May Showers

Here's what must happen this week:

1. Save The Date cards must be sent Thursday because my dear MAP asked me to marry him 2 weeks ago, and apparently people send TWO invitations to weddings these days, not just one.

2. Dissertation must be defended on Friday morning so that I can take my new job at the fancy state university this fall without a hitch.

3. House must be packed because I close at the end of the month. (I. Have. Not. Started.)

So now, a question for my readers: How much knitting has happened this week?

a. A lot.

b. A humongous amount.

c. Like, so much it could cover Mount Everest.

d. Where is Dr. Fibersmarts? All I see is a huge pile of yarn. Wait. Is that pile of yarn breathing?

Exactly.

Knit Shrug Photos

Here are some pics of my first knit project, a shrug I made out of the World's Cheapest Yarn. (Total cost, including tax: $1.86.)


I started with a pattern for an idea, but I am cognitively unable to follow a pattern all the way through without adjusting it to make me happy. (See previous post.)


I added a crocheted ruffle around the collar and trim at the sleeves. Otherwise it appears I am a knitter. It took me about 14 hours, including the car ride to D.C. from down here in the south and then back again. Easy as pie!

I Surrendered

I apologize to you fierce crocheters out there. My two knitting friends convinced me to learn how to knit. My friend C. insisted on teaching me continental style, a stroke of pure genius, since I am a crocheter and am accustomed to working with my left hand.

I wonder if this is the rule of thumb--it should be. The first time I tried to learn to knit, I was taught English style and tied the yarn in ugly knots and gave up.

I also insisted that my first project be something that I would want to wear. Not a scarf, because it is nearly summer here in the south. What I wanted was a shrug, to replace the one I left at Starbucks a few months ago and never recovered.

I found a pattern, which I promptly modified, used some inexpensive yarn so I wouldn't feel bad if I butchered it, and set to work on circular needles, for the first time.

It was awesome.

I trimmed out the shrug with crochet and wore it as soon as I finished with it. My only regret is that I used the cheap yarn.

I'll make it again, from something excellent and gorgeous.

I'm also glad to see that I can be as free-form with knitting as with crocheting. That was my biggest fear. I have only the mildest respect for patterns.

"Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string. Accept the place the divine providence has found for you, the society of your contemporaries, the connection of events. Great [wo]men have always done so, and confided themselves childlike to the genius of their age, betraying their perception that the absolutely trustworthy was seated at their heart, working through their hands, predominating in all their being." --Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Self-Reliance"

Photos of the shrug soon.

Apology for the blogging hiatus

Alas, the dissertation defense date has been set, and it is soon. I've been writing and revising rather than winding and crocheting. I apologize to those who have come here looking for new ideas. I promise, after the first week of May, I will be a new woman.

Recycled Yarn Afghan, Part 2

Here's a picture of all of the recycled yarn I worked on this weekend. After washing it, I hang it on coat hooks and doorknobs all around my house to dry. It smells a little like wet dog. My friends think that This. Is. Not. Normal.

But look at the finished product. (Still looks a little noodly. Oh well.)


I'll post more pics of the afghan as I add more colors.

Recycled Yarn Afghan (-in-progress), Part 1

My current Thursday night crochet project (that's the night I watch television: Grey's Anatomy; and The Office if I start at 8pm; and Men In Trees if I finish at 11pm) is an afghan that I'm making predominantly out of recycled yarn. This is a long process because as I run out of yarn, I have to make more.


In trying to keep color aesthetics in mind, I've kept the pattern simple: fans and double-crochets on alternating rows, colors blocked by black. The black is yarn I purchased, the blue is 2/3 recycled yarn and 1/3 purchased yarn (recycled cotton thicked with a strand of baby yarn in blue).


The next color will be a dark red, a combination of yarns from two different recycled sweaters. Then back to blue again. In between each color, as you can see, is one row of black fans. I'm hoping that 75% of this afghan (at minimum) will be recycled yarn. It's very warm, and funky looking.

Handwarmers, Part 2

I've finished a pair of handwarmers. I made them out of mercerized cotton. Don't ask me why. They're not really "warm." Because they're made of mercerized cotton. Plus, when I tried them on for this guy I don't know very well, he said, "Um, okay. You look like you're going to go have tea with the Queen." I need to sew a button on the upper wrist to go with my button hole, I'm thinking an ivory color. So pardon the lack of button. Here's a photo:

I'm going to make another pair, this time out of merino wool. When I have the merino pair finished, I'll have a better pattern to share, written for wool instead of cotton.

The basic idea I, ahem, borrowed from the brimmed caps I made: two front post double crochets, then two/three/four back post double crochets, working in the round, to form a ribbed pattern. Here's a close-up of the hand area:

If you really really want the pattern right now and think you can figure it out without my modifications, I'll be glad to send it to you as-is. I have it in a .pdf file that I can email to you. Just post to this blog your email address or send me an email directly.