Just for fun

I wanted to knit something quick and easy, and this is what happened.



Pattern: Mason-Dixon Washcloth
Yarn: Lion Brand Cotton "Purple"
Needles: US7
Modifications: None

Theoretically, you can weave ribbon through the eyelet and use this dishcloth as gift wrap, but only if the gift is really, really small.

Not what I expected

A while ago, I knit a pair of Monkey socks, in CTH "Birches". They were too small for me, so I gave them to my daughter. I planned to knit another pair, a slightly larger pair, in CTH "Serengeti" for myself at a later date.

To be brief, I'm not liking the results. The colorway looked great as a hank...



... still good when wound into a center-pull ball...



... but after knitting? Ick.



I thought maybe it was just me, but my daughter, aka my color consultant, concurred.



The library has Knitting Socks with Handpainted Yarn on order, so I am going to free this yarn from Monkey in hopes it will work better with a pattern from this book.

The First FOs of 2009

During xmas week of 2008, for some strange reason, I panicked over the remote possibility that I would need an extra, last minute xmas gift, and it would not exist. So I cast on a quickie, a four-inch wide ribbed headband in Cascade 220.



And then it sat on the coffee table, waiting for the ends to be woven in, until the new year.

As did the following.



I knit this while on vacation this past summer, out of cotton, while playing with Mason-Dixon's log cabin patterns. I didn't know what it would become, but now I am declaring it a non-reversible dishcloth.

Tropical Treat is another latecomer, started god-knows-when, but finally finished.



Pattern: Lion Brand Tropical Treat Baby Blanket
Yarn: Lion Brand Babysoft (Pastel Blue and Bubblegum) and Microspun (Lime and Mango)
Needles: US 10
Modifications: None

I'm experiencing a spurt of finishitis, so maybe some more items will migrate from the UFO basket to the finishing line in 2009.

Looking backwards and forwards at the same time

While migrating the items from the FO list in the sidebar to an FO list as a posting (what a PITA! I need to figure out a different way to keep track of completed projects. As if Ravelry were not enough), I had the opportunity to reflect on knitting accomplishments in 2008 and knitting goals for 2009.

The first thing that became obvious is, in 2008 I bought more yarn than I knit. While my stash is not out of control, it still bothers me. Unknit yarn is like a big woolly to-do list that constantly nags the back of my mind.

Another characteristic of my 2008 yarn habit is that I did not do anything really new. I made a half-assed attempt to learn to spin. I knit a bag that has yet to be felted. My garden now includes some plants that could be used for dyeing. I knit a fair amount, but nothing that involved any new techniques. There is nothing wrong with that, but I am the type of person who likes to broaden their horizons a bit. I had big plans to do just that. But I didn't.

My most successful project of 2008 was Sitcom Chic, a sweater I wear every chance I get. The biggest project was probably the Pinwheel sweater, which came close to being classified as a failure because it looked awful on me. Fortunately, it found its true owner. We always knit for someone; we just don't always know who.

I learned that some yarns do not block well, e.g. anything with acrylic or nylon. I learned that sometimes a yarn must find its own pattern and needle size and type. I learned that February is the longest month of the year. And I learned that sometimes projects should be abandoned. Life is too short to spend it on unhappy knitting.

What is in store for 2009? I still want to learn to spin, so I am going to find myself a mentor. And I am going to include more yarn projects that stretch my skills. UFOs feel like another to-do list just waiting for some attention, so I will whittle that list down as well. And I think that is enough for one year.

New year, new stuff

Last Monday was gorgeous - cold but sunny. Too windy for a walk, but not too windy for a drive. So I headed up north, to Knitting Today. You see, they were having a pre-inventory clearance sale and I was invited. Heh.

Actually, I had been planning to visit KT for a while, ever since I dropped some stitches on the Minimalist Cardigan. (And no, I have not yet pieced that thing together yet.) I use small crochet hooks to pick up dropped stitches, but picking up dropped double seed/moss stitches requires switching the hook from front to back to front again. I wished for a crochet hook with hooks on both ends. A few days later, while perusing the KT website, I found just what I was looking for.







I don't quite get the idea for creating seed stitch after the fact, unless this is a machine knitting thing (and KT is the place to be if you are a machine knitter), but I definitely could see using this for picking up dropped stitches. They sell online as well as out of the store, so you don't need to live in northeast Indiana to get one of these babies. They are handmade by KT, so I doubt you will find them anywhere else.

While in the store, I examined a lot of yarn, but succumbed to purchasing only the following.



It is DK weight self-striping sock yarn, just what I was looking for pre-xmas. The only drawback is I would prefer superwash merino and this is an acrylic/wool blend. But my son tends to toss everything into the wash willy-nilly, so I knit his socks from yarn that can stand up to a laundromat.

The sale items that really sucked me in, though, were the books: 30% off! That is competitive with Amazon. And the selection was great. I scarfed (heh) up the following:



I have knit a few triangular shawls, but they don't seem to fit me very well. I'm thinking the gentle shaping of the ones in Myrna's book will remedy that.



My maternal grandparents were from Denmark, so I have always been interested in things Danish. I checked this book out from the library a while back, but now I have my own copy.



One reason I made no significant yarn purchase at KT the other day is I am color-challenged. Occasionally, I luck out, but usually I am clueless when it comes to mixing and matching colors. But I am also trainable, so I'm hoping this book will help. The local library has this book on its shelves, but the color "tools" were missing.

FOs in 2008

Baby bib and burp rag
Baby bib and burp rag - Monica's
Baby bib and burp rag - in Rowan Denim
Baby blanket - Big Bad Baby in Zarina blues
Baby blanket - Blue Lagoon
Bath mitt 1
Bath mitt 2
Camera lens cover in bamboo
Dishcloth - Chinese Waves
Dishcloth - Lickety Split
Fingerless mitts - Dashing
Fingerless mitts - Maine Morning Mitts (Cascade 220)
Fingerless mitts - Maine Morning Mitts (Noro)
Hat - Bubble Wrap
Hat - Chunky Winter Set
Mittens - Chunky Winter Set
Neck warmer - in Autunno
Neck warmer - in Snowbird
Neck warmer - in Snowbird as well
Neck warmer - 2 in Noro Silk Garden
Scarf - Elbac
Scarf - Math Geek
Scarf - Montego Bay in Sea Silk
Scarf - Pine Cone in Navajo
Shawl - Falling Leaves
Shawl - Shetland Triangle
Shawl - Sun Ray
Shawl - Vintage
Socks - Embossed Leaves in CTH Bark
Socks - Go with the Flow in CTH Burgandy
Socks - Hedgerow in raspberry
Socks - Jaywalker (large)
Socks - Lucky IU
Socks - Magic Stripes in Toni Morrison
Socks - Monkey in Birches
Socks - Thuja in Art Yarns
Socks - uneven ribbing in Rainforest
Sweater - dog
Sweater - Pinwheel
Sweater - red, red, red
Sweater - Sitcom Chic

Where was I?

It looks like family and friends and the xmas holidays take precedence over blogging, not just here but at many blogs around the world. Hope everyone is enjoying their respite.

Not much knitting has been happening lately, either. I was intrigued by a chapter in the Yarn Harlot's book Free Range Knitter where she describes going off into the middle of nowhere to finish some writing. She took a bit of knitting with her, anticipating lots of down time when not actively working, but much to her surprise, she did not knit all that much. Which raises the question of why we knit when we knit? I truly enjoy knitting, but sometimes I think I use it as an excuse to avoid other things that need my attention. It's a pretty good excuse, too, because it's an activity that actually produces something.



And speaking of Yarn Harlot, look what I got from my SO for xmas:



Now I have to toddle off to bed because, even though I am on vacation this week, I have scheduled something almost every day. Tomorrow is a morning teeth cleaning and an afternoon furnace cleaning.