Wishful Knitting

The One Skein Wonder is such a fun little knit. This is my second wonder, in approximately the same blue. The first one was gifted to my MIL as she expressed desire and it was a wee bit tight across the shoulders. I would have worn it anyway, mind you. Since I never know what to get her, and her b-day is in May which is the same month as Mother's Day, it seemed like a perfect match. (She is consequently very happy with it as it allows her to wear sleeveless clothes to work without breaking the dress code. ) This wonder is being made from 100% cotton from cottage knits. Like I said, the first one was a bit too small as I was nearly out of yarn. At that time, I was thinking that the wonder part was in the "one skein." After knitting one, I have come to conclude that the wonder part isn't the one skein, but rather the simple, elegant design that produces a lovely, wearable and practical knit! It is well worth it to invest in however many skeins it takes to fin...

I always thought I liked to knit lace. I loved working on the Ripple skirt, but the lace wasn't too intense. The Lotus Blossom tank has been relegated to the frog pond- before my hubby could stop me. (He hates it when I rip out!) I was making it with Hempathy in black, as you can see. I swatched like a good little girl and then started working it on the appropriate needles- size 6, I think. Well, that's how much I had done- (like 1 1/2") after 5 hours of good car knitting. Part of the problem was that I was using the markers to try and stop myself from making too many mistakes, but the pattern kept shifting, so I had to keep moving the markers. (PITA!) I thought it looked a little big, so I pulled it off the needles and it was like 10 inches wider than it was supposed to be at the waist. I guess my lace is tons looser than my stockinette swatches. I am not completely sold on the value of a swatch, to be sure. I wanted a nice breezy little tank (much like that on Dipsy...

I would knit a giant swatch and then practice crochet! When I was considering changing my knitting style to loosen up my gauge, I started making this mammoth swatch out of crunchy acrylic yarn. I am kind of between projects. Well, more that I started a project with which I am not thrilled. So, instead of working on that, I just picked up a crochet hook to add a border and even out the swatch. My elder elf has appropriated it for her dolly. This pic shows the true size. I have learned that I mostly know how to crochet- I have been taught several times. I still don't know how to turn around without losing stitches so that the finished project is a square. I don't know how to go around corners well. Crochet is really pretty quick!

This is the picture that elder elf took of me! I am shocked by how well she did! The skirt is done : )(You can just ignore the pink bra showing through- I never would have guessed it would....oh well....live and learn) Also, while we are ignoring things, lets ignore those really white arms, shall we? Another view.... It was a fun project that knit up pretty fast. The pre-blocking picture was frightening: After looking at that I thought, "What a waste to make this weird thing!" But it stretched out well. I am very eager to see how it wears. I think I will debut it for the first world travellers who get in on Monday. I am not sure what time on Monday, but sometime. If any of such travelers are reading this, about what time do you land? That will give me an idea of what time you will be here. The knitting details are at the KAL blog...so I don't think I'll repeat. I was kind of sick of the whole thing by the time I got done with the ruffle. I think that had something to ...

I have been posting on the KAL website for the Indigo Ripple skirt. I think joining has spurred me on to finish this project when I may have strayed otherwise. I hope I didn't transform the pattern into a frump-suit by making it longer, but I was going for practicality- heh, heh, yeah, that's right, a practical knitted skirt- out of cotton. It looks more like a pillowcase at this point! I have started the ruffle after 50 (rather than 60) rounds of lace- enough already. It's a long-winded bind off, but it's coming along. I hope to have it done by the first wave of international visitors on Monday. No problem. I am not sure what to knit next....Sizzle?