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Category: Knit (page 3 of 25)

Simple Stitches

January 30, 2011 / / 3 Comments

My yarn stash is overflowing with lots of yarns of different fibers, colors and textures. My Ravelry queue is filled with many different projects – hats, scarves, socks, sweaters and more. So how have I started off my 2011 knitting? A return to the basic – the simple dishcloth that first brought me to knitting in 1997.

After a flurry of holiday knitting & a Christmas break knit for me (must blog it) I was wondering what I would knit next. As I was formulating plans for larger projects, I got started on 1 dish cloth and just kept going. Simple knitting while watching bowl games…while waiting for friends at coffee shops…while waiting for weekend events to begin…while watching the playoffs (Go Pack Go!)…while decompressing in the hotel in the evenings…Before I knew it, here I sit at the end of January with a stack of 16 new dishcloths to put into rotation in my kitchen and also gift to friends – well, after I have a “weaving ends session” later today. Next up, I’m starting a new shawl project to be my hotel knitting for the coming weeks – the combination of a good pattern and some beautiful yarn I picked up with a birthday gift card. Sometimes, a return to the simple things is what is needed to recharge & provide new inspiration.

Snow – Knits – Joy

January 9, 2011 / / 1 Comment

I’ve said it before & I’ll say it again – knitting for babes & kids is fun! Especially when you get pictures of the knits in action.

This afternoon these pics came from Texas via text message. When I was in Dallas in March we woke to a Sunday snowfall & scrambled to put together some cold weather gear for the girls to play in the backyard. So, I decided that I needed to provide some additional cold weather gear – this winter I was on the lookout for snow pants for them & found a steal of a deal on ‘basic black’ just before Thanksgiving.  For Christmas, I knit simple “infinity scarves” for Miss Butterfly & Miss Doodlebug & found some winter gloves to match. Today, they have a bit of snow down south & were adequately prepared to head outside & play.

Most of the time, snow isn’t as fun when you’re an adult…there’s the shoveling to do, getting the car in & out of the garage in the alley, dealing with driving in the bad conditions (I had a horrible trek north in December after a big snow), etc…how wonderful to be reminded of the joy that a bit of snow can bring!

Babe in a Bag

April 27, 2010 / / 3 Comments

Once again, I am in a cycle of baby knits for friends.  In early February I cast on this project anticipating that it would be for a May baby; however, the recipient ended up being another cutie – baby Grady, a sweetheart of a little guy who made his debut on Valentine’s Day. In March I had the opportunity to meet baby Grady as I dropped off a gift bag and some treats for his Mom & Dad. My Sunday afternoon was delightful as Grady snuggled onto my shoulder and snoozed as I listened to his parents share the story of how he came to join their family. I was definitely smitten with this little cutie and have offered to babysit whenever they need.

What a treat to check email this week and see pictures of Grady snug in his kicking sack – I never tire of receiving pictures of babes in/on the hand knits that I’ve made for them!

This was a great project to knit & I definitely plan for more of these bags to come off my needles this year – what a fun way to use sock yarn. The details are on Ravelry.

(By the way – lovin’ the new “share” links on Ravelry that don’t require signing up to access.)

On the Podium…

March 2, 2010 / / 8 Comments

Back in 2006, I was just dipping my toes into blogging when the Yarn Harlot announced the first Knitting Olympics event. Since the Artisan family has frequently crafted during the Olympics, I was game for it. I attempted my first lace project with mixed results…yes it was completed in time but it now serves as a table cover instead of a shawl. In 2008, I went for a do-over & selected the same lace pattern in a different yarn. This time, the results were wearable!

Late last year, I started to think about what my winter Olympic knit challenge would be – since I’m currently on the road for work with plenty of evening knit time in the hotel room, I thought grander than before…what about knitting a cardigan? The pattern was selected, the yarn was ordered, the perfect buttons were found…I swatched and was ready to go. As the opening ceremonies began, I cast on for the sweater & quickly got going. Before long I was at my first roadblock…umm, I started with the larger needle & it should have been the smaller…so I started over again. By the end of the opening weekend, I was about 3/4 of the way through the yoke of the sweater & feeling pretty confident.

I figured that I would make great progress on the body of the cardigan that first week in the evenings. Work had different ideas & I think I knit maybe 10 rows by the time I came home. At this point I seriously questioned my choice of knit for the Olympics & was already preparing for defeat…seriously, why would I think I could tackle this? However, once I was back home my focus for that weekend was knitting on the sweater and by the time the weekend was done I had finished the body of the cardigan and starting on the first sleeve.

Once again I headed north with grand plans for evening progress. On Monday night I was making great progress…until I realized that I had completely misread the decrease instructions for the sleeves & had to rip back about 30 rows. Because I had picked up more stitches for the arm I then had to do a bit of scribbling on the hotel notepad to rework my decrease approach would be. On Tuesday evening I had recovered from the rip back and on Wednesday evening I thought I was ready for the final edging – but I held off till Thursday to confirm that I liked the length of the sleeve. On Thursday evening I finished off the first sleeve.

On Friday, I was up early to drive home & then had a bit of work that I needed to do. Just before 4PM I started on sleeve #2 and was finishing it up at 11PM. On Saturday morning I quickly got started on the button bands. Then the cardigan took a bath (Soak Celebration seemed appropriate) & overnight it dried with a fan on it on the dining room floor. On Sunday morning I sewed on the beautiful buttons & had a lovely sweater. (An overcast day & a temperamental camera remote make for few modeled shots.)

The details: Green Tea for the Gold!

Tea Leaves Cardigan in GoGo Grassy Dream in Color Classy with Buttons from Jennie the Potter

(Journal of the event in Ravelry)

Artistic Points: I went with 3 buttons instead of 2; I knit the body about an extra inch; I centered the buttonholes in the middle of each gathered section of the yoke; For the sleeves I ended up with 78 stitches on the needle – so I did the decrease row every 5 rows for a total of 10 times; I went with about 3/4 length sleeves

Technical Deductions: I’m very dissatisfied with the yarn – I have knit with Dream in Color in the past & have made some great smaller items. The color contrasts among the skeins of this “non lot numbered” yarn were vast & not always evident until the skein was wound up. Most of the body of the cardigan is striped because I had to alternate 2 skeins of yarn every 2 rows. I think this is a single skein project yarn only from here on out.

Overall Score: Wow – I can’t believe I knit this in 2 weeks!

Now that the Olympic torch has been extinguished, I’m still a bit in awe that I knit an entire sweater (with sleeves) in 2 weeks…and after so much knitting time in such a short window it is time to rest the needles for a bit & switch gears – evenings in the hotel are for reading this week…but the needles are calling & I plan to cast on a “reward” project this weekend with my Olympic Medals yarn…

Remembering Grandma…

February 27, 2010 / / 3 Comments

It has been a year since the early morning call came that Grandma had passed away in her sleep. As we have all come to our “new normal,” links to Grandma are everywhere around us. In the time since, we have found many ways to honor her memory.

Last fall, I stumbled across a “Donors Choose” request from a Chicago school teacher who was wanting to purchase knitting supplies for her students. I donated in memory of Grandma & over the last couple of months have received updates about the project.

This past week, a large envelope arrived in the mail & contained thank you notes from the new knitters.

As I saw the pictures of the kids knitting their first scarves and read through the handwritten notes, I thought that sharing this experience with you would be a nice way to remember Grandma on my blog.

As a lump welled up in my throat at some of the student sentiments, I was also reminded how wonderful it is to have been taught this art of knitting by Grandma. Just like the stitches connect yarn into something beautiful and usable, the weekend spent at Grandma’s in1997 learning to knit a dishcloth has provided me with so many wonderful connections over the years…knitting gifts for dear family & friends…starting this blog in 2006 & meeting some wonderful new friends…teaching friends to knit…teaching Mom to knit…continuing to challenge myself with new and more difficult projects…

…and my latest knitting challenge/connection will be revealed soon…once again I have joined the community of knitters in the Knitting Olympics & am nearing the finish line in an event I never would have imagined – a sweater in 2 weeks!

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