watch your swatches

I splurged on some wool for this winter today. It was on sale. I'm going to make a sweater, and I swatch'n'block'd today like a responsible knitter.



I mistook my swatch for a triscuit and nearly ate it.

ok, blocking.

I'm still a little new to knitting and I hadn't ever blocked anything until I realized that the point of my thick n thin vest's hood could be much pointier and the whole thing needed a bath anyways. I don't have blocking wires so I ran lengths of Berroco Suede through all the selvedges. I very gently hand washed it in ice water with Bronner's and baking soda then the Taj Mahal came to life.





To achieve the pointy tip of the hood I was after, I ran some yarn through the very tip of the hat and up around an overhanging floor lamp. I am quite pleased with the results. It smells delicious, things are straighter and pointier, and drape was MUCH improved. Its a pleasure to arrange the wet knitting exactly how you want it, but its torture waiting for it to be bone dry.

dress n dubstep

I knit this dress out of t shirt yarn entirely on a #15 circ. Big, burly stitches.








After knitting an entire dress, I can honestly say I am not a big fan of t shirt yarn. You don't knit with it, you wrestle it into your garment, especially on grippy ass bamboo needles. This dress is incredibly sturdy though, it's about 3/4" thick and heavy with the weight of 18 t shirts. I wore it to see Borgore and I felt protected.

ok back.

Well being injured was plain shitty. I'm not healed, but I finished a project today. Dr said no knitting but that doesn't count knitting with jumbo needles and airy gauges. Which is perfect because I was just gifted with some vintage thick n thin wool:



Yum.

I want to be a part of the online knitting community but "That Girl" is not flattering on any body I have seen. However I do want new cropped outerwear, so I organized the thick n thin into a hooded vest.



It is basically a little simple vest with a hat attached to the top so giant it has to sit on my shoulders. The hat/hood is big enough for two ;)



I'm considering adding sleeves. Maybe in November.

Climbtime

Bouldering indoors is my kind of sport. It's inside soft floors and colorful walls. There are snacks, cubbies and comforting chalk bags. I knit my chalk bag with just one supersized skein of sugar n cream on #7, complete with a clif bar sized pocket and a loop for a carabiner or belt should my crotch get over it's fear of harnesses.



The bottom is garter, big enough for two fists plus some room. This is a good, quick project for refining your picking up and grafting gauge, all the knitting is just knit and purl. I lined it with fleece, reinforced the corners with coffee swizzle sticks so it can stand up straight, and installed magnetic purse clasps. Chalk makes a mess.

Yesterday, I was climbing and I fell on my elbow the wrong way. Knitting is in slow motion. Sad.

bOObies

Florida's seasons: Summer A, You Can't Breathe Outside, Summer B, and Outside Feels Like A Windy Inside. In celebration of Summer B:



I love natural fibres, but why in the hell are there so many Ravelers that knit or crochet bikinis in cotton!? This top is made of Berroco Suede in Roy Rodgers, 100% fake ass nylon. Like normal, useful swimwear. All the staps are 5 stitches on #6 needles, and I simply yarned over to increase. There is elastic sewn into the insides to keep the stockinette from rolling and for general sturdiness.

I'm addicted to Project Runway. I watch it online because I don't know how to work things like fax machines and TVs. I was pleased to learn there was a knitwear designer (Michael) on the show this season, but he knits with a machine and all his "knit" pieces are sewn together. Seamlessness is one of hand knitting's greatest virtues, this top has no clasps, seams or stringy bits.

Hatz 4 Hedz

Knittin hatz... bliss in the round. We don't use knit hats in Florida but I put 40 stitches of yummy light worsted-ish wool on each of three #6 dpns for a total of 120 stitches, figuring about 5 stitches to the inch. Twisting the purls, I 4X4 rib for about 6 inches, enough to fold the rim over for extra ear protection. After an inch or so of rib or stockinette after the rim, you'll have a 7ish inch tube.

The knitter's multi tool, a paper clip on the ground is luckier than a penny. A paper clip can become a cable needle, a crude yarn needle, and torn up for as many as 4 stitch markers- just enough for a hat. Completely unwound paperclips are akin to naked pipe cleaners.

Twist decrease stitches by knitting two together in the back of the stitches on every row so there will be four "braids" swirling up to the pointed top to make an simple knit swag. Per the Yarn Harlot's wisdom on the tops of hats, I pass the yarn through twice.