Yeah, ok… it seems like a rehashing of Wendy’s popular book, “Socks from the Toe Up: Essential Techniques and Patterns from Wendy Knits,” but the format is ingenious! It’s a box of index cards, with a card for each pattern, and tips for things like heels on one, and toes on another, etc. I think this solves the one thing I hate about knitting books… lugging them around. Now all the patterns are on individual cards and they’re so easy to throw in the knitting bag and don’t weigh it down. This is especially important for sock knitters, who, as knitters go, travel light. They know that one of the major attractions to sock knitting is that socks are small and can be worked on anywhere, and packed in almost anything without taking up any major amount of space. Knitting books, by their very nature, cancel out this benefit, unless you have access to a personal copier and remember to copy all your patterns before you leave the house. (My office would frown on me using their copier to make copies of my knitting patterns for sure.)
So, this is great! I am certain that when I become a sock knitter (and, I have a feeling that I am now on my way), I’ll turn to these patterns often, just because it’s been made so easy for me to do so. I already own the book, but these patterns in this little box are the ones that I’m sure will get the most use.
I wish more patterns would come this way! If you like Wendy’s socks, you might want to give these cards a try. And then hop on over to Wendy’s Blog and tell her how much you like them. I’m headed there now.
Another weekend where I had hoped to get a ton of knitting done, and yet, there has been only a small amount of progress. I’m still working on this:
E.B. in progress
which, I am convinced, has now been in progress since at least the dawn of time and is, as far as I can tell, about a month and a half behind schedule. I am about to change colors yet again… to do another small stripe of the brown and then back to the cream color. I do enjoy knitting it, but its one main fault is that I cast on to make it TOO BIG, too wide, exactly, so it takes far longer to complete a row than I wish it would. On the other hand, by virtue of its enormousness, it will not be quickly outgrown, and, I hope, will become a much-loved thing. At least I can hope, right? I know it is the dream of every knitter that his or her knitted object would be the one thing that the recipient uses most often and cannot live without, when in fact, the opposite is most likely true. Most recipients wind up under-using their gift for fear of “ruining” such a special thing. If you’re reading this, and you’ve been gifted with a handmade thing? USE IT! The person who made it for you will want to know that you love it and use it well. And, if it gets worn out? So what? A good excuse to ask for another knitted thing.
So, I do not know what will become of this project when it is gifted. I hope that it will be used and loved, but I am resigned to the fact that I have no control over what becomes of it. So, for me, it is the loving of the making that motivates me, not what the recipient will do. It has to be that way. Or, let’s face it. I’d lose what’s left of my mind.
In the “Knitting Day is a Good Day” category, yesterday at knit group, everyone was excited about a new (to us) knit book. And here’s why we were excited:
This knitting book was on sale for $2.99!Get a load of that price tag! I must admit that I never met a knitting book in the bargain bin before. For the right price, I’ll buy anything! Haha. I think thanks to our group, there was not one copy left behind yesterday. And, well, upon getting it home, I think I can see why it was in the bargain bin. This book is no Handknit Holidays, which, I thought, was an exquisite collection of patterns.
I do like that the book offers some “quick knit” type gifts, and I guess they are well suited to a beginner (mostly). The thing is? They look like it. Is there such a thing as a simple knit that doesn’t look like it was a simple knit? I can’t put my finger on it, but a lot of the things in this book just looked, well, sloppy. Oddly-shaped Christmas stockings (more than one!) and a sweater that I wouldn’t be caught dead doing anything other than housework in. Then there’s the just plain odd: a baby hat with a pocket, yes a pocket, they say, for tucking a small toy in. A toy in a pocket on your head. Ok, what baby isn’t going to find that annoying?
Perhaps I’m being far too critical. I’m usually not like this; I always find something to like about every book I buy. But this one? So far the only thing I loved about it was–the price. Dear bookstore, please keep putting your overstocked knitting books in the bargain bin and yes, even if they’re weird, you know I’ll buy them There’s a sucker born every minute.
Long before I was a knitter, I was a crocheter. I think I have always loved yarn. But, back in 2003, when my niece was born, I crocheted an afghan for her and was in so much pain when I was done, that I pretty much decided that my crocheting days were over. Except maybe for a little bit of trim here and there, maybe, I was done.
Of course it didn’t take me long to figure out that I missed playing with yarn. So I became determined to learn to knit, and by 2004 I was already starting to blog about it.
But then last week, someone asked me to contribute a couple of afghan squares to a project. I could, of course, have knitted them, but the squares are in memory of an avid crocheter. So, in this case, it didn’t seem right to knit.
I had recently purchased the Soft Touch Crochet Hook Gift Set from Knit Picks, because I figured that of all the crochet hooks in the world, these would be easiest for me to handle. I’m still not planning to ever crochet an entire bedspread or cabled and bobbled baby blanket, but every knitter needs a set of crochet hooks handy, right?
So, I thought, squares are small enough, I can probably do them without causing too much stress on the hand. So, I picked up a hook and some yarn, made a slip knot, and chained and joined to make a circle, then began. I got to the end of the first round, and froze. I couldn’t remember how to join and keep going, in a way that wasn’t making my square look lop-sided. Luckily, I found this video:
And even with this, I had to watch three times, and then bring my yarn to the computer and crochet along with the demonstration to get it right. But, I think I finally did! And look:
my little crocheted square
I think I’m going to insert occasional rounds of a contrasting color in single crochet, just so it’s not too boring, and then the other one will be more girlie, and maybe I’ll even knit that one, or at least partially. I’m thinking of trying my hand with double knitting, and doing hearts. Or maybe I’ll make a quick heart a la Elizabeth Zimmermann and apply it to a square. I don’t know yet. Wish me luck with the deciding!
Ciao for now… and let’s hope this is finally a return to more regular blogging.
(Happy Birthday, Dad. I miss you.)
Of course, I have another project in progress, the “secret project,” which is still progressing, albeit slowly. I promise a photo of that later this week. For now, I have a couple of squares to finish. Wish me luck.
My Sweater in progress, after a weekend of nonstop knittingI’ve been knitting like crazy. You know how it is when you get to a point where you knit and knit and knit, and feel like the product isn’t getting noticeably bigger? That’s where I am with this sweater. I knit every chance I get. I’ve been ignoring e-mails. My addiction to Bejeweled Blitz has gone mostly unanswered. I did go shopping with my daughter in the rain yesterday; school pictures are on Tuesday and the princess who wears hoodies and high tops requested a new dress. How could I say no to that? But, other than that, it’s been about the knitting. Does it show? Can you see a difference?
I keep hoping that I’m almost to the end of the yoke section. I keep trying it on, and it still looks huge, but sadly, it’s not big enough yet to be called “done”. So I keep doing the raglan increases. I secretly was hoping that it wouldn’t be necessary to do the number of increases stated in the pattern for the largest size. Well, shoot. I’ll have to diet, so I can make a smaller size someday. That should be a dieting incentive, right? Get smaller so I can use less yarn and be done with my projects faster. You’d think that would work…
Filati Infanti magazine by Lana Grossa
Look what I found yesterday on the magazine rack at Barnes and Noble. It’s a magazine by Lana Grossa, called, “Filati Infanti.” I don’t really know much about this, if this is a special issue, or if they put this out periodically, or what. But it’s made with heavier paper than a typical magazine and it is loaded with the most adorable patterns for babies and little kids. I’ve never really purchased their yarns, but I am hoping that there are lots of appropriate substitutes already in my stash. There are lots of babies coming or already here in the extended family, and I’ve been meaning to knit for them. I’m hoping this little book will lead to some inspiration.
But for now, I’ve got a sweater to knit. And knit. And knit. And knit….
Isn’t it adorable? I got this little corder from Noreen Crone Findlay at http://www.crone-findlay.com. I don’t know why but I have a thing for do-dads that make i-cords. Sure, I can just knit them myself, and I usually do. Or, I crank them out with one of any number of the crank style that I already own. But someone posted this link on the KnitList last week and I couldn’t resist. I even got a couple of idea books that show how to make animals and dolls out of i-cord. I’d never seen a 2-peg corder before, and the lady who makes these does them all so cute, I just had to have one! It was actually pretty hard to decide.
This weekend started out with a knitting disaster. For some reason, the stitches around my second buttonhole started to unravel. No photos to show of the event, but I estimated that I had about three days worth of knitting that I lost. Not that I typically knit a lot in one day, but I hate having to rip out. I tried to avoid the ripping, but since I couldn’t really see the problem, fixing it was not possible. So I ripped to below the buttonhole and re-picked up the stitches. And I knit, and I knit, and I knit. It was a marathon knitting weekend. And you know what? I managed to knit past the point of my mistake. Still, visually, it doesn’t look much different than the picture I took the other day so I’ll spare you another one for now.
My friend Steve was over for supper yesterday too, and he wound the rest of the yarn that I had bought. So now all the balls of yarn are just ready and waiting to be knit. I have no more logistical issues that will keep me from progressing on this project.
Alas, it is a work week again, so time for knitting will be sparse. But I have a renewed commitment to knit at least a little, every single day. What’s that I hear? An audible gasp from the readership? Yes, it’s true. There are days, especially lately, that I have not knit at all. Sometimes for two or three days in a row. And yet, I wonder why it can take me three months to finish a hat. Well, no more. I have no illusions that this sweater won’t take at least half a year, but hopefully it won’t be because I simply don’t knit. If I ever expect to get anything done, I just have to keep on knitting.
It’s the New Traditions Afghan Kit by Knit Picks. I saw this on their website for the first time last week, and I knew immediately that I must have one. The bright colors are certainly a huge attraction. But, what really got me was the quilt design, knit modularly, in what looks like all garter stitch. (I haven’t yet taken the pattern out of the bag for wanting to keep the yarn all together.) Once I get the technique down, can you IMAGINE the creative possibilities, and all of the quilting designs? I am practically glowing from excitement at the thought of it all!
The other thing that came in the mail was this:
Fall 1997 Interweave KnitsThis is the Fall 1997 issue of Interweave Knits magazine. It’s a very early issue. Thumbing through the pages I quickly realized that one of two things must be true: either it’s that truly classic, beautiful designs never really go out of style, or perhaps I am hopelessly behind the times and unfashionable. This fabulous issue contains a top-down Aran by Beth Brown-Reinsel, with not only a pattern, but also a detailed article about its construction. And there’s the article about Alice Starmore, and a pattern by Alice Starmore. Cool!
Those of you who have been knitting forever might already have this magazine in the rack on your shelf, and you’re probably chuckling at my glee. Or, maybe you’re quietly nodding, because you totally get it. You understand. Either way, this magazine is a treasure to me. And, out of style or not, I don’t care. I’m going to get up the guts and knit something from this puppy.
. I’m already in love.
, which, I thought, was an exquisite collection of patterns.
