Trish Knits.com

Knitting the Ribbing!

December 12, 2008 by Trish 1 Comment

Were it not for a slight accident this morning with the needle slipping out of the stitches and quite a few more than I would have wanted being dropped, I might be writing the Finished Object Report instead of just a run of the mill progress report. But, such is life when we’re knitting, eh? I’m not sure if I’ve ever knit a project that didn’t have at least some major mishap involved.

When I originally envisioned this hat I thought it might make a nice Christmas present for my daughter. Then I started it so early that I thought she’d get to wear it some this fall. And now? Well it looks like it’s regained it’s Christmas present status again. Oh well, at least I feel like I’m on track for something now!

Last night, we went around the kitchen table and each of us said what we liked best about the holidays. I asked the kids to ignore the obvious (presents!) and to pick their other favorite thing. Here’s what everybody said:

Diana: The Food
Steven: Making Christmas Cookies
John: Looking at All the Lights
Trish: Christmas Music

WordPress Upgrade And Other Site Stuff

Yesterday I upgraded this site to WordPress 2.7. So far, I love it! If you’re thinking of upgrading, there are a couple of things to consider. At least there are a couple of basics that I did that helped make things go smoothly. First, I made sure that the theme I’m using is 2.7-compatible (it is). I grabbed the latest version of my theme, installed the upgrade, then disabled all my plugins, and let my hosting company do the automatic upgrade. Then I went in and reactivated my plugins. That’s all there was to it!

I’m finding that it’s hard to maintain three separate blogs, so I’m going to do some more general type blogging here from time to time. I’ll still keep my family blog, but even that needs a serious update. But I’m going to add a page for my writings and stuff that I had intended to develop at my long-neglected personal blog.

This blog will still be a knitting blog, but you might notice a couple of other sections in the menu over time. I’m just finding it harder and harder to even think about keeping up with three blogs. Let me know if you have any feedback on this issue! For now, I’ve uploaded an article I wrote for my college newspaper, more than 20 years ago. Even though my life is in a completely different place now, this article captures how I’m feeling right now:

Doing Yesterday’s Work Tomorrow

Enjoy!

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Why I’m Not Into Holiday Knitting

December 7, 2008 by Trish 2 Comments

Here’s the proof. This is why I don’t do holiday knitting, or occasion knitting in general. It’s been a month and a half since I started this hat, and I’m still working on it. Yes, this has been my main project in most of this time. I’ve done a stitch here and there on a couple of things, but nothing else to write home about. If Christmas depended on my knitting? Christmas would just never come.

But hey! I made a milestone on the hat today. I am on the ribbing! I asked my daughter to try it on and it is just about the perfect size. I am not going to do a very deep rib, because it doesn’t need one. Then the last thing will be to add the words, “Lady Hawks” to the white band in duplicate stitch.

I started feeling stressed about all there is to do over the next several weeks, and I made myself stop and knit for a bit instead. It helped. Now, if only I could teach my DH to knit… We’re seriously behind. No decorations are up and ready. The shopping’s about done, which I guess is a good thing! But I think it remains to be seen whether we will have outdoor lights or Christmas cards mailed before Inauguration Day. And you know what? I’m going to do my best not to care.

I’m getting the feeling it’s going to be a long, cold winter here. It is unseasonably winter-like for this early in December and we even had some snow yesterday. The wind has been cold and biting. Perhaps I should start a countdown calendar for Spring. I’m so ready already!

Hopefully I’ll write again soon. If not, you’ll probably find me buried under a pile of unopened ornaments somewhere.

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Lady Hawk Knitting

November 24, 2008 by Trish Leave a Comment

See? I promised a photo of the hat today. At least it looks like a hat by now! I’m hoping to have it done by the end of this weekend, because other projects await! I love a simple hat. I have yarn to make at least one other hat and maybe a scarf too. We’ll see. Hopefully Diana will be wearing this by Christmas.

Speaking of Christmas, what’s on your list? For me, it’s a Jordana Paige Rio bag in eggplant. I saw it at Stitches East this year in person and I would have bought it on the spot, but the booth was closed that day. But, the color is YUM. My most favorite shade of purple. And I got to hold and see the bag up close, to see how it’s organized and how big it is, and how it closes. Oh my, I am going to love this bag.

I’d also like to make another version of this hat. It’s a discontinued pattern from Knit Picks, but it turned out to be one of my favorites. The original one that I made is just a hair too big and the weight of the long cap causes it to slide off my head. So I’d like to make another, this time with smaller needles and green and red stripes.

Winter is here! It’s come really cold and pretty early for us this year. I’m not too sad, though, because it just means more knitting! I’ve found that I feel better when I’ve knit even just a few stitches each day, so I’m really trying to do that. Knitting is comfort food for the dark days of winter.

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Knitting Helps

November 12, 2008 by Trish Leave a Comment

Last week’s time change means that we all of a sudden have been plunged into darkness–the deep, gloomy black kind of sky that sets in even before I get to leave work for the day. I really hate it because the skylights in our new building at work, though they show the light brightly when the sun shines, they also accentuate the deepness of the darkness at dusk.

It is at this time of year when I find myself turning to the knitting even more. Thank goodness for the knitting. Perhaps this is why I gravitate toward bright colors generally; they counteract the effects of winter darkness. Yes, that must be it. But then again, what is my most favorite color? Deep, dusky purple. Almost, but not quite, black. Go figure!

I’ve decided that I need to pick back up on my daughter’s hat:

I posted my problem about having an extra stitch on Ravelry and on my KnitHatsNow group. Most folks who responded said that one stitch isn’t that big a deal, and that I can ignore it until I have to adjust for the ribbing. Even Sarah Bradberry, whose book on hats I really admire, said she would ignore it, adding the encouraging phrase, “when this happens to me…” It happens to her? Wow. If extra stitches happen to THE hat lady, and she feels good about ignoring them, then hey, it’s good! I’ll live to knit another day. My daughter is especially thrilled that she will be getting her hat sooner rather than later. Thanks to everyone who offered their thoughts; I truly appreciated them all.

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Stick to Your Knitting, Trish

November 5, 2008 by Trish 2 Comments

You might be wondering why I haven’t been focusing on my knitting in this blog lately. The truth is, there hasn’t been much knitting to blog about!

So I thought I’d show you the progress on my giant garter stitch mitered square. Believe it or not, that bit has about one and a half skeins of Noro Kureyon in it, and it has a ways to go! I think I will put a complementary color of Wool of the Andes in the center when I run out rather than try to find a third skein of the same color in the Noro.

I plan to make a sort of rainbow-y patchwork of squares, picking up stitches along the sides of existing squares to create new ones. There will be several different sizes of squares. I’m using the layout chart from the Babette Blanket as a guide. Of course, though, it’s just in my head for now, because I haven’t yet begun to add the second square. But I do think in theory it will work. In any event, I am finding the endless rows of garter stitch to be a nearly foolproof comfort.

Even the hat I am knitting right now, the one I am knitting for my daughter? It too is plagued with problems. I am just noticing now that one of the wedge sections has an extra increase in it that the other sections do not. I am thinking I should just ladder down to that extra kfb and get rid of it, hoping that the surrounding stitches will eventually take up the slack of the bit of extra yarn that the extra stitch created. Or should I just rip back? I do hate frogging so the thought of this has caused me to put the hat aside, much to my daughter’s disappointment. I could knit two together somewhere in that wedge and pretend the extra stitch never existed, but I am afraid that the hat will look lopsided in some way.

Does anybody out there have thoughts on this? Which method should I try? Thanks for the input… my daughter would be forever grateful.

I am planning to attend Stitches East for the first time this weekend. Who’s going? I hope to meet you there!

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We Got the Spirit!

October 21, 2008 by Trish 1 Comment

I started a new hat again! This time, it’s a plain stocking cap, in my daughter’s school colors. I plan to make a white band, and then write “Lady Hawks” in duplicate stitch on the front. I’m so bad at secrets. I was trying to keep this as a surprise for my daughter, but could not. So now she knows, sooner than I originally wanted her to. Oh well… at least she squeed with delight at the very thought of having her own custom hat in school colors. She said when her friends see it, they’re all going to want one. To which I taught her the appropriate response:

“My mom can teach you how to knit.”

You go, girl.

Not much else going on. I’ve been in a bit of a funk for the last couple of weeks and I’m not feeling well. I have even less energy than usual and I would rather just crawl into bed and sleep for a week. Must be that Seasonal Affective Disorder kicking in. Ah yes. My favorite time of year.

I gotta snap out of it quick, though. Just found out today that my DH’s entire family will all be in the same zip code for Thanksgiving Dinner… OURS! Egad. That’s the one thing about being in a wheelchair that makes life interesting sometimes. My house is the only one that is wheelchair accessible so everyone comes here. Not that I mind, except that my house looks like one giant attic that needs cleaning out. Wish us luck; it’s going to be a long month of house cleaning. But SO worth it in the end. I love my husband’s family.

Tegan says:

I’m off to bed early for a change. Catch you next time I’m more awake!