Insides
Remember how I was smitten with the outside of the cuff increases? Well the inside is also oddly charming. Same with the inside of the stripe. Now, I don't think it's necessarily practical to actually think of these as reversible (I can't think of a suitably hidden way to weave in the contrast color ends to pull that off... But it is pretty enough I like flipping it inside out from time to time to coo over it (though this does slow down the knitting quite a bit if you indulge in it too much). And I do think I [...]
Tidy
You know me. You know I love a tidy thumb gusset. And this? This is astonishingly tidy. I mean it's not hard. It's not even fiddly. It's just...it's just splendid. I'm actually sort of in love with my whole thumb plan for these. And honestly, it looks just as good on the inside. Which I'll show you real soon here (I have to get things ready for the hat to come out Tuesday first, but it's coming). [pextestim pex_attr_set="looking-for-this-pattern" pex_attr_autoplay="false"][/pextestim]
Revivify (plus giveaway)
So I know your life is perfectly in order. You never need a plumber, or an electrician, or whoever it is you call to do something about that funny spot on the garage roof. And I bet you have healthy dinners every night and your laundry is all put away and your yard looks just great right now. But I? I sometimes have weeks where life gets the better of me...and when I have one of those weeks, I need my knitting to be simple. That usually means I find myself knitting little flared cuffs. They're quick, they're easy, I [...]
Distractions
So you know I love flared cuffs. Sort of a lot. I tried to count, and it looks like there are at least four as individual patterns and some fairly alarming number in various books (I officially have enough patterns in enough places that it's kind of hard to sort them all!). And so it should be no surprise that I have another pair fresh off the needles. These really are a tiny, quick project (I knit each one in a few hours while trying to distract myself from the horrible and expensive things a pipe in my basement was [...]
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 [...]
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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