Back In Black
Blurry & lacking detail, but proof that I am making progress through on February Fixing. My yarn overs are uneven, but after reaching for this sweater twice while it was still on the needles, I decided to just hurry up and deal with it. The sweater is pilling already and I will undoubtably knit another black monstrosity next year. Rather than a boat neck, I did a ribbed turtleneck with a picot bind off, which makes it go on and off easily - I still have some fringe left over from the bottom, which I may use to keep the turtleneck down - it worked so well on holding the fabric down on the bottom.
Since I’m holding off indefinately on purple fuzz, I only have one more thing to finish up in my basket - a red/white/green christmas colored dishcloth. I’ll bind that off this afternoon and declare FEBRUARY FINISHING complete! Thanks Alison - not only was this productive, but that list on your sidebar introduced me to many new-to-me bloggers and I enjoyed commiserating.
I’m also a member of February Flowers and if you aren’t expecting a present from me, you can look at the next photo:
As soon as the fabric glue dries, I am going to fill it with lavender and sushi rice (hey it was what I had in my cupboard) and sew it up.
In the long term love pile are two projects - my green bamboo shawl and the clap. I’ll keep plugging a way at these, as they are a pleasure to knit. But the season of breeding is coming fast. I’ve got two new babies due in the next few months and some kid friendly yarn in my stash, just dying to break free.
The white is a cotton from Classic Elite that came in a baby blanket kit with one other skein. I bought them when I was thinking of getting back into knitting in the winter of 2001 - the plan was to knit it for the next person I knew who had a baby - which just happened to be me! I used one skein, made a funny shaped blanket and put the other skein back in the bag. I used the blanket in the stroller and found that the more I wash/dry/repeat, the softer it gets.
The blue on the other end is from Schoolhouse Press and was supposed to be a surprise jacket for my second baby - but I never got around to it.
The light blues in the middle are Berrocco Plush - no plans, recent acquisition.
Are there new babies on your horizon? Shall our March Maddness be baby things?
Thank You
to my now not so secret February Flower friend, Amanda who made warmed up my February! I love the flowers - the rose is beautiful, the notepads will come in very handy and how can you go wrong with Hershey’s kisses! The timing could not have been better! Thank you again Amanda!
Vacation knitting amounted to two repeats of a 15 row pattern - nothing to show really. I’m going to start my February Flower pattern tonight for my pal, then it is back to finishing before the month is over. Meanwhile Clapotis waits for March.
Black does not photograph well
I had a lovely photo essay for you all, but damn if I can see the subject. Last summer, I searched endless for the perfect ball of black yarn. I bought close to $100 of single skeins of all different kinds of black yarn. Cashmerino, bulky wool, alpaca, you name it, I knit up a swatch. I finally decided on Berroco Soft Twist Bulky to make my version of the Magknits Mirror Mirror Challenge. . I cast on, knit away, ripped back, bought new neddles, cast on again and knit me up a sweater that , from the arm joins down, was the perfect for me. But I f*cked up the neck shapping, BIG TIME. I have to struggle to get it over my head and when I do finally get it on, I have to tie a very big scarf around my neck to hide the horrible job I did from the shoulders up.
So I did it, I ripped back, picked up, resumed my saddle shoulder shaping and am now up to the neck - and am trying to figure out if 2×2 ribbing is enough to give it some structure for a turtleneck. I’ve got tonight to work on it, but then it needs to go back into the pile for a week. Why? Because I am going on vacation!
DH, the kids and I are off to a week with my parents in sunny Florida. They are in Naples and insist that we can not stay with them the whole time - well their grandchildren must stay, but DH and I have been booted out while they spoil our brood. Where to go? MIAMI - South Beach to be specific. I’ve never been, am super excited to go. I’m taking my green shawl in hand painted rayon ribbon and bamboo - easy, portable, light weight - all the things that vacation should be.
I’ve got jury duty the day after I get back - which I’ve been looking forward to for years. I do get to sit around and knit all day, right?
If you are fixing for february - good luck, stay strong and to paraphrase George Clinton - “free your yarn and your mind will follow.”
February Fixin’
How did Alison know that my fix it pile was growing out of control?
Last night, I gathered my pile, sorted, prioritized and assembled the necessary tools.
The Knitters Book of Finishing Techniques by Nancie M. Wiseman , a set of double pointed needles, buttons, extra yarn and my Chibi needles.
I started with this:
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| Back | Front |
First, the neck warmer: My goal was to remove the diaper pin holding the neck closed, add some button holes, and secure the buttons. I started by picking up the side stitches and working one row of an I-Cord button hole. I repeated the process on the other side, only first threading the buttons through the yarn like beads, then inserting them where I would have made a buttonhole on the other side. For the hat, I made a flower (ala Folly) and inserted the ribbon through and then tied the bow and trimmed the edges. Unfortunately, you can’t see it very well in the picture I took, but believe me, it adds structure to the hat, and the bow and looks fantastic.
Here is the neck warmer:
Not a huge amount of knitting done, but just enough fixing to make the hat and neckwarmer usefull for the rest of winter.
Next up? Buttons & buttonholes for the second neckwarmer I made:
This one is less pressing, as it doesn’t fit me and I don’t have the perfect buttons or the perfect person in mind to gift it to.
The big project left to tackle is the purple sweater I’ve been working on for some time now. I am going to rip it back, wash all the yarn, roll it back up and wait - wait for next fall. It is part of my new plan ~ I’m calling it “Breaking Up With F.R.E.D.” Here is my tease:
