I’m Knitting As Fast As I Can

Despite my abysmal record at following through with -alongs, I couldn’t stop myself from signing up for Vicki’s 2008 ABC-along.

I participated in the 2006 ABC-along when Anne hosted it, but true to form I never posted all 26 photos. I swear I’ll do better this time. Really.

And speaking of Anne, she’s been diligent about posting a WIP report every Wednesday. I toyed with the idea of joining her and blogging my WIPs every Wednesday but then I realized that would involve actually determining how many WIPs I have and locating all of them. Um, probably not a feasible goal.

Instead, I hope to unearth one WIP each week and then decide whether to frog it or finish it. Feel free to weigh in on the decisions.

Here are the first of the WIPs.

Frog . . . or . . . Finish??

These project both fall squarely on the “finish” end of the spectrum.

The hat is for my long-suffering husband who has been waiting patiently for the holiday knitting to end so he can move to the top of the knitting queue. It’s been c.o.l.d. as hell here so I feel a bit of urgency to finish it.

The green scarf is for a one-skein swap I’m participating in with my Stitch ‘n Bitch group. I’ll divulge more details when it’s finished and I’ll be posting the pattern at the same time.  But the swap is next Tuesday so I better get my arse in gear.

What’s a grrl to do when when she’s sick of knitting mittens.

Turn her attention to hats, of course.

Two years ago this month my next door neighbor, an amazing knitter of Norwegian descent, passed away. That Christmas and every Christmas since, I’ve knit a hat or mittens for her great-grandson. This year, it was a 2×2 ribbed hat:

Yarn: Magic Garden Buttons (less than one skein)
Pattern: Cashmere Ribbed Hat (80-stitch cast on)
Needle: 16″ circular (4mm)
Time to knit: less than a day

This was the last gift I had to knit. . . . Or so I thought.

DD saw the hat on Thursday night and immediately decided her three friends must also have one. No matter that I’d already begun decompressing from the holiday knitting by casting on a scarf for myself.

Clearly, I’m a sucker:

The dark pink one (knit from an angora/merino blend yarn I dyed myself) has already been gifted. And look how happy it made the recipient:

The light pink one (which I managed to squeeze out of one, luscious skein of Sublime Extra Fine Merino) is wrapped and ready to deliver tomorrow. The red one, which I’m knitting from Cascade 220 Quatro, is still on the needles this evening but it’s close to done.

DD insisted that I add a white stripe so her friend could wear the hat when she cheers on her favorite school. Since the hat is knit entirely in 2×2 rib, I was hesitant because stripes knit in ribbing always look like crap.

See what I mean:

But then I remembered a trick that completely eliminates the obvious color changes.

So, what’s the trick?

When you work the first round with the new color, discontinue the ribbing in that round–knit every stitch instead. Then return to the ribbing in the next round.

The stitch pattern change is barely noticeable even when it’s stretched:

Problem solved.

Now where did I put those sock ornaments I knit for my nephews.

My Fun Fur odyssey is complete. Yesterday I mailed off a package containing 14 hats knit from assorted novelty yarns:

If I never see another skein of Fun Fur again it will be too soon (although I confess I only knit 13 of the hats; my co-worker knit the 14th). I admire Mini for taking on this project for Children’s Hospital and for having the courage to temporarily share a home with all those hats. She’s received 845 hats already, which works out to more than 42,000 grams of Fun Fur. It’s making me a bit uncomfortable just to think of all those unnatural fibers in one home.

As the antidote for my recent Fun Fur high, I’ve been working on a new shawl design that I’ll be offering for sale shortly. The first prototype is complete and I’m knitting a second to see if I can squeeze the shawl out of one skein of Karabella Lace Mohair.

Stay tuned; it’s going to be close.