Weirdo

In her blog yesterday, The Yarn Harlot (insert Hallelujah Chorus here) wrote about "Inexplicable Knitter Behavior." As usual, her obervations were astute and HI-larious.

On the subway this morning, I realized that a few more people than usual were staring while I was knitting. Ok, well...I wasn't knitting exactly. You know how sometimes you have to double your yarn because you bought the 4-ply instead of the wool cotton and they are very different gauges and then the yarn starts to wind up on itself? (Of course you do.) That was happening to me while I was knitting the sleeves for the Baby Baseball Tee (without mittens or pocket). So, I finished the row, then pushed the twisty part down toward the needles and held the whole thing by the yarn so that sleeve/needles turned round and round untwisting itself - had to do this part in the isle of the subway car where there was room. Then I continued knitting the sleeve. I suppose to the other strap-hangers in my subway car this was inexplicable behavior....but how do they get kinks out of their yarn?

Wrap It Up

Sometime in the middle of winter while I was walking to work - after the point where I couldn't feel my earlobes anymore - I decided I needed some sort of hat/scarf combo that would cover my ears too.

I'd seen a few patterns & I even acquired some chunky ice blue wool yarn from Moma's that would look delightful with my new chocolate brown winter coat.

I started out with a pattern from my fave LYS The Point...it just didn't look like me. So, I pulled out Vogue Knitting: The Ultimate Knitting Book and set out to make my own pattern. I knew I wanted a large cable up the middle...

and I needed some sort of border so the sides wouldn't roll in...

as well as a border for the hat so it wouldn't roll up.

It came together quite quickly. I call it (W)rap Around Loo.

My Way

Things have just not been going my way lately...

First I'll fulfill a promise from my last post. This was a deceptive project. Inspired by *some hat I saw in *some book at Mama's, I decided I could use my favorite hat pattern to create a similar look. In my last experience with said "**leftovers", I discovered that there was a very good reason everyone else had made socks from it. It's very elastic-y, so my last hat turned out to be a bit too small for my hair. This time I surmised I should cast on more stitches. I fell in love at first site of the FO. Love quickly soured as my cute little hat grew while on my head. I don't have much patience for growing pains - it hasn't gotten much wear since that day.

As my friends continue to get knocked up, I continue my foray into knitting for infants. The latest buns are in the ovens of ***Ole Miss & ****Mississippi State alums (respectively) so I elected to track down appropriate yarns in their school colors and create rivalry baby ensembles. I've tired a bit of hats & bootees & blankies (oh my!), so I picked up my fave baby books & picked out the "Wool Vest" from Simple Knits for Cherished Babies as well as "Pants" from Baby Bloom. At first it seemed as if the knitting fates were in my corner...Moma actually had a most appropriate blue cotton perfect for ensemble#1. (Bun #1 will reside in the sweltering heat of TX.) So, I only had to locate similar cottons in red & white which I easily did at The Point (Knitting Fever King Tut). Yet, they carried nothing in the way of washable wool in maroon. It was surprisingly difficult to find such a thing. Meanwhile, I'd started the Ole Miss pants and was having considerable gauge trouble as well as many inquiries as to whether I was knitting a Superman cape. After a couple of false starts with Ensemble#1, Knitpicks came to the rescue of Ensemble #2 with Swish DK in a charming shade they call "hollyberry" and I call maroon. Gauge didn't cooperate so much on these either. In the end, I settled on a US1 and the 0-3 mos directions for both ensembles. Finally, the pants (#2) came together; the top (#2) was much easier to finish just in time for the baby shower. Unfortunately, the baby showers for these consecutive pregnancies were on consecutive days. By sheer miracle and weary hands, I mostly finished the pants plus the front & back of the top (#1) before the shower, but none of it was sewn up. I suppose you could say the ensemble & I were in pieces.

Feeling a bit disenchanted with the whole knitting thing, I was determined to take a little break and give my fingers a chance to restore. But I needed to completely finish Ensemble #1, so I did that. On Friday.

On Saturday, there I was taking a well-deserved hiatus from knitting. It was only a whisper at first...but it got louder...and louder. There was this very nice, chunky ice-blue wool just sitting in my cedar chest calling to me. And I think it can still be considered a break when you go from knitting with a DK weight with US1's to a chunky weight with US11s. And it won't be cold much longer. So, I started a new project and I'm writing the pattern myself. Surely this time it'll go My Way.



*an object I can no longer remember
**Knitpicks Risata + unknown cotton yarn
***Ensemble #1 = Ole Miss outfit
**** Ensemble #2 = Miss State outfit