Simple baby blanket

I found a handwritten pattern for a baby blanket in an old box. Here it is:

Long side - cast on 197 (odd number of stitches).
Knit 1, purl 1 across. Purl 1, knit 1 back. (Seed stitch) Work for 8 inches.
Knit 2 together, yarn over, across -- ending with knit 1.
Work seed stitch for 11 inches.
Knit 2 together, yarn over, across -- ending with knit 1.
Work seed stitch for 8 inches.
Bind off.
Crochet around entire blanket.

On this opening day of the Olympics -- thinking of Tibet

None of us are free until ALL of us are free.

International Campaign for Tibet.

Ravelympics Quandaries

Well, I was getting ready for a big trip across the country to take my daughter back to college. Of course, the first thing I was working on is what knitting to take with me. I figured 6 or 8 projects ought to do it. I found yarn, needles, patterns, made cast on the first few rows of several of the projects to make sure that the yarn/pattern/needles were a good match. Then I happened to notice RAVELYMPICS!



What to do? They happen right in the middle of the trip which is great. But all those projects that I just got organized and started. I guess they have to go in the WIP game.

The other problem is that all the projects are calling to me to start them now. Don't wait for the ravelympics. I am trying to hold firm. To stave off those projects I have started new ones. Small things like booties and dishcloths.

How are you biding the time till the Ravelympics?

Rockin with the socks

Long time since I posted, but I have been knitting. I have a backlog of Socks that Rock projects from the 2007 club. Last year life overtook me and I got behind. In the last month I have finished, Solstice Slip socks, Serendipity. And Saturday night I started Summer of Love.


Something that I am doing with Summer of Love is knitting them both at once. Not on one needle but on 10 dps. That is 2 sets of 5 brittany dp needles. I am doing this because I started the socks late at night and after I finished the first lace cuff, I was too tired to search out the ironing board to block, but I wasn't tired enough to stop. So I got out another set of dp's and started the second cuff. I felt a bit like the Harlot when she was knitting leaves. Ended up being a very late night.

I can't figure out why I delayed starting Summer of Love. Perhaps is was the blocking of the lace ruffle? Blocking (like tucking in ends) is something that I do only as a last resort. But as you can see I steam blocked the lace and pinned it to the ironing board. Of coarse, doing that meant searching for iron and ironing board and finding my pins. Looks like the rest of the socks will be an easy mindless knitting project.

Brigid in Cyberspace

As a part of this, here is my poem:

Lost by David Wagoner

Stand still. The trees ahead and bushes beside you
Are not lost. Wherever you are is called Here,
And you must treat it as a powerful stranger,
Must ask permission to know it and be known.
The forest breathes. Listen. It answers,
I have made this place around you.
If you leave it, you may come back again, saying Here.
No two trees are the same to Raven.
No two branches are the same to Wren.
If what a tree or a bush does is lost on you,
You are surely lost. Stand still. The forest knows
Where you are. You must let it find you.

Too fun not to include

Saw this over at Mason Dixon Knitting and had to try it.

Post Holiday Knitting

Lobby dishcloth
Originally uploaded by quixoposto

This is written for the second week of January, but I am just getting around to posting it.

Almost all of my Xmas knitting is done. (One sharks sock to go.) I promised myself I would start the Philosopher's wool sweater in the new year. But I just can't seem to get started on a big project this week.

Dishcloth knitting is the perfect simple, but fun knit to fill in the gaps.

I give you the Lobby dish cloth and the vortex dishcloth.

What a weekend in the mountains will do for you

A year ago I bought a kit at the Philosophers Wool booth at Stitches West. It was for the Color Your Own sweater in the Black and Blue colorway. I bought this after envying a friends sweater for about a year. I hesitated because I don't know how to make clothes fit, store-bought or homemade AND because the idea of steeking a sweater gives me the heebie jeebies.

I took advantage of a long weekend spent in the mountains with no distractions to get started. First I needed to roll all the skeins into balls. Lacking a ball winder I used the backs of 2 chairs and an empty toilet paper roll. Usually I find this activity fairly relaxing but after 9 skeins I got pretty tired of it. I decided that 2 skeins of black could wait until I needed them.

Next how was I going to keep the skeins from falling apart and figure out which color is which? I studied the book Fair Isle Sweaters Simplified looking at the pictures of the colorways to identify which was grape and which was dark purple, ... I put each ball in a baggie and labelled it. At least now, I will be consistent about attaching a color name to a specific ball of yarn. I also taped bits of yarn to the pattern next to the color names. I labeled the bands of fair isle patterns on the kit chart A, B, C ... as in the book. It makes it easier for me to note what I did.

Next size. The most dreaded question. I measured sweaters I own, I measured my body. Can my chest really be that big? Yes. I started on the sleeves in the largest size. Oops, my chest may be that big, but my wrists and arms aren't. What if I made the smallest sized sleeves to go with the larger body. Thinking about it, since I am steeking the armholes I can cut them to match my sleeves. I frogged the sleeve and restarted.

I am glad that I have both the directions in the kit and the book. Since this is my first large fair isle project it helps to have all the information I can get. I have done small projects to try and build my skills - mittens and socks and hats.

I have viewed the Philosophers Wool video numerous times and worked on learning continental. (I don't think that I will ever use Continental knitting as my default knitting method. My fingers are so much happier using a method they have known for 40+ years.)

As of Monday night I have only about 2" to go. I am going to repeat the first set of colors as recommended in the pattern. I'm on my way!

Travel Knitting Kit

I have been working on developing a knitting kit - a set of tools to take with me along with whatever knitting project I am working on. I want this kit to:

1. Be very small so that it fits in a purse, or bag.
2. Supplement the pattern, needles and yarn required for a project
3. Make it so that I never get stopped because I need something
4. Make repairs of various mistake easy

I have a small pouch with 2 zippered pockets, and a clear vinyl pocket.





Here is what is contains:

In the big zippered pocket

• 2 crochet hooks (one very small for attaching beads)
• bead tube with various needle for weaving in ends
• stitch holder
• cable needle
• aaa battery for my mp3 player
• measuring tape.
• small scissors
• pencil stub

In the small zippered pocket

• stitch markers
• knitpicks options end thingies for the converting the cable into a stitch holder
• smooth scrap yarn for holding stitches and other emergiencies
• dental floss

Attached to the zipper tab:

• Coilless safety pins on a large safety pin

In the clear pocket on the back

• moleskin notebook with graph paper
• postits
• clear ruler
• needle gauge