February 24, 2006

Oh Wow! The Coolest Doohicky Thingy!

I just got the coolest thing from Knitpicks today! It's the Row Counter Plus, by Nancy's Knit Knacks. I've been waiting for weeks for it to become available, as I saw it last month in the last Knitpicks catalog. The Row Counter Plus allows you to keep track of three separate things, so if you're doing a complex pattern with two different repeats, you can keep track of it all, all on this one device! You just toggle around to the various repeats, and wow... they're all there. How cool is that? I can't wait to use it when I combine cable patterns in my next scarf. It has a lanyard with a quick release, so you can keep it handy around your neck or detach it when needed. I'll probably have it around my neck a lot, right along with my work ID, memory stick and now this. I think this will be one of the most valuable tools I ever wind up owning.

Scarfy Update...

Here's an updated photo of my cabled scarf... see my pattern below, if you like it and want to make one. If you do make one, please let me know! I am still enjoying it. The pattern is varied enough that I'm not getting bored the way I do with so many other things. Boredom is a real problem with me and my knitting. I love starting, have trouble sticking with it, and rarely finish. Hopefully this one won't wind up on the UFO pile, though I am finding that the skein has some knots in the center, which are quite annoying. It's slowing me up a bit. I still would recommend this yarn, Caron Simply Soft, as a good, inexpensive choice for this pattern. Next I'd like to try it in Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran and Cashmerino Chunky. (Oooooh... I see that there is a plum color... I'm drooling already.) Anyway I'm loving it. Next I think I will try doing it as a tube scarf with the cable on both sides so that there's no right and wrong side. It would probably take lots o' yarn, and be really super-warm, but maybe those will be good qualities. Never know until I try!

That's all from here for now... I want to stop talking about my knitting and actually start doing it. Later!

February 18, 2006

My First Pattern!
Fancy Cabled Braided Scarf

I've been playing with this pattern for a while now, as in, for about a year and a half or so! I started it when I was a beginning knitter, but it is only now that I was able to figure this out so that the two sides on either side of the cable mirrored each other. And by jove, I think I've finally got it! I'm so excited that I thought I would share it now, even though my scarf, as you can see, isn't even done yet!!

Here ya' go!

Cast on 35 stitches.
Rows 1 and 5: (RS) K3, P3, K3, P4, K9, P4, K3, P3, K3
Row 2, 4, 6, 8: P1, K1, P1, K1, P1, K1, P1, K1, P1, K1, P1, K2, P9, K2, P1, K1, P1, K1, P1, K1, P1, K1, P1, K1, P1
Row 3: K3, P3, K3, P4, Front Cross (Slip next 3 stitches to cable needle and hold in front, knit next 3 stitches, then knit 3 stitches from cable needle), K3, P4, K3, P3, K3
Row 7: K3, P3, K3, P4, K3, Back Cross (Slip next 3 stitches to cable needle and hold in back, knit next 3 stitches, then knit 3 stitches from cable needle), P4, K3, P3, K3
Repeat rows 1-8 for pattern.

Notes:

• If you prefer, (which I usually do), you can slip the first stitch of every row after row 1. I find this helpful for getting a nice smooth edge.
• Gauge isn't really that important for this pattern. The bigger your yarn, and the larger your needles, of course, the wider your scarf will be.
• I prefer solid or slightly heathered yarns for this pattern. I've tried it with handpaints and varigateds, and the stitch pattern and texture get somewhat lost. Choose a yarn which is known for good stitch definition and try needles a size or two smaller than you normally would for your chosen yarn. (In my swatch shown here, I am using Caron Simply Soft, but mostly because it happened to be in a bag next to me as I was getting started.)

I hope you enjoy this pattern. Please feel free to let me know!

February 12, 2006

Snow Day!

Maybe I'm not a Totally Obsessed Knitter. Today we awoke to a foot of snow outside, and I only managed to knit about six rows on my scarf project. (See February 9th's entry.) I intended to knit, and thought surely I would, given that the storm knocked our cable out for most of the day, and therefore, I had no access to TV or the internet. But I had bought ingredients for homemade beef vegetable soup yesterday in preparation for a snow day, and spent the entire day chopping, chopping, chopping... and then I dropped the glass lid to the crockpot in a thunderous crash that sent chunks of glass all OVER the kitchen floor... yuck! So much for a serene afternoon. But the soup was Yummy! Served with warm Challah bread (not homemade!) and soft butter. What a feast for the soul on a snowy day.

Schools are closed tomorrow so maybe I'll get some knitting done then while looking after my 9-year-old, Diana. Of course I brought some work home with me as well, so we'll see.

My Knitting Book Collection Keeps Getting Bigger

Well, just before the storm hit yesterday, I was greeted by a box from Amazon on my front porch. In it were several knitting books. (Why oh why do I need even more?) I've only looked at them briefly, but I will describe three of them here.

The first is Knit Ponchos, Wraps and Scarves, by Jane Davis. I haven't looked at this book in great detail yet, but the designs are lvoely, and there is even a section on Cables, which are my favorite thing to do in knitting. A couple of the scarf designs are very lovely and I think I may give them a try someday.

Until next time...

February 9, 2006

Back to Sqaure One

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.

February 5, 2006

I'm Impatient!

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... :-)

February 3, 2006

Diane's 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!!