Make-It Monday - Finally Finished!

So you may remember that I took some photos of a cowl in the making a week or two ago. Well, I've finally finished! This one was a bit of a monster of a project because the yarn I was using, though beautiful, soft and warm, is quite narrow, and I was making a very long scarf to join in a loop. Here is the final result:


I tried doing the Kitchener stitch to join the scarf, which apparently was supposed to make it look seamless. Not quite:


But I just wear that in the back of the first loop and it's more or less hidden.

Though it took nearly a month of daily work and lots of sore muscles and cramped fingers, I'm pleased to say that I got to wear it for the first time today! And given that it's a particularly wet and miserable Monday (see my previous post), it was the one thing that brightened up my day!

If you'd like to make one, the basic pattern is courtesy of Julianne Smith and is available on her site here. Thanks, Julianne!

Of course, true to form, I'm already well on the way with my next project:


This one is a cowl made of chunky 100% Baby Alpaca yarn - it is so soft that I swear the first time I touched it I wanted to wrap myself up in an entire suit made from it and stay there forever. It is absolutely incredible. Even J. was impressed by its softness - though he did have some concerns about just what happens to the baby Alpacas to get the yarn off them. Pretty sure he was joking.

Until next Monday....

Make-It Monday - New scarf/neckwarmer/cowl

One of the main problems with the last one I made was that it was too itchy. I'm hoping I can soften it up when I wash it, but for now I can't actually handle wearing it. So I'm trying again with a really simple stockinette stitch/cable in a merino wool silk blend. It's super soft and smooth, and I'm digging the sheen the silk adds to it. Can't wait to finish this one up and get a bit of use out of it before summer weather relegates it to the closet!

So far it's coming along well - though I did forget to hold the cable in the back for one of the centre stitches so it twists the wrong way - but I've decided to pretend it was on purpose and make it into a motif by alternating for a waving cable! Here's how it's going so far:


(That's Opie in the background.) I'm about halfway done now, so I'm hoping to finish it in the next week or so. Last night I slept funny and now my shoulder is all fucked up, so I'm probably not going to get much done this weekend, though!

Make-It Monday - 5th Avenue Infinity Scarf from TenTenKnits.com

So I've started yet another new project, abandoning completely the Paris Night scarf I posted about last week. Oops. But I had to. See?

To view image source, click on image

I think this is absolutely gorgeous. I couldn't track down the yarn used here so I decided to do a trial run with some Stitch Nation yarn in "Little Lamb" - it's a pale cream colour that I've got tons of kicking around.

Here's what it looks like un-looped:

To view image source, click on image

I think I messed up the pattern a little, but I actually kind of like the result. I'll post pics when I'm done - hopefully soon! Wish me luck...

To make your own, head on over to the amazing TenTenKnits.com!

Update:

Finally finished! Definitely didn't follow the pattern properly, but I think for a first try it looks okay. I need to block it, which will hopefully stop the edges from curling, but I think I'm ready to move and try it again with some coloured yarn!

Needled

To see image source, click on the image

So I recently took up knitting again after years of not being crafty. Between school and work, not only did I not have time, but I didn't have the energy. For the last year or two of my degree I was constantly burned out and had zero creative juice to spare. Now that I'm done school and have a bit of time to do what I want guilt-free, I'm searching for hobbies. Not just to fill the time, but to fill the void. I have been feeling more and more disconnected from myself for the past few years, and have developed some unhealthy habits like shopping and watching way too much TV to feel good. But it never lasts, and overall it just makes me feel more empty. I look back on a time when I used to garden, cook and sew, and I miss it. So I decided to throw myself back into creating, and knitting seemed like a practical choice. Not too mentally demanding, it creates something you can use, and with Youtube these days you can find instructions for everything!

I've been knitting on and off since I was about 6 - my maternal grandmother was a avid knitter and I think my mother taught me. That's the one thing I really remember about my grandmother - her knitting in front of the TV. She could knit an entire sweater in one night without ever seeming to look at her hands. It was amazing to me. But until recently, I've never done more than knitting and purling - no cabling or fancy patterns. I hadn't even used circular needles. So I figured I'd give it a shot with this "Snowtracks Cap" from Stitch Nation. After a couple of re-starts I finally got the hang of it, and within a week, lo and behold - my first knitted cap! 'Cept the thing I didn't consider is my recent hair metamorphosis that included bangs a la Emily the Strange. You can't wear caps with a thick fringe 'cos they end up in your eyes. FAIL.



Oh well, at least now I know I can not only knit a cap, but follow a pattern. On to the next....