Quaker Ridge Lap Robe

Pattern: based on the Quaker Ridge stitch pattern in Barbara Walker’s A Treasury of Knitting Patterns

Yarn: Berroco Comfort (the least obnoxious synthetic yarn I’ve come across)

Needles: U.S. size 8

I knit up this lap robe for a charity drive for the chapel at Fort Bragg. I guess it’s a little chilly in there, and one of the volunteers thought it would be nice if the families awaiting their fallen soldiers could wrap up in pretty handknit items. So I knit this lap robe, thinking good thoughts about all our brave men and women and their families at home. I packed it up, and just as I used the last little bit of packing tape, I saw the card I meant to enclose lying on my desk. I didn’t want to run to the store for more tape, so I sent the lady an email to let her know the package was on the way. I mailed the box and promptly forgot all about it - until yesterday. Yesterday I thought to myself, “Self, you haven’t heard from the lady at Fort Bragg, why don’t you recheck that email and make sure you sent it to the right address.” So I did, and I saw that I had breezily written, “I’m sorry it took me so long to finish this. I hope your chapel can still use it.” 

Oh. What a horrid thing to say.

“Self, it’s no wonder you haven’t heard from her! And just so you know, self, this is why you shouldn’t try to talk to people. Self, it’s bad enough that your Goobs have to put up with you; stop inflicting yourself on society………blah, blah, blah………negative internal dialogue……….blah, blah, blah……..” 

The Humble Warshrag

There’s nothing quite like the humble warshrag.  It does the job like no paper towel can, and is more cheerful than any sponge.  

I like knitting my warshrags when I’m out in public.  I knit socks and shawls and such in public, too, but there is no conversation starter like a warshrag.  My warshrags attract two types of knitters: nice ones and not-so-nice ones.  The nice ones urge me to pluck up my courage and try knitting a hat, because it’s ever so clever.  The not-so-nice ones tell me that even if they were to sink so low as to knit a warshrag, they’d never be seen in public with it.  Both types assume I’m only knitting a warshrag because I can’t manage anything else, which amuses me so much that most of the time I don’t bother to correct them. (Not that I’m often given the chance - we knitters are a chatty bunch.)  Occasionally, though, I out myself. Sometimes a nice knitter will mention having trouble with a particular project, and I’m able to give her a tip.  And sometimes a not-so-nice knitter will cross a line, forcing me to launch a shock and awe attack by whipping out my Estonian lace on vintage size 0 metal needles.  That’s always fun.

I’m sure I had a point in mind when I started this post, but I’ve forgotten what it was.  So stop reading my senseless drivel and go check out my Goobs’ email interview at The Magnifying Glass.  The Magnifying Glass is a lovely collaborative online nature journal.  It’s very nicely done, packed with lovely photos and interesting information, and I’m tickled that they wanted to interview my babies.

I'm Not Knitting

I'm in a knitting funk.  I can't bear to even look at any of my UFOs and The Man can't bear the thought of spending one more nickel on yarn.  

Hmmmm, maybe I should think about doing another knitting giveaway.  

Invisibility Shawl

Pattern:  Invisibility Shawl from Charmed Knits: Projects for Fans of Harry Potter by Alison Hansel
Yarn:  Lace weight wool (stash yarn, no ball band)
Needles:  U.S. size 7 and 10

I have decided not to buy any new yarn until I have used up everything in my stash.  I have a lot of lace weight yarn, so prepare yourselves for a perfect storm of lacy shawls!  (No, not really.  This one knit up so quickly that I got ahead of myself - it'll be more like a perfect trickle of lacy shawls.)

Anemone agreed to be my model, even though she had just finished ballet class and was hot and tired and thirsty and dying for some dinner.   I told her she ought to start charging me by the hour for her services.  Doesn't she look sweet, though?

This piece is the perfect thing for throwing over bare shoulders when stepping into an overly air conditioned establishment, but it also makes a lovely scarf:

And now I'm off to start a new shawl, because my boy is scuba diving today and I have to do something with my hands.

Cap Shawl

I didn't think there'd be much use for hand knits in Hawaii.  (It's hot.  It's humid. People run errands in their swimsuits.)  I have never been so happy to be wrong!  This shawl was perfect for keeping the sun off my already freckled shoulders as we splashed around in the tide pools.  It also worked beautifully as a substitute for a tote bag.  And, of course, it gave me an excuse to torture my Anemone.

"Stand up straight!  Straighter! Turn your head to the left!  Now the right!  Up on your toes!  Turn towards the ocean!  Turn towards the mountain!  Straighten your right arm! Admit it, you still love me! Ack!  Not so close to the edge of the cliff!  Back up!  Right now!  Wait, that was pretty.  Go back!"

Pattern:  Cap Shawl from Victorian Lace Today by Jane Sowerby
Yarn:  JaggerSpun Zephyr Wool-Silk
Needles:  29" U.S. size 7 circulars

I enjoyed knitting this shawl.  The pattern was easily memorized and went well with movie marathons featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger.

A Red Sock

I knit a red sock, and I took a picture of it.

It didn't work out, so I tried again.

I liked the moss and the acorns, but I thought I could do better.  I tried again.

And again.  But no matter how many pictures I took, I couldn't forget how chunky the red sock felt on my foot.

How the heel slipped around inside my shoe.

How the toe came to a sharp point, like those ridiculous shoes fashionable women like to wear.

And how it would irritate me that the other red sock would not be a mirrored image of this one.  I could try flipping the pattern my ownself, but would it be worth it?  For all I know, the designer is a genius. The pattern probably isn't mirrored because it can't be mirrored.  And even if I did manage to do the impossible and flip that pattern around, I still wouldn't like the heel or the toe, so I'd have to change those and then reknit the first red sock to match the second one.

Ugh.

I liked knitting this red sock, but it's taking a trip to the frog pond.

Pattern:  Knitty's  Pomatomus 

Yarn:  wool sock yarn - I've misplaced the ball bands

Needles:  set of five U.S. size dpn's

Waffle Rib Socks

Stitch Pattern:  Waffle Rib from Sensational Knitted Socks by Charlene Schurch

Yarn: Regia

Needles: U.S. size 2 dpns

Modifications:  I knit them from memory, so they ended up being a weird combo of sock patterns.  It worked, though.

My Dad liked his Retro Rib Socks so much that he wore them out!  I can’t begin to tell you how tickled I was to hear it.  Of course I had to knit him a new pair.  I used the same colors as the Retro Rib because they matched his huntin’ duds so well.

I ended up running out of yarn, so they’re shorter than he would prefer.  I could have made a longer cuff out of glittery space-dyed yarn, but it just didn’t scream “Dad” to me.  Sorry.

This will be the last pair of socks I knit for a long, long time.  I’ve decided to brush up on my sewing skills - I think I’ll start with a muumuu.  A loud muumuu.

Mom's Beaded Rib Socks

Pattern: Beaded Rib from Sensational Knitted Socks by Charlene Schurch

Yarn:  Schachenmayr nomotta Regia Design Line Kaffe Fassett in Landscape Storm (I think)

Needles: U.S. sizes 0 and 1 dpn’s

I’m running out of ways to photograph socks, so Anemone was kind enough to help me out with this photoshoot. She is lovely and talented and beyond amazing, and I wish I could post the rest of the pictures, but I’m afraid her Daddy would throw a fit if I posted pictures of his baby in a leotard.  She’s not a little girl anymore, I’m afraid.

But this post isn’t about Anemone’s mad barre skillz or intimidating musculature at all.  Really.  It’s all about the socks.  They’re for my mom, who has always dismissed my knitted socks as being an unnecessary waste of time and money. (She’s absolutely right, of course, but I believe being an unnecessary waste of time and money is an integral part of their considerable charm.)  But last year I knit these retro rib socks for my dad, and he loved them so much and wore them so often that they fell apart.  Of course my mom wants in on anything that good, so I cackled “Neener, neener, neener,” at her for a while, then got to work.  I hope she likes them as much as Anemone does.

Shetland Shawl

Pattern: Shetland Shawl from The Best of Knitter's Magazine: Shawls and Scarves

Yarn: Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool (45% wool, 35% silk, 20% nylon)

Needles: 29" U.S. size 7 circulars

This is the first shawl I ever knit. I hadn't planned on making a shawl at all; I bought the yarn to knit myself a sweater, but after I got it home I realized the shop owner had sold me yarn from three different dye lots. Since it was an hour drive back to the store, I just kept it and tried to look at it as a learning experience. (You can bet I always select my yarn myself now!) I decided that if I knit a shawl it wouldn't matter if the the colors were a little off in places. I had never knit lace before, so I chose the simplest pattern I could find and went to work.

I finished it the day before a cross country flight in 2006, so instead of blocking it I shoved it in a backpack and used it for a travel blanket. It has served that purpose ever since, and I never bothered blocking it until last week. And I didn't bother blocking it very well, as you can see. After all, it's usually on a Goober or under the couch (or a dog) so I didn't see much sense in getting all nitpicky about it. Still, it's prettier than I thought it was.

Here is a detail of the mitered joins:

And here is a picture of the simple edging:

All of a sudden I feel like knitting another one in navy blue.

JellyMan's Slippers

Pattern:  Ribby Slipper Socks from Interweave Knits Holiday Gifts 2008

Yarn:  Blue Sky Alpacas Bulky (2 balls) and Blue Sky Alpacas Worsted Hand Dyes (1 ball)

Needles:  U.S. sizes 11 and 8 set of 4 dpn

Modifications:  Hoo, boy!

I knit the first slipper (the bottom slipper in the picture) perfectly.  It wasn't the most elegant slipper in the world, but it fit and it was comfortable so I called it good.  The second slipper was a nightmare!  Somehow I knit it so it was nearly half again as big as the first one, and since these were a birthday gift I was crunched for time.  So I didn't re-knit it; I jerry-rigged it.  (By the way, jerry-rigged is probably a combination of the terms jury-rigged and jerry-built.  It isn't quite proper, but I spent my formative years in Oklahoma and I picked it up along with "fixin' to" and "crawdads.")  First I sewed a seam up the back of the slipper.  It felt lumpy to my fingers, but my heel couldn't tell.  Emboldened, I sewed a seam across the toe.  My toes were a lot more discerning than my heel, so I trimmed the seam.  Big mistake!  I hadn't sewn the seam firmly enough to prevent unraveling, so I ended up doing some serious darning around the toes.  When I finally presented them to JellyMan, I told myself that it was the thought that counts and not to worry too much about the imperfections.  JellyMan put them on and said, "Hey, I have an ogre foot!"  I would have been devastated, but he was sincere (I think) in his delight as he stomped off into the sunset.

"Aaargh!  I'm an ogre!"