Knitting
After my first attempt at knitting and the creation of The Perfect Thing, you might have thought that I would just call that my masterpiece and move on to other more important things. Like, you know, sitting around watching HGTV on the cable. But no! I was determined to top even that level of beauty and creativity and I set out to create something that actually involved (gasp!) planning ahead. And here we have knitting project number two: (It’s a pillow!)
It doesn’t totally come through in the internet versions, but there is a square of vertical stripes in the middle of all the horizontal stripes. I think it’s kinda nifty. I actually had to count stitches! I suppose those who are naturally gifted at knitting don’t find it challenging to count to 10 and then to 20 and then to 10 again, but us “creative types” struggle with math, you know?
And then, all jacked up with the success of creating an actual functioning pillow (look at that honey! you could lay your head right down on that thing and have a nap and wake up with a funny square knitting pattern right on the side of your face and I think that means that it is a pillow!), I decided to tackle the dreaded circular needles. Not only are circular needles sort of intimidating in themselves like some sort of assassin’s tool, if you are making anything that’s going to decrease in width (like a hat or socks or mittens) you will at some point have to switch to double-pointed needles, which looks very scary in all the pictures because it seems like you’re supposed to use 5 different needles, each of them with two ends and, I don’t know if y’all have noticed, but I ONLY HAVE TWO HANDS! But it turns out that the circular needles are even easier to use than straight ones, and although you do have to use 5 double-pointed needles at the end, you only use two at a time and ignore the others. If there’s one thing I’m good at it’s ignoring stuff, so that worked out just fine for me and I made this lovely hat.
Obviously, there are a few quirks to work out (next time I will start with fewer cast-on stitches and work further before I start decreasing…and of course, there’s that whole tension issue), but I was just excited that it was identifiable as a hat rather than something you would make with string and a garrote.
February 26th, 2007 at 7:15 pm
1. Longest run-on sentence ever:
“Not only are circular needles sort of intimidating in themselves like some sort of assassin’s tool, if you are making anything that’s going to decrease in width (like a hat or socks or mittens) you will at some point have to switch to double-pointed needles, which looks very scary in all the pictures because it seems like you’re supposed to use 5 different needles, each of them with two ends and, I don’t know if y’all have noticed, but I ONLY HAVE TWO HANDS!”
2. I think that is the coolest hat ever and I can’t believe you made it! That is just awesome and I so wish I could do it, but alas I only have two hands as well.
February 28th, 2007 at 8:25 am
Wow! Both Steph & I are impressed. Good work! What is the next thing you want to try knitting? Have fun! –Kathy
March 2nd, 2007 at 8:21 am
I am so impressed!! An actual thing. Wow.
March 2nd, 2007 at 9:35 am
Run-on sentences are fun! Next, I’m going to try another hat, I think. I have this crazy eyelash yarn (which I got brand nwe with the tag on it for $1 from Value Village!) that I want to use to make the part that goes around your ears, and then a fluffy grey yarn to use as the rest of the hat. I also want to make myself some legwarmers and some of those things that look like legwarmers but they go on your arms and have a little loop to go over your thumb. After that, I think I’ll be ready to try socks, which is really want I want to make. And maybe gloves, but we’ll see when I get there if I feel like I can tackle gloves. I’ve seen patterns for those nifty gloves where they look like mittens, but then the top flips off so that you’re fingers are exposed if you want to use them. But that seems pretty advanced. I also want to try felting. A blog I read had a pattern for something she calls a “kitty pi” which is basically just a felted kitty nest. I think Franklin Delano MaGoo would love it. I also came acrss a website where they need people to send little felted or knitted nests for rescued baby birds and bunnies and stuff. Those look like a fun little project.
So, as usual, I have dived (dove? diven?) in over my head and have many more things on my list than I can actually get to.
March 15th, 2007 at 7:31 pm
[…] I learned a lot from my first hat. Here’s my second completed hat. […]