Tag: challenges

experiments in throwing

January 1, 2024 / Deb / 0 Comments

So having returned to knitting with issues in my left hand I’m finding it super awkward to purl continental. I figured I could try knitting English and see if it was any smoother. The jury’s still out at this point, but it’s a possibility.

I did some random swatching to see if I could at least improve my purls when working them continental and that met with some success.

The biggest reason behind this is ribbing (which I haven’t practiced yet). I’m about to attempt socks again and I’m worried about getting them off to a good start (yes, I’ve settled on going cuff-down again). Tomorrow when I’m fresh I’m going to 2×2 my little heart out, assuming I can pull myself away from the day for a little while. It’s going to be a busy one.

Kool-Ade!

December 31, 2023 / Deb / 0 Comments

We dyed again!

The base yarn is KnitPicks Stroll Bare.

I didn’t get a picture of the third skein, which was done as a sock blank. It was a purple gradient that turned out just lovely. She painted it instead of dipping/soaking/immersing it and it turned out that there were places the dye couldn’t reach. It also turned out that the white enhanced the whole thing. Happy accidents, right?

The orange was dyed by my oldest the sock knitter, and the tomato-y red was me. It’s going to be socks, because that’s what feels right. Talk about a long term project though.

a job for the mandala thick&quick

December 30, 2023 / Deb / 0 Comments

I’ve been noodling around with this yarn for a day and I found what I want to do with it. It wants to be a bag. It needs to be a bag.

I’m working it up like this: with a 10 mm hook I chained until it was the right size for what I want to do with it. Sc in 2nd ch from hook, sc in each ch across, in last st 3 sc then sc in the other side of the chain back to the start. 2 sc in last ch. (3rd sc is what you started with). Work in a spiral with a sc in each sc around.

I haven’t decided on the strap construction yet.

Working with this yarn and hook combination is challenging my hands, but the yarn’s so bulky that it’s working up really fast. I’ve needed a smaller bag for a while so I’m excited to finish it.

mandala thick&quick

December 29, 2023 / Deb / 0 Comments

I don’t know what to make of–or out of–this yarn! I got an order today and have been noodling around with it ever since. My 10 mm hook seems smaller than I might want, the inelastic nature tells me that something structural might be a good use, but it’s so pretty I just want to make something warm.

It’s a nice problem to have, really.

hooks and tools

December 27, 2023 / Deb / 0 Comments

Look what else I got for Christmas!

I’m so excited! I really like working with bigger yarns. I can’t wait to get my hands on some and make lovely chunky things.

In other news, I finished the second sock of the worsted lavender pair and though I’m super stoked to have done it I’m feeling like I don’t want to be near another sock anytime soon. Maybe if I get over it I’ll try toe-up and see if they drive me any less crazy.

Grain is coming along but I’m starting to feel like I overestimated my love of endless garter stitch. It’s beautiful but I’m more and more reluctant to work on it. I’m not sure I can keep it up for another few thousand stitches.

And last but not at all least, after some swatching and playing around I decided to keep the same hook on my big brown throw. Mostly it’s nice to be working on it again.

a “big brown” dilemma

December 24, 2023 / Deb / 0 Comments

So I have this granny square throw underway that I refer to as Big Brown. It’s made of RHSS stripes in the colorway Latte and it looks fantastic in 1′ squares with the way it makes the colors pool. It was the first project of any size I took on after I started crocheting again.

I pulled it out last night to work on it and discovered that I have a problem. The hook I’ve been working it with is really too small for my tension and the yarn. I was having trouble hooking the yarn and my wrists were complaining that it was just too tight. The kids are encouraging me to just continue but I don’t think I’m up for the discomfort.

The problem is that I already have a substantial portion of the thing done. Not half, but enough to make me pause rather than just diving in with a bigger hook. And since I only have so much yarn to work with, there are potential problems with reworking squares if needed.

I think the best thing to do is probably to work a full square with the bigger hook and see how it looks and feels before I stress too much about how to handle this. It’s another bump in the crochet road but how boring would it be if it went smoothly?

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.

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.

People and Places