Special Gifts for Friends

In addition to the Prayer Shawls I make, I also have added knitting Chemo Caps for friends who are going through chemotherapy. This blue cap went to a co-worker of Windy’s at Tri-Met. It’s made on size 9 needles with Chowchilla yarn. The smooth Brittany needles were very slippery. And so, I might add, was the yarn. I lost the stitches a couple of times and had to start over. Nevertheless, it came out very nicely and is much appreciated. A simple pattern available free from Craft Warehouse.

Twinkle Toes!

For all the work I put into these socks I think I will be buried in them. First the confusion about how much yarn it really takes to knit a sock. Then the statewide search for more of the same color dye lot which in the end proved fruitless. Finally getting two skeins that matched and starting one sock and discovering it was going to be too big and frogging it. Starting over and breaking one needle out of each set of five, leaving me with only eight (it takes nine to knit two socks). And then finally getting almost finished and discovering, after I had gotten to the toe, that there was a mistake in the pattern and I had to unknit all the shaping.

By some amazing miracle, and help from my friend Linda, I have completed both socks and I have a pair. That fit! Wonders never cease. This was so much fun I am going to immediately start on another pair. I already have some yarn picked out. Saturday I am making a trip to the Yarn Garden for the new Tofutsie sock yarn, a blend of 50% wool, 25% soysilk, 22.5% cotton and 2.5% chitin (from shrimp and crab shells!).

I plan to buy sufficient yarn of the same dye lot. Did someone tell me that years ago? I also plan to purchase some new needles. Preferably steel or titanium or cast iron. I am just too hard on bamboo and the ones that aren’t broken are badly bent. This comes from knitting with the heel of my hand instead of my fingers.

Sock It To Me will continue and maybe this time will be less stressful. I love having a portable project that I can take along wherever I go.

Charity Projects

These are items that go out into the world to unknown recipients. The Yarn Garden supports charity knitting projects from time to time. One was the Red Scarf Project which I participated in. [See January 23rd entry.] I also joined in knitting helmet liners for our troops in the Middle East. The liners had to meet military color requirements. The military issue kevlar helmets don’t have warm wool liners and our service people are exposed to winds and bitter cold during the winter months. Riding in open trucks and humvees, they often encounter sub-zero wind chills. The helmets were sent to the troops for Christmas 2006.

Knitting With Velcro

Lace knitting is my new passion and I love the way the little dots and slashes in the chart result in beautiful patterns if they are followed in the knitted piece. I’ve been making small swatches of sample heirloom patterns, mostly from the book by Mary Schiffman.

Having gotten my “lace legs,” I decided to try a scarf. I picked a fairly “easy” pattern called Crest o’ the Wave. Digging in my stash, I found a skein of lace weight thread in a variegated hand-painted blue. Perfect! But oh…there is a down side. Needles are small. Size one. Lace weight yarn is similar to thread. Or as one of my knitting pals compares it…just like dental floss!

This particular fiber is Kid Silk Haze which is 75% mohair and 25% silk. The mohair is like a million tiny fish hooks and grabs onto itself and won’t let go. This yarn is unforgiving and does not unravel or pick out or unstitch. So no mistakes. And, as my mother used to say, “you have to hold your mouth just right.” Nevertheless I persevered and kept going, thinking I would have a scarf by the time I came to the end of the yarn.

I got to the end and I do not have a scarf. It barely goes around my neck. So it will take another skein (@$15) to complete the standard scarf length. Otherwise, it is just a very large sample of a simple stitch and a blue fiber. So much for using up the stash.

My friend Hazel has taken pity on me and given me some new wool and silk to work with. Minus the mohair, I might add. I will try again. This time with a Fern Leaf pattern. Watch this spot for updates.

The Forty-Five Dollar Socks

My friend gave me a pattern that was published by a yarn company. Had I bought that brand of yarn (Opal) I would not be in this mess. But instead I purchased a hank of Koigu in an awesome color. I naively thought I could knit two socks with one skein. Wrong!

I realized I would need another skein so I went back to purchase a second skein and the store was out of the color. Then, after I turned the heel, I realized I wouldn’t even finish one sock with one skein so I would need a total of…THREE.

The owner of Yarnin’ Around in Gresham found two skeins at a store in Ashland and kindly ordered them for me. I reimbursed her plus shipping and handling. First skein = $12.25. Two more @13.00 = $26.00. Shipping = $7.00. TOTAL = $45.25.

I will finish these and wear them every day for the rest of my life.

Giant Granny

As I may have mentioned, I can’t read crochet patterns and I don’t know one stitch from another. But I can make a Granny Square. If I don’t think about it. Once I get going, I can’t stop or I’ll forget what I’m doing and I won’t be able to start again. So instead of an afghan made of lots of squares sewn together, I have one GIANT Granny Square. Pretty cool, though?

Yarn Yoga Challenge Swatch

Here is the pattern for the Challenge Swatch due February 19, 2007. The challenge is there is no photo so you won’t know if you are doing it correctly or not. Good Luck!!!!

Tweeded Mock Ribbing

Cast on a multiple of two stitches using size 8, 9 or 10 needles and any worsted weight yarn.

Row 1: *wyib sl 1 purlwise, k1, yo, psso: Repeat from * to end of row.
Row 2: purl

Secret Code:
(If you don’t understand this…check out a stitch dictionary or look in Stitch ‘n Bitch for directions.)

wyib: with yarn in back
sl 1 purlwise: slip stitch as if to purl but don’t
yo: yarn over
psso: pass slip stitch over