August 31, 2006

Last Knit Night at the Pool...

...Except we didn't go to the pool! It is windy and a bit chilly because we are expecting the remnants of Hurricane Ernesto. So, the last knit night at the pool was a non-pool night, sadly the last one of the summer. We were lucky this year, though; we only had to miss one other Thursday due to the weather.

So here is the beginning of my latest purple hat! Yeah I know, not much to look at, but it will be interesting to see how it comes out. This time I'm using the Fiber Trends AC-02 pattern, which is done with one strand instead of two. So far, it looks HUGE and I am wondering how it will turn out.

The hat will be purple except for at the beginning of the crown, where I will be knitting straight rounds for a long time, I plan to incorporate a striped pattern using six colors. I had no idea what to do, because I don't really want to do symmetrical stripes, but how to figure it out? Then I found the Random Stripe Generator! What a cool tool this is, and the possibilities are endless. I've already saved a few options to refer to later, because of course, every time you run the generator, it produces different results. But hey, that makes it like a fun surprise every time, and that's cool!

Rhoda and I plan to get together at least a couple times a month now. I'm so glad to have a new knitting friend. This summer, for me, has been one of the best ever.

Ciao for now...

August 29, 2006

Not Posting Much...

Ho hum... It's the end of summer and I am totally bummed. This week will be the last week of knitting by the pool with my Thursday night knitting buddy, and I am not looking forward to the good time coming to an end.

We have decided to try to get together at least a couple of times a month in the off season, so I am looklng forward to that! This is the first time I've had knitting time with someone on a consistent basis, and it's been fun!

The dishcloth is done! I'm calling it the "Pride Cloth" and I think my friend Carrie in Denver needs to have it. If anybody can make excellent use of a purple dishcloth I am sure that Carrie is the one.

I cast on for a new hat this week; no photos yet, but this one is different! To date my felt hats have all been made with two strands of yarn, and this is the first one I've ever done with one strand. I plan to do a multicolored hat band at the beginning of the crown, which I hope will come out well. Hopefully I'll post more photos soon; I just have to get used to my new camera!

August 16, 2006

Almost Done!

The dishcloth is almost done! I'm really enjoying it. So much that it will definitely not be my last! I'm calling this one the "Pride Cloth," and I'm sending it along to my friend Carrie when it's done. I'd bet that if anybody has use for a lavendar dishcloth in the kitchen it would be Carrie! Haha. I do love this design, which is known as the "ball band cloth" and is featured in the Mason Dixon Knitting book. I love this book! It has lots of neat new things to do with my knitting. I always love something new to try, and this dishcloth has been a winner!

And Just HOW Much Am I Loving Dishcloths?

Today my knititng buddy Rhoda sent me an e-mail about a fabulous sale at AC Moore on the Sugar'n Cream cotton yarn. I never before would have thought of ever buying the stuff until Rhoda introduced me to the fun of dishcloths. For some reason, I was attracted to the bright colors today, and I came home with this lovely rainbow! I can just imagine all of the color combos I might try to do. And at under a dollar per ball, how can I lose? Even if it turns out to be not much more than a playful experiment, it will be fun trying to make some cute designs.

August 6, 2006

It Really Was Too Hot to Knit!

I'm tellin' ya, the last week or so has been beastly! Hence it drained my energy horribly and I literally had nothing left in me to devote to the blog. Then on Thursday of last week, when it was just too beastly to knit at the pool, Rhoda and I decided to meet in my house instead. She surprised me with two balls of cotton yarn, one Peaches & Creme and one Sugar'n Cream. In my favorite colors! I don't think I knew before that night that Rhoda is also a fan of purple. It must be fate.

To tell you that I'm not an ouright fan of dishcloth knitting is probably an understatement. But then I got the Mason Dixon Knitting book and I knew this was something I had to try! For the life of me after reading and reading and reading the pattern, I couldn't figure out how they got that woven potholder effect. But Rhoda was right, sometimes you just have to try something to see how it's going to work. So she cast on for me and off I went! Duh... the effect is accomplished by carrying the same slipped stitch up for several rows. Of course it seems obvious now, but I just couldn't have figured it out before I actually started.

I'll get back to my Shimmer Clapotis next week. For now, this is a nice break. Thanks, Rhoda!