Recently a friend was “de-stashing” (we all know about that, right?). Among other things, she tossed a ball of her first attempt at Navajo plied handspun yarn on the table and blathered to the knitting group, “This is so seriously overspun, it’s awful, if someone doesn’t take it, it’s going to be tossed out … blah, blah, blah.” (I just love the word “blathered” and couldn’t resist using it … no offense intended, D.)
It was pretty seriously overspun, no doubt about it. But her control of color was good and there are lots of uses for tightly-twisted fibers, right?
My brain went immediately to the Stow Away Shopping Bag pattern by Oat Couture, which I bought at Double-Ewe Yarn. The plan from the get-go was to surreptitiously knit it up and then give it back to her.
I didn’t have quite enough of her handspun so I Navajo-plied a bobbin of emerald green I had already spun and used that. Still not enough, so I took a little leftover reddish-orangeish-pinkish-purplish-with-sparkly-bits handspun I used to finish of a little cap, called That Hat, pattern also from Double Ewe Yarns. And here’s the finished product.
I have to say, this bag is such a great little project. I made one for my daughter before her trip to The Czech Republic. It folds up into a pack about the size of your two fists…
… and tucks into its own built-in pocket. Toss it in the back seat or glove box, or in a suitcase, and hit the road … easy-peasy.
(If you're interested, here's a good short video on how to do Navajo plying.)
I finally finished some cabled socks I’ve been working on. This has been one of those projects … I don’t particularly like the yarn and started and stopped a couple of projects using it. But for some strange reason had a “need” to do something with it. Well, I now have a pair of socks I don’t love. So it goes. The learning (which isn’t a new learning of course) is that some projects probably really are not worth the effort. But now I can move on to other things!
I had a skein of Lorna’s Lace Tickled Pink fingering weight in my stash, and decided to make a little spring hat for Eva. No pattern of course, just making it up as I go. (Yep, because I’m just so very good at that ….)
“So just how big is a 6-month-old’s head,” I wondered, well into the project.
Dunno. So I googled it and found a helpful (I say “helpful” somewhat wryly since it’s now after the fact …)guide to sizing.
According to that, her head will be around 16-17 inches in circumference at six months, and require a hat height of about 6.5-7 inches. Height’s not a problem, at least not yet … but circumference …
… as you can see (and I can no longer be in denial about this), it’s going to be too small for her by the time the weather is warm enough here in Minnesota to do much strolling. Hrrumpf!
I’m thinking out loud here … if I tear this back to the eyelet row and decrease the number of stitches to half instead of a third for the crown, it should (hopefully) still have enough fullness around the scalloped edge for a little bit of a girly flared brim. Might be too big then, but if so, it could easily be tightened up by threading a ribbon through the eyelets. We’ll go with that for now and see what happens.
Oh, the suspense, the adventure …
(Gosh, if this is really my idea of high drama, I do need to get a life!)
Well, my stash contains absolutely nothing of interest to me. I totally frogged the socks I started from yarn in my stash. Once I learned how to do the magic loop, that was it, no further interest, bored to death.
On the subject of stash, if you're a Girl Scout supporter and charity knitter, looking for stash-busting opportunities, you might be interested in this. It's the blog of a young lady in Florida who is hoping to get donations of caps for kids in need, preemies to teens. Kaitlyn has also started a Ravelry group called Knitted Cap Knitwork.
I think the only answer for me right now is to find an exciting summer knitting project ... and that probably means I’ll need to yarn-shop. Honesty, seriously, believe me, I just don’t have a thing in my stash that screams “summer project.” Or maybe I need to take a little break from knitting and do some spinning. Now there's an idea....
I’ve been working on socks, learning the magic loop technique (definition is from Knit Wiki ... I didn't know Knit Wiki existed until just a little bit ago ... but it could be useful). Anyway, after having some problems with the needles whipping around and threatening to take an eye out, I no longer need to use my teeth as a third hand. Actually, it’s pretty slick once you get the hang of it. But I think the project needs to be frogged.
I was working an easy lace pattern in a multicolored yarn, and the lace gets lost. I don’t like the look at all. So out it comes. I think I’ll use this project as my relatively low-involvement pick-it-up-between-other-projects project. I need one of those, so it’s all good. I think I’ll keep on with the magic loop technique and just do a simple k3p1 rib on the top of the foot and leg … that will work better with this yarn.
I think part of what's going on is that I’m ripe for spring colors. Like these gorgeous yellows, oranges and golds. How delicious are they?
If you learn by watching how something is done, see The Knit Witch. In addition to a video on magic loop, there are videos on kitchener, measuring gauge ... everything from how to do a yarn over to knitting backwards (which really intimidates me!).
It’s funny how something as insignificant as wrist warmers can affect your life. (Well, that might be an overstatement … your life.) Some areas of our office can feel chilly so I’ve been knitting wrist warmers to keep around for anyone who’s feeling the need for a little something cozy. They’re pretty quick and easy to do once you get the hang of entrelac, and they’re a great way to use up scraps of odds and ends of yarn. They’ve become quite the rage around the office! (Well, that might be an overstatement, too!)
On the menu today is a salad made from delicious Noro Silk Garden, with raspberry and plum and tomato orange with a side of deep dark pumpernickel, all resting on a bed of healthy dark greens.
Noro Silk Garden, how I just want to eat you right up. This was an impulse buy, I must admit. It's the first time I've given in to the temptation of Noro Silk Garden and it's because I just couldn't resist this colorway. I'm not sure what to make with it: a scarf, a hat?
The green stuff is my Stow Away Bag, in progress. I'm just starting on the handles, which means I'll be done well in time for the Double Ewe String Bag Sale. I was originally making the Saturday Market Bag from MagKnits, but I didn't like how it was turning out. I can't entirely blame that pattern because I do think I made a couple of ill-advised modifications. But I liked how Mom's Stow Away Bag was turning out and decided I wanted to make one too.
It's Leap Day, it's Friday, it's the last day of the dreaded February. The sun is sort of shining and the snow is sort of melting. There are freshtulips on my desk. Life isn't bad. Hope you're having a good Friday too.
Ravelry’s Stash Knit Down 2008 Group issued a January Challenge to knit a mile, which I did (yea for me). The total for the group was reported by the group’s moderators, Angela and Karin, to be a whopping 66.21 miles!
I haven’t accomplished tons since The Challenge, but I did finish my Stow-Away Bag (pictured below) so I’m all ready to yarn shop at Double Ewe.
I also have a tear-out in my future. The project is a vintage Christmas stocking I’m trying to recreate. I think I've mentioned it before. It’s coming along but I have a mistake a few rows back and since I should really be using a smaller needle, I’ve decided to rip it out and start over. Sigh. I have the motif all figured out, which is probably the toughest part … or at least the most tedious. So now it’s just a matter of knitting it up. It's been hard to get into it since it's months and months away from Christmas. But I do have to return the stocking to its owner soon so I have to keep on it. More on this when I have something to show, and have had a chance to take some pictures.
Well, here’s the finished Coin Lace and Cable Wrap, Project 1 of the Knit a Mile from Stash commitment. I gave it to Andrea. It's cozy warm, and v-e-r-y long ... here she is wearing it, looking a little what ... sassy? haughty? smug?
I have 125 yards left to successfully complete The Challenge. I’m improvising some wrist warmers using partial skeins from my stash. First attempt wasn’t quite right so I tore that out last night. Net accomplishment this week toward completion of that last 125 yards: 0 … but a willingness to give it another go.
Yea, last night I finished the shawl I did as the first part of the Knit a Mile Challenge. This project used up 1635 yards from my stash. I'll post a photo once the blocking is done. In the meantime, l love this video ... it pretty much sums up how it was feeling toward the end of it!
No knitting for me today. I need a break. I'm going to bake bread and maybe give myself a pedicure!
