LoopyKnits

I am not feeling the stitchy goodness when I look at my craptacular afghan, a nondescript pinkish/wheat tone flecked with a rainbow of other colors. See, in a fit of knitting euphoria a year or so ago, I bought two gigantic spools of this cotton yarn on eBay. Only I didn’t know it was this super-thin cotton yarn that was more commonly used by machine knitters. (No one tells hand-knitting newbies these things.) Or that the “large spools” are, um, Paul Bunyan sized. Live and learn; I THOUGHT that shipping charge seemed unusually high.

 So I tried making a long casual sweater, knitting with two strands at once and communicating nearly daily with an incredibly patient pattern designer whose wisdom failed to overcome my knitting errors and mistaken assumptions. I was planning to make a really long duster-length sweater (no idea why, since I’m middle-aged premenopausal crazy and break into a sweat if I so much as wear long sleeves). I got pretty far along — from, oh, mid-calf length to about armpit length and I was getting increasingly alarmed at the error-riddled shapeless mass I was creating. I’d tried making a gauge swatch but apparently I knit a LOT tighter in swatches than I do when I really get to clacking the needles, so the stitches were all loosey-goosey. And not in a good way. And once again, my knitting fairy godmother failed to whisper in my ear that — cotton? — she is heavy. Like I need anything to tip the scales.

So I did what any sensible newbie would do … dumped the semi-knitted garment into my stash and moved on. And when I came across it again recently, I was intrigued. (How quickly I forget.) Took me nearly two full evenings to unravel it all, to the horror of my youngest daughter, who hated to see the stitches disappearing. The balled-up yarn filled up a queen-size blanket storage bag. I wondered what to do with it a while before inspiration struck.

Are you thinking what I’m thinking? (No, not a dumpster run.) It was afghan time!

So I decided to try my hand at entrelac knitting, because I try to learn SOMETHING new with each project I take on. And once again, knitting has filled that essential spot in my life — bringing me humility. I keep slipping into automatic pilot and repeating the pattern in some funky freeform weird way that does not create a neat entrelac “woven” look. The stitches are more like, “Hello, I’m psychotic.” But I am stubbornly ripping out and re-doing. I am going to finish this darned thing so I can have more than just one finished project in 2007 (one sad little pair of socks), even if I have to foist it off on some unsuspecting person as a gift. I didn’t realize how many projects I’d tried and abandoned until I was updating this blog — yikes. So this one is a GO. You read it here first. I intend to get to another FO.

Here’s where I am so far, after 2-3 evenings of knitting. It really is going fast: 

And here’s the closeup:

Now I just have to name my project. If only I could figure out how to pronounce ‘entrelac.’ Is it ON-truh-lock, or ON-truh-lack? (I don’t think it’s on-TRELL-ick, is it?)

• Baby Got Entrelac
• Me No Like Entrelac (you must say it with a Southern accent)
• The ‘I Can’ Afghan
• The ‘Cotton to It’ Afghan
• The Pitiful Lapful
• The Sweaty Knitter’s Dropcloth
• Forgotten Cotton

Brain cells are working furiously on the soon-to-be-announced name.

Technorati Tags: cotton yarn, finished objects, newbie knitter, entrelac

I am not feeling the stitchy goodness when I look at my craptacular afghan, a nondescript pinkish/wheat tone flecked with a rainbow of other colors. See, in a fit of knitting euphoria a year or so ago, I bought two gigantic spools of this cotton yarn on eBay. Only I didn’t know it was this super-thin cotton yarn that was more commonly used by machine knitters. (No one tells hand-knitting newbies these things.) Or that the “large spools” are, um, Paul Bunyan sized. Live and learn; I THOUGHT that shipping charge seemed unusually high.

 So I tried making a long casual sweater, knitting with two strands at once and communicating nearly daily with an incredibly patient pattern designer whose wisdom failed to overcome my knitting errors and mistaken assumptions. I was planning to make a really long duster-length sweater (no idea why, since I’m middle-aged premenopausal crazy and break into a sweat if I so much as wear long sleeves). I got pretty far along — from, oh, mid-calf length to about armpit length and I was getting increasingly alarmed at the error-riddled shapeless mass I was creating. I’d tried making a gauge swatch but apparently I knit a LOT tighter in swatches than I do when I really get to clacking the needles, so the stitches were all loosey-goosey. And not in a good way. And once again, my knitting fairy godmother failed to whisper in my ear that — cotton? — she is heavy. Like I need anything to tip the scales.

So I did what any sensible newbie would do … dumped the semi-knitted garment into my stash and moved on. And when I came across it again recently, I was intrigued. (How quickly I forget.) Took me nearly two full evenings to unravel it all, to the horror of my youngest daughter, who hated to see the stitches disappearing. The balled-up yarn filled up a queen-size blanket storage bag. I wondered what to do with it a while before inspiration struck.

Are you thinking what I’m thinking? (No, not a dumpster run.) It was afghan time!

So I decided to try my hand at entrelac knitting, because I try to learn SOMETHING new with each project I take on. And once again, knitting has filled that essential spot in my life — bringing me humility. I keep slipping into automatic pilot and repeating the pattern in some funky freeform weird way that does not create a neat entrelac “woven” look. The stitches are more like, “Hello, I’m psychotic.” But I am stubbornly ripping out and re-doing. I am going to finish this darned thing so I can have more than just one finished project in 2007 (one sad little pair of socks), even if I have to foist it off on some unsuspecting person as a gift. I didn’t realize how many projects I’d tried and abandoned until I was updating this blog — yikes. So this one is a GO. You read it here first. I intend to get to another FO.

Here’s where I am so far, after 2-3 evenings of knitting. It really is going fast: 

Now I just have to name my project. If only I could figure out how to pronounce ‘entrelac.’ Is it ON-truh-lock, or ON-truh-lack? (I don’t think it’s on-TRELL-ick, is it?)

• Baby Got Entrelac
• Me No Like Entrelac (you must say it with a Southern accent)
• The ‘I Can’ Afghan
• The ‘Cotton to It’ Afghan
• The Pitiful Lapful
• The Sweaty Knitter’s Dropcloth
• Forgotten Cotton

Brain cells are working furiously on the soon-to-be-announced name.

Technorati Tags: cotton yarn, finished objects, newbie knitter, entrelac

Deborah Knits has a nifty knitting meme modeled on one that’s going around about books. See how your list looks; mine is below. Mark with bold the things you have done; mark with italics, the ones you plan to do sometime, and leave the rest. (Thanks, DK!)

• Afghan
• I-cord
• Garter stitch
• Knitting with metal wire
• Shawl
• Stockinette stitch
• Socks: top-down
• Socks: toe-up
• Knitting with camel yarn
• Mittens: Cuff-up
• Mittens: Tip-down
• Hat
• Knitting with silk
• Moebius band knitting
• Participating in a KAL
• Sweater
• Drop stitch patterns
• Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn
• Slip stitch patterns
• Knitting with banana fiber yarn
• Domino knitting (=modular knitting)
• Twisted stitch patterns
• Knitting with bamboo yarn
• Two end knitting [Feeling dumb here ... I have NO idea what this is!]
• Charity knitting
• Knitting with soy yarn
• Cardigan
• Toy/doll clothing
• Knitting with circular needles
• Baby items
• Knitting with your own handspun yarn
• Slippers
• Graffitti knitting (knitting items on, or to be left on the street)
• Continental knitting
• Designing knitted garments
• Cable stitch patterns (incl. Aran)
• Lace patterns
• Publishing a knitting book
• Scarf
• Teaching a child to knit
• American/English knitting (as opposed to continental)
• Knitting to make money
• Button holes
• Knitting with alpaca
• Fair Isle knitting
• Norwegian knitting
• Dying with plant colours
• Knitting items for a wedding
• Household items (dishcloths, washcloths, tea cosies …)
• Knitting socks (or other small tubular items)on two circulars
• Olympic knitting
• Knitting with someone else’s handspun yarn
• Knitting with DPNs
• Holiday-related knitting
• Teaching a male how to knit
• Bobbles
• Knitting for a living
• Knitting with cotton
• Knitting smocking
• Dying yarn
• Steeks
• Knitting art
• Knitting two socks (or other small tubular items) on two circulars simultaneously
• Fulling/felting
• Knitting with wool
• Textured knitting
• Kitchener BO
• Purses/bags
• Knitting with beads
• Swatching
• Long Tail CO
• Entrelac tried
• Knitting and purling backwards
• Machine knitting
• Knitting with self-patterning/self-striping/variegating yarn
• Stuffed toys
• Baby items
• Knitting with cashmere
• Darning
• Jewelry
• Knitting with synthetic yarn
• Writing a pattern
• Gloves
• Intarsia
• Knitting with linen
• Knitting for preemies
• Tubular CO
• Freeform knitting
• Short rows
• Cuffs/fingerless mitts/armwarmers
• Pillows
• Knitting a pattern from an online knitting magazine
• Rug
• Knitting on a loom
• Thrummed knitting [Okay, another thing I don't know!]
• Knitting a gift
• Knitting for pets
• Shrug/bolero/poncho
• Knitting with dog/cat hair
• Hair accessories
• Knitting in public

Technorati Tags: knitting meme, LoopyKnits.com, Carolyn Bahm

Ooh, do I have some cool knitterly links for you today!

• Big screen knitting: How many movies and TV shows can you list where knitting has appeared? The good folks at Angel Hair Yarn Company have an exhaustive list to task your knitrivia brain. 
• Decorate your sticks: Lion Brand popped out a nifty set of instructions for decorating your knitting needles.
• You did WHAT with your needles? Nel Knits blogged a short but cool list of unusual knitting needle usages. (Snapdragon stake, anyone?)
• Public purlers: Wordwide KIP Day is coming soon (June 9). Knitters — represent!

Technorati Tags: knitting trivia, knitting in the movies, knitting on TV, decorative knitting needles, decorate your own knitting needles, Worldwide KIP Day, LoopyKnits.com, Carolyn Bahm

Fantasy author Holly Lisle not only generously shares writers’ tips that I’ve enjoyed surfing through for years, she also is an imaginative, skilled knitter. And she has created a madly interesting set of make-your-own-magic sock patterns for some of her fictional characters, the Anzi.

The idea is that the Anzi knit colorful patterns into the fabric, visually expressing what they desire to receive. Her website explains: 

“The Abundance Socks give thanks for something needed. They acknowledge the Anzi belief that as soon as you put your will into the system, the system answers simultaneously, though you may not see the results immediately. So when the Anzi pray, they don’t pray for something. They give thanks for it, because whether they have what they need yet or not, they accept that Spirit has already answered.”

This just delights me; you have got to check this out. (I can’t possibly be the only other sci-fi/fantasy geeky knitter out there, can I?) At Holly’s site, the index on this topic contains links that explain the theory, the pattern, color theory, meaning of the symbols, and more.

Technorati Tags: magic socks, Anzi socks, quantum knitting, quantum entanglement, Holly Lisle, abundance socks, LoopyKnits.com, Carolyn Bahm

Don’t hold your breath about seeing this product on your LYS shelves, but there’s at least one knitter who can lay claim to knitting with chocolate brown yarn made from the fur of shedding bears.

These are trained and socialized bears who enjoy treats and who tolerate careful brushing during June and July when they are getting down to their summer coats in Vermont.

The yarn is smooth and a little scratchy, in case you were wondering. See the story at SmallTownPapers News Service for details.

Technorati Tags: bear yarn, knitting with bear hair, knitting with bear fur