Snowblock

We got a lot of snow this past weekend- 20 inches. I got bored. Have no idea what possessed me. Part of the problem might have been that we we moving things around for the holidays. We also had a full house. My eldest son was home for winter break. That meant we suddenly had two teenaged boys lumbering around the house. Normally they'd be off in their respective corners, lairs, what-have-you, minding their own business. Add a day of enforced togetherness and snow to shovel and the system breaks down. Meanwhile, I've got this huge (20" X 72") red wrap that I knit which desperately needed blocking. The last thing I wanted to do was to get this thing dripping wet and then have to find a place to block it. We don't have the space available right now. What to do?
After about 24 hours of enforced togetherness, husband and older son just HAVE to go out to shop or do something. In the interval, the younger son begins to fret about needing photos for a class project. The subject was "texture". I suggest that we put my knitting out in the snow. My hope was that the fresh snow would dampen the knitting just enough to get it evenly wet without getting it completely sodden. I tossed the shawl out the front door and younger son spread it out for the first photo. After that, he took astick and churned it in the fresh powder until it was evenly coated. We popped the shawl into a gigantic plastic bag and let the snow melt inside for a few hours. When I took the knitting out, it was damp, but could probably have used a litttle more snow. At the moment, it's hanging in the bathroom to dry. It's stretched out a bit, but nothing dramatic has happened. It's a large enough project that i won't block it again until it needs a wash.

Blue Moebius

This was a very quick and fun knit that I just completed for someone. It's made from Bernat Softee Chunky in the Denim color. The pattern is so simple that you can get it visually. Cast on 18 stitches. Knit 10 rows of garter stitch. Knit one row of elongated stitch (2 wraps around the needle). Repeat this pattern until scarf is desired length. At the end, I gave the scarf a 180 degree twist and used a 3-needle bind-off to finish/seam the ends. It fits nicely on the shoulders and goes well with denim jeans. I think the recipient will like it.

EKG Knit Hat

Here is the finished hat along with a photo of the graph/tracing that I used. The hat is a simple watch cap knit in wool using worsted weight yarn on size 6 needles (circular and double point). I was able to freehand embroider the pattern three times around the hat. I can't wait to send it to my friend who is finishing up her finals for the semester. (nursing school).

Knit EKG Swatch

This is a swatch I made for a project that has been in my mind for a long time. Originally, I was inspired to make a hat for a drummer. This drummer was quoted as saying that rhythm was everywhere, in heartbeats and handclaps. I later saw a pattern for a heartbeat hat and bought the pattern. However, as a biologist, I wanted to design my own pattern that showed the tracing of a normal EKG pattern. Add to that the fact that I have a friend who is in her final year of nursing school. Finally, she has been studying EKG's this past semester. It was time to knit. I looked at lots of EKG image tracings. This swatch has originally knit in intarsia to show the EKG pattern in the top example. I didn't like the way it looked. Someone else saw it and suggested that the Holbein Stitch (embroidery) would look more like a tracing. He was right. The bottom EKG pattern is in Holbein Stitch. I'll have the hat finished soon.

Mouse Pocket Scarf

I've been making this for a friend I used to work with. She loves all things Disney. Carrie asked me to knit her a scarf. Of course, I was happy to do this because I really enjoyed working with her. She chose the color and requested a Disney theme. I did a long search looking for knitttable images. I settled on the Mouse because it was easily recognizable and fit within the "pixellation limit" of a scarf. I used a pattern for a Mouse washcloth as the graphic. Originally, I tried knitting this in stockinette stitch with a seed stitch border, as per the washcloth. Unfortunately, the knitting simply curled too much for my taste. On my second, successful attempt, I knit the main portion of the scarf in seed stitch and knit the graphic portions on each end, UPSIDE DOWN. The Mouse graphic was then folded up and stitched to form a pocket. The yarn used was and acrylic, in lavender, about 2 skeins of worsted weight. The pattern for the Mouse can be found here:

Knit with Square Holes Around

It's drafty here. My chair is in the path of a sliding glass door. In Winter it gets pretty cold. I am still looking for a way to weatherstrip it more efficiently. In the meantime, I insulate MYSELF with knitting. The piece at left is a long rectangular wrap that I am making of Paton's Shetland Chunky Tweed in red. It is nearly finished and has used a total of 11 skeins. The center portion of the shawl was knit on size 10 knitting needles and measures approximately 20" x 60" before edging and blocking. The edging, nearly finished, is from Nicky Epstein's book, Knitted Embellishments. I liked it because of the modern, square holes. It was NOT fun to knit because of all the starting, stopping, casting/binding and loose ends. I still like the way it looks. I knit the edging on three sides of the shawl. The fourth (long) side will be plain garter stitch so that I have a solid edge near my neck and shoulders. I have not figured out how to block this thing yet. My house really doesn't have that much quiet real estate. Also, we are having new carpet put down soon. My husband would have a fit if I blocked anything on the new carpet for a while. The entire household is in an uproar as we prepare for some major fixing. I may just have to block this .....I have no idea....

Knit Sushi

Just a little knit sushi that I've been working on. I'm doing this freeform. There is no pattern. It's been fun to look at what other people have done in this area for inspiration. Now I've started pulling cookbooks and restaurant menus into use, too. I'll come back to this project from time to time, until I have a complete set that can go into some sort of fiber-based bento.

BTW, my husband is recuperating form surgery. It's been a long year. At his follow-up visit, we hope to hear that he is cancer-free. Knitting has helped keep me sane. Surprisingly, this last week, when he actually had the surgery, I was too fried to knit much. THAT'S how rattled I was.