Tuesday, July 31
Recuperating with wool
Now I have a summer cold so I am sitting in my dining room, working away at my pile of UFOs to the tune of The Snake, the Crocodile and the Dog (Elizabeth Peters). I had to drag myself to work yesterday because the secretary had already made plans not to be in the office and someone had to sign off on the pizza guy's tip for his delivery to the student talks! Job security doncha know.
I have been working on some Norwegian mittens:
but I needed to have something a little less complicated so I began and finished a scarf in sand stitch - I compulsively made tick marks on a notepad for each row so I got the purl/knit order right the first time -
over 16 stitches on size 15 needles. Not long enough for the ooh la la flip but I think will be nice and warm when I need it.
I bought this yarn at Knitter's Niche (Belmont/Southport) at the same time as the yarn I am using for the mittens. The owner couldn't believe I was thinking winter gear in July so I let her in on my little secret that I was bored to death with my sweaters.
I have been working on some Norwegian mittens:
but I needed to have something a little less complicated so I began and finished a scarf in sand stitch - I compulsively made tick marks on a notepad for each row so I got the purl/knit order right the first time -
over 16 stitches on size 15 needles. Not long enough for the ooh la la flip but I think will be nice and warm when I need it.
I bought this yarn at Knitter's Niche (Belmont/Southport) at the same time as the yarn I am using for the mittens. The owner couldn't believe I was thinking winter gear in July so I let her in on my little secret that I was bored to death with my sweaters.
Tuesday, July 24
The wool felted and other recovery efforts
Would you look at this! Can you guess what went wrong? I read about the Knitty French bag.
I spent a couple of happy days, mindlessly knitting around and around on my size 13 Addi Turbo that I bought at the thrift store, or maybe on eBay as part of a larger purchase, using up some handspun sent by my friend April (the handspinner's ex-MIL wanted it OUT of her house) and some grey allegedly virgin wool that I did buy at the thrift store topping it all off with a little more handspun which was my very first eBay purchase - only to pull this out of the washer.
The middle part,which I was going to decorate with some embroidery, did not felt. The thrift store must have switched the label. The top grey was also labelled virgin wool and felted very tightly the first time. I am seriously thinking of a recovery effort. I could cut out the middle, re-knit from the skein that I know will felt, then attach to the top part. The stitches connecting to the middle will still be open. It would be like I felted with a piece of cotton yarn holding the stitches open.
I have also been cleaning off my desk, so to speak:
Moccasin socks for the now ex-boyfriend of DD#2. Inexpert Kitchener stitch seals the bottom. I also took EZ's recommendation and knitted the first row I joined the new color so there was not an inelegant join line in the purl portion of the ribbing. I told DD#2 I was still going to give them to the boy. I need to remember his mother's name, call her, and then explain that I still these to give.
Also, a pair for DD#2:
This is the daughter who dreamed for weeks of the dress she was going to wear for her 2nd grade picture, only to find that the elastic waist hit in an uncomfortable spot. No matter how much she tugged in the 15 minutes she had before she had to catch the bus the dress would not fall where it was supposed to (growth spurt). I talked her into another dress. Now she is in college but I will forever remember that she is very particular about where seams, lines, hems hit. You can barely see from the picture but these are tube socks: no heel, ribbing all around which curls around the sock because there is an off-set every 4 rows so there is no top or bottom to the foot. Even better than reversible socks.
I made the purple gloves for her a while back but the fingers all blew out. I also plan a recovery mission on them. 3-needle bind-off on the private side, I think, instead of pulling the yarn through and tying off.
I spent a couple of happy days, mindlessly knitting around and around on my size 13 Addi Turbo that I bought at the thrift store, or maybe on eBay as part of a larger purchase, using up some handspun sent by my friend April (the handspinner's ex-MIL wanted it OUT of her house) and some grey allegedly virgin wool that I did buy at the thrift store topping it all off with a little more handspun which was my very first eBay purchase - only to pull this out of the washer.
The middle part,which I was going to decorate with some embroidery, did not felt. The thrift store must have switched the label. The top grey was also labelled virgin wool and felted very tightly the first time. I am seriously thinking of a recovery effort. I could cut out the middle, re-knit from the skein that I know will felt, then attach to the top part. The stitches connecting to the middle will still be open. It would be like I felted with a piece of cotton yarn holding the stitches open.
I have also been cleaning off my desk, so to speak:
Moccasin socks for the now ex-boyfriend of DD#2. Inexpert Kitchener stitch seals the bottom. I also took EZ's recommendation and knitted the first row I joined the new color so there was not an inelegant join line in the purl portion of the ribbing. I told DD#2 I was still going to give them to the boy. I need to remember his mother's name, call her, and then explain that I still these to give.
Also, a pair for DD#2:
This is the daughter who dreamed for weeks of the dress she was going to wear for her 2nd grade picture, only to find that the elastic waist hit in an uncomfortable spot. No matter how much she tugged in the 15 minutes she had before she had to catch the bus the dress would not fall where it was supposed to (growth spurt). I talked her into another dress. Now she is in college but I will forever remember that she is very particular about where seams, lines, hems hit. You can barely see from the picture but these are tube socks: no heel, ribbing all around which curls around the sock because there is an off-set every 4 rows so there is no top or bottom to the foot. Even better than reversible socks.
I made the purple gloves for her a while back but the fingers all blew out. I also plan a recovery mission on them. 3-needle bind-off on the private side, I think, instead of pulling the yarn through and tying off.
