More drama

Whoever says there’s no thrill in knitting cannot understand what happened to me last week.

I guess my untidiness is to blame for this. My favourite needle tip size, the 4mm one, committing suicide (maybe) after I’ve been repeatedly cheating on it with sharper, metallic, non nickel-featured newbies. Review coming soon…?

(I fixed it with superglue)

Chiunque dica che il lavoro a maglia non da’ emozioni forti non puo’ capire cosa mi è successo la scorsa settimana.

Immagino sia colpa della mia disordinatezza. La mia punta preferita, quella da 4mm, che si suicida (forse) dopo che l’ho tradita ripetutamente con delle nuove punte di metallo, più appuntite e senza nichel. Recensione in arrivo…?

(L’ho aggiustata con della colla forte)

Baby, it’s (still) cold outside…

… and here’s a way to fight the chill: the Olivia hat!

The pattern is by Sarah Hurwitz and it’s a quick chunky knit – great for last-minute gifts, trying your hand at bobbles, or generally keeping your head warm. It also has a foldable brim for when you need either extra ear coverage or more fabric for larger heads like mine.

How do I know all of this? I offered to help when Sarah asked if anybody wanted to test her (first!) pattern on Twitter. I’d never done this sort of thing before, but I enjoyed the experience and would happily do it again. At the time I would have never imagined needing a bulky hat in early April…

Fa (ancora) freddo fuori, ed ecco un modo per contrastarlo: l’Olivia hat!

Lo schema è di Sarah Hurwitz ed è un progetto chunky veloce – ottimo per regali dell’ultimo minuto, fare le noccioline, o generalmente tenere la testa al caldo. C’è anche un orlo pieghevole per quando si ha bisogno di coprire di più le orecchie, o più tessuto per rivestire teste larghe come la mia.

COme so tutto cio’? Mi sono fatta avanti quando Sarah aveva chiesto se qualcuno voleva testare lo schema su Twitter. Non avevo mai fatto questo genere di cose prima d’ora, ma mi è piaciuto e lo rifarei volentieri. All’epoca non avrei mai immaginato di aver bisogno di un cappello a inizio aprile…

Yarn drama

Ladies and gentlemen, as a way of starting the week nicely I give you… yarn DRAMA.

Can you see that purple-but-not-as-purple-as-the-rest-of-the-piece thread? I’ve put a giant green arrow just to make it clear.

That is what happens when you don’t check gauge properly and go up not just one, but two needle sizes. I had to omit two rows from the original pattern and still had to ‘borrow’ leftover yarn from an older project. I’ve asked for it. I deserve it.

Hence today’s lesson: leftovers are important. Especially when they’re in your favourite colours.

Cowling

More bad wordplay there for you in the title.

This is the Maryse Cowl by Amy Christoffers from Knitscene Winter 2012. Great for getting rid of that few lonely skeins in our stash. I didn’t swatch, so the measurements are far from the original pattern’s, and I omitted one repeat because it was beginning to look too ‘tall’. I liked it so much I’m making another one. The stitch pattern is lovely, despite the imperfections in my knitting (might try some back loop knit stitches next time) and I think it would be perfect for first-time chart readers. Speaking of which, make sure to check the errata page as there are some mistakes in the pattern.

Ravelled here.

Swatching, vol. 348594

Above: combination of brioche stitch and fisherman’s rib.
Yarn: Filspot by Ornaghi Filati (55% wool, 45% acrylic), purchased ages ago in my early knitting days. Love the colour, but splits as hell.

Work is slow these days. I mean, sloooooooow. It’s been like this for the past couple of years, but it’s getting even worse. Time will tell if our recent move to much smaller headquarters was worth it, but expenses are a lot cheaper for now. It takes shorter to clean as well. :D

So it’s a good thing I have yarn and needles at hand between customers! Even when I have no project sheet in my bag, I just have to leaf through this…

… and off I go. That is, until someone walks in and I immediately drop my knitting.

You learn something new everyday

I could have used a steamier image for this post, but I’ve bravely chosen not to get more traffic

Courtesy of the Knithacker Twitter account, here’s an article about the results of a new study on how knitting burns more calories than sex.

I will make sure to bring up this story whenever people will accuse me of being a couch potato.

I got beads, they’re multiplying

To be or not to be used in a knitting project?

Plain

Yesterday evening I found myself leafing through the fall issue of Knitscene, and when I say leafing through, I mean scrolling down the pages of a pdf file – digital format user here. One of the patterns that caught my eye was a sweater with an owl on it. ‘Cutest thing ever’ was my first thought, followed by ‘that’s a lot of plain stockinette’.

Maybe it’s because I’ve recently purchased Barbara Walker’s seminal Treasury Of Knitting Patterns stitch dictionary. Or maybe it’s the desire to challenge myself to follow more complex designs. But lately – shock horror – I’ve started losing the will to plain knitting. You know, when you stumble upon the point in the pattern that goes ‘knit in the round for ten inches’. I’m perfectly aware that this may be just a phase and one day I might feel the need to create nothing other than tubes. As I’m typing this I’m wearing my NaKniSweMo ’12 in-the-round stockinette sweater, and there’s a one-piece Toulouse pullover on the needles that’s beginning to feel heavy on my hands.

A little over a year ago I was heavily into lace. I stopped when I couldn’t make it past the first section of Jared Flood’s stunning Rock Island shawl. I’m feeling rather more confident in my knitting abilities now. There’s a tiny little voice in my head telling me to go for it once more. Should I listen to it? I guess I already know the answer to this…

The model

Remember when I used a balloon to model my headwear? Well, I met someone new. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you… the Head.

Here she is modeling my version of the always-popular Saroyan. I thought this pattern had enough plain stockinette to display variegated yarns such as the one I used, Manos Del Uruguay’s Silk Blend. Other than stockinette, there’s a lovely leaf pattern on the side, which I’m afraid might not work that well with VERY variegated yarns. Oh, the dilemma. It looks even prettier on the wrong side. Variegated yarn – unpredictable is the middle name.

I worked this on 6mm needles and got carried away with the decreases when I figured out I was running out of yarn. The pattern has tips on calculating when it’s the right time to decrease to the final section of the scarf, but I wasn’t home when I was finishing this and didn’t have a scale at hand. Otherwise I wouldn’t have done k3togs instead of k2togs.

Of course I could have just undone the ‘rushed’ bit, but I’m that lazy.

PS: slight url name change up there. It’s much, much shorter.

Pattern crush, multiplied by three

Hello, my name’s Francesca and I’m a new Knitscene convert.

And the reason?

Somebody please stop me from casting on all these. Help.