More Frogging Than Knitting
I’ve been working on patterns where gauge isn’t important, yet I’m frogging more than I’m knitting.
I’ve been knitting the Branching Out scarf from Knitty for someone special. When I first saw it at Knitty, I was drawn to the leaf pattern. I’m using the Filatura Di Crosa Ultralight yarn I got from the Webs Tent Sale, 10 balls for $25. Good deal. I’m using size US 4 bamboo needles. The yarn doesn’t feel as soft as it did the day that I bought it. Maybe it’s just the hot, sticky weather we’ve been having. Without AC downstairs, I don’t care to have fuzzy wool around my neck.
I’ve made a few mistakes already, but nothing I couldn’t cover up or fix. But now look at what I found. Can you see the dropped stitch in the photo? With this complicated lace pattern, I don’t really know where to begin trying to pick up the stitch. I’d rip the whole scarf back, but this yarn doesn’t rip out easily. It really sticks to itself. So with all those balls of Ultralight, I’ll just start over. I want to use bigger needles anyway. I probably dropped the stitch the other night while doing k3tog stitches and watching Angel.
This past weekend I went to Sheep’s Clothing in Milan, New York with my friend Johanna. So much merino and gorgeous colors. And I loved a lot of their patterns. But I was strong and resisted buying much. I bought a set of birch straight needles and a set of birch cable needles. And as for yarn, I only got a single skein of this lovely lace merino for a belt. I’ve been wanting a fun belt to wear with my brown linen pants. I’ve been testing the yarn, knit/frog/knit/frog and knit some more, not quite sure what I wanted to do. I think I may try to go down a few needle sizes. I might like it more.
Soleil is Done, I Think…
My Soleil tank top is done but not perfect.
I blocked Soleil yesterday on my living room floor. I made a nice blocking cage for it to keep the 3 and 6 year olds away from it. Sharp pins and all, I thought it was best. But really, I didn’t want anyone messing with my Soleil after all of the work it took to finish.
You’ll notice that the color in the photo is a lot greener than my other posts. I finally got around to messing with the white balance on my camera, so this is the actual color. Also notice, IT FITS! Now I won’t need to find a friend of a different size. The tops of the straps are still rolling in, and the bottom is starting to roll up. I could add another row of crochet stitches to the straps. But I’m not sure what I can do to keep the bottom from rolling up. It’s fine if I don’t move. But as soon as I start to move, the bottom rolls up. Should I just live with it?
What next? I already have a Branching Out scarf and a Nothin’ But a T-Shirt on the needles. And I’m just about ready to start the sweater for Liam with my custom dinosaur design. It’s plenty to keep me busy.
Comfort Knitting
I found out this weekend that knitting can be more than frogging and frustration. It can be comforting.
So I decided that I couldn’t live with the bulging, loosely purled row in my Soleil and ripped it back to before the neckline. I’m glad I did it. But Soleil is going very slowly now since I’m being so careful not to purl too loosely. Things are turning out alright though. I’m just about done with the back and about to start the front above the neck divide.
But I had time on my hands this weekend since I was recovering from the stomach flu. But I was not up for the concentration of working the Soleil. Instead I grabbed the Hush yarn I bought at the Webs Tent Sale the previous weekend, soft blues, greens, and purples. I worked a long scarf on big size 13 needles, no gauge to worry about. What a treat from Soleil where the yarn splits often and the size 3 needles are getting tedious. Making this scarf was the equivalent of eating comfort food. I got past the stomach flu, and now I have a very soft and fuzzy scarf too.
The Neck Gaiter
I’ve continued knitting, trying to add a new skill with each new project. Here’s the project that I did after finishing my first scarf.
I heard on the radio that Webs was having a New Year’s Day sale. Bill had mentioned this Northampton yarn store to me earlier and it sounded interesting. I was almost done with my scarf and was looking forward to a new project. By this point I realized that I DID like to knit and was hooked.
Webs was great, especially the warehouse in the back where there’s a ton of discounted yarn. I found yarn for my next project, Vaudeville by Artful Yarns in the redish color. It is a 100% merino wool knitted ribbon yarn with a bulky weight gauge. I wanted to learn how to knit in the round on circular needles and thought a simple neck gaiter could work with this yarn. I bought a set of 18-inch size 11 bamboo circular needles. I loved the bamboo needles. They felt great. But the cord attaching them was really stiff and took a long time to loosen up.
I used a seed stitch and the neck gaiter knitted up fast on the circular needles. And by doing a seed stitch, I really got to know the difference between a knit stitch and purl stitch. Now I’ve been knitting several of these gaiters as gifts. It’s the perfect brainless knitting to work on when I need that sort of thing. Ella’s been showing me all the different ways to wear her gaiter including headband/earwarmer and hat.
My New Obsession
Well my new obsession is knitting. And I love it. Over Thanksgiving at the Hartrick Family Reunion in Fayetteville, I was inspired to learn to knit while watching all of the others knitting and crocheting.
My sister-in-law Jennifer Childs offered to teach me to knit. I was so excited. I had tried to learn many years ago when I was a kid, but could never figure it out. But it was always in the back of my mind that I’m a smart person and this is something I should be able to do, eventually.
To start, I went to Hand Held, a yarn store in Fayetteville that is owned by a mother of a D.C. friend. I assumed I would make a scarf with really chunky yarn. I wasn’t sure if I would actually like knitting, so I wanted to make something I could finish. I tried to find yarn that was really soft and ended up with two skeins of Rowan Big Wool in Pistachio and size 12 mm needles. I asked the store for recommendations for a knitting book. They quickly said Stitch ‘N Bitch. They did not have it in stock though. They were so sure that this was THE book I should get that they told me to go down the street to the Barnes and Noble and buy it there.
Jenn was very patient with me. She taught me to cast on, knit, and purl. She also suggested that I try Continental knitting (left-hand method) since this was a faster way to knit. I started the scarf with a stockinette stitch, but quickly learned that it curled too much on the sides. I frogged it and started over. Then I went with a 2×2 rib stitch and this worked out well. By the end of the Reunion, I had gotten to the point where I could finish the scarf on my own. Though I did have to teach myself how to bind off. This was a little scary, but the Stitch ‘N Bitch book has really clear diagrams and instructions. I was able to figure it out.
Here’s the finished product on Ella. I’ve been wearing the scarf for the past two months. It’s warm and soft and matches my winter coat too. What more could you ask for?
