Peppercorn Bracelet the Second

On the same day I wrote about the first Peppercorn Bracelet, my mom sent me an email asking me to make one for her too. My Mom’s absolutely awesome so she went to the top of the list. When I was out and about searching for yarn, I found the perfect bronze-colored glass beads in a yarn shop. A good trip.

This Peppercorn Bracelet worked up even faster than the first. Using the recommended number of beads will do that. The second reason was because I switched to a crochet hook instead of using double pointed needles. Working fine hemp cord with the DPN’s was hard on the fingers. The needles poked holes in my skin and left my finger tips sore. Using a crochet hook made the whole process pain free and wonderfully fast. I was able to finish the whole bracelet in an afternoon instead of having to space the work out over several days. 

After making two of these, especially from hemp, I can tell you that there is one step that absolutely can not be skipped - blocking. When the bracelet is fresh off the needles or the hook, it’s going to twist and curl up on itself. It won’t lay or hang well and it certainly won’t look its best. The one minute it takes to block the piece is well worth it. Put the bracelet under water just long enough to get it wet. Tug the ends a few times to straighten it out and hang the bracelet up to dry. That’s it.

The Specs

Pattern: Peppercorn Bracelet by Kourtney Robinson

Yarn: Fine Hemp Cord

Beads: Mill Hill size 6/0 seed beads, 16606

Hook: 2.75 MM

Checking In

Way back in January, which isn’t as far away as it seems, I shared my pattern design goals for 2014.  The last day of March seemed like as good a time as any to check in, take stock, and stay accountable.

I only had one major goal, to design and release 1 pattern every 2 months. We’re 3 months into 2014 and I haven’t released a single knitting pattern. Good thing I didn’t push myself to release a pattern a month or I’d be really dejected right now. The thing is, I’ve been putting in the work. The first pattern I worked on this year is finished aside from the final necessary steps - the layout, proofreading, editing, and photography stuff. Still a lot of work to be done but those tiny little balls of yarn are proof that the knitting is finished. The pattern itself won’t be released until Summer is on it’s way out. Maybe I can come up with a name by then. Why does coming up with a good name have to be so hard?  

The second pattern of the year was a set of kitchen towels and washcloths that I submitted to Holla Knits. These towels were the first pattern that I’ve ever submitted for publication by someone else. Submitting a design was a goal I’ve had for a long time and a hidden goal for this year. Dropping the swatches in the mail box was exciting and nerve-racking at the same time. The set wasn’t accepted but it’ll be showing up here just as soon as I finish the samples and put the finishing touches on the pattern. Just might be my first release of the year. 

As for other patterns, I’ve been sketching and taking notes as soon as the ideas popped into my head. A few skeins of my recent handspun have been brilliant inspiration. I’ve even resurrected a few older patterns from my notes and WIP bin. Some of them I’m ripping out because they’re just not as exciting or likable since the novelty wore off. Still others have reclaimed some brain space so I can get back to puzzling out the details. The next few months are going to be busy with pattern knitting and writing. Plenty of ripping too. I’m sure of that. 

Even after 3 months, I still feel like I’m just getting started but at least I’ve got some momentum. There have been more small successes behind the scenes to keep me going then there have been disappointments to hold me back. When I was feeling complacent and lazy, this interview with Alex Tinsley over on the Loopy Ewe blog was a swift kick in the pants. I’ve read it several times and I’m sure I’ll be coming back to it when I would rather be be a giant, lazy lump. Until then, there’s no time like the present to get serious and get things done. So, I’m sticking with my original goal of releasing 1 pattern every 2 months. It’s not going to be easy or quick but it’s worth the effort. 

Peppercorn Bracelet

In a perfect world, I’d be writing about how I cast on for the Peppercorn Bracelet as soon as the beads and the cord were in hand. The pattern photos are lovely. All the projects on Ravelry are very complimentary. However, I strung the beads in January and then the whole thing sat on a shelf until I was infected by sudden fit of reorganization. Finally knitting the bracelet seemed like a much better idea than stuffing it into a bag and forgetting about it for another month or two. Glad I did.

Over the next few days, I knit on it at least 5 beads at a time. The hemp cord I subbed in for yarn was a bit hard on the hands and not just because it lacked any stretch. I was poking holes in my fingers trying to get one stitch over the other. The finished bracelet is definitely worth the effort though because I love wearing it. It’s dangly and the hemp cord has a nice drape. Even better, the bracelet’s extra long since I used every bead I had. Why let the extras take up space on that shelf I was trying to  reorganize? Made the end ties longer too so it sits at the perfect spot on my wrist. 

I like wearing this bracelet so much that I’m definitely going to make more as gifts. They don’t take much cord/yarn, I get to play with pretty beads, and my friends get a nice bracelet. Everyone wins. 

The Specs

Pattern: Peppercorn Bracelet by Kourtney Robinson

Yarn: fine hemp cord

Beads: Toho Seed Beads 6/0

Needles: 2.5 mm DPN’s

To The Frog Pond

All I wanted was my favorite knitting bag. The pretty one with the pockets, snaps, needle loops, and enough space for all the yarn. So, I dug it out and, when I opened it up, found a forgotten project, the Bilateral Cardigan. It’s my only serious attempt at knitting a sweater because the pattern seemed easy and forgiving in fit. Instead of casting on at the neck, you knit two hexagons, creatively sew them together, and end up with a short-sleeved, cropped cardi. This explains why the one piece, which is way too big, looks more like a blanket then a sweater.

It’s been 2 years, almost to the day, from when I cast on and I don’t want to wear the finished object anymore. I’m still very much in love with the yarn, Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool, though. Yesterday, I happily ripped out every single yarn and wound the yarn. Then I went to Ravelry to find a pattern for a cropped, light weight cardigan. An old favorite from my queue, Amiga, jumped to the top of my list. Don’t tell anyone but I may have already started swatching.

Breaking for a Bracelet

I’m a big fan of taking a break when necessary. Complicated problems, finicky questions, and pesky knitting designs can be hard to solve in one sitting. Instead of beating my head against the same spot on the wall, I go for a walk, play a game, and do my best to simply ignore the damn thing for awhile. It’s better to come back with a fresh mind and make time for the flash of inspiration to strike. 

The current pesky problem? My latest work-in-progress design. Things were doing so well too. My swatches were truthful and I had enough yarn; the only thing left to do was cast on. Several thousand stitches later, a tiny detail about knitting in the round threw the whole project for a loop. The only thing to do, besides from rip it all out, was to do something else. 

Enter the Peppercorn Bracelet by Kourtney Robinson. I picked up the supplies for it last month and last weekend seemed like the perfect time to get started. My only mod is to use fine hemp cord instead of yarn. By the way, collapsable eye needles for stringing beads are definitely worth the money.

The weekend away and a little mindless knitting seems to have done the trick. I have an easy, wonderful solution and the pattern is back on track. Still have to rip out the first attempt though. Send reinforcements. 

Christmas Knits

Before it’s definitely old news, I did knit a few things for Christmas. I didn’t feel any obligation to knit for everyone on my list so there were no crazy deadlines to stress over. The projects were small, simple, and only took a few hours of dedicated work. I hope I remember this lesson for 2014’s holiday season. 

The first projects off my needles were a set of kitchen towels for a friend who recently bought a house. I used one ball of Knit Picks Dishie, US 6 needles, and two of my own patterns: the Laddered Cloths and the Bridges Kitchen Towel. 

The Cornered Slouch Hat, a pattern I released last December, was also a Christmas gift and I was incredibly tempted to keep it for myself. 

Then, there were stockings. 

Big & Stripey here only counts as Christmas knitting because, A, it’s a stocking, and, B, I knit it during Christmas. My other travel project wasn’t working out and I wanted to just knit something. Decided I wanted to make a stocking with stripes and went from there. It was a simple thing to keep my hands busy during long car rides and low-key gatherings. I’ll block it eventually. Probably, right before it’s time to hang it up 11 months from now. 

The tiny one continues my tradition of knitting a new ornament every year. I couldn’t resist putting a palm tree down the leg since the Bearded One and I have been surrounded by the things since we moved.

Now, no more talk from me about Christmas knitting until it’s time to start knitting for this year. The time will arrive sooner then it should. Always does. 

Design Goals

After reading numerous “Best Of” and 2013 showcase posts, I was inspired to make up a little gallery of my 2013 patterns. Here’s what I have to show off: The Cornered Slouch Hat.

And that’s it. Just one measly pattern. I had all these ideas in my head; some of which I sketched and swatched and started knitting. Out of all of these, the only pattern that saw the light of day was this hat. Disappointing? Yes. A kick in the pants? Definitely.

So, this year I’m setting a goal. My realistic side wants to design and release 6 patterns. That’s 1 pattern every 2 months. The crazy, overachiever part of me wants to push 1 pattern a month. I’m going to aim for something in the middle and see what happens. Some of the patterns will be ones that have been lingering on my needles and some will be the ones that I just have to cast on for right that second. 

The pattern currently dancing around on my needles is definitely one that I wanted to cast on for as soon as the idea popped into my head. Unfortunately, I wasn’t even in the same state as the yarn at the time and had to wait a few days. Turned out to be a good thing since I was able to mull the project over and work out a few details. Well, as well as details can be worked before the yarn hits the needles. Now I’m one swatch in and the whole thing is still a good idea. 2014 is off to a great start. 

Pattern: Cornered Slouch Hat

A quick, simple hat pattern is a great thing to have up your sleeve whether you have a great yarn or just 2 more knitting days until Christmas. Simple cast on. Simple ribbing. Simple stockinette. Simple crown decreases. Simple finishing. Let the yarn do all the hard work. 

I designed the hat to showcase a marled orange and blue beauty of a skein. The yarn was originally a pooling mess of fingering weight that I chain plied to create a lovely, marled aran weight. You can easily use any aran yarn that’ll give you 4 stitches to the inch or ply your stashed fingering weight yarn with the help of this tutorial. 

Cornered Slouch Hat

Sometimes, all you want is a simple, slouchy hat. Knit up a fun yarn or show off some handspun. This simple pattern with squared decreases is the perfect display for your favorite yarn. 

Thanks to the stretchiness of ribbing and stockinette, this hat will fit a wide variety of noggins. 

Sizes: 21” and 23”

Yarn: 110 - 130 yds of aran weight yarn

Needles: US 7 (4.5 mm) needles

Download Now

Counting Down

Just 15 days until Christmas, my dear knitting friends. I hope you're way ahead on all you're projects or at least close to being done. There's just one more thing on my very short knit list, a small ornament, and it should be finished by the weekend. I hope. 

If you're looking for a quick, last-minute gift, I recommend simple hats, mitts, washcloths, and sport weight socks.  They're great tv knitting and you can wrap them up in no time at all. 

Keep It Simple Hat

Keep It Simple Mitts

Happy Birthday! Socks

Slouchy Babe Hat

Laddered Cloths

Cthulu Rising Washcloths

Create Marled Yarn with Chain Plying

Ever fallen hard for a skein of variegated yarn? Yarn that’s beautiful in the skein, but, when knit, turns into a pooling and flashing mess. There are several ways to combat pooling yarn. You can stripe with another yarn or knit from alternate ends every 2 rows. You can change the gauge or slip stitches or do all manner of finicky things. What happens when none of that works and you’re ready to stuff into the very back of the closet?

I had about reached that point with a beautiful skein of orange and blue fingering weight yarn. The reason it didn’t end up forgotten in a closet was because my closet isn’t that big. Besides, my yarn stash is a bit too small to intentionally lose yarn. I tried tons of different tricks to get the colors not to pool but nothing really worked. I was about to move along to another project and a solid yarn when I came across Amy Christoffer’s Moxie Pullover. The sweater is knit with two different colors of yarn held together to create a lovely marled fabric. Why not ply that stubborn skein to create a marl? 

After starting a movie, I sat at my wheel and decided to chain-ply the yarn instead making a 2-ply. Didn’t want to risk the color repeats matching up in a 2-ply and creating a thicker yarn with the exact same pooling problems. Less than an hour later, I had a wonderful marled yarn that I wanted to knit with instead of intentionally misplacing. 

Short and Sweet Directions for Chain-Plying Marled Yarn

1. Figure out which way the yarn is plied. Commercial yarn is usually plied to the left, S twist, so you’ll need to chain ply to the right, Z twist. If you’re plying a single, spin to the left.

2. Wind the yarn into a center-pull ball.

3. Chain-ply. Use a wheel or a spindle, both work just fine. 

4. Once your finished plying, let the yarn rest for a day so the twist can settle into the yarn.

5. Wind the yarn into a skein.  Never mind the crazy tendrils.

6. Soak the skein in a cool water bath with wool wash or gentle soap. Rinse carefully if the yarn isn’t superwash.

7. Hang to dry.

Now the yarn is ready to be wound and knit up into marled goodness. FYI, chain plying will reduce the yardage by a third. This fingering yarn’s original 400 yards turned into about 133 yards of aran weight. So, instead of socks or a shawl, there’s enough yardage to knit a slouchy hat or a small cowl or fingerless mitts. Could even squeak out a small pair of slippers.  Bring on the marl!

Pooling Yarn and What To Do About It

It’s orange. It’s blue. It’s sock yarn and it’s been in my stash for years. I remember buying it way back when in 2009, folks. At the time, I wasn’t worried about how the colors would knit up because this yarn was going to socks. Simple socks too. Whether they were ribbed or plain stockinette, it didn’t matter if the colors pooled or flashed or did any other strange things. Skip forward 4 years to 2013 and the yarn that would be socks is going to be a shawl instead. That changes things a bit. Suddenly, how the colors knit up matters a lot. Pooling and flashing are things to be avoided at all costs. 

What exactly is pooling and flashing? Pooling is when colors clump together and knit up into big splotches, AKA pools or puddles, of color. Flashing is similar to pooling in that colors clump but will stripe and move around like a bolt of lightening in your knitting.

So, I swatched the yarn by casting on for a top down shawl just to see what the colors would do. Once I got a few rows into the pattern, there was pooling and puddling. Puddles so big you’d have to jump across them if you found them in a parking lot. Even then, you’d probably still end up in ankle deep water. So, I ripped out the shawl and started experimenting with different and easy ways to mess with the color repeats. 

The variegated yarn I’m using, Kaleidoscope, was dyed by Blue Ridge Yarns and has the very appropriate color name of ‘War Eagle’. Most of the skein is dyed with short repeats of orange and blue where each color is 3” - 4”. Then there is a long section where each color is 12” long.

THE FIRST SWATCH

The first swatch and two other swatches were knit using the pattern below. Needle size was also the same except for the third swatch.

• Cast on 40 stitches with the long tail cast on. 
• Knit 4 rows of garter.
• Knit 30 rows of stockinette.
• Knit 4 more rows of garter and bind off.

The first swatch, knit on 2.75 mm needles, was knit to establish a baseline. It’s important to know how the yarn knits up if left to its own devices. Both colors make little pools but are interrupted by the longer sections of color. Certainly doesn’t look bad but what it doesn’t work for your project? First option, stripes.

THE SECOND SWATCH

 Instead of knitting with one of the skein for the entire project, knit 2 rows with one end and 2 rows with the opposite end. If you have more than one ball of yarn, knit 2 rows with one ball and 2 rows with another ball. 

If the project is worked in the round, there’s one more option that is rather fiddly when knitting flat. Alternate the working yarn every row. You won’t have to worry about jogs or any of the other tell-tale signs of stripes since you’re working with the same colors. 

Switching the ends every 2 rows didn’t really work for this swatch since it created a textbook example of flashing; exactly what I’m trying to avoid. There is another option though.

THE THIRD SWATCH

The third way to affect color in knitting: change the gauge. This last swatch is knit the same as the first but at a much larger gauge on 4mm needles. There’s a little pooling and a flashing but neither dominates the knitting. They kind of meld together to make a more cohesive whole. 

Just be aware that changing the gauge might not always work for a project. You could get away with adding 2 extra stitches per row to a garter stitch scarf. Adding or subtracting 2 extra stitches per 4” on a sweater is a recipe for disaster. So, if you like how a yarn knits up at a certain gauge don’t try to force the yarn and an incompatible pattern together. Find a different pattern that matches your preferred gauge and make something you truly enjoy.

CONCLUSION

The easiest options for combatting pooling and flashing in knitting are alternating the yarn ends every 1 or 2 rows and changing the gauge. All yarn is different, especially hand dyed yarn, and the only way to figure out the best option is to swatch. See what happens, experiment, and have a little fun with it. Don’t think of swatching as wasted knitting time. Swatching is like meeting someone new for coffee before going on a week long camping trip with them. There are some things you just need to know first.  

Mistakes Were Made

Normally, this is where I would wax poetic about knitting with your own handspun. I’d talk about the spinning, the plying, the joy of custom yarn, the yada, yada, yada. Along with this ode would be a series of teasing photos which would show color and stitches but leave the project to the imagination. After all, I did pull the pattern from my imagination so the details have to remain hidden for the time being.  

I’d love to leave you with this photo of colorful garter stitch but it just isn’t meant to be. Instead, I’ll leave you with this pile of ripped yarn. Can’t be helped. Mistakes and ripping come hand in hand when writing knitting patterns. There is good news though. The yarn handled ripping well and I’m back to knitting it up. Might just have a finished pattern and a new shawl soon despite my mistakes. 

Handspun, Ready to Cast On

It’s only been a month and a half since I finished spinning this fractal yarn for Tour de Fleece 2013. I spent days trying to find just the right pattern that would show it off and use up every last bit of the skein. Didn’t have any luck so I decided to design a pattern just for this yarn. After weeks of knitting and ripping and knitting and ripping out stunt yarn, I finally have a pattern. Well, most of one. All the big, important details are there; now, I just have to get knitting to figure out the small, important details. 

Over the weekend, since I’m still swift-less in California, I wound the yarn over the backs of two chairs. Thankfully, I have a ball winder so it didn’t take too long to wind all 512 yards. It’s been nice to just look at the yarn in this new form and admire all the different stripes. Since this is just the second time I’ll be knitting with my own handspun, I’m relishing each step as I take it. So excited to cast on.

Tips for Christmas Knitting

 I hate to break the news but it’s September and summer is unofficially over. Now for the worse news. There are only 112 days until Christmas, 108 days until Winter Solstice, and a scant 86 days till Hanukkah. Please don’t hurt me, I’m only the messenger. 

I come bearing a few tips to make knitting and crafting through the coming months a little easier. The holiday season is filled with enough stress and knitting should help reduce instead of add to it.

• Plan your projects. Write a list of everyone you want to knit or craft for and what you’ll be making for them. Planning this stuff out now, will spare you the hassle of figuring it out later. The list doesn’t have to be finished in one sitting. You can add or subtract from it as you go. Just don’t add too much later.  
• Make a schedule. Set some realistic goals and build your stockpile of awesome knitted gift goodness over the coming months. Start the big stuff now to get it out of the way and give yourself an extra boost when you finish. Leave the small potato chip knitting that you can’t put down for when you feel like doing anything but knitting.
• Gather your supplies. Need yarn, needles, or random notions? Buy it or find it and put everything in one place. When you’re ready to start a new project or finish one, you’ll have everything you need. There are better things to do at midnight than rummaging around for a tapestry needle. Like sleeping or watching Doctor Who marathons. 
• Start now. You don’t have to cast on right this minute but start thinking and planning your projects when you still have the breathing room.  

I’ve only just started my holiday knitting/crafting list and winding the first skein of yarn. It’s a pretty short list and will probably stay that way. Anyone have grand plans or ideas for the next few months?

A Slouchy Baby Hat

All of my current knitting is large, complicated, or a slog. It was a nice change to knit a cute and, importantly, little hat for a friend’s new baby. Did I mention it was little? For the pattern, I turned to a cute and simple hat I published last year, the Slouchy Babe.

I made a few modifications to the pattern because, apparently, I can’t knit any pattern as written. Not even my own. First change was the yarn. I went with Cool Wool which is a DK instead of worsted. I love using Cool Wool, a 50/50 blend of wool and cotton, for baby items because of the yarn’s soft feel and lovely drape. You can even through it through the washing machine, though I generally hand wash, if push comes to shove. To make up for the thinner yarn, I increased to 88 stitches since the gauge was closer to 4.5 sts/inch than the pattern’s 5.25 sts/inch. My last change was knit the body to 6.75” before the ribbing for a little extra slouch. 

You can download the Slouchy Babe pattern here. It comes sized for newborns, toddlers, kids, and adults. The Slouchy I made for myself is one of my favorite hats.

One Unique Basketweave

Sometimes, I just want to knit something simple. I want to knit, just to knit, without worrying about complicated details or evenly spacing decreases. Times like these, I wander through my 18-page* Ravelry queue looking for something that catches my eye. The last time this happened was way back in May when the Unique Basketweave Washcloth grabbed my attention. I did the only thing I could do - grabbed a skein of colorful cotton and cast on. It only seemed right to keep going until I ran out of  yarn.

I vaguely recall knitting this washcloth while also watching a great anime that I can’t remember the name or the plot of. Mostly what I remember about making this cloth is how different my life was at the time. It was before I got married and before I picked up everything to move across the country. All that stuff was in the works though so this cloth was made with the intention of making a new place feel like home. The basketweave cloth is only the latest in a long standing tradition of knitting to warm a new place. I’ve done it for dorm rooms, new houses, and apartments for myself, family, and friends. What can I say, it works.

Whether it’s a set of washcloths, a toy, or a blanket; a hand knitted item helps bring warmth and love into a house to make it a home.

The Specs

Pattern: Unique Basketweave Washcloth by Anna Peck Maliszewski ( @Ravelry )

Yarn: Lily Sugar'n Cream Ombres & Prints

Needles:  US 6 (4 mm)

*Or more. At it’s longest, the queue was 24 pages long. I try to prune it more regularly now. 

Time to Design

It’s been far too long since I’ve put my needles to yarn and designed a knitting pattern. Feeling just a bit rusty but ready for the challenge. My first opponent, 80 yards of Noro Taiyo leftover from a Doublish Shawl, has only been mocking me from the stash since April 2012. I don’t know what it is about this particular cake of yarn but I just have to knit it all up. Other leftover balls have sat in my stash for years but they haven’t enticed me to knit them up with the same fervor. Maybe it’s the way the colors are presented or the silky hand of the cotton but I’ve been racking my brain to come up with a pattern for this yarn. 80 yards of fingering weight isn’t much to work with, after all, but I’ve relished the constraint. It’s made things so much more interesting. After much swatching and ripping (and even more swatching and ripping), I finally have a workable idea.  Folks, I’m running with it. See you at the finish line.

Knit and Be Proud

​One reason I love knitting is because of all the different things I can make. The other big reason is how easily it fits into the rest of my life. I don’t need to sit at home to knit. I can go out with my knitting and not be stuck in front of a computer. I can run errands with yarn and needles in my bag to keep busy and not waste time standing in line. For the last few years, my favorite bit of purse knitting has been socks but I’ve also hauled along hats, fingerless mitts, and even a shawl or two. I carried around the Hitchhiker Shawl until I had to wrap it around my arms so it wouldn’t trail along behind me. Before I learned to make socks and developed a love for shawls, I carried along washcloths to keep my hands busy. I clearly remember knitting a washcloth in a doctor’s waiting room. While the lady sitting across from me thought my knitting was pretty great, I was just a little embarrassed. Not because I was seen knitting in public by stranger but because I was embarrassed to be seen knitting a washcloth. 

At the time, hand knitted washcloths were all the rage. However, for as many people I saw extolling the virtues and wonders of knitting your own washcloths, there were just as many people typing their distaste. One person wrote they would rather pull out their own hair rather than knit a washcloth. Another commenter stated that they would flat out refuse knitted washcloths given to them as gifts. It was comments and thoughts like this that were swirling around in my head as I was sitting in the doctor’s waiting room stitching away. You either had to love knitting washcloths or hate them. There was no in between. I was afraid that some knitter - one that unapologetically hated knitted washcloths - would see me and sneer. So I slunk down in my chair, kept knitting, and hoped that the imagined sneering knitter would not appear. The thought that some knitter who loved making washcloths might appear did not occur to me.

I couldn’t help feeling that way even though I knew it was silly and completely illogical. Several years later, I’m certain that it’s silly and illogical. Just because someone on the internet or in real life says they don’t like knitting washcloths or lacy socks or giant blankets or funny hats doesn’t mean you have to feel like a smuck for enjoying those things. If you want to knit a stack of washcloths 10’ high or a hat that looks like a cooked turkey, go for it. Enjoy it. Have fun. Own it. Just knit what you like. Knit what makes you happy. You don’t have to sneak away and rent a hotel room to get your fix for knitting washcloths or full-length beaded opera gloves. 

Over the years, I’ve since come to terms with my love of knitted washcloths. They’re small, colorful, generally easy, and entirely functional. I like them for scrubbing my dishes and scrubbing my back. If you’re wondering, I do have separate kitchen cloths and bath cloths. Don’t worry. My kitchen has a special drawer filled just with knitted kitchen towels and a few crocheted clothes from a friend. I have an unapologetic stash of kitchen cotton. What’s more, I’ve released six washcloth/kitchen towel patterns and have a few more in mind. The Triforce Washcloth and Bridges Kitchen Towel are the most popular but my favorite is Cthulu Rising. I have no intention of not knitting washcloths because they’re awesome and I enjoy it. Socks are my default purse knitting of choice now but I’m not afraid of sneers or derision, real or imagined, for knitting washcloths or anything else. I say, knit what you love and be proud of it.

Knit and Focus

I love the versatility of knitting. I can have giant projects that take months to finish like the Norma Blanket. I can have medium sized projects like the Shur’tugal Socks which fit in my purse and keep me entertained for weeks. I can also have small projects as a refresher and break from the larger projects. It’s a good thing there’s no such thing as the knitting police or they’d be writing me up for just how much I have on the needles.

The current small project of choice is the Unique Basketweave Washcloth by Anna Peck Maliszewski. It’s a simple pattern that’s easy to remember and looks great in variegated yarn. I can knit a few rows here and there without loosing my place which is great since I only have a few minutes for knitting these days. Plus, knitting a few stitches helps me focus and not run around like a headless chicken. Yep, knitting is good.

April is for Blankets: Recap

Every month I’m picking one skill to practice everyday for a month and updating my progress every Monday. I call it Project Incremental. Read up on how it all got started. 

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When I started daily knitting on the Norma Blanket for April’s Incremental Project I knew I wouldn’t finish. My goal was to just make progress. So I took the blanket on car trips and knit through numerous movies, podcasts, and anime series. Most days I just knit one round. Some days I knit 2, 3 or even 6 rounds. Then there were a few days when I didn’t knit at all. Now that April is pretty much over, there’s definitely not going to be a special twist ending where I’ve suddenly finished blanket in the next 2 days.

Since I’m being honest, I have no clue when I’ll finish this blanket. It’s not called the Couch Monster for nothing. Over 650 yards have already been knit and the blanket is just starting to look squished up on the needles. There are still over 930 yards to go knit. I have this vision of the blanket sitting nonchalantly on the couch and waiting for a victim. Once said victim, probably me, is comfy and distracted by a digital box, the Couch Monster makes its move and completely envelopes his meal in a wooly maw. No evidence is left behind and blanket awaits his next victim. At least I’ll be cozy and might be able to distract the beast with animal crackers.

A few statistics for April’s Norma blanket knitting:

• Knit a total of 44 rounds with minimal ripping and should add 2 more before the month is out.
• Worked a grand total of 19,584 stitches so far.
• Used up over 200 grams of yarn.
• Add 8” to each ever increasing side. Safe to say I’ve knit most of the blanket this month.
• Managed to finish the first charts and put a good dent in 3 and 4.

This next part might be a little odd but I’m going to keep tracking the stitch count yardage on a round by round basis. Hear me out. I have a lot more yarn than the pattern calls for and I want to use it all up. Gathering all this data will make it easier for me to chart out more rows and figure out just how large the blanket can get. Spreadsheets are being put to good use tracking yarn per row (the average is 5g at the moment) and the increasing number of stitches per row (currently 508 and growing). Fear not math and data for they will save your knitting butt. 

Now that May and the next Incremental Project are almost here, I’m going to miss knitting on the blanket everyday.  Maybe I’ll keep going. A giant wool blanket isn’t a bad thing to have in your lap when the air conditioner is raging.