Trish Knits.com

Category: Knitting

How to Choose a Lace Pattern?
Shawl progress
This is my progress so far on my Pi Are Square shawl. I’m about halfway through the 12-ridge section. It turns out that both of the stitches used here look very similar to each other. I don’t mind that… but what’s next? How do I choose?

One of my biggest faults is that I worry so much sometimes about doing something wrong that I over-study, and over-study the problem, and then that leads to progress paralysis. You’re familiar with project paralysis, right? It plagues every knitter, every writer, every doer of anything creative from time to time. Well, I seem to have an extreme case. I have consulted all of these books for inspiration over the last week:
That’s an entire library on knitting lace and a practical encyclopedic collection of lace stitches. And you know what? I’m confused! I’ve gone overboard, again.

I’ve narrowed the field to a few criteria, but I have to go through the stitches again to find things that I think will work. Here are my thoughts:
- It has to somehow fit into the area that I want to knit it into, not exactly, because I can use filler stitches and rows, but close enough.
- It should be different from, but not clash with, the stitches that are already there, and the ones that follow (as if I know what that means yet)
- The stitches have to be just complicated enough that they will keep my interest, but not so complicated that they make my brain hurt or that I can’t learn them, or read them from my knitting, after doing a couple of repeats
- I’d like my stitch choices to be something that adapt easily to garter stitch
- And they have to be beautiful, without looking too much like “old lady” lace, whatever that means. I have purple hair, for goodness sake, and I’m going through a bit of a midlife crisis. Not that old fashioned lace can’t be simply stunning, I’m just not sure it’s me.
So, have I driven you mad with my craziness? Does anybody out there have any thoughts on this? HOW the heck do I sort this all out? I feel like I’m only taking my first, tentative baby steps with lace knitting, and yet, I’m seeking a master’s degree straightaway. I am nuts, and I know it. For now, I’ll keep knitting, since I still have another 14 or so rows before I must commit. In the meantime, I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Help?!?

As always, I thank you in advance.
March 2, 2011
Knitting a Shawl

Shawl beginnings
This once-a-month blogging thing has got to stop. Yes, I miss it. But, I have no idea why I haven’t been blogging. Lately, though, it has seemed overwhelming to do. Yet, here I am… I have a lot to tell you about my knitting world lately.

For some reason, I got it in my head a couple of weeks ago that I want to make a shawl. I’ve been wearing wide scarves over my shoulders all winter. They all have been store-bought, and I have had a bit of knitter’s shame in that none of what I have worn has been anything I’ve made. You wanna know why that is? There IS nothing I have made. A few hats, an i-cord scarf, and lots of unfinished objects. I am the true embodiment of a process knitter; I start a project, eager to learn something new, and then once I get the concept, I quickly get bored. So, there’s not a lot to show for my “career” as a knitter.

But, back in November, when I visited Woolstock, I discovered the wonder that is Koigu. I bought 8 skeins, intent on making a shawl. Of course, it can’t be just ANY shawl. It had to be the PERFECT shawl. And so, the agonizing began.

Agonizing, because… here’s the thing. I love the idea of lace, but I really don’t like “old lady” lace. I’m 45 with purple hair for gosh sakes, I’m fighting my age tooth and nail. So, I had to find the right stitch patterns, and style and shape of shawl.

Enter the book, Crazy Lace:an artistic approach to Creative Lace Knitting by Myra Wood. (Whoa! Check out the CRAZY price on that thing! I swear, I paid less than 20 a few months ago. Is it out of print already?) This book is a really cool concept, and explains that lace can be whatever you want it to be, symmetrical, or not, orderly, or not… that as long as you understand some basic concepts for the shape you want, you can do anything you want with the holes and the decreases. Really. ANYTHING.

The thing is, I’m not quite that brave. Not yet. I want to be, but I’m not there. Still, the book was a great read and I will refer to it often every time I need a knitting confidence booster.

Then I thought I would love to try knitting a Faroese Shawl. The concept of this shawl appealed to me because as a person in a wheelchair, I have trouble keeping shawls in place on my shoulders. And the shaping looked like just the thing that would make this shawl easy to wear. I looked at some basic shaping instructions from this site. I understand the concepts laid out in this site, but I just couldn’t wrap my head around it. Not yet. It was making my brain hurt, so I ripped it out after only the first few rows. I tried again and again, but the confusion never lifted. So there went that idea.

Then I looked around Ravelry, and there it was: The Pi Are Square shawl. (There’s a good example of one in this photo on Flickr.) Put simply, it’s round in the back, and square in the front. with shoulder shaping. This seemed perfect. Of course the creator of this beautiful design was none other than my knitting herone, Elizabeth Zimmermann. I have most of her books so I pulled my copy of Knitting Around off the shelf, and luckily, it made perfect sense! And off I went. I am enjoying looking at all sorts of lace books, coming up with patterns and ideas. Maybe I’ll even get a little crazy.

If I’m brave enough. We’ll see.

February 26, 2011
I’m Here…

knit hat in progress
I’m back. I’ve probably lost all of my readers by now, but not even I imagined that I would be gone this long. So sorry about that! My computer died early in December. Not just a little bit. It died. Big Time. I lost my motherboard and hard drive, all in one fell swoop. Then there was the problem of the system restore disks not working, waiting for another set from the manufacturer, only to have those system restore disks also not work, etc. Turns out my computer came back to me with the hard drive unplugged. And nobody checked the guts of the computer before giving it back to me, just to make sure everything was plugged in. So, I took it back, and they fixed it, finally, but in the end I was without a computer for a whole month. Then there were the weeks involved in re-setting up the computer the way I like it, and we’re almost there, so I’m here. Here. Phew. At last.

With all of that, there has been only minimal knitting going on here. I’m going back and forth between several small projects at the moment, and having a really hard time staying focused on just one thing. I’m working on a hat. It looks a lot like a hat I made more than two years ago and gave to a friend. That hat would have been too small for me and I knew my friend would like it, so it seemed to make sense at the time. Problem was, I really loved that yarn colorway (Noro Kureyon, #188, if you’re curious), so earlier this year I bought 10 skeins. Now I have enough for a hat, a matching scarf, and mittens. The hat is just a basic top down bowler hat. I want to knit it deep enough to cover the tops of my ears, and then flare out a bit with a rolled brim. Hopefully it will be cute!

Of course, as I mentioned, I’ve been working on several small projects, which I will save for other blog posts, but that means a hat which should have taken me only a couple of weeks to complete has taken a couple of months instead. Hopefully by the time next winter comes, I’ll have a new hat, mitten and scarf set in my favorite colorway of Kureyon.

The thing I found most interesting about my blogging hiatus is how intertwined with my knitting it actually is. There were days when I thought I can’t knit, because I can’t access my blog to write about it. Then, other days it was the opposite. I can’t blog, because I haven’t knit much and so it would be a slow news day. Wow. It seems like if one went south, both did. And so now, I’m trying to get back on track. I hope someone’s still out there reading, and will let me know that I’m not just writing in a vacuum. Not that I shouldn’t be happy to just write for myself, but to me, I guess that’s the difference between a journal and a blog. I wouldn’t be publishing if I weren’t hoping that someone is reading!

Anyway, it’s good to be back. Now maybe I can get back to some mega-knitting adventures. Yippee!

Until next time…

January 30, 2011
Amazing Knitting Day

If I merely said today was an amazing day, I would be making the understatement of the year.

Today, at long last, was my knitting class with Lucy Neatby. Of course, we had to get a photo together with our wild and wonderful hair!

Lucy Neatby and Trish are kindred spirits of the hair

I have never taken a knitting class before. And last night, I was telling my husband that taking a first knitting class with the likes of Lucy Neatby might be like saying, “I’d like to learn to cook. Maybe I’ll go take a class from Julia Child.” Well, except that Julia’s no longer with us, but you know what I mean.

Lucy signed my copy her sock knitting DVD
The subject of the class? Cool Socks. And you’ve heard me say it many times on this blog–I am a confirmed Not-Sock-Knitter. I like to know HOW to knit socks, though, because I teach Magic Loop and most people who want to learn Magic Loop do so because they want to do socks. So, it is a good knitting skillset to know. But you know what I learned today?? SOCKS are COOL! And there are so many things that can be done to make them easier to do, or more interesting to knit, and unique and beautiful.

I learned Channel Island cast on, ME! A decorative cast on! And the amazing short row, garter stitch heel, in which you wrap the stitches to close the gaps but don’t need to pick up and knit the wraps because the garter stitch envelops them. I did a provisional cast on with a crochet hook around a knitting needle, and learned the mechanics of an afterthought heel. And then?? She showed us a really easy way to do grafting. Not that I am one of the people who thinks kitchener stitch is hard. I actually think it’s cool! But lots of people don’t like traditional kitchener stitch, and I had no idea that there was more than one way to do it. WHO KNEW?

I’ve never learned so much about knitting and the mechanics of stitches all at once, in one day. I never knew that knitting could be exhausting. I usually only knit for short spurts so this was a challenge for me. But, I’m so glad I did it! I attended class with Tammy from Knit Group and being there with a friend made it so much fun! I’m so glad Tammy was there and it seemed like she really enjoyed the class as well.

The class was held at an Italian restaurant in the same strip mall as the sponsoring yarn shop, and it was a great place to have a class! Lunch was included, and it was a simple grilled chicken garden salad but it was so flavorful! And the bread? It was fresh and piping hot from the oven. After class the yarn shop owner opened the shop for class participants, and gave us a yarn discount, too! I thought I had died and gone to heaven. When I went in there I felt instantly as if it was the sort of yarn shop that local yarn shops are supposed to be. It was crowded and hard for me to get around, but that’s usual for most yarn shops. But the selection? I don’t think I’ve ever seen so much pretty all in one place. At least not in this area, other than the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival, of course. And there were so many samples hanging in the shop! So much to see. I wish I lived closer!

Of course, some yarn followed me home. (How does this happen?)

Koigu, in five shades of purple for a shawl

Some Noro, for a sparkly scarf

Today would not have been possible without the help of my loving husband. As fate would have it, this once-in-a-lifetime knitting opportunity fell upon the occasion of our 18th wedding anniversary. And he got up with me, before dawn, on a Sunday, and drove me an hour each way (that was a total of four hours in the car for him!) so I could spend the day knitting with one of my knitting heroes. Folks, THAT’s love, I am sure of it, and I celebrate this day with all my heart has to offer.

After the knitting and the shopping were done, My husband and I actually went back to the Italian restaurant where I had just spent my day and had a heavenly, delicious dinner. The waitress asked us where we were from and I mentioned that it was our anniversary. We decided to order dessert (a delectable flourless chocolate cake and a scoop of cinnamon gelato) and when it arrived we were informed that another couple across from us had purchased our dessert! They said that they themselves are getting married later in the week and so they wanted to hope for themselves 18 happy years. How sweet was that? So thank you, Howard and Sheila… your kindness on our special day will not be forgotten.

And so I have written this post until such time that it is no longer really our anniversary. Even so, the memories of this wonderful day will last a long time. I had such a great time, and can’t wait to be a sock knitter for real. I think I’ve been pushed over the edge.

November 15, 2010
So, How Am I Doing?

I’ve been knitting and knitting and knitting on my practice sock. Here’s today’s photo update:

Sock in Progress

So, you experienced sock knitters… how is it looking? I think it looks funny. Do all handknit socks go through an “awkward stage” as they grow? I don’t think my sock in progress looks anything like most of the socks I see others knitting… it looks like a mutant sock to me. Am I just being paranoid?

I only have about a week and two days before my Lucy Neatby class. I want to be mostly done with this sock, so I can have at least some techniques fresh in my mind, and bring my odd little sock and ask questions. Hopefully at least I can make it past the heel before then and be well on my way to being done.

Today I received the Knit Kit in the mail.

Red Knit Kit

The Knit Kit, opened
I hadn’t gotten one before now because at first they were a little hard to get, and then I started hearing that they break easily. Then I heard that the kits had been improved. So, I’ve been wanting one for a while now, and I was finally able to get one from The Loopy Ewe this week. I think I’m going to like it! It’s kinda cool having every basic knitting do-dad one could need right in reach. The kit includes a tape measure, crochet hook, thread cutter, row counter, stitch markers, point protectors, a darning needle, and foldable scissors. (Did I forget anything?) I think this compact little kit (which is about the size of a makeup compact) is perfect for traveling light as a knitter, like when you only have room to cram a sock project in the bottom of your purse. I like having multiple sets of tools anyway, so I have them all set and ready to go in whatever knitting bag I’m using. So, I’m glad this product is now in my collection.

I spent the evening cooking a pot of chili for a fall chili party at a co-worker’s horse farm tomorrow. The whole house smells yum and the chill in the air makes the chili seem even more welcome than it would normally be. I knit a few more rounds on the sock tonight and plan to take it with me tomorrow. Hopefully I’ll make enough progress on it this weekend that I won’t stress too much about getting it done next week.

Wish me luck… and let me know if you think I’m on the right track so far. Thanks, and I look forward to hearing from you!

November 5, 2010
(Not Quite) Wordless Wednesday

Sock in progress

Look, Ma! It matches my nails!

The look on Zoe’s face proves how much she loves having her picture taken.

That is all.

November 3, 2010