Tuesday, April 19, 2011

CDWK

Have you ever tried to knit while there's a really fun, bouncy song on the radio?  Chair dancing while knitting...

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Results

Tried a couple of things for the February Lady sweater: Entrelac and feather & fan stitch.  Decided on the feather & fan stitch.  The ripples show the colors of the yarn better.  Pictures to come later (as soon as I get a bit done). 

In the meantime, my grown-up daughter decided she wanted to learn how to knit.  It was fun & I think I may have a new convert on my hands now. 

I tell ya, we knitters are gonna take over the world.  We'll probably end up knitting a cozy for it or something...

Knit on!

Friday, April 15, 2011

Yarn Break-Up

Been working on the February Lady Sweater and got to about the 3" mark on the lace pattern using Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted

I don't like it.  The yarn is totally lost in the lace work. 

Been getting a bit disappointed with this yarn.  While it's probably all my fault for not being able to pick out a design that can properly display the amazing colors, I'm starting to feel like it's turned into a high-maintenance sheep of a yarn.  Yeah, it looks pretty on display in the skein but it's not pulling its own weight when it comes down to it.  

I think I may need to have a break-up talk with my yarn for this pattern.  Something like, "Hey, can we talk?  Y'know, I've been thinking...no, it's not you, but we just aren't working out the way I had hoped.  Your colors look dulled and there's absolutely no 'POP' in our relationship anymore.  You deserve better -we both deserve better than this.  But don't worry, you'll find another pattern to shine in.   Really."  

Anyway, the pro's are that I like how the colors of the yarn work in garter stitch, and I like the pattern.  I could continue on as is - it's OK, but the problem is that it's  just  OK.  Not spectacular.  Not doing justice to either the pattern or the yarn.  So...my choices are:

A - Continue on as is.

B - Rip out entirely and use yarn in a different pattern.

C - Rip out to the lace section and replace that section with a different stitch.

Choice A is out.  No point in continuing - I don't like it.  So I'm down to B or C.  At a minimum I'll be doing some ripping, but how far to rip?  I could also add choice D to the mix - rip back to the lace section and redo (the lace) using a different yarn.   Hmmm.....

Thursday, April 14, 2011

T-Shirts for Knitters

As I go through the boards at Ravelry, I'm inspired to make up a few T-shirts.  These were all pretty much lifted directly from the Selfish Knitters & Crocheter's group, direct quotes:

  • "Bowling is the perfect sport for knitters because you can knit between turns and there is beer."

  • "You had me at knitting & beer."  (Editor's note: Notice a theme here?)

  • "Kiss my sticks"  (Response back to the Editor.)

  • "I use DPNs a lot- multiple needles confuse the muggles"

  • "Knittin’ NINJAAAAAA!"

  • "“No. I won’t stab you with these pointy sticks, because the yarn ON these pointy sticks is worth more to me than your life. I don’t feel like getting blood all over my (insert project here) that I have spent hours on. So you are safe. For now. Until I bind off…”


Knitters are fun.

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Listen to the Yarn

Once upon a time, Jen had some yarn:


She was very sure that she was going to make a simple KP&S top-down raglan with it, but somehow the yarn just didn't want to do that.  Jen tried and tried, and ripped out & re-knit 3 times before realizing that she was not listening to the yarn.  The yarn was telling her (loudly) that it wanted to be something a bit more special, it wanted to be a snazzy little thing that really showed off it's beautiful coloring.  It was calling for the February Lady Sweater.

This pattern had me at the first line: "A swingy lace cardigan, made to fit a grown-ass woman..."  Love it!

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

New Knitty!

New Knitty came in!  New Knitty came in!  (I'm really excited!)

http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEss11/index.php

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Laundry

I was doing my laundry today, when my husband asked me if he can throw in a few things "since I only have a couple of things and they needed to be washed in the same cycle as the load you are doing". 

This translates to: "I don't want to do my laundry and let's see if I can get Jen to do it for me".  

Let me make it clear: no one likes to do laundry, not even their own, let alone someone else's.  (Bubba, if you're reading this, lemme tell ya that if your significant other tells you that they LIKE to do your laundry they're either lying or you are totally zonked.  Your pick.)  BUT, laundry is a necessary chore to keep your clothing and household linens clean.  Proper fabric care can extend the life of your items and keep them looking good. That works for me since I can't go buying new stuff all the time.

So with that in mind, I am testing a 'soak' cycle in the new washer to see if it will work for my handwash 100% non-superwash wool items.  It had a little bit of agitation, so I am unsure if it will work for my wool sweaters.  I don't want to felt up something I spent a lot of time creating because of careless laundering.  I think the next test is to 'soak' a test swatch or two and see what happens.

As for my husband's laundry, I did it with a smile.  And used the lavender-scented soap.