Trish Knits.com

Category: blog

  • Back to Sqaure One

    latifa scarf progress

    I’m a little bummed. I’ve been wanting to blog all week, but I kept asking myself, “How many photos of the same old scarf can I possibly show?” So I put it off as long as possible. The thing is that I think I must be the slowest knitter ever in the universe! I do love this scarf and I love the way it feels in my hands as I knit it. But I know it will take a LLLLOOOOONG time to finish. So, I’ll try to break up my entries with other stuff from time to time… I don’t want to leave you all bored silly!!

    As you can see I finished the fourth color block and am now starting back on block one. Which makes me feel great anyway, because anybody who knows me well knows that purple is my most favoritest color in the whole wide world! I even have a leather bomber jacket which my co-worker PJ says gives me away as a true “80s girl,” which is the actual exact same color as the purple color block on this scarf. How cool is that? So there, an incentive to get it done.

    Hopefully at the end of this week I can post reviews of four more books… I’m already on a yarn moretorium, and now I probably should go on a knitting book diet as well. But I had some Amazon gift certificates ready to expire, and well, what’s a girl to do? Stay tuned…

    And no, I’m not joinging the Knitting Olympics. I’d come in dead last.

  • I’m Impatient!

    latifa scarf with first ruffle knitted on

    It’s true! I am so impatient! I couldn’t wait to make my first ruffle on the Latifa scarf. What an ordeal it turned out to be! First I had to wind my hank of Morehouse Merino yarn into a ball. Of course, I am not the most coordinated person in the world, and before I knew it my hank was a mess. It took me nearly two days to wind the ball. Then, I think I made a poor needle choice for which needle to use to pick up stitches, and it was very slippery to work with. Plus the stitches got all bunched up and crowded together as I was increasing them, and I think at times the stitches were too tight. Ugh. But here it is!! I think the varigated colors of the yarn will complement the colors of the scarf very nicely. I can tell, though, that this project may take me a while!! Maybe by next winter I’ll be able to wear it. Haha… we’ll see.

    Right now I’m hoping it won’t just wind up on the UFO pile with nearly every other project I’ve ever started. I’m embarrassed to admit that in just over two years of knitting I’ve only managed to finish a couple of scarves and a few hats. Nearly everything else remiains undone… what is it with me? Perhaps it is that I am a “process” knitter, rather than a “project” knitter, which is the excuse that most knitters in my situation would use, but I gotta wonder if it is that I just have a hard time with being done and letting go of a project when it is done. Or, maybe it’s just the ADD talking, and I just don’t finish ANYTHING I start, no matter what it is! Either way, I have enough knitting books and enough yarn to last my entire life at this rate. I really should focus on getting some other stuff done. But first, I’ve got a poncho to finish… 🙂

  • Diane’s Hat!

    Diane, wearing teal blue hat


    My cousin Diane came by today to get the hat I made her! Doesn’t it look pretty on her? I think she liked it! I’m so happy with the way this one turned out. I guess my next hat will be for DH’s sister Laura, as I did also promise one to her some time ago, but of course I have a whole stack of UFO’s to attend to first!

    Library Updates

    Over the Christmas holidays I went nuts buying a lot of new knitting books, and I’ve been busily adding them to my library page. I’ve been adding a few new ones every couple of days, so please do check back if you’re on the market for some knitting books! I participate in the Amazon Associates program to help offset the costs of one of my other web projects, Parents with Disabilities Online. So, if you are going to buy a knitting book on Amazon anyway, please consider clicking through from the links on my site. Thanks!!

  • Latifa Beginnings

    Striped knitted scarf purple gray and pink

    Well, I started my Latifa scarf about a week or so ago, and I am loving it! Sure the garter stitch is boring as all get out, but the yarn is so soft I hardly care! Haha! It is knitting bliss. I’m using KnitPicks Andean Treasure for the color blocks, and some Morehouse Merino in a varigated oolorway for the ruffles. I might actually do a ruffle or two before I get to the end, just to break up the monotony. I know I probably should weave in the ends as I go, too… but don’t we all hate that part? I’m just hoping all those ends don’t delay me in finishing this beauteous scarf!

    What else to tell? My friend Carrie is knitting!! How cool is that? Just started yesterday, and already she reports that her scarf is over a foot long! Yay! I am so proud of her for being able to pick it up so quickly. I’m always grateful when a friend finally understands for herself my total obsession with this craft! Yay! Another convert…

  • Diane’s Hat Again

    Felted hat with partially completed hat band


    I don’t know about you guys, but I’m not tired yet of looking at this hat! Once again, it photographed more blue than teal, but the shade is very lovely. I toyed with doing a hat band of the blue and green yarns that made up the shade in some sort of color block pattern, but in the end I wasn’t happy with that so I settled on this gray yarn and I’m doing a mistake rib pattern to give it some texture. I likey! Of course I find knitting the hat bands to be quite tedious, but I do think they add something to my finished product so that’s why I do them. I think this is turning out to be my favorite hat so far. Next I want to learn entrelac so I can do some sort of entrelac pattern on the crown section before the decreases… but I’m getting ahead of myself. There’s still the matter of Alison’s poncho, of course.


    And the Icing…

    blue rhinestone brooch

    And then I bought this lovely pin from an Ebay seller today, and it’s going you-know-where… on Diane’s hat, of course!! The original pin I had purchased a long time ago turned out to be “too green” for the job. Perhaps I will find another project that suits that one well. But I hope the pin gets here soon so that the hat will be completely finished. And, yay! I actually got it done before winter is over.

    Now, back to the poncho…

  • Felted Hat!

    hat after felting, sitting out to dry

    Well tonight I did several rounds of felting with Diane’s hat. It’s looking good! I ran it through the washer twice, with Diana’s help, since I can’t reach the washer, but then tossed it around by hand in a sink full of hot water for a while. I was at first concerned that it might be too big, but I think it’s taking shape nicely. We’ll see after it dries! I may try hand felting more often. For me, at least for now, it’s a bit easier than dealing with a washer I can’t get to that’s always full of laundry anyway. I hope my cousin Diane will like her hat! It’s a Fiber Trends AC-1 Felted Hat, made with Knitpicks Wool of the Andes, in two colors, “Storm” and “Winter’s Night” held together. In all of the photographs I’ve taken of the hat so far, none has fairly shown the deep shade of teal that this hat really is.

    Now to accessorize this hat…. does it need a hat band, or no? If yes, should I make it from the yarn that is the greener color of the two yarns used, or a smoky gray instead? Either way I have a pin to put on it, but I’m not sure now that the pin is a good match. Guess I’ll have to try it and see. It’s a dainty gold-colored floral pin with pink and green stones, but I think the hue of the hat may be too blue. Maybe I shold look for something silver toned, and more modern. Sigh… such decisions…