Variations
A quick variation on the previous stripy hat. It's Malabrigo Twist again (the second half of the skeins I used for the last one, both should easily come out of those two skeins). It's the same technique as before (never knitting more than one color in a given row, glorified stripes, miles of stockinette with just one goofy row every now and again), just a slight change to make wee nubbies instead of an all-over pattern. I think they make a nice pair. Last time I did three variations, but I think I'll have to call it good at two [...]
Well it’s About Time
You know that moment on a hat? The moment where all you need to do is keep going around and around and around as you've been doing for a while now? And there's nothing else to be done, you just have to put in the stitches? Even if you've lost all will to live (or at least to knit)? Yeah, that's where I was on this one. It was not leading to much in the way of forward momentum. At least it wasn't until I noticed how inescapably nifty the inside of the hat looks. See? This discovery has left [...]
Warm
As discussed the last time this hat gripped me in its obsession, these hats are mindbogglingly simple. The vast majority of the time, you're just knitting. Just plain old knitting...nothing fancy at all. Every now and then, you do a little magic trick for one quick row, then slip back to the lovely soothing plain knitting. The resulting fabric is both charming and impressively warm. Take a look at this. That's after a nice stretch of stockinette and just before the next row with the magic trick. See the difference between the bottom part and the top part? See how [...]
It Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time
Well bummer. Remember when I said the hat obsession had returned? And I showed you the two yarns I wanted to use? Yes. Well. I seem to have fallen under the sway of Malabrigo's lovely but occasionally sporadic colors. Somehow the yarn that looked all blue and green and gray with hints of yellow turned out to be yellow with bits of evil thrown in. Well no, I take it back. The yarn itself is lovely, it just wasn't playing well with that gray and that stitch pattern. Not really at all. So I did what any reasonable knitter would [...]
Priorities
What was that? Something about having promised you socks? Yes, yes I do recall something like that. Alas, our weekend didn't quite allow for daylight sock photography. We had an epic, two-day game of Carcassonne instead, and I'm not at all sorry. But never fear, there was knitting. I had to do something while I waited for it to be my turn. See, sock. And while we're here, let's just take a moment to see what a difference blocking makes. That's the same yarn (String Theory Merino DK), same needles, same stitch, same knitter...totally different look before and after blocking. [...]
As Promised
One furry boy leg and one partially completed sock. The sock is actually about an inch longer than this now (String Theory Merino DK...it knits up wicked wicked wicked fast, and the cables are marvelously sharp), and I may even finish the first one this weekend. I was all worried that the yarn would be too busy for that much purl background (variegated yarns often look even more, um, enthusiastic on the purl side), but it's coming out great.
Next
In between the website upgrades, the movies, and the ice cream making, the weekend saw a bit of time for some actual knitting. These are the newest sock on the needles and they will be for The Boy (he certainly deserves them after all the computer time he clocked over the last few days). The yarn is String Theory Merino DK in the color Carina. The Boy picked it out when we visited String Theory in October. The color is lovely, and just the tiniest bit odd. It looks like the yarn itself is yellow and in some spots it's [...]
More Like It
I've recovered from my lying swatch incident (never a pretty sight) and am now no longer despondent. The yarn is back on the needles, and I have a plan. This will be one of those slouchy hats...aka, one of those hats that looks like crap while it's in progress. I've got great faith though. I think it will be suitably nifty, and it's totally doing its job and showing off the (little tiny bit of) handspun I had available. The real question is do I like the inside or the outside better? What do you think, here's the outside(maybe): And [...]
I Protest
When you don't swatch, or when you do a crappy swatch, or when your swatch proves to be a bald-faced liar (that's what happened here), then you get to rip out the promising start of a hat (while swearing), detangle all that yarn (still swearing), pick up all the stitches that survived the purge (more swearing), and knit it all over. This time with the right size of needle. And maybe with a refreshing and restorative beverage. Here's the bundle of lying crap. The new and improved version will be coming up next. Or, if it doesn't continue to improve, [...]
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