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knitting is a hereditary disease
Knitting: November 2007 Archives
Finished Project! Tunnel Lace Scarf
I started this scarf in August or September, on one of those days when the weather was just cool enough that I was starting to think about fall being on its way. I finished knitting it very quickly, but of course it sat around for a long time with its ends unwoven.
The yarn is some Sirdar Tropicana I got on clearance many months ago (I see now that it's discontinued). I've set myself a goal to knit from my stash for a while, and this was attempt #1. I'm not usually a big fan of acrylic yarns, but I have to say I was really happy with this yarn.
The stitch pattern is the tunnel lace pattern from the Harmony Guides 450 Knitting Stitches (vol. 2). I like how it creates a lofty ribbing.
I knitted a short scarf, then divided the stitches in half and knitted each side separately, then grafted the ends of the two sides together to form a hole.
I was going to write up the pattern, but that's about all there is to it. It's always so nice to start off the winter with a new scarf.
Pod People
The holiday knitting continues apace. And there's still not much I can say about it. I'm getting so close to being finished with Mystery Christmas Present #1. So close it hurts. Actually, with winter charging its way toward us inexorably, my hands have gotten dryer and dryer, and as I furiously knitted Mystery Christmas Present #1 last night, the scratchy wool plus my dry hands made for an uncomfortable combination. I've seen some talk about Burt's Bees Hand Salve as a good option for knitters; I may have to try that. Hand lotion + knitting needles made for a slippery situation last night. But I have very little of this scratchy wool project left to finish, so I think I'll survive.
But! What I really wanted to talk about was knitting podcasts. Monday night in our household is World of Warcraft/Heroes night. Brad plays WOW with his friends, and I watch Heroes at 8:00. (Sadly, this ritual will only go on for one more week because the writer's strike has cut the Heroes season short.) Before and after Heroes is on, I like to listen to podcasts or audio books while I knit. With Brad safely ensconced in the computer room, I don't have to worry about bugging him. Last night, I downloaded a podcast I'd never listened to before - Stash and Burn. Brad came out to get a drink of water or something, and it suddenly dawned on me how silly the scene must have seemed to him. Here I was knitting and listening to two people talk about knitting. I told him I was busy knitting with my "friends".
The first podcast I ever listened to was Cast On by Brenda Dayne. This podcast is so professionally done and so consistently interesting that it has actually ruined the entire realm of podcasts for me. I didn't get into podcasts in the early days when they were all completely unprofessional. Cast On was the first podcast I listened to and therefore the standard to which I held all other podcasts. And they all fell short. I've had to relax my expectations a little bit and now I'm listening to some other podcasts as well. I really enjoyed Stash and Burn. Yes, it doesn't have the same level of production as Cast On, but it's a different sort of beast. It's a casual conversation between two knitting friends, and has a relaxed and comfortable feeling to it unlike the stilted nature of so many other podcasts.
So. In short: you should really listen to Cast On and also to Stash and Burn. You will feel like you're not just sitting in a room knitting all by yourself. Even though you are.
Casting on loosely
Especially for newbies, and especially with tiny needles or loosely structured yarns, it can be challenging to knit the first row. I've seen beginners in tears over it. So here's a little trick you can use to get a loose cast-on so the first row isn't such a challenge. (The photo shows a long-tail cast-on but I think this would work for most others as well.)When you cast on, lay a second needle alongside the needle you're going to actually use for your project, and then cast on your stitches around both needles as though they were one. Unless you're using really tiny needles like the 0's shown, you'll probably want to have the second needle a bit smaller than your project needle so the stitches don't get too loose. Once your stitches are all cast on, just slip the second needle out. You should have a nice, neat row of loosely cast on stitches that you don't have to fight with on your first row.
Hmmm ...
Some projects have problems, flawed from the outset. It's as simple as that. Like, fair aisle will make a pattern so tight the sock won't stretch over your heel. Why didn't I know that would happen? I guess I never tried to do fair aisle in a sock, so I learned something.
Well ... maybe it could be, oh, a hand puppet wearing an argyle sweater ... or ....
Progress photo
Well, this is hard ... and I might end up declaring this a practice sock. I need to think a little bit about "yarn management." It's a challenge to keep the strands of yarn from getting all wound around each other to the point where you just have to stop and straighten things out again.
But, hey, it is looking like argyle, and it is knitted in the round.
Getting started
I've set myself a challenge ... knitting argyle socks in the round.More later ... as things progress (or don't)!
Holiday Knitting/Bad Timing
Who decides to start a knitting blog right before the holidays? That may have not been the best idea. I am currently consumed with holiday knitting, but I can't talk about it here because you never know if the recipient/s will be reading.
This is the only thing I'm working on right now that I can really talk about. It's the Multidirectional Diagonal Scarf. I know a lot of people who make this use Noro Kureyon, which is a fantastic striping yarn, but the sample I saw knitted up at The Yarnery was made with Mega Boots Stretch sock yarn. And it looked great. So that's what I'm using.
This weekend, I'll be baking bread for Thanksgiving and hopefully getting a chance to see how my new roving spins up. But I can't spend too much time on it - there's that holiday knitting I can't talk about, after all!
| barb on flickr.com |
| andrea on flickr.com |
