"Hatapalooza" hats from Great Yarns - Day 4

Charting my course...

Ah cables.  They require attention to detail between a lot of stitch patterns that look dangerously similar.   Cables to the front look dangerously close to cables to the back, and messing them up results in squiggles rather than clever cross-overs.

I’ve done cables in written directions, but this is the first time I’ve done complicated cables from a chart.  And I tell you, those pesky little squares with all those angles look far too much alike for me to be confident as I waffle back and forth between chart and key.

After making a significant gaff a few rows back, I decided it’s best to stack the chart in my favor.  I now go through each row before I start and write the stitch on top of the squares in question.  Hopefully this will keep my C4BPs from becoming C4FPs and other unfortunate slip-ups.

In to save my embattled confidence comes the simple but adorable KnitCol hat.  Stockinette and decreases are firmly within my skill set, and this self-striping yarn is doing all the work for me.  I’ve made it to the finished hat, and now I get to make all the silly curly-cues that give the hat its charm.

"Hatapalooza" hats from Great Yarns - Day 3

Wait and stitch…

After a flurry to meet a bunch of deadlines last week, this week has been all about the wait.  

And I rot at waiting.  I am by no means a “sit tight” kind of gal.  

This week I’m waiting on publisher’s decisions, waiting on important phone calls, waiting for other people to do their part in projects so that I can take my next step, waiting for data to make a crucial decision, waiting for the next seasons of Longmire and Poldark to begin…lots and lots of cooling my heels.

What’s a fidgety gal to do?  Knit, of course.  Lots of knitting.  Engrossing knitting like the interwoven cables of the Knotty but Nice hat (row 9 is a killer!), calm easy knitting like the stockinette rounds of the curly-cue Knit Col hat.

At many times in my life, knitting has been as much consolation as it has been craft.  I laugh and say it is my coping mechanism of choice, but the statement is absolutely true.  Well, knitting, lemon meringue pie, and chocolate.  The knitting is the healthier of the choices, to be sure.

So I’ll keep waiting and keep knitting.  Because good things come to those who…knit, right?

Celtic Princess Braided Scarf from Yarn & Thread Expressions - Done!

It’s done!

The color continues to be my favorite thing about this scarf.  Red cables just make such a statement!

I tried at first to block this the quick way, with an iron and a spray bottle of water, but I wasn’t pleased with the results.  It still folded at the borders and puckered at the ends. So off it went to the more patient bath-and-pin method.  No shortcuts.

While it was soaking, I invoked the knitting universe’s favor by calling the hotel one more time where I’d left the Lady Fern Scarf.  This time, on the advice of a friend, I asked to talk to the housekeeping manager.  Either the guy is just genuinely nice, or he knows someone who knits, because he was very understanding.  He vowed to check the room right then—it was unoccupied at the moment but occupied on my earlier visit—and call me back.  I waited, hoping my extra care with the Celtic Princess might earn me favor with the Lady Fern (sounds downright mythological, doesn’t it?).  Karma, universal balance, Providence—whatever you want to call it, I was dearly hoping it would act on my behalf.  I don’t think God minds that I pray for something so small as a favorite scarf back, because He knows it’s not small at all.  Not to the person who labored over it for so many hours.

Nada.  You and I both know neither the universe, nor God, is in the bargain business.  While I am convinced the housekeeping manager has scoured the place on my behalf, even offering to pull the drawers out of the bureau for me on the last-ditch chance it slipped behind, my scarf is very likely gone.  I left it behind of my own mistake, and it is now to grace some neck other than mine.

But life goes on.  I have well and truly blocked my Celtic Princess and it looks much better. Take a peek—pretty, isn't it?  Thank you Yarn & Thread Expressions, for such a challenging but worthwhile project!  It is the perfect “first aid” to my current wound.

Celtic Princess Braided Scarf from Yarn & Thread Expressions - Day 3

Chunky or Clunky?

I have to say, applying my Chunky Method daily goals to my knitting has been working well.  I don’t stress about whether or not I’ll get the project done on  time, which is exactly the benefit my Chunky Method gives to writing.  I’m not sure, however, if it would apply as perfectly to another project—say, a top down shawl where the rows get longer and longer or switching lace patterns to something more complicated.  This scarf is a long rectangle of identical cable repeats, and as such lends itself to calculations.

Cables are deceptively simple.  If you pay attention and follow the instructions, the hardest thing you have to do is pop a few stitches onto a spare needle and hold them out of the way.  

Until, that is, you mess up. Then, cables are killer.

Here I was, happily stitching along on my daily goal, pleased with my progress.  Then I noticed the egregious error several rows down.  One of those too big to leave be errors that sends your gut down out the soles of your comfy hand-knit socks.

Tinking cables is murderously tedious.  Undoing those twists makes me grunt and frown. And that’s not even the hardest part.   No, for me, the hardest part is figuring out which blasted row you’ve landed on when you start up again.  My anguish went something like this:

It’s got those purls right there.  It must be row 3.  Knit row three.  No, that looks wrong. Tink row while gritting teeth.  It can't be any of the even rows, so it must be row 5 with those 4 purls. Knit row 5.  No, that looks wrong, too.  Tink row 5 while saying bad words. Repeat for 1.25 grueling hours until every possible row has been tried and restoration has been achieved.

I’m back on track, but it hasn’t been fun.  “Chunky” is feeling more like “Clunky” today.  But I press onward!

Celtic Princess Braided Scarf from Yarn & Thread Expressions - Day 2

The Chunky Method comes to knitting...

Those of you who follow my writing career know I released a time-management book called The Chunky Method earlier this year.  It outlines the process I use to write four (albeit shorter) books a year and still have time to be a human being.  I’m often asked if the process can be applied to other creative pursuits.

Given that this scarf is a long continuation of the same repeat, I decided to see if I could apply The Chunky Method to knitting.  Here’s how I did it:

I started with the end in mind:  since this is one of those “go till you run out of yarn” scarves, that meant my end was two 50g skeins of Silky Wool, or 100g.  Useful, but not enough data to craft a practical plan.

I worked up two repeats—about the most I could do in one sitting and therefore my “Chunk.” Then I got out my trusty food scale (every knitter’s best friend!) and my calculator.  It told me my 2-repeat Chunk weighed 5 grams, which mean each repeat used up approximately 2.5 grams of yarn.  It’s important to weigh your knitting needle and back its weight out of your measurements for accuracy.  When I got to 10 repeats today, I weighed my project and what was left of the 50 gram ball, and was delighted to see they weighted almost the same—my measurements are solid!

If 10 repeats weigh 25g, then 40 repeats should get me to the end of my yarn.  Divide the 30 remaining repeats by the four remaining episodes, round up a bit, and I have my knitting plan: eight repeats of the pattern per episode—or 4 sessions of knitting my “Chunk” to stay on track. This is the same data I advise writers to use in scheduling their work toward a deadline.  Knowledge is power, my friend.  

I’d better get knitting!

Celtic Princess Braided Scarf from Yarn & Thread Expressions - Day 1

Cable Challenges...

When working with a sophisticated cable like this, yarn choice makes a big difference.  If you don’t go with a bold, bright solid or a light neutral, everything can get lost.  A dark color or variegated yarn simply wouldn’t work—the braiding wouldn't show up the way you would want after all that cable effort.

The fiber itself intrigues me.  Aside from having a dreamy name that belongs in one of my romance novels, Elsabeth Lavold has created Silky Wool with a feather-light, raw silk quality that both surprises and delights.  You’d expect a sturdy, work-a-day wool with cables—the fisherman’s aran sweater and all—but this fiber gives the scarf an airy feel.  The contrast adds a terrific character.  Texture galore, perfect stitch definiton, but no bulk.  Had I gone with a cream or white rather than my cheery “Maraschino” red, I think I’d feel like someone had stretched a cloud out on a taffy pull.

It’s good that I like the fiber and the color, because I can tell right away the cables are going to challenge me.  I don’t mind cables, but I prefer the kind where only a few rows require the wrangling of that third needle.  With this pattern, not only are their four types of cross-overs, but they occur every right-side row and some rows incorporate two different kinds!  I’m forever checking—often double-checking—the cable stitch key down at the bottom of the page.  Like the trellis stitch in earlier projects, I’ve got to find a way to memorize the stitches so I can make faster progress. I feel like I’m burning way too many brain cells to get this done right now.

Cabled Feather Cowl from The Studio - Done!

Hole-y cow!

Wow, this is a beauty of a cowl.  I have a few that are chunky, that only work with certain coats or tops, but I think this one would go with anything.  It walks the perfect line between cozy and elegant.  

Despite the lacework, it's warm.  Okay, not blistering Chicago winter winds warm, but surprisingly warm for its light weight--and that's impressive.  I wouldn't feel like I'd need to yank this off my sweating neck (and thereby ruin any residual chance of my hair looking halfway decent) when I was indoors.

At first I though it would be too close around my neck--it's smaller that other cowls I own--but I was wrong.  The sizing keeps it from doing that floppy thing that I never like in cowls.  It looks great on some people, but always ends up looking just plain messy on me.  This one lays just right. 

Thanks, The Studio, for your graciousness in my error, and for this truly lovely project!

Stay tuned next week for this month's "Authors Who Knit" interview...and after that, DestiKNITions travels to Myrtle Beach!

PS: We had a technical comments glitch, so I'm still collecting votes for charts vs. lists (see last post) if you want to chime in and maybe win a book.

Hiawassee Handwarmers from The Needle Nook - Day 3

Cozy cable confidence…

Isn’t this cable pattern just lovely?  I know these look very narrow on the needles, but all that ribbing makes for a wonderfully elastic piece.  I like knowing they’ll be snug around my wrists because that’s the part that always gets cold for me.  

These really do manage a great combination of cozy and elegant.  They would make lovely gifts, but I plan on keeping them for myself.  The great thing about Arlene’s pattern, though, is that you can get TWO pairs from one skein--one to give and one to keep.  That’s my kind of knitting--everybody wins.

Even with two balls of yarn (a must for two mitts on one needle), this is a highly portable project.  The only part I think I wouldn’t pull out at a meeting or in public would be the end of the gusset where you must move stitches to waste yarn--I’d only do that in the peace and quiet of my own home.  

That will be the next segment, so you’ll get to see if I stick to my tactics.  I’ve got several long committee meetings coming up this week...I might get cocky.

Lucky for you, that always makes for entertaining reading.

Hiawassee Handwarmers from The Needle Nook - Day 2

So now we cable.  My prior planning served me well here, as my cable section was nicely contained in my front needles.  I only messed up once, but in true Allie fashion, it was many rows before I noticed it.  The misdirected cable is so subtle that I didn’t feel compelled to go all the way down and fix it.  I’ve never been a perfectionist.

The color still delights me--there are so many lush tones in there!  You can always count on Malabrigo to come through with a stunning fiber.  Arlene has come through, too, by employing a really lovely cable pattern--something a little different than the standard “twist” and more like an elegant interweaving.  Combined with the pleasant rhythm of the ribbing that makes up the rest of the piece, this is a pleasant section that goes quickly enough to be satisfying.  I’m feeling especially smug in the fact that both will be done when I’m finished.

Don’t forget, DestiKNITters, that today is the last day to enter the Love Inspired Knits sweepstakes!

Diana’s Aran Shawl from Three Black Sheep - Day 6

Code blue on the living room couch...

No, it’s not finished.  

I’d hoped it would be, but folks, this thing is a LOT of knitting.  Near as I can tell, it represents about six to eight hours of knitting per section, and my life rarely affords me that kind of down time these days.

But wait, I have news:

Last night--no exaggeration here--I executed the most complicated knitting rescue of my career.  And, yes, it was on this project.  

Here I was, happily knitting my way through the Daily Show and the Colbert Report--a nightly ritual for me--when I look down and see...it.

“It” being a botched cable no fewer than eight rows down.  I’d twisted the stitches the wrong way so that instead of a charming horseshoe cable, I had something that looked more like a lazy tangle. And no, it's not in this photo, so stop squinting.  Still it was, too blatant to ignore, no matter how hard I wanted to be able to stand up and show you a finished product this morning.

Rather than rip out ten painful rows, I attempted the brain-surgery of knitting: ripping down and reknitting a cable sequence while still inside the fabric.  It took both existing needles, a crochet hook, two dpns...and every brain cell I had.

Slowly, while employing all kinds of positive self-talk about my knitting prowess and the cooperative nature of good wool, I removed the eight involved stitches from the needle.  Then I carefully pulled out each of the eight stitches all the way down past the offending cable, which was ten rows (and two complicated cable rows) below.  I laid out each of the involved strands in row order behind my work.  

Luckily, because this was the actual cable, I was always dealing with knit stitches.  The tricky part came in reversing their order on the cable rows.  One at a time, I reordered the stitches using the cable needle and then pulled the strand back through to loop to make a knit stitch with my crochet hook.  Then I would remount the stitches on a spare dpn and start the process all over again with the next row.

The whole thing took me over an hour.  I’m not entirely sure I couldn’t have just ripped out and knit back those ten full rows in that hour, but I feel so very proud of my repair skills that I don’t regret taking this tact.  This is a photo of the actual restored cable.  Not perfect, but pretty darn close.  This is the Mt. Everest of fixing for me--a true achievement and a new level of skill that, quite frankly, I wasn’t sure I possessed.

This morning, I feel like I can do just about anything.

Will that entice me to clean my refrigerator?  Um, no.

Cables Building Block from Knitting Temptations - Day 2

Color me happy...

I find it amazing the effect color has on me.  For a woman whose closet sports mostly grey, black, and brown, I'm genuinely impacted by color.  There is something about the bright turquoise, the cheery "Aqua Mint" of this yarn.  Truly, I have the sensation of the color choosing me rather than the other way around--hasn’t every knitter walked into a store and had a fiber pull at them in such an emotional way?

For a cable project, color is an important consideration--there's a reason the traditional Aran sweater is done in cream. Sure, it's the natural color of most sheep yarn, but the design would never show up on a darker color.  Or a patterned yarn--I tried a pair cabled mittens in a grey tweed with dismal results.

What is it about color?  Lots of things play on our emotional response to color.  The folks at LUSH, one of my favorite bath and skincare product companies, have dived into the cosmetics market with a spiffy line called "Emotional Brilliance." I fell for their wheel-spinning color choosing gimmick (much like the "turn the wheel and tell me the first thing you see” thing from Chocolat) loving the evocative names each color was given.  Try it for yourself here.

Part of what makes us yarn people is our powerful response to color and texture. We want to spend time with it, near it, pondering it.  It takes us hours to select bathroom tile, we need to touch things to purchase them, and we have trouble understanding the lure of the Home Shopping Network.  You can't touch the scarf on your television screen.  Is this true for you, too? Or are you just the opposite?

I love touching this yarn.  I crave the lushness of the bamboo, the cozy loft of my stitches, the creamy texture against my fingers.  Tactile Xanax, this stuff--a dose of calm and cheer no matter where I am and what I'm facing.  Making beauty, at least for me, is always the best medicine.

Cables Building Block from Knitting Temptations - Day 1

Hospital Knitting...

I truly believe in Providence, even when it extends to knitting.  While I can’t say I’m really surprised, I must say I am always delighted when the perfect knitting project finds its way onto my needles at just the right time.  Think what you will, I’ll always maintain that Divine Intervention made sure the Cables Building Block was this week’s project.

Three minor surgeries on three Pleiters in three days?  That’s enough stress to send anyone to their needles, wouldn’t you say?  Still, anyone who’s ever spent any time in a hospital knows how much waiting is involved.  And with an imagination like mine, waiting without occupation leads to nothing but worrying.  

As such, I’ve got four requirements of “hospital knitting:”

1) cheerful color

2) entertaining but not overwhelming pattern

3) rapid results, and 

4) a really lush-feeling fiber

My Cables Building Block from Michelle Hunter's Building Blocks knocks it out of the park on all four counts.  A Fiber Grand Slam, if you will.  I love the perky turquoise (actually, it's "Aqua Mint") of my HiKoo Simpliworsted , and its light-bright shade shows off the cables to perfection.  Cables are one of my favorite fiber parlor tricks--impressive but not terribly complicated.  Only one row in seven requires serious concentration, but oh what magic that row wields.  Size 10 needles means you see progress fast, and the lovely soft springiness of the HiKoo wove calm optimism around my fingers as I sat in procedure rooms and waiting rooms.

As coping mechanisms and sedatives go, yarn is still one of the healthiest around.  Positive, productive, and 100% calorie free. 

As for "habit-forming"...

Knit Along: Pimpelliese Shawlette from Grinny Possum - Day 1

It's easy being green...

While I love an intricate, brain-taxing pattern for its “I did it!” results, there’s a special place in my heart for simple patterns that manage to pull off some panache.  This shawlette is mostly garter stitch in nice, decent-sized needles and fiber that make a lovely change from all the intricate sock knitting from my last project.  Larger size needles make for satisfyingly fast progress, too.  I’m happy to put down my size 2 needles for a while, believe me.

The sawtooth edging, accomplished mostly with a wax and wane of yarn-over increases and binding off of stitches, is fancy without being fussy.  Some shawls make you look like you don’t belong anywhere in the 20th century (not necessarily a bad thing if you’re a romance author, but it does tend to draw stares in the grocery store).  This design, combined with the near-funky lime green color I chose, feels just hip enough to loose the frilly-factor.  

While the pattern isn’t simple enough to be memorized (at least for my aging brain cells), its 12-row repeat fits easily on an index card for transportable knitting.  Will it get unwieldy as I make my way down to the thick tip of this triangular shawlette?  Stick around, I’ll let you know.

Knit Along: Barb’s Koigu Ruffle Scarf from Knitty City - Day 4

Fiber amnesia...

You forget so easily.

You’re chugging along at 120-some-odd stitches, thinking what a lovely little project this is, and suddenly stitches are reproducing like rabbits.  Before you know it, you’re back at a numbing 648 stitches and rows take 30 minutes.  Suddenly it’s not so fun.  You think, “thank goodness there’s no picot bind-off, I might faint.”  You stare at the ripples and inform them they’d better look as cute as the first ones after you’ve gone to such trouble.  And, in my case, you stare at the all-too-tiny ball of yarn you have left and think you might not make it.  You have another ball of yarn at home but you want this baby finished now.

At which point your husband will surely groan and say, “Hon, you’re on VACATION.  Ease up a bit, will you?”  And give you a look that could be loosely translated to “get off that laptop before I rip it out of your hands.”

Bye for now--but don’t forget to comment so you can win!

Knit Along: Cabled Hand Mitts from Mass Ave Knit Shop - Day 4

Reading Palms

Oh, my, but it got tricky.  Not only was I keeping track of where I was in the cable pattern, but I had to make sure I was increasing the correct number of stitches for the thumbs.  Two at a time.  This was definitely a challenge to the brain cells.  

I read somewhere that such tasks keep our brains active and growing, decreasing the chances that we’ll end up confused old ladies with too many cats wandering the yarn aisles at discount superstores.  I hope that’s true. I want to end up the quirky-yet-elegant older woman sauntering down the fiber arts fair aisle waving to my adoring fans.  Yes, well, I do have an active imagination. 

All that mental sprinting wasn’t too long, thankfully.  Two inches at most, and they were those exciting, “almost to the end” two inches at that.  It was fun to watch the palm of the mitts take shape literally in my hands.  As much fun as turning a sock heel, without all those maddening short rows.  I was smiling as I hit the rounds requiring the K1P1 ribbing, grinning as I bound off.  I must admit to some worry about the bind off--I tend to bind off too tightly and that would ruin these--but it came out just fine.  

The cozy softness of the yarn continues to astound, as does the lush color.  These are going to be fall favorites--I suspect I’ll have to hide them from my college daughter when she comes home from thanksgiving.  I could see them equally yummy in a fuzzy white mohair, maybe even with a bit of sparkle to them.  You could go a dozen directions with these--elegant, funky, cozy, dramatic--and they would all work.  That’s the mark of a good pattern.

All I’ve got left now is the ribbing around the thumbs.  I can’t wait to see them finished!

Knit Along: Cabled Hand Mitts from Mass Ave Knit Shop - Day 3

While I admit it took a bit of concentration, once I got the rhythm down it wasn’t that hard to manage both mitts at the same time. Truly.  Since the cable takes place at the same place in the round of both mitts, it was simply making sure I knew where I was each round.  While it took me almost a whole week to work my way through the seven inches of cabling, I got it done without major incident.  Yes, I lost my place once or twice, somehow dropped a stitch somewhere in the fifth inch, but managed to track back and fix my errors in both incidences. I love the vibrant color, the yarn is thick and soft, and the weather is just starting to turn truly chilly here in Chicago.  Perfection.

Now, things get a bit trickier.  

It’s sort of like one of those aerobics classes I so successfully avoid.  We’ve gotten the “feet” down, knowing our cable steps, so know we’re going to “add the arms.”  I’m not that coordinated.  This is where I mess up in dance routines--it had better not be where I mess up in mitts.  While I still continue on my lovely eight row cable pattern, I’m going to throw a thumb in there. In two different places. As a matter of fact, the way my stitches are divided on my circ, it will be on the “front” of one mitt and the “back” of another--see those white stitch markers (yes, I had to incorporate a third color!).  Which makes perfect sense when you look at it from a left- and right-hand perspective, but takes a bit of staring at just on knitting needles.  I did several of those “are you sure?” takes to my pattern, re-reading the instructions while gawking at my needles.

Yes, I’m sure.  My thumbs are right where they should be, opposable and all.  Onward!

Keep those comments coming...cool stuff is waiting for you!

Knit Along: Cabled Hand Mitts from Mass Ave Knit Shop - Day 1

Relentless...

Yes, I changed my mind.  I took a look at my schedule and for various reasons it made more sense to do these mitts first and save the Super Scarf for my trip to the Kentucky Book Fair in November.

So after careful consideration, I embarked on the fingerless mits of Susan’s design from Mass Ave Knits.  Now I have been called “persistent” many times.  Actually, I’ve been called “relentless,” although that doesn’t sound nearly as virtuous as persistent.  In truth, I am both.  So it made perfect sense to continue my strategy of doing both items of anything that came in pairs simultaneously.  After all, if you can do two socks on one circ, can’t you do two mitts?

Sounded plausible, until I realized these mitts have a left and a right.  That stopped me in my tracks.  Until my engineer husband looked at me and said, “so just do both sets of directions at the same time.”  Just like that.  Like it’d be a piece of cake for someone with a decent intellect.  In response, and in a decision I might come to deeply regret sometime in the near future, I agreed.  Two sets of directions at one time? How hard can it be?

The last time I asked “How hard can it be?” I ended up a romance author.  I have a very colorful history with that question.  Those with delicate constitutions might just want to stop following this blog and go spend that time at LOLCATS.com or something.  I decided to use my Denise interchangeable needles so that if I had to shift stitches like I did on the Comin Round the Mountain socks, I could separate the cable to make adjustments (see?  I learn from my mistakes.).  Granted, I’ve only gotten as far as the first eight rows of ribbing, but its going fine.

Now I get to introduce a new feature at DestiKNITions:  the giveaway!  Every comment posted during the installments of this Knit-Along will get an entry in a drawing for this exceedingly cool knitting bag from Mass Ave Knit Shop.  Nice and deep, a clever shoulder strap, and places for your pen, highlighter, and Frappuccino bottle.  As an added bonus, I’ll tuck a copy of my most recent novella Bluegrass Easter inside.  The novella features a knitting librarian sheep farmer as the charming heroine.  

Play nice now, only one comment per person per episode.  Still, with a six-episode Knit Along like this you can score yourself six chances to win.  Pretty nice odds!

Knit Along: Traveling Vines Scarf from Magpie Yarns - Day 2

Progress and props...

The good thing about a 12-row repeat is that it doesn’t tax your brain cells. The bad thing is that after the first foot or so, it doesn’t offer much adventure. While in my crazy world that makes for peaceful knitting (“oh, look hon, I’ve done a whole foot and I haven’t made any colossal errors!”), it doesn’t make for exciting writing. I’m sure you all find it much more entertaining when I goof it up. And, while it is a small consolation, I do often say to myself, “oh, well, at least it’s blog material.” But after ripping out twelve rows of itty bitty stitches, it’s small consolation indeed. So, my perfection is your loss. Try to cope and I’ll try to find some way to spice things up.

Which I have indeed done, because today we’re going to talk about gadgets. I’ve been pleased to put several of my new toys into play on this project. Some of them, like the Signature needles and the spiffy handy KnitKit, you’ve already heard me rave over. Today’s addition holds the whole enchilada: Namaste’s stunning project bags. Yes, they are simply silver mesh rectangles with snaps on top--but they’re so much more. Like everything Namaste does, they’re thoughtfully designed. The mesh is fine enough not to welcome even the sharpest of point to wander through and snag in your handbag. You can clearly see what’s inside. And things lay out so nicely in the flat-enough-but-not-too-flat construction. In short, these do a simple job exceedingly well.

Going to the other extreme, I’m going to tout one of the joys of parental knitting. Namely teen or tween parental knitting: orthodontic rubber bands. Those bitsy bands you pay some professional thousands of dollars to stretch over your offspring’s teeth also make exceptional small-sized stitch markers. Put to tremendous use on my last tiny-needled sock project. They’re flexible, boast just the right bit of grip-to-slip ratio, and chances are you can easily filch a dozen from your teen’s medicine cabinet without him or her even noticing. An orthodontic knitting benefit! Who’d have thunk it?

What do you press into service for your knitting that didn’t start life as a knitting gadget? Come on, DestiKNITers, I’d like to hear your “knitting uses for everyday objects.”

Knit Along: Mega Cable Scarf from Stitch DC - Day 2

Mission accomplishment

Yesterday was one of those days where n-o-t-h-i-n-g got accomplished. A sick child absconded with my day--as children in need are supposed to do, so don’t get me wrong--but I was exhausted by the time evening rolled around. You know those days where you look at the list of things you were planning to get done and this horrible empty hole takes over your insides? I remember when the kids were very young, my husband would come home and ask the Worst of All Questions: “What did you do today?” A wise friend advised me to grin...ahem grit my teeth...and answer “I got through it.” Those kinds of days happen all the time when our children are very young. Much less when they’re older...but it still happens. The resurgence begins again when our elderly parents and their emergencies begin to abscond with our days, too. No one blames the causal parties, it’s just the way things are.

Those days are the best days of all to find a tiny sliver of time and knit. And this kind of chunky, cheerful scarf is just the perfect project. Quick pace, lots of progress, and a happy, energetic color. Knitting, unlike lots of life, stays knitted. Life has a pesky habit of coming unraveled the moment we turn our backs. Unless you have a curious child or a devious cat in the house, your knitting is likely to stay knitted. You see progress. A six inch span of creation that you have, despite all the forces working against you, accomplished.

And that is a very satisfying thing indeed.

Knit-Along: Elemental Changes Scarf from Aylin’s Woolgatherer - Day 3

Ah, imperfection...

Section B was delightfully uneventful. Well, except for the part where I think I did a row twice and flipped the work over, but since this is essentially symmetrical and reversible, no real harm was done.

Which brings me to an essential truth of knitting: lives are not at stake here.

Perfection isn’t necessarily what we’re after. I’m a big proponent of the Zimmerman saying, “if a man running for his life wouldn’t notice it, it’s not a mistake.”

That’s not to say that I don’t go back and correct things when I find them. I do. But I’m not likely to pull out 15 rows to fix a non-catastrophic error. If it’s really going to mess things up, I’ll fix it. But if it isn’t likely to cause great harm, I’ll embrace the imperfection that is my life and keep on with it.

This, I understand, is what made Julia Child the culinary sensation that she was (although I’ve yet to catch the movie Julie and Julia but it is on my “go see” list). Julia didn’t expect perfection, just enjoyment. That’s how I approach my knitting. With two teenagers in my life, perfection left the building a couple of months ago. Enjoyment is a worthy goal. And yes, enjoyment does include getting it right, just not at the expense of my sanity. And my sanity needs to make progress on its knitting.

It’s the pesky double daisy motif that’s doing me in, and I have three more chances to perfect my technique (more if I plan to lengthen the scarf, which I’m seriously considering doing because I’ve got the yarn and at six feet tall, I’ve got the altitude). The Fat Lady ain’t sung a single note yet, kiddos.

The other life lesson here--one especially true of both teenagers and lacework--is that something isn’t finished until it’s finished. What it looks like now isn’t a true indicator of what it will look like washed and blocked. “Raw” lacework often resembles a fuzzy jellyfish, all puckered and inelegant. Once it’s blocked and stretched, it’s a whole new animal--delicate and elegant and all those things we want when we knit lacework. Teenagers are the same way. What they look like now is only the “raw” form of the adult. They, too, have to stretch and soak to find their elegance. I’d do well--as a mother and a knitter--to extend a little grace and patience on all fronts.

On to Section C...