Knit Along: Mystery Pattern Neck Comforter from Knitche - Day 1

Victim to Victor...

It’s happened. You’re knitting along with some luscious hand-dyed yarn--let’s say booties for your brand new niece--and suddenly you’re staring at an obnoxious blob of blue on what will be her adorable left toe. There isn’t that much blue in the yarn when you look at the hank, but suddenly there’s very boyish blue reproducing like an ink stain on your very girly booties.

You’ve become a victim of “pooling” or “stacking”--when colors pile up in ways we don’t want. You grunt and scowl. It’s happens.

But what if you wanted it to happen? Sought it out for a specific visual impact? Yes, really. That’s why Kniche owner Kathy Ticho is such a great person...she makes things like this happen. Takes ordinary knitting scenarios--problems even--and turns them into art. Suddenly that sequence of hand-dying becomes the means to an end, and you get this cool tie-die effect.

Sure, it’s just a block of fisherman’s rib stitching, but when you take that simple rectangle and throw this color magic on top, plus add a clever little off-center binding Kathy’s devised, you get a spiffy accessory.

Lorna’s Laces makes luscious yarn. That’s truth, by the way, not just some fiber tongue-twister. It’s also a local company, and I love that I chose the colorway called Edgewater. I used to live near that neighborhood in my days before suburbanite mommy-dom. So I happily wound my yarn and cast on. It only took me two rows to get my fingers around the “knit one below” pattern of the fisherman’s rib, and I was especially glad I chose needles with nice sharp points. I like the balance here--not too much thinking, but still not mind-numbing stockinette or garter. Good knitting for the conference I was attending.

I’m very pleased so far. We’ll see what happens as we venture forward.

Knit Along: Mohair Shrug from Showers of Flowers - DONE!

Ah-HA!

Well, perhaps a qualified ah-ha.

I finished it...with a few modifications. I did four pattern rows instead of five because the shrug felt just too big--all the way to my elbows--with the fifth row. And the fact that I had only hours until the party may have had something to do with it. For the same “volume of fluff” reason, I opted for a button closure rather than the ties called for in the pattern, but more because I had this really cool purple button than any time-saving inclination. It’s a stunning piece, and very warm. I wore it to a winter party with a sleeveless shell and was quite toasty. This will be my Christmas Eve adornment, I’ve decided. All in all, I’m happy with the results.

Will I go full-tilt knit-til-you-drop like that again? Probably not. I'm glad to know I can pull it off, but it took all the fun out of it to knit until my fingers hurt. While I did get very far in my audiobook version of Diana Gabaldon’s Echo in the Bone (and that’s a 45 hour audiobook!), it was just too much knitting. All achievement of product and no enjoyment of process. Still, I had a point to make. So much of my life has defaulted to “Plan B” lately that it felt insanely satisfying for something to go the way I originally planned. The shrug was as much emotional statement as it was fashion statement.

Two tips I’d offer:

1. The directions aren’t quite clear that you are doing the “knit one below” pattern on every row. Once I got that straight, then things went nicely. When I thought I had to just knit the wrong side rows, it just looked like a tangled mess.
2. With so fuzzy a yarn, it was definitely hard to see which stitches were knit and which were “knit one below.” I ended up putting markers every ten stitches just so I could count back easily when I needed to (which was often).

This piece taught me a lot. I learned a new skill, I learned when to go for broke to finish a piece and what’s gained from such a commitment. I learned I don’t like knitting for hours on end, up against a deadline, because us writers have way too many deadlines in our lives as it is. But I also learned that sometimes, knitting is the one thing in life you can control...and some days, that’s priceless.

Next up from Denver? An adorable, light-hearted needle-felted sheep. The perfect counterpoint to massive-scale knitting.

If I don’t stab my finger. Band-Aids at the ready...

Knit Along: Mohair Shrug from Showers of Flowers - Day 1

Marvel or Muppet?

Let me just begin by saying this is very fuzzy. You expect that from a mohair--it’s why you knit with the stuff, to get that halo of fiber around your work--but there’s fuzzy and there’s f-u-z-z-y. I have to admit, this is sort of the moment when you wonder if you’ll end up with a marvel of texture...or a Muppet.


It’s too soon to tell, and you can never really judge a yarn until it’s washed and blocked, but there’s a niggling little doubt in the back of my mind that this won’t waft around my shoulders like a cloud. A healthy skepticism, not an outright rejection. You’ve heard me talk about yarn first-dates before--you remember my soap-opera worthy relationship with Hiya-Hiya 7” circs, don’t you? Now’s only the first date. The amazing colorway still has enough intrigue to keep me coming back for more. I’ve got a Christmas party for my writing group in about two weeks, and I’m shooting to wear this. I’m a writer, after all--I live and die by deadlines.

Ah, but deadlines and drama do not play together nicely. And my family seems to be specializing in drama. The beauty of it is that knitting and drama do play together nicely. As a matter of fact, I don’t think Mama could handle the drama if it weren’t for her knitting. Parent teacher conferences? Bring ‘em on. Report cards? You can’t scare me. Delayed flights or hospital waiting rooms? Just begging for some knitting.

I love projects that add to my toolbox. Patterns that nudge me to learn a new skill are the best of all. This one required me to learn the “knit one below” technique that was all the rage at Stitches Midwest when I was there earlier this year. I’m not sure you can see the full effect in all that variegated fuzziness, but I’m willing to give it another couple of inches. Even if it makes little or no difference to the untrained eye, I’m glad to have that new stitch in my repertoire.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!