I've not made a lot of progress on my mom's shawl. Holy schnikes, people. You really have to like the knit stitch in order to tackle this shawl. As a new-just-this-summer knitter, I'm still painfully slow - even with a shawl that is all knit stitch. Also? It doesn't help that I'm working with the tiniest needles ever. I want to make myself one of these shawls but, damn it, I'm going to at least triple the needle size when I do.
In order to break up the monotony of the shawl, I knit myself a scarf. Again, all in knit stitch. But! This one was knit in a 5-row sequence: knit rows 1-3; row 4, k2, wrap yard 3 times around right needle*, repeat to end of row; row 5, knit all, dropping the wrapped yarn. This is the pattern I used as a guideline. I CO 26 stitches, though, and used size 7 needles. Took one skein of this yarn an acrylic/wool blend which is perfect for autumn - even though the acrylic content is high.
Can I just go off on a tangent here about yarn? And how I think I'm turning into a yarn snob? I refuse to buy 100% acrylic yarns. I think *most* of them feel horrible. I'm always surprised when I pick up a skein of soft, fluffy yarn, only to read that it is 100% acrylic. I'm amazed at how nice it feels. But I always put it back. WHY? What is my aversion to acrylic yarn? It's usually cheaper than natural fibers, for sure. It may have something to do with all those acrylic sweaters I had when I was a school girl that would pill up like crazy. Also, they didn't breathe at all. Nor did they wick moisture. Get over-heated once and you'd be walking around damp all day. It was just gross.
Last evening, I cast on 100% wool to make a felted bowl. I'm learning how to knit in the round on four double-point needles.
So. That's it. My knitting post without pictures.
Showing posts with label knitting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label knitting. Show all posts
Monday, October 5, 2009
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Who has time to blog?
Not me, apparently.
So far I've had a very busy and most excellent summer. Which leaves no time for Defective Typewriter!
I've had a fabulous vacation to Mackinac Island, made especially nice this year because S and the rest of his sailing team took FIRST PLACE in their division of the Port Huron to Mackinac yacht race. So aside from some quality alone time on an idyllic island, I got to hang with some pretty happy sailors.
I've learned how to knit! And I'm knitting up a storm. I've progressed from kitchen items to shawls. I'm making my mom a shawl for her to take to church with her. (See the pattern here.) The body of the shawl garter stitch (knit every row) so you'd think it would go pretty fast, right? Wrong. See, the whole "new knitter" thing is working against me as I have to go slow to keep my stitch tension even. At one point, I had to rip out a dozen rows and reknit them because they looked awful. But, the more I knit, the easier it is. I've got the continental knitting style down-pat, let me tell you. (I took a 'learn to knit' class at Joann's at the beginning of June which was invaluable for learning knitting basics. The teacher taught us the 'throwing' method which, in my opinion, is super inefficient. While searching the interwebs for videos on how do different stitches, I hit upon this video which is what I used to learn the continental method. An interesting article discussing the merits of both methods is here.)
So here's the shawl in progress:
S think it looks like a loin cloth.
So far I've had a very busy and most excellent summer. Which leaves no time for Defective Typewriter!
I've had a fabulous vacation to Mackinac Island, made especially nice this year because S and the rest of his sailing team took FIRST PLACE in their division of the Port Huron to Mackinac yacht race. So aside from some quality alone time on an idyllic island, I got to hang with some pretty happy sailors.
I've learned how to knit! And I'm knitting up a storm. I've progressed from kitchen items to shawls. I'm making my mom a shawl for her to take to church with her. (See the pattern here.) The body of the shawl garter stitch (knit every row) so you'd think it would go pretty fast, right? Wrong. See, the whole "new knitter" thing is working against me as I have to go slow to keep my stitch tension even. At one point, I had to rip out a dozen rows and reknit them because they looked awful. But, the more I knit, the easier it is. I've got the continental knitting style down-pat, let me tell you. (I took a 'learn to knit' class at Joann's at the beginning of June which was invaluable for learning knitting basics. The teacher taught us the 'throwing' method which, in my opinion, is super inefficient. While searching the interwebs for videos on how do different stitches, I hit upon this video which is what I used to learn the continental method. An interesting article discussing the merits of both methods is here.)
So here's the shawl in progress:
S think it looks like a loin cloth.I've got about 11 1/2 inches done on each side. The shawl is supposed to be 40" on the sides and 60" across the top. I figure I'll get it done sometime in 2011.
The yarn is wonderfully yummy: Moda Dea Bamboo Wool. It's 50% rayon from bamboo and 50% wool. It's scrumptious and I love knitting with it.
Enough about knitting.
Bart is here! I've had him for a week and I am enjoying him so very much. Pictures from last Thursday evening:
Been working a lot at my part-time job, too. It's a blessing and a curse, I tell you. Blessing because, let's face it, having that extra bit of cash is nice and it's a curse because it's summer! And who has time to work a second job? Me, apparently.
Which is why I have no time to blog!
The yarn is wonderfully yummy: Moda Dea Bamboo Wool. It's 50% rayon from bamboo and 50% wool. It's scrumptious and I love knitting with it.
Enough about knitting.
Bart is here! I've had him for a week and I am enjoying him so very much. Pictures from last Thursday evening:
Been working a lot at my part-time job, too. It's a blessing and a curse, I tell you. Blessing because, let's face it, having that extra bit of cash is nice and it's a curse because it's summer! And who has time to work a second job? Me, apparently.
Which is why I have no time to blog!
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
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