Well, I Tried.

This partial scarf is the proof that I shouldn't buy yarn without a pattern in hand. I am just not an experienced enough knitter to buy yarn, thinking that I can turn it into a ..... without knowing for sure how many yards I need.

This is made from yarn younger daughter picked out when I was visiting her in Los Angeles, and I was sure that I could make a scarf out of it. I probably can, but not this scarf.

The measuring tape shows that the scarf is fifteen inches long. I weighed the yarn that is left, and I have just about half of the original skein to go. So that will make the scarf a whopping 30 inches long.

Not what younger daughter or I had in mind.
I will frog this (AND it was knit on size TWO needles-grrr....) and start again. I may use some gorgeous Rowan silk haze yarn, or I might look for a coordinating sock yarn on Thursday.

In the meantime, I will work on the fronts of this vest I am making for one of my two older granddaughters. I will eventually make two of them, and since they wear the same size now in most clothing, they can share. (Their mother laughs, scoffs at this concept.)

I'm not wild about the colors-sort of bright? gaudy? garish? I don't know. I just hope one of the girls likes the colors.

I have two other projects otn now. Finishing the skirt freed up knitting time, but I find that I miss the focus that having one large project gave me. Weird, isn't it?

Pret a Porter

I've finally finished the Bacall sweater I started October 2nd for younger daughter. It's en route to LA and she will have it tomorrow. I just hope it fits!

If I make this or any other sweater with a sewn-on band and collar again, I think I will try knitting it on as I go rather than what I did this time - making it and then sewing it on the sweater. Just out of curiosity...to see how that works.

The pattern calls for a brooch to hold the fronts together, but I've left finding the right one to younger daughter. She'll have fun picking one out and her taste and mine might not be the same.

Now I've started another Koigu Puckered scarf, but with a different yarn. I love the colors -pictures soon!

A Bit of Fluff

That's what I would have named this scarf had I been the designer. It's a more, I don't know, ethereal, poetic name than Airy Scarf, which is just too literal and utilitarian-sounding .

Anyway, it was fun to knit and certainly doesn't take long. There is a mistake in it; I mis-interpreted the incredibly easy instructions...leave it to me to overthink something so simple.

But it doesn't matter. I love the scarf, and since it has a flaw, it's mine rather than someone else's gift. (Once I get it away from Shaun, who loves it too.)

Blocking is, as Suna says, magic, but like any magic, it requires practice. This was my first time using blocking wires, and they sure make things easier; how can you not get a straight edge using straight, stiff wires. But I found that I kept pulling the wires out of the ends of the scarf when what I was attempting to do was tug the scarf to make it the 36" in length it was supposed to be.

I've already started a second scarf! I love knitting it and the soft, soft mohair is just a treat to work with.

I'm a Genius!!!

Older daughter, over at The Days are Just Packed, writes that she feels like a genius when she turns a heel, and now, when she has almost completed her first more complicated project, a very cute dress for a very cute Elizabeth.

It takes much less for me to proclaim my genius - I don't have to actually accomplish anything. I just have to recognize the talent of someone else. And that is why I feel like a genius for making this scarf from Last-Minute Knitted Gifts.

I am genius because I saw it, proclaimed that it is gorgeous, and am now making one. I love this project. It's quick; the book says it can be finished in two to four hours. I haven't timed myself, but I started it last night and will finish it today. Immediate gratification is me! I?

I also wanted to have my hair cut like this, but my whole family has vetoed it. I have LOTS, LOTS of what I call crazy Irish hair. It curls on its own. It does whatever it d**n well wants to do. It's longish, because I like long hair, and I hope that the weight of longer hair will calm down the curly/fuzziness of it. But I'm tired of dealing with it and want short hair. Unfortunately, shorter hair curls even more, and I look, as a former hairdresser told me, like a pencil with a large eraser on the end. So who knows what I will do. I may end up like Mrs. G., wearing a paper bag on my head. I'll let you know on Friday....

Sniff...sniff...sniff.....

My shawl...ooops...wrap is finished, and so, nearly, is the visit from my two daughters and my grandchildren. Poor, poor me. I will miss them all. Four children are a lot of children, and a LOT of fun. They are really funny and don't even know they are funny. And Elizabeth is just every kind of sweet:

Elizabeth (9 months old) with younger daughter

Younger daughter has a talent for the fiddly bits of any type of project, and she put all of the eleven-inch fringe on the sha....wrap. Doing that is sort of beyond my natural patience. Now I owe her a wrap like the one Reese Witherspoon wears in Sweet Home Alabama. I hadn't really wanted such a large project, but believe me, getting that fringe done by someone other than myself is well worth it.

Yet Another Scarf

As I told older daughter the other day, I seem destined to own too many scarves. I keep falling in love with yarns and buying them to make something with.

However, this yarn from River's Edge Weaving Studio is so yummy that I can hardly bear to knit with it. What else to do with it? Well, as I originally wrote, maybe I could keep it as a pet.

But that would be a waste (and weird), so I bought a skein of mohair (Rowan kidsilk aura, color 752) to knit with the mohair/wool blend. A knitting friend suggested size 11 needles, with 15 or so stitches, alternating 20 rows of each yarn.

I'll give that a try and see what happens. If all else fails, I'll give it a name and let it live in my house.

The Never-ending Scarf

finally did actually have an end!

I just finished it and I love it, although I certainly won't be making another. It was knit from nine-hundred and sixteen yards (four skeins) of Rowan Kidsilk Haze, colors 579 and 597. It took FOREVER. The yarn is mohair and as thin as sewing thread.

But the scarf is about seven feet long, soft and warm. I can't wait to wear it!

Oooooh....

Everyone at my LYS has been working on circular scarves. They are knitted on a 16" length, size 6 circular needle. Most of the knitters have been picking out about 10 colors and knitting the scarves in stripes. But last night, one of the knitters was working on hers---all in one brilliant yellow color. So I thought, hmm.. why not just two colors and not in stripes. I found these gorgeous colors (Rowan kidsilk haze: 70% super kid mohair, 30% silk) and fell in love. PLUS, I had a coupon for ten percent off any one purchase during September. So I HAD to buy it, right?

I started this afternoon knitting with the green, and will continue with that until I run out (3 skeins) and then switch to the magenta. I think it will be gorgeous! However, my joy in the project was briefly derailed when I started casting on; the yarn is the thinnest stuff I have ever used. Really, it's just fuzzy thread, and I am not exaggerating. After a few rounds, the stitches became a little easier to work with. I have learned that Addi turbo needles do not have very pointy points. I imagine it would be impossible to knit lace with them, but I don't intend to try lace any time soon.

To add to the thrill of this new project, my husband left a window open (no screen) in his basement office. Two chipmunks have come by to visit me. Indoors. I screamed, then dh caught the first one. The second is somewhere still, but I've let the cat in and maybe he can hunt it down. I think chipmunks are cute, but good grief! They belong outdoors!