Projects! Projects! Projects!

This is my knitting blog. There are many like it, but this one is mine.

Here's what I'm working on at the moment:
(I'll post some photos later. My camera was stolen when my apartment was robbed in the fall, so I'll need to borrow one.)

The Wavy Scarf by Sarah Smith, pattern available free in the current (Winter 04) issue of Knitty:
http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEwinter04/PATTwavy.html
I'm making it out of a gorgeous red alpaca yarn that my sister gave me for Christmas. It has the most beautiful sheen. One problem: I only had half as much yarn as I thought! She bought it at the Rhinebeck Festival:
http://www.sheepandwool.com
so the odds of getting more (much less getting more of the same dyelot) are pretty slim.

When I realized this, I ripped it out, got as far as the cuff of a mitten, and then decided I wanted that scarf enough to figure it out.

Now, I'm envisioning some kind of one-legged scarf with a loop at one end, so you can pull the other end through. I've had a similar idea for a man's scarf in mind for a long time; maybe this is my big opportunity.



Thing's I've put aside for the moment:
A big snuggly blanket made of Red Heart Light & Lofty. I'm not a yarn snob, but I do usually prefer natural fibers to synthetics. That said, I just love L&L. It is a big, thick, two-toned bouclee that works up quickly, feels great in your hands, and doesn't snag too much. I'm using a rich, violet-toned red. This yarn and I have quite a history:

Two Christmases ago, my mother-in-law-to-be gave me the Vogue Knitting Book (which I highly recommend). I read the section on designing, and just had to give it a try, so I designed a v-necked, raglan-sleeved fitted sweater. I had had a velour t-shirt once, and wanted to recreate that feeling, so I knitted up the whole thing in L&L on the train from Buffalo to Boston. It fit perfectly, but was less than flattering. Let's just say that fitted, chunky bouclee makes one look, well, chunky! Raglan sleeves didn't help either, and my arms & shoulders looked really pudgy. I ripped it out (noticing the theme yet?), rolled everything back into a ball, and decided on the blanket instead. Popped out to the store and picked up 8 more balls of L&L. (It was something like $2/ball, so I can nonchalantly pick up that much.)

I made a first pass at it in size 10 (or was it 8?) needles, before I realized that I would NEVER get it done at the rate it was going. Rather than unravelling, I bound off the edge and wore it as a sideways-knit scarf for about a year. It was a bit too long (as wide as a queen sized bed) and a little bulky for me, but I didn't want it to go to waste. A friend's sister complimented it one day, so I gave it to her, which was just the encouragement I needed to get started on the Wavy scarf to replace it.

I started the blanket again, this time with size 15 (13?) needles, and it's going much more quickly. I started it early in my knitting career, though, and made the mistake of doing the whole thing in stockinette stitch, which is BORING this far into it. However, it's mindless enough that I can watch TV while I work. I've got about 4 feet done: not quite enough to cover my toes while I work on it. I get sick of it and put it away for weeks at a time, but my cat loves to shed on it. Her name is Una, and I do have a picture of her:

(That's a milk crate, not a cage, and she went in of her own free will.)


Things I want to make:
- combination glove/mittens
- the Candy cardigan from this issue of Knitty:
http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEwinter04/PATTcandy.html
- a loose version of that L&L v-neck, but looser and with set-in sleeves.

and lots, lots more, but I have a wine tasting to go to right now!

Hello World

Yes, I'm a nerd, so of course I had to start with "Hello World".

I admit it: I'm still not sure how I feel about blogs. A large part of my job involves finding information online quickly, and so I'm often frustrated by the disorganized, chatty nature of blogs. But as I started following links to designer's blogs on Knitty (http://www.knitty.com), I found myself jumping from place to place and finding the oddest (and most fun) tidbits. Kind of like the web surfing we all did back in the early-to-mid 90's.

Maps are for taking a trip, not going for a drive.

This is the spirit with which I like to approach my knitting. Yes, I do use patterns (but not always), and I do sometimes swatch (but not always) and I do sometimes block (when I have to). But knitting for me is not goal-oriented. I don't knit because I want something; I knit because I like the feel of it. I like the way my brain shuts down just a little.

And I rip out stitches at the drop of a hat. Sometimes I've made a mistake, sometimes I've decided to change something, sometimes I scrap the entire pattern (only to return to it after the yarn is back in the ball). Because unmaking prolongs the making.

Penelope's got nothing on me.

Jess