Why this journey?

I've been retired now for over a year. Husband has been sick but is now doing quite well with new pacemaker. I continue to knit and knit and crochet. Recently I became friends again with my sewing machine so you will see some of those projects, too. Thanks for reading.

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Neener neener -- two hand warmers

Yup, finished the other one.  No "one hand warmer syndrome" for this knitter.  Something wrong with the pattern, though.  Went to the publisher's site and found the link to corrections.  Sorted it out and now have two hand warmers, a matched set.  If you use patterns from One Skein Wonders make sure you check for corrections online.  It's a big help and good insurance.

This is a good example of the wave stitch, a modified
ribbing.  

Will wrap these with the scarf, no matter its condition:  complete or work-in-progress.  At some point you just gotta call it 'good to go' and put it in the gift box.  Scarf is a portable project because the item itself doesn't need more room than my lap provides and the pattern is 4 rows of knit and purl combinations, easy to memorize.  The pattern is also easy to 'read' from the knitted item.  Even if I am not sure where I left off, the knitting itself will tell me.  I can see the stitches made when I completed the last row of knitting and that's the best clue to the stitches required for the next row.

Here's a picture of the scarf.  It looks good on either side, so there's really no front or back side.  It's about 15" long at this point.  I want it to be much longer.  At least long enough to be able to wrap once or twice around the neck.  The yarn is so soft and combines wool and silk, so will be a great insulator against wind or cold.
Those needles are the best.  Aero from England.  I bot
them in New Zealand many years ago.  The yarn slides nicely
without being out of control.  These are 6mm or 10US.

The scarf pattern is at this link:  Universal Scarf.  Designer calls for 18 stitches using needles suggested for the yarn you select.  I wanted something a bit wider so added stitches in sets of 3.  Working the pattern does require some attention.  It's a rib, sort of.  But it's a combination of K2 p1 and then P2, K1.  So it's not symmetrical for your brain.  It's much easier to get your brain around two of each type of stitch OR one of each, but mixing them is a cognitive challenge now and then.  Try it and you'll see what I mean.

Meanwhile I've also begun a wonderful cowl.   It's Mosaic by Bernat. And I picked up another ball from the stash, leftover from a sweater and tried it on the cowl pattern.  Can't decide which side is which, if you can believe that.  It looks very close to Shaker Knitting and maybe Brioche stitch -- but not quite.  Still it's interesting.  Here's the leftover yarn sample.
Just a bit of the beginning -- I'll keep going just to get enough
'fabric' so I can decide if I like the yarn in this stitch.
Back to the hand-warmers -- I'm getting ahead of myself.  I have another ball of Andean silk in the stash, in cream.  May try the Magic Loop method and finish both of them at one time.  Lots of loose ends and two balls of yarn to manage.  And I have only one ball, which means right away I have to re-wind and separate.    I might try pulling one thread from the outside of the ball and the other from the inside, but that can create such a tangle.

All of these wonderful projects and more are wandering around in my brain.  I have toooo much yarn and toooo many ideas.   But I'm having sooooo much fun.  The couch is covered in books and knitting tools.  The coffee table is strewn with scissors and bits of yarn and another book.  I've made this wonderful knitting nest for myself right in the middle of the room.  How great is that!?!?




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