The Entrelac Hat

This hat was supposed to be a challenging project, picking up a new skill with a new yarn.  I expected to be tearing my hair out, and thankful that I don't have much time to knit!  I should have been frustrated and tossing it back in the bag!  What's wrong with me?

Entrelac is...well...easy!  Much easier than I expected.  It's just a simple back and forth knit/purl pattern.  There's a couple decreases and stitches get picked up.  It's really not all that bad.  In truth, it's quite simple!  I'm really happy with that fact, but it's also a little disappointing.  I was looking forward to a challenge since my fall/winter shawl is on hold until I can get my hands on my new needles.  A challenge was definitely not what I got.

I have to admit, I almost don't want to finish the project now.  A part of me is okay with keeping it on hold on my needles until the end of time.  A part of me doesn't want to be bothered with working on something so simple.  It's sad when you get bored easily.  At the same time, a part of me can't wait to see it finished, with the beautiful colors and the silky soft yarn.  Paton's Bamboo Silk is a deliciously wonderful yarn!  I can't wait to have all the colors knit up!

On top of that, I've got a wonderful reason to be knitting.  I need a cute new hat that will flatter my new dreads.  I want it to be done already so I can have a hat that fits well with my dreads, and has a bright, cheery, contrasting color.  Is that really so much to ask?

It's times like these where I really need someone to motivate me to finish what I've started!  I know I'll be thrilled when I'm done with it.  The process isn't the most boring of slogs.  I just need to get my tail in gear!

The Dreads Are Done!!!

It took hours and hours of felting, to the point at which I wanted to shoot someone, or never look at a piece of wool to felt again.  I didn't even finish them all before starting to put them in my hair, which was probably a good thing, because otherwise I never would have gotten those dreads in my hair!  I would have been at it forever!

After that it was three days of having my hair yanked on, pulled, tugged, and brought to order.  Bobby pins were rammed into my scalp in an attempt to get the non-sectioned hair to stay put.  There was a bit of a conversation about my bangs, which I think came out decently cute.  Even so, I was tempted to never have my hair done again!  I swear, I can't wait for these dreads to finally grow into something more....dread like?

In the end I've got 95 new dread babies in my hair!  They're all extensions, but over time they'll start to dread up on their own under the extensions.  I know it can take a year for dreads to actually start growing and gaining length.  I'm going to have to get myself a nice little crochet hook to pull in all the little loose bits that try to escape.  Even so, I'm pretty satisfied with the end result.

The only down side to wool dreads is the cling factor.  When wearing jackets and the like, my hair tends to stick to me more than anything else, making it a bit rough to turn my head.  I'm sure I'll get used to it, but until then, I think I'm going to look forward to putting my hair up all the time.  I'm already liking the ease at which I can pull my hair up and use my own hair to tie it up out of my way!  It looks really cute!  I can't wait to see how it's going to start looking as it grows out!

Too Much of a New Thing?

I'm starting this new hat.  It's going to look awesome!  It's an entrelac hat, a knitting skill I've never undertaken.  I'm working with a new yarn that I've never used before, compliments of my swap partner.  It also required a new cast on, which I thought would look wonderful!  It's a tubular cast on that requires you to pick up the stitches from your cast on and continue on with the project.  It sounded wonderful and looked even better!

Unfortunately, after I attempted to cast on, I found that the yarn was, well, not co-operating.  Knitting into that first row was like torture, though the rows after that weren't too bad.  Then trying to pick up those stitches, that was a nightmare!  I was beginning to wonder what I did wrong!  Now I think I'm just going to go back and knit it the way I typically start a hat, doing the ribbing in two needle sizes smaller and go from there with a regular cast on.  I might be adventurous enough to try that new cast on again, should I decide to start all over, but for now, I think I'll be happy just to try one new skill and one new yarn at the same time!

Improvised Hat

This is it!  I'm flying without a pattern here!  I've decided I want to make a hat for the baby for winter.  After searching for patterns that would use the right amount of yarn and be flattering on a boy, I simply couldn't find what I was looking for.  I decided to try it on my own.  After all, I could make a cute little ribbed hat without much worry over fit.  It doesn't take much to fit a hat on a baby.  Just cast on a bunch of stitches, about proportional to your gauge and the size of the head and go.  I already had the gauge swatch.  I just needed to measure it off the longies.  The baby's head was measured and we were off!

Things were going pretty well.  I had a good feel for what I was doing.  We were making progress.  I had knit a good part of the way up and decided to start decreasing for the crown.  There was one slight problem.  It's been so long since I've knit a hat that I couldn't figure how to do decent crown decreases!  I found a website that gave me some suggestions, but it's not like socks.  There are a million and one sock recipes out there!  Hats don't seem to have any recipes at all!  I guess it's because those who knit without a net when it comes to hats generally have made enough that they've got it all in their head.  They don't need any help with it.  They just do it!  Not me.  I rarely make hats, and now that I was, I was stuck.

I have to admit, I got rather daring.  I started throwing those decreases in there, just to see how it would turn out.  I had some vague concept of shaping in mind, though I'm not entirely sure I was sane when I made that decision.  The hat is now too long and will likely require to be rolled up so my baby can see!  Still, I've got a pretty good science on this thing.  I'd like to think that it didn't turn out all that bad...I hope...

Motivation Has Struck!

You know how I was saying I was never going to get the dreads done?  That the felting was taking forever?  That it seemed like the project that just wouldn't die?  I don't know if I ever wrote the statement that I was hating the idea of all the time required to put them in my hair and everything else.  All in all, I was so done with this project.  It was just too much work, too much effort, and too much time.  Who needed that kind of a project anyway.  I had to admit it.  If I wanted dreads in my hair, it might have been quicker just to dread my hair and forget the wool extensions.

Well, I was wrong.  In just one day I managed to knock out thirty of these things, one right after the other.  I was able to plow through them all in no time!  I was quite impressed about how fast everything flew through.  I was half expecting to really have to work at it, that it would take six million years, and that I'd never want to felt anything again, and then the inspiration just struck.  I don't know what it was, but the dreads were rolling out like crazy, like nothing!  I could knock out ten of them in a half hour!  That's so much more impressive than the ten in an hour I was working at before.  Instead of having to bribe myself with "just one more and I can", I found I was able to dive into it with "if I just do one more, I'll have!"  Each dread was one step closer to being done and having these dreads up and in my hair!  If I didn't have to have the last of them soak for a while, I probably would have plowed through them all in one night!  I'm almost there!

On final count there will be 132 dreads.  There are a whopping twenty left to do, and I'm sure those will go up in no time once they're soaked and ready.  It's not as many as I originally wanted, but I'm not doing my bangs, so I'm sure it will work out to be okay.  That means I'm almost done!  Twenty more and they'll all be done!  Then I just have to put them all in my hair.  They're all soaking in the bucket and ready to go.  It's almost go time for these things!  We're almost done!  I'm so excited!  Now the only remaining question is how to get them in my hair...and who to recruit to help put them all in!  132 dreads is a lot of dreads!

The Felting that Will not End!

The day starts off with all the dreads in a Walmart bag.  They're just waiting for the perfect time to be felted up to be used.  I was inspired at the beginning of it all.  This shouldn't be too hard!  It's just felting a little wool.  That doesn't take too long and I'm sure I can knock them all out in a sitting or two!  The roving was so incredibly soft that I didn't have a single doubt about getting it done.  I would love working with this stuff!  It didn't even look like that much.  Of course, in this picture, it really isn't that much.  It's about half of the roving I started with.  I'd already managed to finish half of it before even thinking to take a picture of it all!

Then came the work of felting.  The first twenty were done in no time.  I was sitting outside in the sunshine, talking with my boyfriend.  We were just enjoying the day.  It was peaceful and calm.  With every dread worked up I was inspired to jump right in and do the next.  I kept thinking that I should take a break, but no, I had to do just one more.  I mean, look at how pretty they were turning out,a and how quickly they were drying!  When it got too cold, I went inside, figuring he and I would sit outside another day and work them through until I was done.  If the twenty went up this quick, the rest should be done in no time!

Wouldn't it figure, the next day was cold and miserable, and the few days after that.  I would have had to sit outside alone as my boyfriend was at work by the time it was nice.  I just wasn't feeling motivated.  I did a few in my room mate's bathroom while talking to her, which seemed to go up pretty quick, but the ones I did in my own bathroom, sitting in isolation, working away were the worst.  It was a long, boring slog through felting.  It seemed to take forever, even though each dread was felted in five minutes or less.  Each time I pulled out a dread, I'd count the ones I had already drying and tell myself, "Just five more and I'm finished with the next set of ten, then I can take a break".  Last night I got to the point of bribing myself after every three done.  I'd hang them to dry on hangers in the bathroom.  One would think seeing them up there would give me some sense of accomplishment, but no.  Instead I just look at them and think about how many more I need to do until I'm done.

I have to admit, I'm making progress.  It may not be as fast as I had hoped.  I may not have had them all pounded out in one day, but I'm getting there.  Through bribery, grim determination, or hopes of having these infernal things in my hair soon, I'm going to finish them.  I've already surpassed the half way point.  Things should be getting better from here, right?  I should be able to count down and be excited about how quickly they're getting done.  Well, I somehow think that's not going to be the case.  I have a feeling it's going to be a long, hard slog, right to the end.

However, I have made myself a promise.  All I have to do is finish three quarters of the dreads and I can start installing them in my hair.  That's ninety-six dreads that need to be done before I can start sectioning and installing.  I'm not far off that count!  So far I've got seventy-two!  To finally be ready to start installing, I need to have twenty four more done today.  I think I can do that.  I hope I can do that!  Then the last thirty-four or so should be nothing once I see how great they look in my hair!  After all, there will be all that excitement about getting it done!  So maybe things will pick up once I'm able to reward myself with something like that.  I mean, two more hours of work and I should be able to start the hours and hours of installing the dreads...and three more hours of felting to go...thinking about it that way...yeah...I'll never be done...

The Dreads in Progress

Well, I got the roving.  I eventually got myself some ribbon.  I got myself settled in, and decided to make some progress.  Let me tell you, these dreads take a long time to make!

So, here's where I stand for step one.  It took a minor eternity to pull off all the roving in pieces the right side.  It took just as long to cut all that blasted ribbon!  I swear, it was going to take me forever to separate it all and get it all ready to be dreaded!  I carefully attached each dread to the ribbon, and expect things to go quickly after that's done.  Well, as quickly as felting can possibly go.  I was smart enough not to just toss them all in a bucket of water as I went.  I have a feeling I'd be at it for way too long of a sitting if I decide to do it all at once, so I'm going to do it a little bit at a time, when I'm feeling inspired.  Here's hoping that it all gets done quickly!  I want my dreadies for my hair!

My Wonderful Fall Swap Package

So, this is swap #3 of the Swap for All Seasons 2010.  For those of you in the know, my swap partner changed during the midsummer swap.  Since then, I've been getting to know this new partner who does a lot of traveling (I'm so jealous!) has a wonderful job, and a wonderful family.  It's been a little challenging to stay in touch because she's so busy, but it's always interesting to hear about all the things she's done and where she's been off to!  I have to say, this swap is a lot of fun!

One thing I do have to say about my partner is she's got an interesting sense of color and concept.  While most people would put together a fall package using only classic fall colors, my wonderful partner didn't.  I got a lot of beautiful and bright colors from her!  While a part of me was a little sad not to get the autumnal colors you expect this time of year, every time I look at those brilliant and gorgeous colors I can't help but think how incredibly perfect they are.  It's everything I can do not to pull out some needles and a pattern and cast on that beautiful yarn!  I know I can get this yarn locally, but they're beautiful colors I haven't seen locally!  I'm trying to picture how those colors are going to fall together even now...  It's quite a distraction from writing.  Maybe I should put my yarn away, and the ribbon and beautiful feathers too...they're tempting me to make something!

My swap partner also had a wonderful idea.  She put some beautiful peacock feathers in the box with some pretty, bright ribbon with the idea that I could use it for a hair piece or something!  Isn't that perfect timing?  With the dreads going in my hair, I'll need some new hair pieces (or...more accurately, that's an excuse to make some more!) so I'll need the supplies.  I've already got some fun ideas of what I can do with it all!

Finally, there's some really cute Halloween buttons and some fitting ribbon to match.  I've never much known what to do with novelty buttons, but I used to have quite a collection of them.  I really do miss my button collection!  On top of that, I'm sure they'd make some really cute accents to some Halloween knits for the kids!  I can totally see the large pumpkin buttons on a sweater!

All I have to say is, thank you!  This package is totally perfect, and definitely not what I had expected!  I love the incorporation of non-classic fall colors into the mix!  It's something that won't make me feel even more homesick, which is a plus.  Better still, those are the colors I always used to gravitate towards in high school.  Better still, they'll look rocking in contrast to my dreads!  I love that yarn!  Can you tell?  And the vibrant ribbon?  Wonderful!  Better still, the colors are just the right thing to pick me up when I'm feeling like home is so far away.  They're bright (but not so bright I wouldn't wear them) and cheerful.  I needed a little bit of light in my fall.  With that yarn, I'll be able to knit something that will be the perfect color for me all year round.  This whole package was just perfect!

The Paw Warmers

I've been reviving a lot of projects from the past.  I guess that's a sign that I really haven't been doing much lately.  What can I say, I've been a slacker.  In this case, it's a project from the past that actually needs to be finished.  I know that's a rarity for me.  Often times things get cast aside and fall into the void, only to be forgotten.  I know it's wrong of me to disrespect my knitting in this way, but I can't help it.  Temptation for something new is always too strong.

Some time last year I agreed to make Oz some mittens.  I had ordered the yarn and everything to do it.  I even started making them.  I just didn't ever get to finishing them.  You see, there was a problem.  The yarn was black, and the pattern called for slipping the needle back through half the stitches across the back of the hand in order to knit on the mitten portion.  The lighting was never very good all winter, especially not inside the house.  It wasn't warm enough to go outside to knit, so...well...they were forgotten...

Over the summer, I, of course, got sidetracked with other projects, and a complete lack of knitting as well.  I didn't really have time to work on them.  Besides, I couldn't find where I packed them in the move.  I had all these excuses, but that didn't change the fact that they weren't done.

Now the weather's turning cold again.  I've been begged for the nice, warm convertible mittens to be knit up and completed.  The sun is bright enough to make picking up those stitches possible.  I have no excuses and I'm going to get it done!  Well...after the shawl...and the longies...and the...well...shiny new things that will taunt me along the way....  Okay, let's be realistic.  They work for now, doesn't that count for something?

The Roving is Here!!!

I just had to share.  It's beautiful.  I adore it.  I just want to display it in my home, looking incredibly gorgeous.  Do I seriously have to do anything with it?  I mean, look at how beautifully it's all coiled around on itself!  Look at how incredible it is, sitting against all those vegetables!  Don't you just want to take in it's beauty forever?  Do I really have to break up it's happy existence, chopping it, felting it, and sticking it in my hair?  Wouldn't it be better just to display it for all the world to see?

I know what you're thinking.  I can always buy more roving, right?  I can always set it out to display, just like this one is.  On top of that, I've wanted to do these dreads so badly that I actually went out and bought the materials.  It would be silly just to let it sit there, right?  I should use it!  I should love it!  After all, what's the sense of having it if I'm not going to use it, but it's so incredibly beautiful...

Eventually, I'll get up the desire to cut it.  I want my dreads, so I know I'll eventually hack it up in the right lengths and I'll make them up.  I'll install them in my hair and I'll love them all the more.  I'll be so happy to see that beautiful roving adorning my head, just the thing I bought it for.  I'm just not going to let it sit there looking pretty...but for now...for now it's just decor...

I Finished the Charcoal Longies!

Well, so much for having the charcoal longies AND the walnut longies done in time for fall use.  I guess it's a good thing they work well for winter too.  I had first intended them for use during the fall, and given how much of a knitter I am, I'd have completely new ones ready for the winter!  I'd still have the fall ones as back-ups, but my sense of fashion would dictate that the fall ones would only be used as a back-up, because seasonally colored would be so much more appropriate.  The road to hell is paved with good intentions...and I hate to say it, I'm well on my way...wait...does that even make sense when it comes to knitting?

So I've gotten them done.  It's a bit late for Halloween, but it's still fall.  He'll have about a month of fall wear left to them before it's on to winter.  Where winter doesn't have ice and snow in Texas, he'll still look fashionably in style to some degree.  The gray matches the pavement.  The brown matches the leafless trees.  Now all I need is a straw color to match all the dry grass we'll get and I'll be good.  I won't even have to knit a whole new set of seasonal longies!

Then there's this whole thing with size and fit.  It's a good thing I didn't anticipate making these ones for fall!  Given he's not soaking quite as bad as he used to, I'm able to get away with not doubling up anything I put him in just to soak up one single pee!  That means I'm no longer giving him this huge, bulky butt!  He's far more trim in the behind these days.  As a result, the longies are, well, all around too big!  I knew they would be long, though they're not painfully so.  I just didn't expect them to be so big around the middle!  Had I known (and planned properly for fall) I would have given him mediums and called it a day.  Of course, then he wouldn't have anything to grow into (which is why I'm knitting the Walnut ones in a large too), so I would have lost out.  How many more months would he have been good with a medium?  And the only problem with the legs is when he crawls.  It pulls the legs down over his feet, and then it pulls the whole crotch and everything down.  Next thing you know his feet aren't even hiding in the ribbing anymore, but leaving a trail of leg behind him!  It's really cute, but not terribly practical.  I've got to think of a crafty, knitterly solution to this problem.  Of course, for the time being it's quite functional for keeping his feet warm!

All in all, I'm quite happy with the outcome.  The longies look fantastic.  They may be big, but he can always grow into them.  That's one thing you never have to worry about with kids, no matter what you do, they have this annoying tendency to grow!  At least I went the right way with my wrong sizing!  After all, how many knitters out there have started a project for a baby, only to have him or her outgrow it before it's ever even finished?  (And how many knitters still have that unfinished project in the closet by the time the intended recipient is in high school?  Well...they'll have babies of their own some day and you'll already be prepared!)

That's one pair of longies down.  I don't even want to think about how many more I need to go before I'm done!  I'd like to have at least one pair of longies for every day of the week, which means I'm one out of seven...that's a start...  Plus I have two pairs to make for my friend, the Artsy Eclectic, over at Otherwise Quite Good.  Barter is a wonderful thing...  Somewhere in all of that I'll be reminded that diapers sometimes soak through, so it might not be a bad idea to have an extra pair in a similar enough color to each that I have that I can plan to co-ordinate appropriately...and I'll buy the yarn for each...and it will swiftly be tossed away in the stash (because I don't need it right NOW) and I'll forget about it...until next year rolls around, and knowing my luck, he'll be potty trained...

Wait? There's Stuff on These Needles?

What was I doing?  Oh, yeah, that's right, I was knitting, crafting, and all that other good stuff.  Life has been crazy and chaotic lately, and I know I've been slacking off way too much.  I haven't finished my shawl or those longies yet and it's already November!

Well, in a way, I kind of get why.  I've kind of lost interest in knitting the longies.  They're a great pattern and all, but I think I've possibly discovered an unmentioned problem plaguing knitters (or maybe just me), the dreaded "second leg syndrome"!  I suppose the same could be said for sleeves.  I've knit through the slog of one leg, which really wasn't that bad, but it's long rounds of the same straight knitting, with decreases so many rows to keep it interesting.  I'm kind of over that.

I guess I've kind of felt the same about the shawl.  Now, don't get me wrong, I love that shawl.  More than love, I adore that shawl.  It's the most beautiful thing to ever be worked up on my needles.  It's my favorite piece of knitting ever!  And the pattern, what a stroke of genius!  Well, in my limited knitting experience at least...  Unfortunately, endless repeats of that falling leaves pattern may just equate to insanity.  That and there's a small problem with the needles, so I'm waiting for replacements from Knit Picks, because they are that awesome.  Anyhow, I'm down to the last dreaded repeat of that bloody falling leaves pattern.  I'll be on to the next one soon, the snowflake pattern or whatever it's called, and I'll never have to look at that falling leaves pattern again!  I guess I just kind of needed a break.

Then there's everything else going on in my life.  I don't really feel like getting into that whole mess.  Let's just leave it to simply I don't have a moment to myself and everything hurts, blah.  It's made knitting time rather hard to come by.  I haven't had much time to get anything done.

However, crafting time is here again!  I'm going to get back into my knitting.  My roving arrived, so I can make my dreads!  That means I'm hopefully going to have some great pictures of progress (and hopefully a couple finished objects!) soon.  I can't wait!

For now, it's off to those longies.  The weather's getting cold and while I would love a nice warm shawl to keep me cozy, my baby comes first.  Some nice wool longies and a new hat seem to be just what the doctor ordered...  Now let's see if I can break my procrastination long enough to get something done!

Digging Up Old Projects

I've come to realize I'm neglecting some of my other crafty loves.  In specific, I haven't really made any dance costumes in what seems like forever.  I know part of that is simply because I haven't had the money.  Dance costumes aren't always inexpensive to make and I don't have quite the stash of supplies for that as I do for knitting.  My yarn stash is enough to keep me going for quite some time.  If I can spare enough change to order some new needles in the sizes I want now and again, I know I'll be fine.  Dance isn't quite so easy.

I used to make beautiful hair pieces.  The last ones that I made were for a Gothic costume for Halloween last year.  It's almost been a year.  I hate that it's been so long.  I love my beautiful hair gardens.  They're such an elegant piece to add to my costume, and so big and dramatic.  It really helps to create a solid feel.  Without them, I seem so much more plain.

These projects are so simple, but the cost is something that's holding me back right now.  I hate to say it, but I think the whole economy turning down has disappointed me more than anything else because of it.  I love my gorgeous hair pieces and wish I could make some more.  At that, I wish I could make a costume to go with every color of hair piece I wanted to make!  And veils to match would be a nice touch!

I guess I'm just going to have to wait until I can start selling hair pieces at events or online.  I don't really want to be a vendor, but it seems like it's all I can do to keep my love of beautiful hair gardens alive.  Maybe it will turn into a hobby that will pay for itself some day.  One can only hope...

Crafty, but not?

I've just spent a good deal of time not really crafting.  I know, it's shocking.  With a shawl to be finished, longies to be made, and everything else, one would think I'd be knitting like crazy at the very least, but no, not a single craft has been undertaken.

What have I been doing with my time then?  Braiding my hair.  I've been adding bunches of tiny braids to my hair.  Why?  Because I've been using this as a set up preparation for trying dreads.  I know you can't dread braids, but there's no reason why I can't use braids to start dreads, or more appropriate to me, use them to decide whether or not I'll even be able to tolerate dreads.

All of this has gotten me on another crafty project.  I'm going to make my own dread extensions!  Because I'm the kind of girl I am, synthetics just won't do.  I'm not much for synthetic hair.  I hate the way it feels and I'm not terribly partial to the way it looks.  Instead I'm going to make myself some wool dread extensions.  I've got plenty of roving from a spinning project I never dared to try, so I'll have plenty to work with.  Now I just need to get off my butt and do it!

So pictures will be following, but all the braiding is done, so that's about as far as I'm going right now.  I need a break from it all!  So, now, back to your regularly scheduled knitting...

Progress Slowing...

I'm starting to remember why I don't make more shawls.  The rectangular shawls are pretty easy.  Yes, it can get long, tedious, and boring, but at least the rows are pretty regular.  Triangle shawls just seem to get more and more endless.  It seems like I'm knitting forever and no progress was ever made.  I can imagine round shawls are the same, or similar at least.

This shawl is so pretty.  I'm really going to enjoy it.  I can't wait until it's done so I can wear it around.  Still, I'm wondering if it's ever going to be finished.  There's just so much work to be done on it.  I've got to admit, I don't have as much time to knit as I may like these days.  I've really been distracted with moving and all of that.  Even if I did, I don't think I'd be done by Christmas!  Knowing my luck, it won't be done until it's getting too warm for a shawl and the colors are totally in the wrong season!

Knitting Needle Review: KA 9.5" Circular Knitting Needles

While I was at the LYS, the owner, Dawn, showed me these wonderful new knitting needles.  She was working up a pair of mittens on them.  They looked wonderful and just what I needed!  The needles were a small diameter circular needle, 9.5" as I would find out later.  The needles themselves were tiny!  I had to wonder how practical they were to use, but Dawn swore they were wonderful.  I decided to give them a try.  I picked up the KA circular needles in a size 6 and size 4 at 9.5".

I'll be honest, when I first picked up the stitches for the leg of the longies I was making, I was a bit skeptical.  They were quite fiddly to use.  I didn't know if I would get the hang of them.  Of course, Dawn had told me that they were best for more than 56 stitches and I was using decently less, only 44, but I decided to give it a go.  I wasn't sure how much of a disaster they would turn out to be, but I would get there, and I could always switch back to DPNs, right?  At first I was beginning to think I'd have to.  I had to decrease to 38 stitches before I was done!  Then I had to switch to smaller needles for ribbing!  This would be a nightmare!

Even so, I would give these needles a fair chance.  I'd knit through he whole leg, no matter what the slog, and then I'd decide once I got to the other leg.  I wanted to make a fair and accurate judgment, and I know to make up my mind after knitting only a couple inches wouldn't be fair.  Besides, these needles weren't exactly cheap!

As I worked with these needles for a while, I found that I did get used to them.  It took a while, but then I started to work with them as naturally as any other needles.  They just flowed.  Even though the diameter of the leg on the longies was smaller than suggested, I found that I stopped having problems after a while.  I was able to knit much faster than on DPNs, and without the problems like laddering.  I absolutely love that benefit, as laddering is a problem that gets on my nerves more than any other.  I found that the needles just soared!  Yes, they were still a bit fiddly at times, but I didn't have any of the struggle that I originally did.  I think I just had to get used to them.  Better still, they were the perfect needles to use for the legs on the longies.  They were just the right size and so convenient.  I'm finding I adore them!  I may not use anything else!

I have to admit, when it got to the ribbing, I had some questions in my mind.  At first the stitches seemed a bit stretched out, which I thought might get in the way of ribbing doing exactly what it was intended to do, but it seems like it won't be a problem at all.  Now that the leg is finished, I'm finding that the ribbing looks exactly as it should.

These needles are actually quite lovely.  The bamboo is excellent, but I can imagine it would be problems for anyone who doesn't like bamboo.  The needles spin freely on the cables, avoiding any problems with the needles and cables twisting.  They're really a wonderful product.  I'm finding that I quite enjoy knitting with them and will probably use them in a variety of sizes for a variety of projects.  I just can't wait to get some for socks!

Projects from the Past

I've finally posted pictures of some of my older projects.  Took me long enough, didn't it?  After all this time, I'm finally putting up photos of my berets!  The sad part is I don't wear them near as much as I used to...

The Meret Beret was my favorite for a very long time.  I adored it.  It was just the perfect shade of purple, even if it was kind of a bit neon, in a way.  It was made of Caron simply soft, which isn't the best of yarns.  When I made it, there was no yarn shop.  I was convinced it was the best pattern ever.  To be honest, I think the pattern is actually kind of lacking.  I'm not as impressed with it as I once was.

In a way, I think there's a lesson to be learned in all of this.  While I may have loved something in the past, that doesn't mean it will always be a favorite.  I outgrow things, and not just in size.  In this case, my style has greatly changed over the years.  I shouldn't be surprised.  It's a normal reaction to life.  On top of that, I'm also a very different kind of knitter than I was back then.  I look for different kinds of projects.  The things I find challenging have changed.  All in all, I'm drawn to more complex and interesting projects.  I've grown up, I guess you could say.

The green beret I make is still an all time favorite.  No matter what I do, I'll always love it.  It's the perfect color for me, even if it is made of that same acrylic yarn as the Meret.  I do love it.  It's got just the perfect amount of slouch and drape.  Better still, it's got all those little holes that allow just enough air flow in the winter.  It's become the perfect addition to my wardrobe.  I swear, if all my clothes matched the style, I wonder if I'd ever take it off!

I find it funny that a simple thing such as knitting can say so much about a person.  It's more than personal style at that point, it's also choices.  A project that I may love to knit could easily be a give away project that I could never stand to wear.  A project that I love to wear may be something I'd never want to knit again.  It's almost like knitting has it's own whole existence, it's own flair.  It says a lot about a person, and sometimes absolutely nothing about their own sense of style.

I have to wonder where I'll end up as a knitter.  I have my own very distinct sense of style right now, one where knitting really doesn't belong.  Knit goods don't really work with much of my wardrobe, though I keep trying to fit them in.  I wonder if that means my sense of style will change.  I suppose that's just how people are, always changing.

Frustrated and Ripping my Yarn Out!

This is infuriating!  I realized that I somehow managed to miss knitting one of the strands of yarn a few rows back.  It wouldn't be so bad if I hadn't just broken the yarn and started on the next section.  I was so proud of myself!  Two sections were already down!

I had thought to myself, "This will be easy.  I'll just drop the stitch, unravel it all the way down, and fix it.  I've done it a million times.  It's my common solution when I don't want to rip back several rows, or there are just too many stitches in each row to make it worth it.  I don't want to spend hours undoing my work just to knit it all back up again the right way.  That's pretty pointless, right?

Everything started pretty well.  I unraveled everything, picked up the lost strand, and was on my way again.  Things seemed okay.  There were a couple odd spots, but I was making progress.  It would look a little funny because of the way the stitches get pulled up, but that's normal.  I've kind of come to expect that.  It's better than always noticing the spot where it's wrong to the point where I can't tolerate to wear the thing.  That's a lot of yarn to put towards something I'll never wear, so fixing it was definitely better than leaving it.

Things don't always work as well as they seem to, and I've learned I can't fix garter stitch to save my life, especially with the row of eyelets beside the stitch I was focused on.  I pulled up all the stitches finding that, when I got to the top, I had done something wrong, and I couldn't see where.  The top stitch should have been a purl!  Why was it a knit?  I found the culprit, a stitch that never got picked up.  I dropped back and fixed it again, once more turning out with a knit stitch.  After the fourth time I decided I was giving up and I was going to undo it all to the point it was wrong and work it all up again, not only wasting my valuable knitting time, but frustrating the heck out of me in the process!

As if that wasn't bad enough, when I started working from both the center and the outside of the ball, the yarn tangled so badly that I wanted to cry in trying to work it all out.  I had my Chesh help me with it, but it still wasn't enough.  It's still a huge mess as we speak.  I'm trying to figure out if I have the patience to work it out.  I may never have the patience, to be perfectly honest.  Cutting it out might just be in order.  I just hope to avoid that at all costs.

It seems like my yarn is determined to make me angry.  It doesn't want me to ever be happy again, I swear.  Well, this shawl is not going to get the best of me.  I'm going to finish it if it kills me!

By the way, small edit to note that I did manage to get it all out without cutting the yarn in the end, but I had to knit with the yarn all wrapped up around my hand until I got back to the ball to keep it from getting tangled.  This is how I had to work:

Feeling Homesick

Is it bad when your knitting makes you miss home?  It makes me want to move back up to New England today!  I'd love to be back in beautiful, scenic, historic Salem.  That's the place I truly call home.  Why is it that my knitting wants to be one more reminder?

The shawl I'm working on is beautiful.  It's fall colors into winter.  I'd worked through the whole solid green section with no issue.  The little leaves were coming out so beautifully!  Then I moved on to the two colored orange and green.  At first I thought it was pretty.  The color combination was surprisingly beautiful.  I loved it!  I couldn't wait to see it blend into the next color, straight orange, and on as it progressed.

Not all things can be as simple and wonderful as that.  In this case, I realized that the colors reminded me of fall.  The almost dappled appearance of the yarn reminds me of a mix of fall leaves.  It reminds me of pumpkins.  I think of Halloween and Thanksgiving.  It makes me homesick for the colors on real leaves.  It makes me wish I could feel the clear, crisp air.  It makes me think of the one place I want to be, Salem.

I love this project, and I think once I get over this little inconvenience of homesickness, I think I'll adore it.  I'm loving the patterning on it and the way the yarn blends.  I just wish I could live in a place where the season change would be perfect for such a garment.  I wish I was living back home.

Note to Self: Check for Errata, Dumby!

The Knit Picks Seasons Shawl: Fall/Winter...  I love you!  You're made of such pretty yarn.  It's soft and smooth in my hands.  For being made of scratchy stuff (otherwise known as wool), you are so delightful to work with!  I absolutely adore the very idea of you!  Why must you scorn me like this?  Why?

It all began with the cast-on.  Things were going well.  I knit through my first six rows like they were nothing.  Things got a little hazy on the seventh row.  I needed to knit across all three stitches and then pick up and knit three more down the side and then again down the cast-on edge.  Picking up stitches is generally a messy process for me.  The stitches picked up are never as pretty as the rest of the stitches.  I should have known then that you would be such a challenge, but I didn't.  I didn't anticipate having near any problems at all!  I'm a good knitter, and though I'm still new in the grand scheme of things, I find myself flying through projects, always looking for something harder, always looking for a challenge.  I think I over-estimated my readiness for a challenge.

When I first saw your picture staring at me from the Knit Picks website, I thought to myself, "Now there's a lovely shawl!  You were gorgeous!  You were everything I wanted.  The colors were delightful.  The drape over the model was stunning.  I could already see you wrapped around me, keeping me warm on a cool night.  I'll be perfectly honest, a shawl isn't of much use in Texas weather.  If it's cool enough to put something on, you actually throw on a layer.  A shawl won't likely do much.  This isn't New England, where those first cool nights of the year are perfectly met with a little something to wrap around you.  Texas is too fickle for that.  However, in the anticipation of saving money on our electricity, I know the heat will be low in the house, unbearably low for someone who can't hold on to their own warmth like me.  While I have socks to combat my heat seeking feet, there's nothing to keep the rest of me snug.  A shawl might just prove to be practical!

The day the box arrived, I darted around the house like a mad woman, looking for a knife, scissors, anything to get me through that tape!  Upon finding it, I tore into the box, not like a child on Christmas (that might risk damaging the contents), but delicately, carefully, and as fast as I could possibly manage.  The packing list, of course, was on top.  It was tossed carelessly aside.  If everything was there, then why did I care about the packing slip?  I'd know if it was all there.  I was anticipating it every day from the moment I knew you were on your way.  First were the Zephyr Acrylic Needle Tips.  I will admit, I did take pause at these to pull them out, bend them a few times, see if they were everything the advertising video promised.  I know it distracted me from your glory, but I'm not about to lie.  I know you saw I was distracted.  How could you not?  Then out came the needle cables, tossed aside with the needle tips as if they were no longer important.  They couldn't be, because there you were!  I pulled you out, and my expression changed instantly.  I'm sure it was so dramatic you could have seen it miles away.

I'm not going to say I was entirely unhappy.  Let's just say I was a little disappointed.  The photos on the web were so incredibly enticing.  The blend between them was just so perfect.  It was everything a girl could want, especially one such as myself that adores fall colors so.  Seeing the cover of the kit in person, I wasn't so inspired.  The green was a garish clash from the rest of the colors, completely out of place.  The green and orange blend looked atrocious, in my eyes.  I didn't know what I was thinking.  It just wasn't me.  Perhaps I could fold the shawl over just so to hide that far-to-bright green.  The blue, black, and gray didn't seem to appeal either.  It just clashed!  I feared it was awful!  Then again, I had plenty of friends who would adore a hand-knit shawl, and I know some of my friends would adore your colors.  I took a passing glance at the yarn bundled in back, but didn't really give it a proper look, knowing that green would be in there, and that blue.  Oh well...  Back in the box you went.  Sadly, I didn't have the time to look at you then, especially if I wasn't thrilled.  There were things I needed to get done.  Besides, I couldn't take you out and knit you.  I needed a ball winder before I could do that.  I wasn't about to wind all those balls by hand!  I'd be insane to do that!  That's a lot of yarn!

It was a good long while before I could take you out again.  You were misplaced during the move by my husband, who clearly didn't understand your value.  It took him forever to pull you out again.  Besides, I couldn't work on you!  I didn't have a ball winder!  When he did find you, it was the same excuse, and that I needed to finish the Clapotis first.  I couldn't possibly start another project yet!  At least I did you one small justice.  I looked you over and took a better look.  Maybe the yarn wasn't so bad after all.  Still, I didn't want to open the bag and spill everything out.  That could be a disaster.  I'd do it another day.

Today I was planning to go to the yarn shop.  I needed to pick up some more wool for longies.  It was as good of an excuse as any.  I had finished my Clapotis.  I had started knitting a pair of longies, but I know how I am.  They wouldn't take me long.  I'd be done and out of things to work with in no time.  I'm sure you already know how I feel about socks right now.  I'm just not in the mood to knit them!  Besides, I can't find the pattern book and eight million other excuses.  I have to apologize.  I'm horrible about all the excuses.  It's not that I don't want to knit all my fantastic projects, it's just that the timing needs to be right.  I want to give each project my full attention, and I can't do that if my mind is wrapped up in something else entirely.  No, today was not a good day for socks, so I grabbed you up instead and off we went.

While I did buy more yarn and balled that up first, you did get wound into your own neat balls, all eight skeins.  One after another was done, though I was beginning to think I'd never stop turning that crank.  I considered leaving the rest for later, but no, that wouldn't be fair to either of us.  I know myself well enough to know that I would forget to wind the next ball until I needed it, and, with no ball winder on hand for immediate satisfaction, I would put you aside and get lost on something else, taking months to finally get the next skein wound.  No, I had to do it all.  Besides, seeing all your colors laid out on the table before me, I realized just how lovely you were.  That green was more of a beautiful forest color.  The black was really more of a midnight blue.  The bright blue I hated so much before was darker than I imagined, and the perfect compliment to the purple and midnight it shared it's borders with.  The transition would be amazing!  The gray still seemed a bit off, but that's what made it's elegance stand out so incredibly much!  The fall leaf colors were deep and rustic, not as brilliantly bright as I had seemed to get it in my head.  You really were everything I wanted in a shawl!  I was only too happy to get you started.  Unfortunately, in the middle of the day when I knew I'd have to run soon was hardly the time to dedicate, so I waited until I was home.  I would have the time to focus on you then.  Besides, I wanted a picture of all your lovely yarn before the project started for my Ravelry page.  Who could blame me?  It was perfect!

Being a smart little knitter (read that as "having learned from my past mistakes), I read through the pattern carefully.  I didn't want any surprises.  It's actually a good thing I didn't decide to hand wind the balls of yarn because I would have been in quite the sorry state.  I didn't anticipate needing two strands of yarn to knit with, just the one.  As you can well imagine, if I had just wound your average ball, knitting with two strands would have been impossible, unless I'd made a second ball.  I never hand-wind center pull these days.  It's just too challenging!  With that happy thought of doing the right thing by waiting in mind, I continued on.  I made sure not to miss a single detail.  I even read over the abbreviations, even though I was certain I could figure them all out with a little logic.  I read over the charts.  Everything looked as it should be.

At this I was off to a roaring start!  Well, perhaps a turtle's pace would be a better description.  I cast on four different times just to figure out whether I would work in the tail from the start or leave it to weave in later.  I finally decided on leaving it, but in hindsight I have to wonder if I made the wrong choice.  Perhaps picking up stitches would have been easier if I had worked the ends in.  However, I think I may have made the right choice.  Picking up and knitting the stitches was a nightmare.  I couldn't figure out if I was actually supposed to knit each stitch as I picked it up, but that's what I did.  Because of your loose and unstructured nature at that point, I had a miserable time discerning where each picked up stitch should come from.  Where did the selvage end?  Where did the cast-on edge begin?  I made do (perhaps a little sloppier than I would have liked) and got on to the good stuff.

From here it was smooth sailing!  That's right, I cruised through the first twelve rows like they were nothing!  Of course, they were pretty much just knitting, so it wasn't to bad, a couple yarn overs tossed in to create expansion and the right shape.  This was all cake.  I had built up quite the confidence, but that's when you got tricky.  I guess you thought I needed a bigger challenge early on, you know, to prepare me for the worse stuff to come later.  I had already anticipated you would do this.  I was being extra careful with each stitch, as I've never worked with two strands together as one before.  I thought I was doing alright, until the first row of the pattern took a giant bite out of my pride!  Boy did that one hurt!

From here on out, it was problems.  First it was my stitch count being off.  I couldn't figure out where I was going wrong.  I knit from the third marker on two or three times, but it always ended up the same.  Apparently I was missing a stitch?  I counted.  I calculated.  I did everything I could manage.  Finally, frustrated, I tinked back the other side to see if I could figure out where I'd gone wrong on this half, and right on the one before.  I don't know how I managed it, nor what I was doing wrong before, but this time you went by flawlessly!  I'll admit, I my confidence was shake, but not yet shot.  I know these mistakes happen.  I notice them all the time.  When I go back and try to fix them, they somehow disappear, as though they never existed and I was really just crazy the whole time.  I'm sadly used to it by now.

Unfortunately, that was not the last of the rocky section.  I managed to make it through row one of the chart with no further incident!  Now it was on to row two, and that is where disaster struck!  I knit up the rows.  At first, I was reading the rows entirely wrong.  I was knitting where I should purl, purling where I should knit.  I thankfully caught on before I got too far, but it was frustrating and embarrassing, even if no one was here to see but my rabbit.

I sorted that out, then realized I was reading row two from right to left, just like I'd read the previous chart, blissfully ignorant that it doesn't work that way!  I knit through almost the entire chart across this way before I realized that I was doing it wrong.  Row two was supposed to be read left to right!  That could make sense of a good deal!  I tinked back again, this time only the part that needed to be altered, did it right, and once again moved on.

One would imagine that I would be the observant type.  When I see things line up on the chart, they should also line up in the knitting, right?  It should all be stacked up just the way it should, and it would all look spectacular!  Well, I didn't take note of that small detail.  If I did, I think I would have found my problem sooner.  It may have just stopped me from going so insane!  I counted the blocks on the chart, then counted my stitches for the section.  I expected it all to match, but frustratingly, it didn't.  Of course it didn't!  That would make my life easier.  I read the chart again, seeing two yarn overs and only one decrease for the row below, yet both the sections were the same size.  I wanted to yell at that yarn over instruction.  Clearly it was the problem.  If it weren't for that one extra yarn over, the whole thing would line up perfectly!  (I'm not going to mention that I should have known this would be impossible as the count was off by two, not one.)  Then I realized I just needed to add something somewhere, maybe another block to each end of the chart so it would match the one above!  That would be perfect!

Now, my brain cells finally did do their job on this one.  As much as I could anticipate likely changes to the pattern, I somehow thought I might want to check into the problem first.  Perhaps this wasn't as easy of a fix as I thought it would be.  Everything else has been a disaster thus far.  Maybe I was doing something wrong.  I would go see if they had an errata!

Well, I did, and the company did.  It seemed my instincts were right on adding the extra box.  The chart was simply published wrong, and the correct chart was online.  Saving myself a good deal of aggravation, I undid the mistake and corrected it.  I was finally feeling back on track.

So, what did I learn in all of this?  I could have prevented the whole problem by checking for an errata before I even considered picking up the needles to knit.  If I had, this problem could have been avoided.  It would have been one less frustration from the start.

Lesson learned, always check for an errata.  If I find a problem, see if anyone else has had the same, or write the designer if there is none.  All of this could have been avoided if I had.

I love you, my soon-to-be beautiful shawl.  I can't wait to have you finished.  I know I scorned you, neglecting you for other things, but I promise, I'm always going to come back to you until you're done.  After that, you join my wardrobe as "my favorite shawl".  That being said, please, no more problems!  I'm starting to think I'm allergic to lace!

Oh, and before I forget, lesson learned on the donuts too.  No powdered sugar will so much as enter the room when you're in the room, and I'll be smart enough to wash my hands before touching you after eating those infernal powdered things!  I didn't mean to get sugar on you, but I assure you, were it not for me writing it now, no one would be any the wiser...

Ten at Once? That's Insane!

Today I was at the LYS.  Yes, I've finally gotten back.  It's only been half a life time since I've been there, right?  I'm trying so hard to do my part to support them, connect with other knitters, and all that good stuff, but I've been slacking.  I guess I've just been busy!  It also doesn't help that I did feel guilty about going there and not having the money to spend on yarn, not that I exactly have much to spend now.

So, what did I do on this adventure to the yarn store?  I balled yarn.  I had picked up some lovely brown Cascade 220 to make longies.  The color is just the shade of Spanish moss, walnut heather.  It reminds me of that one trip I took with Girl Scouts to Savannah Georgia years ago, and that dreaded shower with the palmetto bug, ick!  But I digress...  I did my little part to support the yarn store, got something I needed to make something I need, and managed to make use of my time productively.  Not only did I ball up those two skeins for longies, but I also balled up all eight skeins of the yarn from the Knit Picks Seasons Shaw for fall and winter.  I'm sure I'll write much more on that shawl later.  It's a lot of firsts for me, so I'm sure it's going to be interesting to say the least!  I just hope there's not too much foul language and cursing when I write about it!  Ah!  The joys of knitting...

One would think I'd enjoy balling yarn.  Standing there, turning the crank on the ball winder is relaxing, almost meditative.  Turning it round and round endlessly while chatting with those in the yarn store is a delightful experience.  Might I also mention that I love their ball winder?  When I've got $200 to drop on something for knitting, I might just buy one for myself.  I turns so smoothly and is such a joy to use!  The balls turn out so wonderful.  It's like they were wound by heaven itself!  Okay, I suppose they're more cakes than balls, but that's not the point!  This ball winder is perhaps the best thing I've ever used, and I just need to have one of my own...  It's calling to me...  Think I like the ball winder a bit?

Today the first to skeins of yarn wound up pretty quick.  I love winding Cascade 22o because it's such a speedy wind.  I never realized quite how much that made a difference.  The yarn ends up in this big, puffy, satisfying ball that I just want to cuddle with.  It's got the perfect squishiness!  I adore it!  The beautiful walnut color is everything I wanted today.  It just made me happy.  It always does.  Besides, it was a good excuse to use that ball winder!  In truth, I just wanted to get it all set for knitting.  I know myself.  I'll have the longies I'm working on done in a matter of days.  I need to have another set, waiting in the wings, so to speak, otherwise I'll lose my travel project entirely!  Other people bring socks as a travel project, I guess I bring longies!

The yarn for the shawl was a different consideration.  I looked at the yarn before I left for the yarn shop thinking, "Today is a good day to ball up that yarn.  I should at least do the first color or two.  I want to be able to get it started.  If I don't, I'll still be working on it by Christmas!"  I don't think I realized quite what I was getting myself into.  Those skeins look small, but I assure you, they're not!  What I didn't realize then (and should have realized if I'd used that thing on top of my shoulders) was that each of those skeins is 440 yards of yarn.  There are eight skeins of it!  That's 3,520 yards of yarn wound on that ball winder today!  And that's just one project's worth of yarn!  Then add the Cascade 220 and we're talking 3,960 yards of yarn!  Now that will certainly add to the mileage I'm recording for my path to Boston!  That's a lot of yarn!

The idea was to get the first two done so that I could have something to start the shawl.  Once those were done, I started thinking about how many rows they were, and how quickly those rows work up when you're still at the center of the shawl.  Those are the shortest of the rows.  That's not so bad, right?  If I wanted to keep busy, maybe I should do the next color.  I started thinking about it, and if I was going to do three, then I might as well do four.  I'd have half of it ready, that way I'd be okay even if I couldn't get to the yarn shop the next week like I planned.  I wanted to be prepared!  Well, if I was doing half, I might as well just do it all, right?  After all, I knit pretty quickly.  It'll be done up in no time!  (Obviously I'd forgotten the recently finished ordeal that was the never-ending Clapotis!)

I will admit, I didn't entirely mind spending all that time balling the yarn.  It was relaxing and peaceful.  The shop owner surprised me with knowing exactly how many skeins of yarn I wound when a customer mentioned looking for a ball winder.  In truth, it didn't seem so bad.  The swift frustrated me a bit because it just didn't seem to want to be working for me, but the rest of it, flawless!  I seriously need to get me one of those ball winders!  After all that yarn, my arm wasn't near as tired as I thought it would be.  I could have probably done another ten balls, but if I did that I'd probably have enough yarn to last me until the apocalypse...or the end of my life, whichever comes first.  I mean, I'm already prepared for WWIII.  I've got my bottle cap collection and enough yarn to last me until I can start shearing radioactive sheep.  Yup, I went there...cheesy game reference...

So...on that note...did I mention I love that ball winder?!?

Longies, Always Back to the Favorites...

Winter is coming.  That means it's time to make the longies!  Summer has been wonderful, if lacking in knitting.  My littlest has been able to live in his shorties!  The warm weather has been wonderful for exposed legs and bare little feet!  He's been loving every moment of it!

Unfortunately (or fortunately if you're a knitter and like to wear what you make!) winter is coming, not fast as it does in other parts of the world, but with a slow meandering way that it always takes here in Texas.  It starts with days that are pleasantly cool.  Right now we're still hitting those 90° days, but it will soon start to cool off.  The breeze is at least refreshing.  In the evenings, the temperatures drop down around 70°.  Soon the temperatures will start to drop even more and before you know it, you'll want to be all bundled up at night.  It may not happen quickly, but at least by mid-October, you'll probably want "a little something to throw on" at night, and it won't quite be shorts and t-shirt weather anymore.

Thankfully, we knitters are always prepared for times like this, or any knitter who has been at it for a while.  If there aren't already a stock of knits for the whole family, they're probably in the process of being made.  While it's always best to have these made up in the spring and summer, well before they're needed, let's be honest, many knitters, like myself, get side-tracked with other things and end up waiting for the last minute.  Even so, most knitters have a stock of yarn, just waiting to be knit up, plenty to make warm things for the entire family, and quite possibly enough for the extended family too!

For me, this comes with knitting longies.  While these are also quite functional diaper covers for cloth diapers, they also function quite well as warm and snuggley warm pants.  They're the perfect kind of garment for winter, especially for a cloth diapered baby.  Better still, they're pretty quick to whip up, so I could have a whole collection knit up and ready to go by the time the weather is cold enough to need them!  They're practical and save the need of buying warm winter clothes!  Now I just need to find some patterns for sweaters to match!

What I love about this pattern most is the construction.  That ribbing on the bottom is so incredibly cute, and putting it all together is so delightfully easy.  I don't have to worry about gussets or anything like that.  It's such a simple look, and at the same time, so easy to modify to have a bit more personal styling, through colors and slight variations.

I'll admit, at first when my friend picked out the pattern, I figured I'd make it up for her, but I didn't know what I thought about them for my own child.  I'd make up a pair or two, I was sure, but I didn't see them being my favorite.  I thought the look of it was kind of tacky, not fitting the image I had in my head of trendy and classy.  I wanted something that looked a lot more like normal pants.  I made up the longies for her, but I wasn't sure I really liked the way they looked.  I made it up again for a pair of shorties, again, not thrilled with the look, but thinking they were the best shorties I could find.

Well, that's when it happened.  I fell in love.  I absolutely adored the pattern for the shorties once I saw them on my little man.  Now they're my favorite pattern by far!  Doesn't it figure how things turn around like that?

So here I am, preparing for winter.  I'm busting out the wool to knit with.  What am I knitting?  I'm back to my favorite pattern, perhaps my favorite pattern yet!

It's Done!

The clapotis is finished!  It's taken a good while longer than I thought it would.  It's turned out to be quite the lengthy project!  Down to those last decrease rows I was beginning to wonder if it would ever end.  Of course, I was also in anticipation of finally being finished.  I couldn't wait to have it all done so I could wear it out somewhere.  I wanted to know just what it would look like, as if I didn't already have a pretty good idea.  I wanted to see it done!  I wanted that finished product in my hand.

Well, I finished it.  It looks stunning, in my opinion.  I've already worn it out once.  I plan to wear it as often as I can manage.  I absolutely adore it!

In thinking about the whole project, I've decided not to block it.  I was thinking I might, just so that it could have that finished and complete look, but I'm not going to do it yet, at least.  I know I probably should block it, but with this project, it at least looks fine the way it is.  I quite like it unblocked.

Of course, a part of this is my fear of blocking.  I've never had to block anything before, so I'm not entirely sure on the technique to do so.  I know you lay it flat, stretch it into shape, and pin it, but that's about it.  I know you can spray it down to dampen it.  Some people block their garments wet.  Others use steam.  I'm not entirely sure what process works best for what kind of yarn or garment, but I'm curious to try.

All of this work with the clapotis has got me thinking, if I can work on this kind of long-term project, maybe I'm ready for one with a bigger challenge to it all.  Maybe I'm ready for...dare I say it...?  A sweater!

For my Friends who Like Reading and Crafts

I've been listening to this lovely podcast for the past few years, CraftLit.  For those of you who might be interested, check it out!  It's produced by a wonderful mom and teacher, Heather Ordover.  I've been listening to the podcast over the past couple of years, and it's become a fast favorite.

CraftLit is a wonderful podcast that combines two of my favorite topics, crafts and classic literature.  The first half of the podcast discusses crafts, news, history, and other general topics of conversation of interest.  On the craft end, there has been everything from knitting (which there's a lot of) to quilting, sewing, and pottery.  Art and writing have been discussed.  There's been talk about kids, school, education, and health concerns.  General topics have ranged from current events to Ghandi to September 11th to television shows to history.  There's been discussions on gluten free diets, as Heather recently found out she has an allergy to gluten.  Much of it has given me a good deal to think about.

Obviously, by the name, there's a component of literature in the whole thing.  It all started out with the reading of Jane Austin's Pride and Prejudice.  Since then she's covered other books such as Frankenstein and Tale of Two Cities.  I have to admit, some of these books I never would have been inspired to read myself, but through discussion, I've not only opened myself up to giving these books a chance, but I've also had a lot to think about because of it.  Before Heather dives into each chapter there's a wonderful discussion of what happened in last weeks chapters, as well as what to expect and look for in the coming chapters.  You can tell Heather's an experienced teacher by the way she opens the topic to each new chapter and her discussions in previous chapters.  It definitely helps keep interest up, but it also gives me a lot of fuel towards forming my own opinions on each book and topic.  There have been several times where Heather suggests her opinions on a topic and I find myself thinking something entirely different, or feel that I've got something to add or support to the topic.

This leads up to my own point of pride.  On episode 166 of CraftLit (Admirable Admiral), Heather read a message that I sent her on Ravelry.  (If anyone's interested, it starts at 14:49 on the audio.)  Actually, what I said there kind of ties in to the whole reason why I feel the CraftLit podcast is so incredibly valuable in a society such as our own.  With every passing generation it seems that fewer and fewer people actually read for fun.  I've found even less who enjoy learning for the sake of keeping their minds active.  I had mentioned in that message how I felt the current trend towards illiteracy related directly for a lust for knowledge.  In older times, families would sit down and discuss everything under the sun in front of their children.  These days it's all about television, sports, and school.  Learning in older times was essential for being successful, and while that still holds true today, there's less of a reason for it.  Learn your career field and that's all you'll ever need to know.  CraftLit supports a different view.  Not only is it a fun podcast that includes a bit of everything, but Heather actually encourages discussion on each topic.  She wants to know how her readers feel.  She uses their messages, e-mails, and audio clips in her podcast to open up new discussions.

This podcast has been completely refreshing.  It's like a breath of fresh air, especially with living in the area I do.  There are some wonderful, intelligent people in every neck of the woods, I'm sure, but for this area it seems the trend leads towards reading because you have to and only learning as much as necessary to get by.  Video games and television have replaced hard work and intelligent conversations at the dinner table.  Many families don't even sit down to dinner together (sadly, my own included more often than not), which is a trend that encouraged family discussions.  This podcast has done a wonderful job of opening my mind to new methods of thought, and has been quite an inspiration.  It's not all about literature either.  Without it, I doubt I would have even thought to research symptoms of gluten intolerance in children to find that I might possibly want to switch to gluten-free for my older son, see if that helps him out.  CraftLit has done a wonderful job of opening my mind and encouraging free thought and curiosity, things I had felt I was lacking in my life.  I didn't even realize how much until I'd started listening.

If you have any curiosity of your own, please, check out CraftLit.  I know it's hard to find time in a day to sit down and focus on something, but podcasts are wonderful for road trips, commutes, or even just something to listen to while doing housework.  Of course, if you're a crafter, you know how nice it is to work with something to listen to!  Each of the episodes are a bit lengthy (most run about an hour), but I find it's easy to find a good point to break if I don't have time to sit down and listen to the whole thing.  And just remember, if your hands are too busy to pick up a book, at least you can turn one on.

Thank you, Heather, for providing such a wonderful podcast!

How Could I Not?

For most of my friends, they see cute patterns or cute things and their first thought is, "That's awesome!"  I have to say, I can totally see that side of it.  Their next comment is pretty practical, "But what would you ever do with that?"

They have a good point.  What would I ever do with half the pointless stuff I could make.  I see things that I fall in love with, and then I have no real reason to follow through with it.  I mean, who needs a little amigurimi Dalek from Dr. Who?  What about knit lingerie that I'll never likely use?  What use could I ever have for a hand-knit kudama anyway?

If only I could see it that way.  At least I don't jump into all the impractical things.  I try and focus on things that could potentially have a use, as much as they may not fit the kind of every-day-use I'd rather the things I make to have.  In truth, how many shawls can one person have?  Of course, the possibilities of socks, sweaters, and so on are endless.  For an always cold person like me, and my whole family for that matter, there are plenty of options for useful items.  However, some of the "practical" things I choose aren't every day wear.  I mean, I'm a bit old to be wearing the tam Mary wore in the newest movie production of "The Secret Garden", but I still made one and wore it daily.

That's when I found the one project I couldn't resist!  I almost wish I had.  That project had me knitting endless rounds of stockinette, and when the decreases were thrown in, there was only one every round.  I wanted to strangle someone!  It was totally endless!  I swear, I'll never make one again, not even if you paid me!  Well, maybe if you paid me...

I set my eyes on this project and I knew I had to knit one.  I was a hardcore fan of the series, so how could I not?  I had to do it.  I picked out the perfect shade of green yarn.  I found my needles.  I applied liberal amounts of patience for the boring task it would end up being.  I was convinced that the outcome would be worth it in the end.  Boy did I underestimate my tolerance for endless, mindless work!  I found myself looking at a pattern for my all-time favorite blond boy's hat, the one animated character I could totally go for...if I got into video game characters and all of that, Link, from Legend of Zelda.  There was a pattern for a hat, so I had to have it.

The pattern was simple enough.  I probably could have thrown it together all on my own.  I doubt I needed any help with that.  Slow decreases to the end would have been enough, and I'm sure I could have made that up as I went along.  There was just something that made me feel better about following a pattern.  I wouldn't be tempted to hack it short because I just got bored.  I had to finish it right.

I slogged through it, had it, and gave it away to my boyfriend, who adores it.  I suppose that's a good thing in the long run.  I didn't need another hat, much less one I doubt I would ever actually wear.  However, there's something about my claim to geekiness.  I wouldn't be able to call myself half as much the obsessive Zelda fan that I can now if I didn't do it.  Now I'm planning to make the triforce gauntlets and a matching scarf.  What can I say?  I'm an honest to goodness geek!