Skip to main content

I've Been Knitting

I've been knitting, just a little. In the evenings, Husband and I watch a marathon of West Wing beginning with season one, and I add the sound effects—clickety clickety clickety.

For Christmas, my sister Melanie gave me a fluffy hank of hand-dyed wool, so I took it to my friend Julie. Julie, a woman with a lovely voice and the ability to play a sax solo that would make you cry, has a spinning wheel. She uses it to spin yarn from the stuff she clips off of her giant angora rabbit, and she used it to spin my wool into a skein of rustic looking yarn. It was only one skein, so I decided to turn it into a small handbag, given I have a closet full of scarves already. I love how the colors meld without too much planning, and there is a touch of whimsy with some silver strands peaking out here and there.


I also made a cable scarf, even though I have this closet full. I really just wanted to play with the cable pattern. This is a 14-row pattern, impossible to memorize but not so difficult you can't sail right through it. This two-toned scarf is knitted with Lion Brand worsted weight, two strands knitted together. (don't enlarge the photo because it reveals cat debris on the rug)

Now for the real thing, the sweater. A week or two ago, I posted this pattern, and then I set out to make the sweater. I followed the pattern down to the letter—never missed a row or a stitch or confused a single thing, yet the pattern didn't seem to align with the sample photo. What looks like a tunic in the sample actually turns out to be a cropped cardigan with the buttons running down the center. I'd think I had made a mistake in the length, except the thing specifically said to make it 11 inches long before adding the popcorn stitch border.

I'm not sure if I'll ever wear this sweater, but for me, knitting is more about the experience than the finished result. That's what people say when they think the finished result stinks. It lowers their expectations and excuses the messes.

Now, what can I make? I think I'll leave the funky stuff to No. 1 who has been really going to town with the needles and yarn. Take a look:

A cat, a lobster and a felted shoe

Comments

dive said…
My goodness, you HAVE been busy!
You actually managed to finish that monster one-piece sweater? Wow!

I love the lobster!

I, too, can play a sax solo that would make you cry, but probably not for the same reason as Julie.

I think the story of the angora rabbit should be told.
11:47 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Am I Stupid, or What?

In two weeks, I will climb up into a charter bus, take my assigned seat, and ride 22 hours straight to Orlando, Florida. I will be a chaperon with the high school marching band, which will perform at Disney's Magic Kingdom--me and 180 people on four big buses for seven days. We will travel together, eat together, play together, fall down exhausted together--and after 22 hours, I suspect stink to high heaven together. Because of the crazy schedule, we will leave Ohio at 6 pm, travel all night and most of the next day, and spend several hours at MGM Studios before ending up at the hotel sometime after 7 pm. After I check in with the eight girls I am to supervise, I intend to shower and shower and shower. I intend to wear clean clothes and socks and brush my teeth until my toothbrush wears out. Of all the things I could be concerned about on this trip, being dirty seems to weigh heaviest on my mind. One of my eight charges could run off and do bad things with her boyfriend, but I'...
21 comments
Read more

No More Mr. Nice Guy

It's good to be a nice person--to say nice things, to do nice things, to write nice things--but I declare an end to the use of the word nice. Nice is what you say when you can't think of any other adjective. Someone shows you a picture of their back yard--that's nice. Someone tells you about their afternoon adventure--that's nice. Or someone describes their childhood in great detail and sometimes with painstaking effort--that's nice. It's a lazy word, and it's non-descriptive. Nice is like mashed potatoes with noodles and chicken gravy all in a big pile on one plate with some canned corn for garnish. Everything is the same color and texture and base substance--starch (this is a favorite Amish dish). Nice is like a partly cloudy day in April when outside feels like inside, and you can't tell a difference between the lighting and the temperature of your living room and the lighting and temperature of your front yard. Nice is a glass of lukewarm water. ...
20 comments
Read more

An Offending Pile

So, I'm standing in my living room letting my mind wander for a minute or two as I stare out the window and watch the day go by, and I see my neighbors walking their dogs down the street. They are nice neighbors who are always friendly and responsible with their property. That is to say they aren't like the other neighbors who heap rubbish behind their house like Ma and Pa Kettle and let their dogs bark for thirty minutes at a time . Anyway, I see the nice people walking their dogs, a big golden retriever who is as sweet as can be and as dumb as a post—he once ate a sock and nearly died before it was surgically removed—and a new golden retriever puppy. Then I see Neighbor Wife suddenly run down the street with the big dog. Then I see Neighbor Husband stopped in front of my house with the puppy on its leash. And then I see the puppy taking a huge dump in my grass. Let me tell you, that is not done in this town unless the dog owner has a plastic bag handy and is ready to pick up ...
16 comments
Read more