My Knitting Life

The Next Generation

Click for detail on the gift basket I put together for my daughter's friend, turning 11! The gift's centerpiece is the Teen Knitting Club book. I picked up the surrounding goodies for notta-lotta-dough at Michaels and Target. I was so happy to find the cheerful fabric storage box at Target for $6! Michaels was having a sale on many of the novelty yarns which would work for the trendy project ideas in the book. I added some needles, a needle gauge, knitting noddy (she is still a kid!), a cute little lamb and some other treats.

This child slept over our house last weekend and she asked me to teach her to knit. I was AMAZED at her progress! She was really intrigued by the process and curious about all the knitting I have going on all over the house. I know I was like that at her age. I noticed that my daughter, who is a competent little knitter, became enthusiastic about her stalled project (scarf at left - excuse dark photo and unmade bed) again when her friend showed an interest. They actually asked if they could have a standing Friday night sleepover/knitting group with some other friends. WHOA-nelly!

As for me, BPT is moving quickly. Hopefully I will separate the arms from the yoke today and then I can photograph because it won't look like a big fur-ball. Once started, this is an easy knit. However, I am intrigued by the MANY interpretations out there on how to do the yoke increases. The pattern recommends (K1, Knit into the stitch below) and the reverse. Other top-downs I have made used the (knit into the front and back of the stitch) method. I'm curious about whether it matters because the increases are on either side of a cable. If I had all the time in the world, I would swatch both methods to see which looks better. Oh, and I would also swatch the (pick up the bar below) method too. For now, I'm sticking with the pattern, just happy that I am making nice progress on something...

BPT - Let's Get Started

Annieand I are knitting BPT in a very laid-back knit-along sort of way. Meaning no pressure. We're even too lazy to make a button or any kind of list of participants. We figure if we lower the bar we might just exceed our own expectations.

I'm in a thrifty kind of mood these days, so some Cascade Lana D'Oro from my stash and this cool pattern from Knitty meets my budgetary requirements. I dove right in the other night, and became a bit frustrated with the initial intructions, so I wrote up a little BPT Worksheet to help me along. The issue is that you start on row 2 of the pattern stitch, which, in the beginning throws you off a bit, plus there are cable-backs and cable-fronts, and, being a little slow at times, I needed it written out! I have made it to row 12-ish using this worksheet, and now I'm working (almost) independently.

There is something very satisfying about raiding your stash and finding a free pattern out there. Afterall, knitting came from humble beginnings - women and men using wool from their own flocks to knit items to keep their families warm. Of course they wanted things to be beautiful and it was a form of creative expression, but knitting was a way to protect your familiy, to make money or goods by selling or barter, and to stretch resources. Teresa's post brings to our attention how much things have changed! I wonder what those early knitters would think about this?

PS - Thank you all for your great parenting comments on my last post. It helps so much to hear your encouraging feedback. Oh, and Pencil Boy got a brand-spankin' new, shiney red pencil box yesterday!

Pencil Boy

I just knowingly sent my middle schooler off to school with sub-standard work! Last night, at the 11th hour, she informed me that she needed to write up a current events article. After battling on everything from the choice of the article, to the content, to typing or writing in pen, I realized she was taking her anxieties out on me and that she needed to suffer the consequences of her poor planning. So I let go. Not without reading it and cringing while she was in the shower, holding back my comments. But I let her walk out the door with it as is.

So I leave you with a picture of pencil boy. Pencil boy has been asking me all week to get him a pencil box for school. Yesterday, I'm blogging, he's fiddling around behind me, up to something:

"Mom, did you get me a pencil box today?"
"Sshh. Mommy's busy (blogging)."
"Mom? I reeeeally need a pencil box."
"Hmmm."
"Seeee.....!"

Teen Knitting

Here's a fun gift idea for that teen in your life! This book has hip, quick projects in all our favorite yarns. Maddy's close friend learned to knit at our house last week, so she's getting this book with some needles and yarn for her upcoming birthday. It has lots of good stuff like "how to start a knitting club" and "creating a knitting scrapbook" and "knitting for charity". I have gifted Kid's Knitting by Melanie Falick lots of times, and it is still near and dear, but this is fun, too, geared more for teens and incorporating more trendy yarns and styles.

I've corrected my mitten problem, stored Basil out of site, swatched successfully for BPT with stash yarn (woo-hoo) and have a couple other projects mulling around in the back of my head, including moving Kersti along, and starting a Christmas gift for my hubby. Hoping I'm back on track. Hoping for some FO's before too long...

Bad Knitting

Bad, bad knitting. Naughty, naughty. Yesterday it rained buckets and I was cozy in my chair, thrilled to knit my Lucy Neatby Fiesta mittens. I saw what was happening. The little voice was saying "stop and do something about it." But PBS had some show on about the royals and their pets, and then their was the travel show where someone takes you through the streets of Mexico, and I was so happy that I didn't listen. To the voice. That was saying, louder and louder, POOLING! So, this morning, out it came, re-rolled the hand-paint into a couple balls to work with simultaneously, and I'm right where I was at Friday's post.

And speaking of BAAAADD....The sleeves of my Summer Tweed sweater, Basil, were too long. So I ripped them back, and they lost all the gentle shaping and now they hang like big balloons. Oh. And the whole sweater is too big. I should have either gone down a needle size or down a sweater size. Probably the former, because I think the knit is a bit too drapey and loose for my tastes. I need to either rip the whole thing or use it as a chamois cloth for the car. And since I never wash my car, I guess I should, at the very least, rip and re-knit the sleeves.

Don't even get me started about the Conwy socks with "Anne". They were ripped and stashed two days ago. My family is beginning to think I am nuts. I work all day on something and then undo it. They can't understand it. Except my daughter. When I told her I ripped the mitten, she shrugged and said "I saw that happening with the color but I didn't want to say anything."

In her nonchalance, she was saying "They looked BAD!" And she didn't make one comment about "all that work and time you put in and blah, blah, blah." She just acted like it was the right thing to do. Which we all know. When the little voice calls, ripping is usually the right thing to do. From now on, when I hear the little voice, I'm going to ask her "Rip or no?"

Fiesta Time!

This morning, at 7:48 am, I unraveled the Conwy sock that I started back in August while on summer vacation. I was halfway down the instep. It took 4 minutes. Four minutes to undo weeks of knitting indecision. I know it is only a sock, but on size 1 needles it was a fair amount of knitting. The problems were:

1. The brightly colored variegated yarn obscured the cable pattern
2. Bamboo needles were not sharp enough to do the cable
3. The Yarn is slightly splitty and fuzzy, not a good match for cables and bamboo

Ya Live Ya Learn.

This was on the heels of the trouble I had with Summer Tweed, which I have chosen to keep private for now but I will reveal when I have the strength. (I'm learning how to be dramatic from my 11 year old daughter).

So, to make me happy, it's time for a Fiesta! This little kit, gifted by Annie, is just what the doctor ordered. Bright happy colors, yarn that's sturdy and easy to work with, a kit to minimize complications! Note that these are on size 0 and 1 needles, but seem to go quickly because of the fun with the changing color pattern.

Haiku? I'm in!

An eight year old boy
A fractured meta-tarsal
Frustration indeed

Flower Basket Shawl

Interweave Knits, Fall 2004 Frog Tree Alpaca, Sport Weight, Color #92, 2 balls Size 8 Needles

Sneak Preview

Announcing....Flower Basket Shawl....before and during blocking. Started on Tuesday, 9/7, completed Friday, 9/10. I used a single strand of Frog Tree Alpaca in Color #92 (about 1 1/2 balls), size 8 circular needle for knitting and size 10 1/2 for bind off. I was able to get the full 54" width across the top, but it is an inch or two shy of the full length. Stay tuned for the final unveiling.....

Priorities

Nothing like a traumatic social encounter to make you take stock! Thank you so much for enriching this experience for me. Each of you brought something new to the table, some personal experience or point of view that really helped me sort this whole thing out. The experience was a gift in a way. I slowed down for a couple days, got home in order and thought about priorities.

Speaking of order, I went stash-diving yesterday, and it wasn't pretty. Kind of like standing in front of the mirror, naked. I found purchases in bags, never opened. Projects started and not completed. There is nothing new about this scene, but every once in a while it must be revisited. Undaunted, I sorted, bagged, browsed through books and magazines for patterns, a process which I find thoroughly enjoyable.

I always try to come up with something for donation to the sweet Eastern European lady that takes care of my neighbor's elderly mother. No problem! I think she will find great use for two full bags of some good quality aran weight wool in dark burgundy. I know it would make a beautiful Alice Starmore, but the color doesn't work for me. This lady will whip something up in days for a family member back home who will be warmer this winter because of it. Talk about priorities.

Regarding my remaining stash, suffice it to say that I have my priorities in order:

1. Finish Kersti
2. Finish or Rip Knitting on the Road Socks
3. Assign a project to the obscene mountain of Cascade 220 pictured below
4. Socks, socks, socks
5. Scrap all of the above if the wind changes in any direction

Impulsively, the other evening, I started the Flower Basket Shawl. I was so impressed with Sarah Elizabeth's and Margene's . NO NEW YARN was purchased for this one - just some sport weight alpaca from the stash, used single strand on 8's.

For anyone interested in trying lace, this is a great first project. Only 7 pattern repeats and the edging and you're done! The directions are beautifully written. I'm not sure how my yarn substitution will fare, but it is such a small investment in time and money that it was worth experimenting. I am always full of suspense with lace because the pre-blocked version is always so squished up, never revealing the beauty of the open lace to come in the finished project.