Knitting A-D-D Rages On

Seriously. My self-diagnosed startistis is over. I am officially on a starting project kick & bouncing about amongst them all. In addition, I am on the search for yet ANOTHER yarn to start something else too because apparently 4 projects OTN just aren't enough. I won't bore you with more pictures of the still unfinished pinwheel baby blanket - I have started a seed stitch border on it and it is taking for-freakin-ever! But it is turning out nicely & I still have time so I'm excited about it. I love that self striping yarn, though it does tend to split. On to other knitting news:


Beginning of my Rowan Beth sweater. I am so excited about this - I took a private lesson with the wonderful KnittingFairy.com - Alissa Barton for pattern modifications. I am loving the idea of custom fitting patterns & being able to play with them & the sizing since I am not a size zero model with the chest size of a 12 year old!


This scarf is a Christmas present for my niece Jordyn - she loves all things gaudy & sparkly & particularly pink (much like her Aunt T) so when I saw this yarn on CLEARANCE I had to get it for her. I started & basically finished this scarf last weekend. Don't pat me on the back for being early on gifts either. My real motivation was that I needed a truly brainless project while visiting and wine drinking at my group last Saturday. The yarn was a ball to work with and I am not binding off until I make a matching hat. If I can manage to make a hat that will actually fit a 7 year old instead of a baby doll, then I'll make the scarf even longer with any left over yarn.


Is it possible to make charity gifts for philanthropic purposes yet be selfish all at the same time? Gosh I hope so. I am a failed hat maker. I have tried several to no avail. My friend started working at a non-profit that facilitates the Meals-On-Wheels program in her area so we started brain storming about giving the participants hand knitted gifts at Christmas time. So this is my first hat attempt - I figure I can practice hats for charity gifts, right? That isn't entirely selfish, is it? I don't want any flack about knitting flat & sewing up the edges either! I need baby steps, people, and my double point needle collection is pretty sparse. If this basic pattern works out I'll see what else I can dig up....

Knit on!

Clapotis down, 1,000,001 projects to go....

I finished my Clapotis yesterday. If that announcement sounds unenthusiastic it's because I'm not even excited about it. Thus my realization of how deep my "process knitter" syndrome goes. I really don't even care that it's done. Or that I have a cool new wrap that, as its characteristics dictate, compounds perfectly into a cozy scarf. It's pretty and I've actually already used it more than any other item I've knitted to date. When I woke up this morning it was about 68 degrees in my house which tells me that SOMEONE was playing with the thermostat...but I digress....so I had it on with my tank & pj capris this morning. It's very cozy and I like it but within literally 10 minutes of finishing it I was looking around for the next project.

A few points about my clappy:
* I only had 588 yards of yarn. I started to panic when I read on the knitalong how most people used 800+ yards. Last Monday at Mary's Betty suggesting eliminating a repeat of straight rows so that's what I did. When I was done I had what looks like tons of yarn, but I'm sure I would have come up 10 rows short & I would be hating life - and clappy - so I am extremely happy about it. Thanks for the help :)
* What in the world is up with that oblong edge? (see pix 2) It's supposed to be a RECTANGLE. I don't know if I started knitting tight at the end or what, but it's seriously screwed up. I hadn't intended to block it but I'm going to try it. The yarn is 75% acrylic, 25% wool so I think it will block but I don't claim to be an expert. Especially considering I've never blocked a thing.
* I'll get to those hanging strings, I swear.
* I must have gotten slightly off on the pattern because one of my dropped rows isn't quite right. I have a line of stockinette going through about 1 1/2 inches of dropped row. A muggle wouldn't notice & I had to really search for it after the fact, but I know it's there. I'm sure a seasoned knitter would catch it right away & internally -if they knew what was good for them - say "if she hadn't screwed up that part it would be perfect".
* I committed the knitters sin. The bad one. I knotted my balls together in a few spots. I know I shouldn't I KNOW it's going to come back to haunt me, but THERE! I said it. I won't even promise not to whine about it when the whole damn thing comes unravelled.

That's it. The end of my Clapotis saga. The winner of the new project search was the second pinwheel baby blanket for my boss's baby. He isn't due until September so I figured I could pick it up / put it down for a few months in between stuff for me. I forgot what a PAIN IN THE ASS the start of that blanket is, but I'm past it. I really like the self-striping yarn is coming out. I've used varigated but not self-striping so it's kind of fun!

Now what's next....