, everything should come together well. And apparently this morning the yarn is purple. I've simply embraced the changing nature of this fabric and I'm no longer fighting it. I swear I'm setting my white balance and I'm in decent light. I think it's just the yarn's magic resisting the camera's technology. I'm letting [...]
But it’s…Pink
There's a reason I knit on dpns. They generally put an upper limit on how many stitches are in a row or round. I know myself, I know I'll get awfully bored if something is much more than 100 stitches around (which is about where my hats come in). Yet somehow, I find myself working on this. This is not on dpns, and it is way more than 100 stitches per row. It takes a flipping age to get through one row, and yes I do get bored in the middle. It's also shockingly, alarmingly pink, which is utterly out [...]
Foliate
I, in a more or less unprecedented move, decided to spend a weekend away from the computer. Somehow I convinced myself that Friday counted as the weekend too. Now to be fair, it was odd. It made me feel kind of...itchy. But, it did prove a theory I've been wondering about. It turns out that the whole wide world doesn't end if I don't check my email/check ravelry/update this site for several consecutive days. I'm not sure I want to risk it again though...there could be some sort of cumulative effect. And now, to make it up to you, I'll [...]
Knitter’s Choice
I feel like I have been slacking. This is actually a pretty ridiculous way to feel. I've turned 51 patterns in the last two (and a bit) years. That's a rate of aaaaalmost two patterns a month, which isn't exactly slow. And of course that's only counting the patterns that are out. I've got quite a few lined up and waiting to make their appearance in one form or another. But it's been an unusually long time since I put out a pattern, and it's bugging me. This isn't for any lack of patterns to hand. I have two all [...]
So in the Meantime
The plan had been to put out the cowl and mitts pattern today. The knitting has been done for ages. The pattern was written and tested weeks and weeks ago. All that was lacking was a sunny day with the lovely Lauren to take a few photos of the knitting on a person. I got that in this weekend. Then... Then? Then in a fit of stupidity that far outstrips my usual shenanigans, I managed to erase all those pics. I have no idea how. Seriously. None. I have all the sock picks we took 10 minutes before that. I [...]
Stormy
Ice storms make for lovely knitting weather. Noisy, but lovely. The second of the green swirly socks, henceforth to be known as Louche, is now underway. Even more important, the scribbling, calculating, and doodling required to write the pattern has been completed. I'll likely turn it from my chicken scratch into something someone else has a hope of reading and put it out for testers later this week. As a scheduling note, the pattern for Truckle is done and ready to go out, save only a picture. Of course getting a picture requires me, plus The Boy, plus daylight, plus [...]
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