Knitting Knews

 I finally finished my most complicated knitting project yet: a lace knit shawl for Klenda!

It came from this free pattern, although I don't think it looks too similar, probably because I was supposed to use finer (thinner) yarn.  But I had this yarn, and it's such a perfect color for her!

I love the way it came out: pretty but super cozy!

And the thicker, warmer shawl is just perfect for this time of year.

I think I started it at the beginning of summer, so it took about 4-5 months.  I've discovered I like to have one complicated project (like lace knitting) going for all the time I spend in waiting rooms, and one simple project going for when I'm watching a movie.

 

I'm deciding between a couple of other lace shawl patterns in a lighter yarn which I could presumably finish by spring.

I'm leaning towards this one.

 

In the meantime, for simple knitting over the last month or so I made Hogwarts house scarves for the Zoomlians.

I'm also working on what I hope will be a long "Where's Waldo" stocking cap....because... whimsy?  

Anyway, I really hope someone will want to wear it because I really want to knit it!

2 Ravenclaw, 2 Griffindor, 1 Hufflepuff, and 1 Not Into Harry Potter

The Hat

 My sister knew she was getting the scarf.  She did not know she was also getting a hat.  An unusual hat.

I felt such an unusual hat deserved an explanation, so I sent an explanatory note:

So.  You might be wondering about the hat.  Two things: I had just finished knitting you a scarf the size of South Dakota, BUT, I had bought enough to cover all the (acrylic) sheep in Wyoming.  AND, after knitting maniacally, compulsively, that much, I couldn't stop cold.

You should also know that it didn't come out exactly as I had imagined.  I was thinking a really long, fun (but cute) stocking cap type hat.  But I kept double knitting so it was too short and too thick.



However, I think this style hat may work quite well for North Dakota.  Note the top area with room for a space heater.  Or possibly several hand warmers.  Also, very handy for a visiting bishop.  Or for impersonating a  frozen garden gnome.  Plus, storage space for snowballs!  It is also stiff enough to make an excellent tea cozy.

I suppose you could even fold over the ribbing and wear it as a normal hat. 

Still, obviously, it's most significant use will be evidence (at long last!) of an act of heroic virtue should you ever be called upon to testify for the Holy See, namely, the astonishing self restraint I showed (modestly enough) by NOT crowning this magnificent hat with a truly enormous pom pom!  Also, I ran out of yarn.  

Enjoy, and feel free to pass it on to anyone on your ecclesial team that laughed about it.

The Scarf

 My youngest sister had a birthday, so I knitted her a scarf.  This is the sister that lives in North Dakota where it is often -45℉ with wind chills of I-don't-want-to-think-about-it.

So she wanted a big, thick, warm, gray scarf.

It ended up being 1 foot wide, 8 feet long, and 2 inches thick.

Kidding about the thickness.

Anyway, it was the biggest knitting project I've ever attempted, but it was fun!



Which leads to a fun new game.  Can you guess the Zoomlian?

Experimental Knititng

 I recently learned a whole new knitting stitch! I can purl!

Yes, this does mean I have only been knitting with one stitch for the last ten years.

For anyone reading this who actually knits, I will wait for you to stop laughing.

....


Anyway, I started experimenting with ribbing for hats.

I had some red yarn, but not enough to do a big project, so I thought I'd do a hat.

Part way through, I realized I probably didn't have enough to finish the hat, so I started doing stripes.

And then I was having fun with stripes, so I didn't want to stop...

Choclo loved his crazy hat!


So then Oob wanted one!

 But he wanted three colors!

So that was pretty fun, and actually very quick - it probably takes me two evenings to make a crazy hat.

I'm working on one for Leena now!

But I learned I could do more with purling: I did a scarf alternating two knits and two purls, and it had a lovely "popcorn" texture (the number of stitches was not divisible by four or it would have come out "ribbed").

What else could I do?

The colors are really much darker than this

Was it possible to do vertical stripes? Alternating knits and purls gives you "ribs" that are like vertical stripes.

Could I do them in different colors?

Wow!  It came out plaid!

I showed it to my FIL and my friend Bill and they thought I had knitted a Black Watch Tartan scarf!








So that's been fun, although I did the scarf very long and wide, so it took about a month.

I was trying to use up some of my donated yarn stash.  It's mostly normal weight yarn, and I like to knit with chunkier yarns, so I usually use three or four strands when I use it.

With this scarf, each color was three strands, so I was knitting off of six skeins.  That  got a bit unwieldy.  I had planned to knit to the end of the skeins, but, near the end, the I was getting everything tangled and the scarf was getting both long and a little heavy, so I stopped!

A successful experiment!

Watch Out!

I'm still on my knitting jag.

Yes, Leena is being smothered in scarves! To be fair, the hat was knitted by her devoted aunt. I'm not too good with hats, but did I mention I can knit beards?

I knit the scarf while watching the Super Bowl. I felt mildly guilty about that. I mean, I think there is some unwritten rule that you don't knit during the Super Bowl. Perhaps I shouldn't mention that I also was drinking... tea.

Is it all my fault that the Steelers lost?

Knitting Projects

How do these things get started? Leena went with me to a yarn store and fell in love with a multicolored fuzzy yarn. Could I make her a scarf? Why not?

Klenda saw the yarn and decided she wanted to knit, too. Back to the store! She picked out some beautiful (literally: that was the name of the yarn!)blue stuff. She knitted a scarf for Mumpy for Christmas while I knitted the multicolor for Leena. She's lost it already, but I'll post a picture when she finds it.

I had gotten 2 skeins of each, unsure of how much I would need. One skein does a scarf nicely, so Klenda took Leena's extra skein and is knitting a scarf for herself. I took the extra skein of "beautiful" and did another scarf for Klenda.

It may help to know that I am a fantastic scarf knitter and a less than mediocre hat knitter and that's really about the limit of my knitting.

At any rate, I finished Klenda's scarf last night and Zorg admired it (always dangerous when I am in knitting mode!). So, I asked him if he would like a scarf.

Zorg: No, thank you. Can you knit me a beard?

Well, as it happens, I inherited skein of brown hairy yarn that I never used because I thought it would look.. uh... brown and hairy.

My new score:
Scarves: fantastic!
Hats: less than mediocre.
Beards: I have been wasting my time on scarves, I was obviously born to knit beards!