Retractions

So much for my quirky sense of humour in my last post. Funny? maybe. But I've signed up to be part of the Ravelry Tea and Yarn swap, and I wouldn't want my swap partner to *really* think I have enough yarn or enough tea. Come on. Enough yarn? Enough tea? can you spell O X Y M O R O N??????? The words "Tea", "Yarn", and "Enough" just don't belong together.

Last night I had one of those experiences that knitters dread. I've been knitting a sweater for a Christmas present (so no pictures here) and its been going on for some weeks. The pattern is the Spring Forward Fall Back Sweater, a great top-down raglan pullover by the Thrifty Knitter (free on her website). The pattern is cute and is well written. It looks great on her and is adorable. She used some yarn she spun herself. I used some Noro Silk Garden. Last night, I had finished to the point of attaching the very last skein of yarn to the bottom - sleeves finished, shaping finished, almost the entire length finished. I smoothed it out on the couch and gazed down proudly. Imagine my surprize when....Ahhck!! It's ooogly! Very Fug! For some reason, the Noro stripes - going sideways around the sweater - just didn't seem to work. I'm going to finish, and block, and gift it anyway - its a huge investment and I'll just tell my recipient that if she doesn't like it, she can hand it to a stranger on the street (something I love to do with knits! another thing I like to do is make hats and mittens and "accidently" leave them on the bus for others to pick up and own...)

I'll take a picture before I wrap this up, and you can tell me what you think. Maybe its not as bad as I thought. When I looked at it this morning, the colours looked a little more subtle.

I've finished Exsanguinate my 'river of blood' red Chevron Scarf from Mountain Colours Barefoot yarn. Its 77 inches long (before blocking) and will be very dramatic wrapped around a long neck. This Christmas gift I'm more confident about:



I've more holiday knitting to go....and so little time!

exsanguinate

Remember this?


It is now this!


The Chevron Scarf from Last Minute Knitted Gifts, with the properly All HAllow's Eve name of Exsanguinate... because of the Ruby River (of blood) yarn and the way this variation on the traditional "Feather and Fan" stitch mimic a slow flow of human lava.... "oooo...eeeee...oooooo"

Its amazing how a certain pattern can make a yarn sing, while another is just destined to end up in the thrift store or charity shop. Matching the yarn to a pattern that marries well is one of the most fun things about knitting.

When I first started a scarf with this sock yarn (Mountain Colours Bearfoot), I knew I wanted a feather and fan stitch but in an effort to work it quickly, I wound the two skeins double and used the traditional YO method. The result was a chunky, awkwardly thick and formless stretch of muddled fiber. Nothing like what this yarn with its deep dark heartbeat was capable of.

It was only after viewing several bright, harmonious examples of the Chevron Scarf that I began to think that a solid feather and fan stitch might work with this yarn, used singly as it was meant to be, giving it a perfect rhythmicly draping structure. I think it worked.

Only 24 inches to go!

My next delightful challenge will be finding the perfect patterns for these beauties, gifts from my friend in Germany:

The one on the left is Neptune and the one on the right is Purple Bell, named for a beautiful German flower. Our autumn is turning cold now, and I'll need all the handmade socks I can make!

On another note, I checked the stats for this site and my photos here get almost 60 hits per month! Soooo, If you visit, please leave a comment...