Month: December 2023 (Page 2 of 2)

walking and chewing gum

December 19, 2023 / Deb / 0 Comments

I’m finding that right now knitting is a solitary activity for me. Even simple projects take enough concentration that I can make a mess of things pretty quickly if I get too distracted. And sometimes being simple is the problem; I made a pretty elementary mistake today when I started having a conversation partway through a row and lost track of which row I was on. That’s my own fault for not having marked the right side, but I am so accustomed to easily reading my crochet that it didn’t occur to me until just now.

Everything in knitting feels so high-stakes. Ripping back is harder than it is in crochet, and a dropped stitch seems like a disaster. I know these things will get easier but for the time being I’m on the edge of my seat.

It’s pleasurable, though. There’s such a lovely rhythm to it when all is going well, and solving a problem is so satisfying. Colors play together in a different way and even just as a beginner–and I really am a beginner again–I can see the possibilities. Everything I encounter just makes me want to dive deeper. So that’s exactly what I plan to do.

Grain

December 18, 2023 / Deb / 0 Comments

I’ve been knitting a lot lately and my latest project is Grain by tin can knits. I wish I had a better pic, but this is the very start of it:

This is perfect TV knitting now that it’s underway, but it was my very first provisional cast on and first garter tab.

I’m really enjoying the straightforward knitting and I think it’s going to show off the yarn nicely. I’m doing this in Hobbii Horizon. The colorway is Sunup Sky:

I’m looking forward to trying more of their patterns.

a small sock odyssey

December 16, 2023 / Deb / 0 Comments

So I have two new knitters/crocheters in the house and they are fearless. My oldest actually learned to knit by making their first sock. Fearless.

I’ve knit socks in the past but it’s probably been a dozen years. I got so excited over their sock, though, that I decided to relearn it. I grabbed some random worsted and Silver’s Sock Class and dove in.

Not going to lie, it was a bit of a struggle. And the finished product is a little rough, though it looks good in pictures:

I don’t think there’s any hope for the ribbing, it’s Red Heart Super Saver and between the lack of elasticity of the yarn (do not for a minute get me wrong, I *love* RHSS, it’s just better for some things than others) and my lack of skills on DPNs I’m not sure I’m going to do any better the second time. Still, it’s ribbing, it’s in the round, and in that sense it’s a triumph.

It took me a week to get to casting on the second one, but it’s started and I’ll have a pair of house socks soon. I’m actually really excited about this. I didn’t expect to knit another sock like, ever, so my wonky acrylic socks are a huge accomplishment.

Next step: sock weight yarn.

walking and chewing gum

Grain

a small sock odyssey

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