Airport Eyre

I am flying back to Washington today for the holidays. (Actually...I am bouncing all over for the holidays...Canada, Oregon, etc.) This means I need airport knitting. And, I actually need more airport knitting than normal.

I plan on arriving at the airport at least an hour before my flight, then there is the nearly 2 hour flight to Vegas, then the 3 hour layover in Vegas, then the additional 2 hour flight to SeaTac, then the nearly 2 hour drive from the airport to my parents' house...which comes to roughly 10 hours of knitting...and that is just on the way there!

After much thought and deliberation, I decided my best bet was the Eyre Wrap. It requires no pattern looking, and there is no way on earth that I will finish it and need to start another project.

The Eyre Wrap is my own adaptation of the Bridesmaid Wrap in Suss Cousins' book Wedding Knits. The pattern called for a very thin yarn to be knit on very large needles. I tried it. I tried it 4 times over the past 3 years or so with different yarns. I really did not enjoy trying to knit lace on size 11 needles. What should have been a fairly brain-free knitting project (1x1 rib for forever and a day) was horrid...also, the pattern called for the sleeves to be knit flat and seamed in. As anyone who knows me may remember, I hate seaming things up! The pattern kept going back in the queue and the yarns were repurposed.

Sister gave me a craft store gift for my birthday (thank you), and I found some Caron Simply Soft in Pagoda. It was the exact color I was looking for to make a drapey wrappy cardigany thing. Since I was gonna make it up as I went, I didn't want to spend a ton on yarn...so was willing to go with an acrylic. (I have used this yarn before for experiment projects...reasonably priced and nice to work with.) When I was drawing up the design, I kept coming back to a version of the Bridesmaid Wrap. The yarn's gauge was the same as the patterns, only the yarn was thicker so it wouldn't be a pain like the lace. This wrap should look similar to the original pattern, just less airy and lacy. (And I was actually wanting a cozier wrap anyway.)

But what about the piecing? Well, thanks to Wendy Barnard and her book/blog/patterns, I am confident in my ability to pick up the sleeves from the armscye and knit them down in the round...so we will see how that goes.

Insanity...Thy Name is Mine

I had a LONG Christmas queue this year. Long in quantity, but not necessarily in difficulty. A lot of the projects/gifts that I had decided to make were verystraightforward knits. They were things that, generally speaking, I could knock off in fairly short order.

The problem was that even if a project by itself is fast and simple, when you add a gazillion more fast and simple projects to it...well...

I am crazy.

I started planning and knitting the Christmas queue way back in October.

Still not done.

In addition to my own projects this year, I took on several commissions for the holidays. Don't ask me why. I don't know.

All of the commissions were also straight forward simple knits. When I was asked, I thought, "Of course! That is an easy peasy project. It will take no time!"

But again, get enough easy peasy projects in a queue and you have a huge mountain of knitting. So, these just add to the general insanity of my life. Not to mention the fact that commissions need to be delivered on time...and in my case, on time means early since I am going to my parents for the holidays. Unlike my own gifts, I can't IOU a Christmas commission.

Oh, and just to make myself even more loopy, or because I was already loopy...I actually knit 7/8 of a gift for a family member. Then I decided that it was utter rot and I needed to do something entirely different. Hours of knitting gaily abandoned and additional hours tacked on. (In my defense, the original project was a good idea conceptually, and I knit it perfectly according to the pattern...the pattern was just cruddy and not at all what I had envisioned...) Then the back up project also wasn't working out, so I have abandoned it as well. Hopefully, the third time will be the charm.

Now I sit here, on my floor, surrounded by project bags. I have put each project, its pattern, extra yarn, and needles into its own bag in order to stay organized. I am literally overwhelmed by organization. It is a huge ordeal to prioritize what needs to be knit now, what can be put off...if I put it off will I still be finished with it on time? Not to mention having to take into account who will be around while I'm knitting it. Oh the agony!

Thinking positively...I am almost done with the queue...I am almost done with the queue...I am almost done with the queue...

Switching Paddles Mid Stream

I had been working on yet another scarf for myself, the Corn Rows Scarf.

It was very pretty.

It was also fairly skinny.

I liked it.

Then, I got around to finally organizing and cleaning out my closet.

During said cleaning, I got down the tub-o-scarves. I saw the plethora of skinny, pretty scarves that it contained. All of a sudden, Corn Rows seemed...redundant.

I didn't want to frog it. I didn't want to abandon it. I still liked it.

So, I am switching modes in the middle of the project without changing any of the already completed work.

I am making a belt.

Scarf + Buckle = Belt!

Cashmere Mulligan

My favorite yarn store went out of business a couple years ago. But, a la Pollyanna, I found a silver lining. I was able to get the orange variegated cashmere that I had been eyeing for several months at a ridiculously reduced price (not to mention the fact that I was able to use my “frequent customer” gift certificate…).

When I got the yarn home, I literally just sat petting it for a while. I love cashmere. I was very excited because I had recently come across a stitch pattern called “dragon scales.” I love dragon books, and decided to wed my love of cashmere with my love of fantasy and make myself a scarf.

I cast on, and started out enthusiastically, for about 4 inches. Then I set the project aside and never picked it back up. This was over a year ago. I love the yarn. I love the stitch pattern. I do not love them together.

“Dragon Scales” is a semi-intricate/fussy pattern which is not shown off to its best advantage by the yarn’s coloring. Also, I started to realize that I might not have enough yarn to make the scarf a length that I would wear. (I tend to lean toward loooooonnnnngggg scarves.) As I got the yarn on sale from a now defunct LYS, I can’t just go out and buy more…and I can’t really afford to buy more online. So, what to do?

I am taking a Mulligan.

I have known I needed to for a while, but just couldn’t bear to admit defeat. I pride myself on my eye for color and design, and to say that something I envisioned just won’t work is hard. But, it needs to be done. I am unraveling the scarf.

I will still make the dragon scales scarf, but out of a solid colored koigu that I had in my stash. I will still make a scarf out of the cashmere, too, but using an adaptation of the waterfall lace pattern I used on Mom’s Christmas present. (The pattern highlights, rather than fights against, variegation.)

In the end even Superknitters need to admit their fallibility. I tried something. It didn’t work. Being a Superknitter means picking yourself up, moving forward, and not letting beautiful yarn languish due to your own pride.

Capping it off!

My friend, Sk8, wanted to learn how to knit. An admirable desire. He also wanted a beanie to wear to the skate park. (He has, I believe, a sponsorship from a local skate shop for competitions.)

I went to my stash to find circular needles and yarn. Now, here's the thing, usually when I donate yarn to people's first projects, it ends up being a skein of cotton dishcloth yarn. (Big deal, I am out $1.99...) Hats and scarves are another issue. I like using the good stuff for garments...so I usually have them buy their own. But Sk8 is a boy. And boys don't exactly rush to their nearest yarn shop or craft store. So, I was going to be providing the materials. Luckily, while I do have a lot of nice and expensive yarn, I also have a bin full of not as nice yarn. Sk8 picked out some steel grey acrylic yarn...I believe it was Caron Simply Soft...but I am not sure...the ball band was lost.

We measured his head...twice. I did a gauge swatch...which is unusual for me. I cast on for him, and then sent him on his way. But we had a problem. After he had knit several inches, and it had been several months, we realized that the hat was HUGE. It would be an ideal beanie for an elephant. So, he gave it to me to "fix." This meant I ended up ripping it ALL out. (Poor Sk8...all that work...unraveled!) I ended up re-casting on, adjusting the gauge again, and finishing the beanie.

He loved it! (And, he tells people he made it...which I won't argue...even though, technically, not a single stitch in the finished beanie was knit by him.)

Whoops! or When Grafting Goes Wrong!

I knit a sock. A beautiful sock. A sock which according to my completely unbiased mother has the prettiest cables on it that she has ever seen.

I grafted the toe.

I forgot that due to the way I knit socks on two circulars that prior to grafting I needed to flip the sock inside out.

Now, the graft on the right side of the beautiful sock has purl stitches and the wrong side is knit…and it is too late to fix it…I wove and trimmed the ends before I noticed.

Thinking positively: I will be able to tell the right sock from the left…unless for the sake of consistency I purposefully misgraft the second sock as well!

Gauge

I am having gauge issues on a scarf I am designing. I know what I want the basic pattern to be, but am having a tough time making it mathematically work out to the correct dimensions.

Frustration.

There are reasons I was an English major. Its not that I can't do math...I just prefer not to.

If I knit the scarf the way I have it written, it will be very pretty, but very short! More an elongated dishcloth than a scarf.

So...back to the drawing board.

Does anybody have a calculator?

To Frog or Not To Frog

I was knitting a very, if I do say so myself, cute baby kimono the other night. I got the pattern out of the Mason-Dixon Knitting book. The book was sitting open on the floor as I lounged on the couch. I had the DVD player remote holding it open to the right page.

I happily knit along, did all of the sleeve increases, and then went on to K34, CO20, K34....or rather K34, CO20, K17...since it suddenly struck me that the sleeves were going to be VERY narrow. It turns out that the DVD remote was covering a critical instruction to knit even for 6 rows after the increases were finished.

I tinked back, picked back up the cast-off stitches, and continued on my way. I knit the 6 rows even and then went to bed, planning to redo the K34, CO20, K34 row the next time I picked it up. It was late, and it was a work night.

Disaster...this morning as I picked up the sweater as I was tidying up and noticed in the warm light of the rising sun, that the stitches I had picked back up were twisted! And since I didn't notice it in the flickering light from the television the night before, the problem has grown. Instead of just tinking back a few stitches...I now will have to frog several rows!

The Dilemma: To Frog or Not to Frog

Reasons Not To:
1. It is on the back of the sweater
2. The yarn is variegated, so it isn't that noticeable.
3. Its not even that big of an error...just 20 or so twisted stitches...not a dropped stitch or hole!
4. The "error" could be viewed as creative license...what makes handknits handknits...a unique feature of this particular garment

Reasons To:
1. It is a gift for my friend's baby
2. It is her first baby
3. If it shows in the little bit of light here in WA, think how much it will show in CA!

Needless to say, the reasons to frog, though fewer than those against, carry a lot more weight. So, I have set the kimono aside...temporarily...I will probably wait until my quarter at school ends before I pick it up again...

Besides - First Friend isn't due till this summer. I have oodles of time!