Handmade

It isn't Christmas yet, but while here at my parents' home for Thanksgiving, two of my brothers and I received an early gift. (We'll be flying to and from our Christmas destination, so bringing extra stuff back won't be convenient.) My mom made blankets for each of us with some patterned fabric featuring Bengals or Reds logos.

I could tell that she was proud of her work and was eager to give them to us. I regret to say that before I started knitting, I don't know if I would have appreciated the gesture as much. I now know what it means to be the person making something for someone, and I know what it means to see the item being used. This weekend I noticed my dad and one of my brothers wearing the hats I made for them a couple years ago. That gave me a sense of satisfaction. My brother has clearly worn his quite a bit--it's pilling--so I may make him another.

Therein lies the magic of handcrafting. I could have just bought them hats, and my mom could have merely purchased blankets similar to those she made. Yet if it's the thought that counts, what could be more valuable than something one took the time to create on one's own?

Holiday knitting

Diagonal blanket

Yarn: Lion Brand Homespun (98% acrylic, 2% polyester; bulky)
Color: Williamsburg
Needles: US 11 circulars
Stitches: increased to 168
Size: 48" square

The first Christmas present is finished! On Columbus Day, no less!

I am thrilled that the math worked out. Adding 42 more stitches to the 36" square pattern produced another foot, making this a good size for adults. If you're interested in adapting the pattern, it took five skeins to make a blanket this big.

I'm amazed I completed this project in essentially two weeks. The Knit Picks Options needles sped up the process some, but I can't overlook my laser-like focus on the blanket. I had very few problems in knitting it, although there was a late mistake today that looked like it might throw off the yarn over border on one side. It isn't all that noticeable, especially since the most problematic spot was patched when I wove in the ends. I'm really happy with how this turned out except for one thing you can probably see in this next photo.

What is going on with the color? To my eyes it looks like there are five distinct shades. I didn't notice it as dramatically without the benefit of photography, but I could still tell that there is a difference in color. The obvious explanation is that I erred in buying the yarn and ended up with five unique dye lots. Nope. I checked the labels when I bought the yarn, and I looked at them again today. Everything is the same.

I don't know that the color shift is as apparent if the blanket is in one's lap. I will not contend that it ruins the item. That being said, I'm kind of steamed that five skeins, supposedly from the same dye lot, aren't consistent.

With this project out of the way, I turned my attention to International Scarf Exchange 5. I scoured Ravelry for a good pattern, tracked down the book containing it at the library, and went to a LYS for help in finding the proper yarn. My pal wanted natural fiber, something I haven't worked with much. I brought the book with me into Temptations and explained what I wanted. It wasn't long before I was directed to The Alpaca Yarn Company's offerings. I chose the Classic Alpaca line in prairie green.

The store employee helped me figure out how to adapt the pattern for a scarf not as wide as suggested. Knitting it at ten inches wide would have meant purchasing a fifth skein, not to mention adding a lot more time to the project. The yarn is DK weight, so I have a feeling I'll be working on this awhile.

I cast on for the Midwest Moonlight Scarf from Scarf Style. After five rows I had one stitch too many. Rrrrrrrip! With plenty of k2tog and yo, it should be interesting to see how much this scarf tests my patience. I don't know how good I will be at undoing those stitches when necessary. No problem, right? It's just a new challenge.

This and that

Knitting on the blanket continued unabated today. Got up, went to church, knitted a couple hours, took a nap during Sunday football, went to Starbucks to knit for an hour and a half, took a break, and knitted some more. I finished the fourth skein and am using the fifth and final. I don't think I can knit the rest tonight, but I'm confident that I'll have an FO to show off tomorrow.

Honestly, I have no idea how I've been able to knit it so quickly. Two weeks? This is a square foot bigger than the baby blankets I knitted. Both of those required lengthy breaks from knitting and were knit over a month or more. I've had laser sharp focus on this project. Did I mention that it's looking great?

A discussion thread on a certain knitting site I've been raving about reveals that Knit Picks Panache and Decadence look like they're being phased out. I thought Panache was terrific for a scarf I made. It was certainly something I wanted to use again. How common is it for yarns to be discontinued? It appears that this will be the first yarn casualty in my knitting life. Here's hoping Knit Picks replaces it with something equally as nice.

In an infrequently updated item on knitting in films, add The Jane Austen Book Club and Lust, Caution to the list. Kathy Baker's character is regularly seen knitting in the former. I don't think it's a spoiler that she isn't the only club member enjoying the hobby by film's end. There are tangles of a whole other sort attracting attention to Lust, Caution, but as far as knitting goes, Wang Tei's character is seen engaging in the needlecraft in a play within the film. I think it's safe to say this is the only place where you will get that information on Ang Lee's latest.

One track mind

Knit, knit, knit, knit, knit, knit, knit.

I didn't get a lot of knitting done this week, but I've dedicated myself to working on the blanket with the hope of finishing it Monday. I'm on the fourth skein of yarn and have decreased to 126 stitches. With an aggressive push for the rest of tonight, tomorrow, and the Monday holiday, I think I can finish the blanket in the next couple days.

Surprisingly I'm not sick of knitting it. Other projects are calling out to me, but I've been content to knit this basic item. I'm pleased that the blanket appears to be the size I am aiming for. The pattern is for a baby blanket. I added 42 increases with the intention of making it 48 inches square. A rough measurement of a completed side has me in the vicinity of what I want.

The third skein slowed me down. Loose fiber was bunching up on the yarn, so I had to keep pushing it down so it wasn't knitted into the project. It slid off when I got to the end of the skein. Lately the stitches seemed tighter on the needle, but I'll attribute that problem to letting the blanket hang and thus pulling on the stitches. Getting the needle where it needs to be is easier now that I'm bunching up the blanket in my lap.The temperature in the mid to high 80s doesn't help with working on something that's better for cooler weather, but I guess it isn't too big of a deal since I've been inside in the air conditioning, crazy as that is for Ohio in October.

The better part of the morning was spent updating my Ravelry profile. I added some books and my May FOs. I still have a lot of work until everything is accounted for, but I'm really enjoying the organizing.

Chin up, cheer up

It is a new week, and I am determined to have a positive attitude. Good things await. I'm going to the season opener for the Blue Jackets on Friday and, if it works out, might catch The Arcade Fire in concert afterwards. If that weren't enough, I was considering going to Cleveland Thursday night to see The Pipettes at Beachland Ballroom, but their North American tour has been postponed due to visa paperwork delays. That would have been a lot for one week, so it's probably easier on me. See how I deployed the power of positive thinking there? I even promise not to grouse when the Bengals get crushed by the Patriots on Monday Night Football. Hey, I said I was going to have a positive attitude, not be a Pollyanna.

It has to be a good week because I should finally come crashing through the doors at Ravelry. As of this writing there are just 1778 people ahead of me in line. At the rate the invites have been going out, I expect mine should arrive Wednesday or Thursday.

As for knitting, I'm past the halfway point on the blanket. This thing is going to be massive. It's already quite big, and I've only done five decrease rows. Only 158 to go! Actually, I'm surprised I've been able to get this much done in a week. The two times I knitted smaller baby blanket versions I reached the saturation point and had to stop for awhile. This go-round I'm loving the brainless simplicity. The Options needles seem to be helping with my speed. Is it possible I could finish in two weeks? Since it will be a Christmas gift, I'll feel good to have one done this far from the holiday. I know it will be here before I know it.

I also need to get busy on my secret pal's scarf for International Scarf Exchange 5. I haven't decided on yarn or what to make. I've heard from both of my secret pals. The one knitting for me said she's looking forward to knitting for a man because she's used to making girly things. I'm excited that something I'm knitting will be headed overseas.

So, no, not everything is gloom and doom despite the incessant moaning I feel like I've been doing. I know there will be challenges this week, but I need to keep my chin up. Sound good?

WIP it

It's been a long day and could have been a little longer. On the way home from a screening of The Kingdom, a film whose shaky, handheld camerawork gave me a headache, I could see that interstate traffic was coming to a halt. Never a good thing to see after 9:30 p.m. I was able to get over and take an exit before getting trapped in it for who knows how long. Seeing as I hadn't been home in nearly thirteen hours, those were precious minutes I saved.

Anyway, I'm not in a writing mood, and I don't know that I have anything worth saying. So, I present to you a photo of my WIP. I was able to increase to 116 stitches with the first skein, which strikes me as an awful lot since the baby version increases go to 126. That is supposed to take three skeins. When finished, this will be a Christmas gift for my brother and sister-in-law.

And that, as they say, is that for today. In the less than immortal words from a short film I made with some high school friends, time for me to take a little nap. Let's hope that young undead hooligans don't show up to disembowel me. That wouldn't be fun.

Words to live by

For each day in my planner there's a quotation on the daily notes page. I don't always pay attention to them--OK, more often than not I don't--but they've been put there for a reason. Who am I to ignore the line or two of wisdom that might be the lift or inspiration I need that day? September 13 featured Maya Angelou saying, "Surviving is important, but thriving is elegant." Sounds familiar, doesn't it?

Looking ahead at the week, I noticed that tomorrow's quotation comes from Mignon McLaughlin: "Courage can't see around corners, but goes around them anyway." Good timing, planner quotation layout person. I also take some comfort in this Eleanor Roosevelt saying reprinted earlier in the month: "You have to accept whatever comes and the only important thing is that you meet it with courage and with the best you have to give." (Grammar nerd-ery: I don't think that comma should be in the first quotation while one is missing in the second. I've reproduced them as they appear in the planner.)

I've made no secret of my dissatisfaction with how things have been going lately. That's probably something you wish I would keep quiet about. I know. Grumble, grumble, grumble. Yes, it's my blog, and I can do with it as I please. Still, I'm the host, and guests don't want to spend time with a grouch and a worrier. I feel like I've been particularly unpleasant recently, which I don't like being. And let me reiterate that things aren't as bad as all this talk might lead you to believe. I'm just very frustrated at the moment.

All of which is good for knitting. I'm blazing through the first skein for the diagonal blanket. I've increased to almost one hundred stitches on the circs. Now that I've received the proper instruction in how to attach the interchangeable Knit Picks Options needles, I'm knitting like a machine. No more needles needing to be tightened again and again.

This is the right project for the right time, especially for a football Sunday. I try not to get so invested in the fate of my favorite sports teams that I take it personally, but being a Bengals fan has a way of spoiling one's mood. They managed to salvage a loss again today, but I was knitting and not letting their ineptitude get to me as much. I'm extremely thankful that I gave up fantasy sports for knitting. Seeing one's drafted team going down in flames is like catching an express train to Bad Attitude City.

So even though things didn't go so well on gridiron and it may go against my worrying nature, I'm going to greet this week with courage, hope, and optimism. If there's still a trace of those things remaining by this time tomorrow night, I'll call it a win.

Just knitting

Asherton Reversible Scarf

Yarn: Dark Horse Yarns-Fantasy (50% nylon, 50% acrylic; worsted weight)
Color: Cherry
Needles: US 8s
Stitches: 40

This is my contribution to the Red Scarf Project. I had fun knitting it, but I am ready for something that requires less brain power. Time to fire up the Knit Picks Options needles and knit a blanket.

Christmas knitting begins. I'm making the diagonal baby blanket again, but you can go ahead and remove "baby" from the project's name. I've crunched the numbers and am hoping I have applied the correct logic to my computations. If 126 stitches on the diagonal equal a 36" square, then it follows that 42 stitches equal 12". I've decided that a 48"x48" blanket is a good size for adults, so if I increase to 168 stitches, I should be able to get those dimensions. It took three skeins for the 36"x36" blanket, so four skeins should do the trick, right? I'll find out sooner or later, but if you see a flaw in my math, please let me know.

O glorious garter stitch, how I adore three! After an embattled week, it's nice to be able to zone out and knit to my heart's content. The Options cable is more flexible than the one with the plastic circs I used to knit the other blankets. I'm also having an easier time moving the stitches. So far, so good with the new needles.

I'm perplexed by what purpose the cable keys serve. How are they supposed to help in tightening the needles to the cable? I have noticed that the needles can become loose, but there have been no accidents yet.

That said, I courted disaster while knitting the blanket in the Borders café. The last stitches on the needle attempted to slip off a couple times. The lid on my hot chocolate popped off, and I almost slopped the drink all over my lap. (My WIP and iPod would have been ruined.) I paused in the middle of a row to find more music after an iPod playlist ended. Apparently I reversed course when I resumed because things weren't looking right. I have no idea how I did it, but I caught the mistake before I knit many stitches.

All in all, not a bad day. I started a new project and rediscovered a terrific album in my collection (Sloan's One Chord to Another). That sounds like a good end to an otherwise frustrating week.