Week 6 of 2007 in Review

On Knitting…..

Due to pain in my wrist and arm I had to take a knitting break on week 5, hence the lack of posting. I would rather postpone knitting for a few days than aggravate the problem and have to give up the needles and yarn all together. But by Tuesday of this week I felt well enough to start what I call my fuggly week. I decided to kill two birds with one stone, (maybe three) by using yarn that has been sitting in my stash and knit gift or charity items as per my Challenges for 2007.

I got two scarves done with patterns of my semi-own design.



The multi-colored scarf was knit from a novelty yarn called Crinkle which I bought at Big Lots for a dollar. The scarf took a skein and a half of yarn knit on size 6(US) needles using a garter and slip-stitch pattern. The yarn wasn’t too bad to work with and I find the colors rather cutesy. The scarf is destined to a little girl who can use it to play dress up.



The reddish scarf is knit with one skein of CTH Filaro using size 6(US) needles. I achieved the lacy design I wanted by testing several patterns and finally settling with one I liked. I was happy since the pattern not only gave me a look I wanted, it also produced an unexpected waffle texture making the scarf a little more interesting. The yarn made its way to my stash over a year ago in grab bags I ordered during CTH’s year end sale.



While I love the colors, I found Filaro a tad tedious to work with. Maybe I should use the recommended larger needles sizes to make knitting with it easier because as the picture below shows, I still have three skeins of the stuff left.



I think I will stick to the waffle pattern for the remaining Filaro and would like to test it on thinner mohair such as Rowan’s Kidsilk Haze.

Pattern (if anyone is familiar with this pattern, please let me know its name and who to credit.):
CO an odd number of stitches
Row 1: Knit all.
Row 2: k1, *yo, k2tog,* repeat * to end.
Row 3: Purl all
Repeat rows 1-3 until desired length is reach and BO loosely. Blocking not required.

On Stash Building:

Boy did I get lucky and order yarn from Colour Mart before their prices went up. True to their word, the low prices were temporary which means I saved anywhere from $4-$10 per cone. My stash has 4 more cones of lace weight silk. Too bad the mauve color never got listed.

I think that’s it with the stash building, at least for a while anyway. I’ve got plenty of yarn to keep me occupied for a good length of time.

Happy knitting and stash building to all!!

Knitting: My Ideal Pursuit

Knitting is not my only interest but I’ve come to realize that it is the one that suits me best. My craft closet holds more than yarn and knitting needles. A quick glimpse will reveal that there is also a good assortment of material and tools for scrapbook and jewelry making as well as sewing. Step into the kitchen and behind some cabinet doors sit an assortment of baking supplies such as cake pans and cookie cutters plus cake decorating tools. Knitting, cake decorating, jewelry making, sewing and scrapbook creating are my five creative outlets but the time I spend knitting beats them all by a long shot. Here are some reasons why:

1. Knitting is not messy. I don’t have to worry about washing pans, icing tips or mixing bowls after baking and decorating cakes or cookies. Sewing and scrapbooks produce scraps that need to be disposed of as well. Sorry, but I don’t like to spend my time cleaning.
2. Knitting is portable and doable just about anywhere. Grab your needles, a ball of yarn and you are set to conquer the world without extra baggage in tow. Cake decorating, sewing, scrapbook and jewelry making lock you into one place plus these crafts require too many tools to produce a finished product. Sorry, but I don’t want to lug 100 lbs. of materials and tools behind me.
3. Knitting is fixable and salvageable. I’d rather frog and re-knit and entire piece than rip and re-sew a small section of garment that has an error in it. Sewing is less forgiving if you cut the pattern the wrong way and you risk ending up with wasted material. With knitting at least you can frog and start over without yarn being wasted (unless it’s mohair). Sorry, but I hate wasted or ruined materials.
4. Knitting gives me more options. I can choose to knit accessories or garments; or I can try new techniques and stitch patterns. Knitting offers more choices and challenges plus keeps my mind occupied. Someday I’ll knit a sweater. Someday I’ll try color work. For now I’m having fun testing different stitch patterns and different yarns. Sorry, but I don’t like to be bored.
5. Knitting is relaxing. Unlike my other interests, my brain finds the rhythmic pace of mindless knitting relaxing and I find that certain patterns require little concentration. There is also less risk of cutting, poking or stabbing myself if I want to do something and watch TV at the same time. Sorry, but the less stress I have, the saner I will be.

There are a number of other reasons why I prefer knitting to other crafts but these five explain it the best.