Trish Knits.com

Category: Knitting

I Don’t Feel Like Blogging

I’ve been in a blogging funk all week, so I thought maybe I’d better show up before the few readers I do have start disappearing on me. The truth is there hasn’t been much happening here and I’m kinda stuck, knitting wise, so not much to blog about. I wound some pink yarn last week with the intention of casting on a small, carry-along project in time to have something to take to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival, but I’ve been so unmotivated, I haven’t even done that. The truth is I hate casting on, and I’ve been avoiding it altogether. So I’ve been knitting on the sweater:

closeup of tabby cat with knitting

Apparently, Tegan wasn’t too thrilled about posing with the knitting; apparently she is completely blissfully unaware of the important connection between knitting and cats. Perhaps Lucy can fill her in.

I’m just about to the point of the huge knot in my yarn for the sweater. I’m trying to decide whether I should cut it and work on it and start a new ball, or if I should just stick it out? Something tells me the whole ball is just a mess inside, despite being wound on my ball winder. Some yarns are just like that. I swear some of them delight in getting themselves all knotted up into a giant cobweb that would try even the most patient soul. Patience is not one of my virtues, so we shall see whether I painstakingly pick apart the knots in this ball, or I just fling it at the wall instead.

Anybody wanna take bets?

Meanwhile, I gotta figure out what to take with me, knitting-wise, on Saturday. As per usual I won’t be wearing any completed knits (as if I have any) so at least I need to look like a knitter and bring something in progress. Hopefully I’ll get motivated to start something new before then. Taking the sweater in progress to the festival? Out of the question. I don’t want to get any festival ick on my silk.

Ciao for now!

Listen to this article

April 28, 2009
Saturday Sweater Report: Week 5

It’s that time again! Here’s the sweater progress update at week 5:

sweater yoke after 5 weeks of knitting

It looks like half an inch a week is about all I’m good for with this thing. To top that off, I’m up to my eyeballs in knots again and the yarn is driving me mad! I am this close to cutting it again so I can work on the knot. Some of us got together at Marie’s house today and Alice worked on my knots for quite a while, but I do think the whole ball is a mess.

I’ve got quite a few inches to go before I can even start on the lace section. Maybe 5 more weeks and I’ll be there! I must say that I am growing ever more jealous of the folks who can burn through their knitting at lightening speed.

I do love the February Lady Sweater! But I understand now why the original design was done with worsted weight yarn. I am a little nuts for trying it with Tess Yarns Raw Silk, but it is pretty and it does feel wonderful! I think I may get some more of this fiber next weekend at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival. Can’t wait!

Today I went to a jewelry show and knitting party at my friend Marie’s house. It was a blast! Several of the folks from knit group were there, and it was wonderful that Marie’s house is accessible to me. I’ll post my pictures about it tomorrow.

Listen to this article

April 25, 2009
Hot Pink

hot pink yarn on ball winder
I’ve been bitten by the sock bug again. We’ll see how long it lasts this time, but I decided to wind up some Socks That Rock mediumweight (colorway “hot flash”), just in case the sock bug decides to hang around a while.

I’m actually interested in making boot toppers (footless short socks with a cuff). I can’t really wear socks inside my orthotics but this way I can at least look like I’m wearing handknit socks, right? Humor me for a while so I can figure out whether this will work to my satisfaction with sock yarn. I’ve found some heavier ones but none so far intended to emulate socks. I’m figuring a snug ribbing down around my ankle and the top of a sock cuff ought to do it. Wish me luck. I’ve got some cute new Dr. Martens shoes that need proper socks.

Listen to this article

April 22, 2009
Saturday Sweater Report: Week 4

If you’re a knitter, you know how it is with garter stitch. You knit and you knit and you knit, and after what seems like forever and miles of knitting? What have you got to show for it? Next to nothing, that’s what. Such was this week for me:

a lousy half inch of progress on my sweater

It’s all I’ve got, after knitting my fingers down to little nubs. A half inch. At this rate, my sweater will be done in about, oh, THREE YEARS! Nah. I swatched. The lace section goes a lot faster. At least I’m telling myself it does. (It does, right?)

Here’s to hoping I don’t lose the mojo. I’ve got a couple of events coming up over the next couple of weeks that should keep me excited about knitting. Next Saturday promises to be a day of knitting with friends, and then in TWO WEEKS, it’s the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival. I go with Steve every year, and so far we’ve lucked out with decent weather each time. I’ve already made dinner reservations for The Melting Pot for that evening. Should be a great day all the way around.

Here’s to hoping I’ll have more to show next week!

Listen to this article

April 18, 2009
Is It Art?

I’m having a backwards sort of day. I woke up early, fully intending to work, but then just could not make my body go. I was cold and shivering, and I don’t really remember anything that happened before 3:00 p.m. when I finally woke up. Sigh.

I don’t normally take something I see on someone else’s blog and run with it, but I saw this YouTube clip on Brenda Dayne’s site today, and I really can’t get it out of my mind, so I thought I’d share:

My 13-year-old daughter has been touched by the painting muse in recent weeks. This is a kid who normally would have the goal of doing any project as quickly as possible, and then wonder why they never seem to come out as polished as she had hoped. She’s been working on posters for her upcoming school play. And I have watched as she has been spending days at a time on each one, adding little sparkles or dabs of color here and there, until they are just right in her eyes. I’ve never seen her take such an interest in something, or ask her dad several times in one week to take her to the art store for more colors of paint. I’ve been trying not to make too big of a deal about it all, because well, you know how young teens are. If I did gush, that would be the end of the painting. And I’d really just rather her keep figuring out how to express herself in such a beautiful way.

I never could paint, or draw, or do any of those things that most people would consider to be “art.” But then there’s the knitting. Is that art? I never quite understood the whole “art vs. craft” debate. I mean, does it have to be one or the other? And I know we’ve all seen handcrafted items, be they knitting or some other thing, that would count as true works of art. And of those, I am in awe. (For an example of what I mean, check out the work of Debbie New. Click on the link for the slide show and prepare to be amazed.)

But MY knitting? Is it art? Not really, I think, most of the time. But then there are those times when an odd color combination or a strangely freeform knitted hat express some quirk about my personality. So maybe, occasionally, knitting is an artistic outlet for me. This blog sort of fills that bill, too. Still, most of the time my analytical side smothers the artistic one. I don’t often throw caution to the wind with my knitting, just to see what will happen, and that sometimes makes me afraid to try new things. Two things I really want to conquer: colorwork, and sweaters. Sometimes I think I should have just dove right in and made my first sweater a colorwork project instead of a plain February Lady Sweater. But, the analytical side won out, and I became chicken at the last minute. Not that I don’t love my sweater-in-progress, but part of me just wishes I could be a little more brave.

So, this video clip today got me to thinking. And I will work on my artistic side. Maybe I’ll start with small bits of colorwork here and there, if I ever need a sweater break. Maybe, I, too, can learn to “paint” with my yarn. who knows what will happen? I just know I have to try.

Listen to this article

April 16, 2009
Everyone Knows It’s Wendy*

This afternoon I got a raised eyebrow from my teen daughter as she espied yet another Amazon box on my porch. “ANOTHER book, Mom? Really!” she groaned. She raised her eyebrows again when I told her I’d been waiting for this book for six months.

I lied. When I logged into Amazon tonight, I got a quick reminder flag at the top of the browser, reminding me that I’d already ordered this title, in JULY. Way more than six months ago. This was more like waiting for a baby to arrive.

But let me tell you, when I finally got to unwrap my long-awaited copy of Socks from the Toe Up: Essential Techniques and Patterns from Wendy Knits, I was not disappointed. The photos are stunning and numerous. The illustrations are clear, and the writing makes the techniques described in the book incredibly easy to follow.

I do have to ‘fess up and say, if you don’t know this about me already, I’m reeeeeeaaaallllly not a sock knitter. I’ve made one pair in my life, and it was done as a tutorial, so that I could wrap my head around how socks are made. I think the primary reason for my being a not-sock-knitter is that, well, I wear orthotics on my legs and so I don’t wear anything more than knee-high hose. So the big reward of knitting socks has never been there for me.

So why did I buy this book? Well, if I were a sock knitter? I’d knit them all from the toe up. So at least I can imagine myself making these. The whole idea of top-down socks is a major turnoff for some reason. So the patterns in this book are at least speaking my language. Second, with only a few exceptions, nearly everyone I love has feet, so making socks for someone else certainly is a thought I can entertain. Third, the socks in this book are so PRETTY! For someone who hasn’t ever really knit socks, I do have quite a collection of sock yarn, so these gorgeous patterns fit the bill. They embrace techniques that I love and want to learn more about. They’re simply lovely.

There’s a lot of variety in there, too. Everything from basic socks (to help one learn th techniques), to simple lace, then complex lace, interesting textures, Ganseys, cables and more. All toe up. Simply wonderful.

Well done, Wendy! You might just make a sock knitter out of me yet.

*with apologies for the only semi-unintentional earworm that this post title might have caused…

Listen to this article

April 14, 2009