Fun in the Suds

Okay, so I'm feeling guilty because I have two socks, two muffatees and countless other projects OTN. So what do I do? CO another project! It's impossible to make sense out of the minds of knitters! This is a dish cloth using the Ridge Stitch pattern from Dishcloth Boutique. It's a simple pattern and I'm thinking it would work well for socks by substituting the purl row as a knit row.

In my defense, I did finish the black and pink muffatee from my upstairs knitting basket. It's done the same way as the brown and black ones. I hope I can find a pair of bright pink Magic Gloves to go with them!

Eldest Son is spending the weekend while his dad is in Tennessee with Youngest Son visiting 3rd Son. Eldest Son is in a wheel chair and our house is not handicapped friendly so going to the bathroom is an adventure!

May 6, 2007

New Dishcloth - MicroSpun

I finished it, used it and am not very impressed. It feels like acrylic. Not scratchy or anything like that, it just isn't cotton. I'm going to use it awhile and see how I feel about it. It doesn't absorb liquids very well, so doesn't wipe down a counter as nicely as cotton. I'll give you an update in a few days.

I CO a cotton towel. Just a small hand towel for the kitchen. For something to do..... Am still working on my hat for my upstairs project. Started the decreases last night, so if everything goes okay this evening, I should be able to finish it up. It's big, grey with purple and blue...so in our culture it would be a good guy's hat.

You ask how my sweater is coming along.... Haven't touched in forever. Maybe I should work on it today.... Just so it doesn't feel totally abandoned!

For the crocheters: I noticed a few years ago that if I had some bulk on my needles, my hands felt much better. I bought the little rubber handles that slip over the hook and they work fine.

But I think this felted one from Grafton Fibers looks way cool, too. One could use the same technique to felt an ink pen. Wouldn't that be a cool gift for a fiber friend?

Linda at Grafton Fibers also has two crocheted sock patterns, one done in the round and one done flat to be joined so the stitches run up and down the leg. I've used the first one alot, but never tried the second.

Charmed Knits comes out on Tuesday. I'm really excited about it. The pictures from The Blue Blog of the unmatched Doby Socks is right up my alley! Wouldn't it be great if the idea caught on? Just think of it...no more Second Sock Syndrome!

February 9, 2007

Miscellanous tips and info

Here's a neat tip for an invisible or provisional cast on. Obvious, if you really think about it, but I guess I never thought about it and wrestled with the crochet hook and the needle!

And here's an idea for a quicky cat bed!

Here's a gorgeous sweater...but I'm hoping the chest measurement is for just the front and not the whole "round the chest" measurement!

Hmmm, what a nice compilation of misc knitting information from Morehouse Farms.

Thanks for the suggestions on the shawl... Michelle, I think a reverse stockinette st border would then curl in on itself the "other way." Hmmm, I guess I either rip it all out and try different techniques, or just rip it out......

I finished a dish cloth last night...and then took a technique I saw on Knitty Gritty (and after reading through it at the link I did it wrong) of double knitting. Here's what I did. I CO and even number of sts, then put half of them on one needle and half on another. Taking a third needle I picked up one from each needle alternating to put all the sts back on the third needle. Then I knit the first st, slipped the second and continued like that across. Then turning I knitted the slipped sts and slipped the knitted sts of the row before. The pic above is what I've gotten done so far.

It definitely is double knitting, but as I only have an inch done, I can't see what the inside looks like. The outside looks like reverse stockinette st, but....who knows? Let you know when I separate them to cast off. I know that I'm knitting "inside out" and will turn in "outside in" when it's finished. Playing with yarn and sticks is so much fun!

January 31, 3007

Finished the Pinwheel Sweater!

It's done! Finished! And the baby hates it. She screamed bloody murder when I tried it on her. All that work and it's going to go on a teddy bear in my room till I find a baby that will appreciate all the blood, sweat, and frogging that went into it! [/melodrama] However, melodramatic or not, it's all true!

Oh well.... I think it turned out nice.

Knitting class was quite the fiasco. Down to three people now. One woman bound and determined to learn and is doing well. One who is knitting very well, and one who is "just too stupid to learn this." She left at a dead run in tears. I personally think it's a bid for attention or she was having a "terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day".

She arrived at class with about two inches of very good knitting. Looked even, no obvious flaws... and the kept saying she couldn't do it. "I don't know how to do it." "I can't figure out how to keep going." When I tried to show her how to figure it out for herself, she just wanted me to do it for her. I wouldn't, got mad, and said, "Just do it for me." I said, "When you give a man a fish, he has a meal. When you teach him to fish he'll never go hungry." She accepted the logic of that, but still refused to listen or try to figure it out.

Oh well, again.... What leads me to think it may have been just drama, was that no one else paid much attention to her grand exit.

Had a quiet evening in my room watch TV and knitting a wash cloth. Thought this might go in with the pirate gifts!