1. Handknit socks go great with Tevas
2. Always match your current project to the sunset.
Category: knitting
Tuesday Project Roundup: Birthday Knitting
While knitting one of the socks I was making for Doc’s pop (that rhyme never gets old), I asked Doc if he’d like me to knit something for him. Because he is a polite person, he said yes. So about two weeks before his birthday I got the idea to make him a hat.
Making a secret project under a deadline meant that I was knitting at work during meetings, I was knitting in the car at lunch, I was knitting up until two days before the birthday when I finished with just three yards to spare.
He seems to like it (but again, he is a polite person), the pattern was a fun knit, and he looks very handsome in it. I was really pleased that he asked, “Is this wool? It’s so soft!” because I used some nice Woolfolk “Tov” Ultimate Merino with all kinds of Orvis certifications and micron counts. (One skein was enough for a hat. Barely.)
In conclusion: Doc is fun to knit for, hat is soft, birthdays are good.
This Week, I’d Rather Be Knitting
Anyone else feeling the crunch? Clients rushing to spend their 2016 budgets, presents to wrap, January 20th creeping closer every day… no wonder I just want to knit.
“Now, let us all take a deep breath and forge on into the future; knitting at the ready.”
Elizabeth Zimermann, The Opinionated Knitter
Tuesday Project Planning: Wearing Blankets
The current projects in both my sewing and knitting queues are big, blanket-y cardigans. Because winter is cold and the days are short and life feels a little foreboding, and sometimes you just want to wear a blanket.
For sewing, I have some sweater knit coming to experiment with the Sabel Boyfriend Cardi PDF pattern:
And for knitting, I used a gift card to get some fancy Brooklyn Tweed yarn to make the Iba Cardigan:
I think I’ll lengthen both projects by four to six inches for maximum blanket effect.
Tuesday Project Roundup: Kind Of
Well, I finished the “Om Shawl” I started back in July, which is good; and it was fun to knit, which I guess is the overall point. But my substituting a lighter weight yarn means it’s all a little smaller than the designer photos–and I definitely made the middle section too short, so it’s hard to really wrap around you as it was originally shown:
It’s been blocked and stretched with extreme prejudice in this picture and I think I’ll sew buttons on and try to wear it as a poncho. But if it just doesn’t work out, Toby’s going to get a lovely new blanket.
Socking Along
This year’s Christmas socks for Doc’s pop have a “1970’s appliance” color theme and are coming right along:
I even figured out how to get the stripes to match on the pair. Groovy!
Project Poncho Is A Go
I’m nearly done with my big scarf and I like it so much I think I’ll try the poncho pattern pattern from that designer, as previously discussed.
But what color? I have a gift card to the yarn store so can afford the recommended yarn, Brooklyn Tweed Shelter. I’m thinking a neutral? But that dark gold is calling to me, too.
One ticket to Poncho Town, coming up!
To Poncho Or Not To Poncho?
That is the question. And I think it gets asked about every year this time, namely: Do I want to spend a lot of time knitting something with potentially limited wearability? My inner hippie wants one and I never was brave enough to wear one of the baja hoodies back in the 90s, so maybe that explains the allure. Or the fact that this one just looks so comfy (and the knitwear designer is modeling the hell out of it):
The older I get, the more I’m ok with wearing blankies and comfy shoes.
Tuesday Project Planning: Socks For Everyone
I got some sock yarn for the next pair for Doc’s dad because it is September in 8 days (let’s not even talk about that). He’s getting the 70’s appliance colors on the right, which is a nice thick sock yarn. I also got the skein on the left for me for the distant future, because the colorway translates to “saffron crocus” and because I never met a dollar I didn’t like to spend.
(Yarn from Webs–Opal “Sweet & Spicy 3, Safran” and Regia “6-Ply Color, Nature”.)
Tuesday Project Progress: What Am I Knitting?
For the first time in a year or so, I’m knitting something that’s not a sock!
Don’t get too excited, though; it’s just going to be a scarf (the “Om Shawl” by Andrea Mowry). I went a size smaller with the yarn so I’m not sure it’s going to be as dramatic as the designer photos, but I hope it’ll still be big enough to poncho-ize it as shown in the last photo.
I’m amazed at how fast this is going–there’s something to be said for using big needles instead of sock needles.