Chevron Scarf Part 2

May 30th, 2006

I finished the Chevron scarf tester, and worked out how I’m going to do the corners at the end. The bottom half is where I ended, and one corner was done the correct way. The other corner was the first one I did, and it came out too pointy. The second side still came out a wee bit pointy, but nothing that can’t be fixed with blocking I think.

Unfortunately I’m an idiot and I blocked the piece with the wrong side of the stockinette facing up. You can’t actually see the way the stripes look on the right side.

When I make the finished final scarf I’m going to buy a slightly thicker self-striping yarn with a wider stripe and only two colors. I think that will look nice with it.

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Rip it Out, Try Again

May 28th, 2006

I don’t know what it is, but for some reason every time I start a new project I have knit and ripped out the piece at least several times before it’s finished. By new I mean something that has a lot of new skills to learn. I haven’t been knitting for very long, so it seems like every other project I start has some new stitch or technique. I love it, but I’m doing so much repeating.

I must be a knitting perfectionist or something.

When I started the Branching Out pattern from Knitty, I ended up knitting and ripping out the scarf 6 times before I finally reached row 9. I eventually gave up on that project and made the yarn into something else, but anyways…

I’m working on another project right now that I’ve probably cast-on for about four times. The second time was after getting to row 8!! The worst part about re-doing that project from the beginning again was that there were 136 cast-on stitches. Yeesh!

This may seem a silly thing to surprise me, but I’m normally a lazy sort of person. I don’t bother to read the directions when I get a new appliance or piece of furniture (or at least, I wish I could avoid it but the husband makes me). I do it the quick way if I think I can manage on my own, and I’m a bit of a hasty crafter – especially when sewing. Who’d have thought?

Perhaps that’s what has drawn me to knitting so much. I tend to lose focus – to some extent – on the end result, and end up enjoying the process as I go along.

Honestly, I really did enjoy having to cast-on 136 stitches four times. Four was the number of the hour, what with the four-letter-word vocabulary I had.

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Spinning

May 26th, 2006

So I told myself that I was going to wait until I could take a class on handspinning before I made my attempt, but it was so hard to wait once I got my drop spindle in yesterdays big-yarn-order. It was even harder because my silly local yarn shop hasn’t posted a date or anything for the supposed spinning class they will be having. It’s such torture!!

It was probably due to the fact that it was quite late when I started that I finally gave in and made my try. I found several places online that went through the process of hand spinning with a drop spindle, and eventually managed to produce what looks like a very uneven yarn. It’s probably spun too tight, and very weak in some places, but it’s mine.

What are the results of this attempt? I love it!! I can definitely see why so many knitters (and others) make it a hobby.

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It’s In Town!

May 25th, 2006

Oh my gosh! My big yarn-stuffs order was shipped yesterday, and according to the UPS tracking it is already here in town. As a matter of fact, it’s status is “OUT FOR DELIVERY”. That means I’ll get it today!! I can’t help but bounce around, and I certainly can’tleave the house until I get it.

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Kri’s Chevron Scarf

May 23rd, 2006

I recently had this idea inspired by a shawl that I’m making. I enjoyed the way the increases shaped the shawl into a triangle. The needles were knitted on the two bottom edges as if it was straight, but the pattern caused it to knit into a point.

I wanted to do something similar with the increases, but create a scarf instead. It took me quite a few tries of casting on and ripping it out (roughly 5 or 6), but I think I have it all set now. I’m doing it out of a skein of sock yarn I had left, so unfortunately I won’t have enough to do a whole tester scarf. It’ll probably be half the size it needs to be.

The sock yarn makes the scarf look really cool because it is self striping. I want to re-try this scarf some day with a different self-striping yarn, perhaps in something softer to the skin.
I have in mind what I want to do to finish it off, but we’ll see if it works. Eventually I’ll type up the pattern when it’s done, and share it. I’m really happy with what I’ve got so far!

This one will definitely need blocking when it’s done. It really likes to curl.

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An Epidemic

May 16th, 2006

I predict an epidemic among knitters, of which knitters and non-knitters alike should beware. The threat is a kettle dyed (in beautifully rich colors) single ply merino yarn that just sneaks up on you unawares. This stuff is dangerous, and all knitters should consider buying it. It’s called Malabrigo, and it’s the most wonderful stuff among yarns.

OK, so I can’t realistically say that because I have little experience with great yarns, but I swear this stuff is great!! After lots of knitting and thinking, I’ve decided to make an afghan out of this wonderfully soft stuff. I was first drawn to the colors in the yarn shop, then hooked by its softness when I grabbed a skein. I also love the way it’s spun, and I can live with the occasional too-thickly-spun half inch. It makes my stitches look beautiful, and tempts you to just rub your cheek with its softness.
I’m not alone in this! One of my regular knitting blog reads was going on about it today. She’s even knitting a beautiful green Malabrigo that I really want. ‘Tis the season for green, bright beautiful green.

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Knitting in Public

May 15th, 2006

I have learned to take my knitting with my everywhere. Since this is my new obsession, not only am I always thinking about it, but I’m always wanting to do it. I’ve had way too many situations when I was bored, or waiting for something wishing I was knitting. I probably had decided not to bring a current project because I wouldn’t have time to knit, didn’t think I’d want to, or didn’t think of it. I have learned my lesson now: bring the knitting everywhere.

This means that I’m often knitting in public when I’m not doing anything, or Corey and me are sitting together. The cool thing about that is that some fellow knitters are friendly enough to say hi, and ask what I’m knitting. I have found this as a really interesting way to connect with complete strangers, even if for just five minutes and you never see them again. As a shy person who doesn’t talk to many people unless I know them, this is a great way to talk to people I don’t know.

If you’re a knitter who sees someone knitting in public, maybe you should just say hi.

This reminds me of something I read, somewhere. I don’t remember where, but it’s called World Wide Knit in Public Day. I’ll certainly do my best to be seen knitting in public, I already do regularly. The problem is remembering what day it is!

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Knitting for Geeks

May 12th, 2006

I was sitting in the kitchen with my husband (I can’t tell you how wierd it is to say that…husband) today as he cooked dinner, knitting and chatting. I wasn’t knitting anything overly complicated, but it required that I knit exactly the right amount of rows. I know counting rows is easy, especially when I only needed 56. I’m lazy whenever I can be, but I was unable to use my one row/stitch counter to keep track of my rows. The incessant “row ten, row ten, row ten, ten, ten,” became kind of annoying as I attempted to keep track of each row. I was kind of complaining about only having one row counter, and the project I was using it for had a bigger need to keep track on the counter. There were more rows to count if I lost track.

My brilliant husband came up with the greatest idea for the geeky knitters, or knitters with geeky significant others. DICE!! Since both of us are DnD players, we have tons of dice, of many different sides. Corey even has a 100 sided die, which is nothing more than a pain since it will just roll, and roll, and roll. These are such great knitting tools for temporarily counting small amounts of rows/stitches. If you’re knitting a  bunch of small squares with small amounts of rows (as I am), dice are perfect!

No need to state the obvious. I am a self professed geek.

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Grafting Sock Toes

May 9th, 2006

I just finished my first pair of socks. Along with the normal beginner mistakes, I totally messed up grafting the goes. Most of the sock was pretty easy, and I figured out the complicated parts in the end. Except for the grafting.

I followed the directions in the pattern exactly, except there were many things left unanswered! For example, do I do everything below or underneath the knitting needles? Which one is the front and back needle? Which way is supposed to be purlwise and knitwise? How do I hold the needles to determine what’s purlwise and knitwise?

In my impatience I didn’t bother to consult my knitting handbook, or look online for help. I wasn’t home or near easy access to a computer. I basically followed the instructions and totally botched it up. The toes are secure and the sock won’t come unravelling anytime soon. However, there is a visible seam.

I’m knitting another pair of socks, and I want to do it right this time. This afternoon I found the greatest website, and it really helped to explain a lot about grafting toes. This site has the very thing I needed, pictures! It goes through the process of grafting sock toes, with a picture for every step! I get it now!!

Sock Class – Grafting the toes

The rest of the site seems to have a pretty good tutorial for knitting socks in general as well. The best part about it is that pictures abound! No more guessing.

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Must you ask why?

May 6th, 2006

What in the world am I doing? I’m starting another project, another website project! Now, I must admitt that I really enjoyed doing the design for this second-third-whatever blog creation of mine, and it was fabulous being able to put to screen some of the images that go through my head with my wonderful new drawing tablet. I mean, I didn’t have to use just pictures for my design this time. However, I must stress the fact that I didn’t start this project as an excuse for gratuitous creativity. I swear!

The real purpose of this project was to create a knitting (possibly even crafting) journal for myself. I want to keep track of my projects, their materials, and the things I’ve learned. I like to chronicle and save things; which probably explains my history major. The webpage and design part of this project was really the only way that I could get myself to start this journal. Until I thought of doing it online, I dragged my feet about starting the records for my projects (and boy are they adding up fast!).

An added benefit to creating an onlineknitting journal, is that I get to start another blog! I’m kind of hesitant to babble on about my new knitting obsession over in my regular blog, and I don’t know that many knitters will care about my name change, techy obsessions, or rants about the beautiful spring weather. If you do, great, head on over! But be warned that it will surely not be due to your love of great writing.

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