Knitted Wire Cuff from Urban Arts + Crafts - Day 3

Kinks in the wire...

Okay, this is weird.  The wire is flexible, but has nowhere near the flexibility of yarn.  I feel like I’m wrestling this stuff onto the needles.  The stitches don’t line up nicely next to each other like yarny cast-on’s, they fidget and fight each other like nap-starved kindergarteners.  At least there’s no concern for elasticity.

To make matters worse, I couldn’t quite figure out which end to cast on.  Which, of course, meant I invariably cast on the wrong end.  I needed to cast on in such way that the beads were lined up on my working yarn.  I still can’t quite explain how I did whatever I did to end up with all the beads lines up on the wrong end of the yarn, but I did.  The only thing worse than casting on with wire is undoing a cast on, which is because it can’t be done.  I had to cut off the twelve cast on stitches and rework my beads.  Sigh.

It doesn’t appear neat and tidy to me.  I don’t like the kinks in the wire--I was expecting smooth loops for stitches, but they look all wobbly.  I have a feeling that the finished product will look like aforementioned kindergarteners did the stitching.

Now, now, Allie a single cast on row is a bit early to judge.  Remember, Karen told me I wouldn’t like it at first.  So she’s right, and there’s some trustworthiness to that.  I’ll keep going.

Alligator Scarf from Knitting Under the Influence of Nancy

When you say...

So I'm knitting an alligator.

Let's just start with the entertainment value of that sentence.  It's grand fun to say, although it does get you funny looks.  Good thing I'm used to funny looks.  The novelty comes from the dichotomy between the basic images that come to mind when you say knitting (warm, cozy, comforting) and when you say alligator (predatory, man-eating, sneaky reptile).  You run from alligators, not knit them.  Unless you're an old lady from the 1920's, in which case you make purses from them.

But I digress.  Which I'm good at.

At first glance, this looks like a complex project.  You're essentially knitting in three dimensions, which always feels like it will make your head hurt.  Fret not, for this alligator doesn't have much of a bite--the impressive effect is achieved with mostly garter stitch and simple increases and decreases.  Okay, there's a tiny bit of cast-on in there, too.  As a matter of fact if you have a young person who is ready to take their knitting beyond just knit and purl, this would be an ideal project for mastering increase and decrease skills.

I do find the hollow eyes a bit creepy.  If I catch this out of the corner of my eye, I think the thing is looking at me.  I don't mind gazing at my knitting, but I take issue when my knitting stares back.  I've been considering finding some google-eye buttons, but I can't decide if that would make it better or worse (feel free to chime in with your opinion).