A Little Yarn On The Side

Is it wrong that my own project makes me laugh every time I see it?

Today's lesson learned:  If you're unclear whether you need a 26-inch zipper or a 28-inch zipper, buy them BOTH and then return the one you don't use.  Unless you're trying to strike up a relationship at the returns counter for unknown reasons.

Riding on a high from finishing this  and this yesterday, I thought today would be a good day to start a new sewing project that I've been planning for at least a day or two.  But to do so, I needed to clear off some space on the sewing table, which meant finishing up some felt gift bags that were still in progress, or finding a place to stash them to get them out of the way, but where I would still be able to find them.  As we're all familiar with my track record on THAT score, it seemed wiser to finish them. Some younger friends of mine are having a baby, and they're sort of non-traditional.  Everything on their baby registry is black, so a cute little baby sweater seems a bit inappropriate.  Instead, I think I might be making the first baby "smack-talk" quilt in existence.  The first finished squares: If you can't quite read them, they say: No sleep for the big people My other stroller is a Porsche I'm with the band Dude, where's my binkie...

This a very simple scarf pattern involving exactly one pattern row.  This pattern is not copyrighted and you are free to share. Materials:  Pick the yarn and needles of your choice.  I'd recommend a large needle in relation to the yarn.  For example, for the example scarf I used a DK weight mohair blend with a size 8 needle.  For a worsted weight, I might use a size 9 or 10 needle.  For a fingering weight, maybe a size 6 needle.  The idea is to create a very drapey fabric.  I prefer lighter colored yarns for this scarf, but that's just my personal preference. Cast on 31 Rows 1 through 4:  Knit Rows 5, 7, 9, 11 - Knit 4, *(k2 tog) twice, (yo, K1) 3 times, yo, ssk twice, k1; Repeat from *, knit 3 Rows 6, 8, 10, 12 - Knit 3, purl to last 3 stitches, knit 3. Repeat rows 1 through 12 until desired length.  Finish by knitting 4 rows.  Bind off all stitches.

I view it as a personal victory that I have even been able to make headway on the April project of the month, since I've had more than my share of "help"  They're obviously taking it in turns to "assist" me.  Actually I shouldn't complain.  Andy is out of town on business right now, and they have taken it upon themselves to entertain/protect/instruct/snuggle me--mostly at 3:00 AM.  A little sewing help is a small thing compared to trying to convince two cats that it is NOT in my best interests to have anyone sleeping on my head.  Even with the obvious case of insomnia, the floral jacket is now 99% complete, and has just been hanging a bit before doing the final top-stitching and the 4 front buttonholes, and I even have buttons that I think will work nicely:  They are some extremely pointless buttons I bought some time ago before realizing that the silly things are dry clean only, but since this fabric is dry-clean only as well, I thought they were...

*  Learn to consistently check gauge.  30+ years of knitting still  hasn't taught her this? *  A bit more dedication.  A day all to herself and her crafting and what does she do?   Sewing . *  A bit more respect.  We exercise no control over which knitters can pass themselves off as "designers."  Even if well-respected knitting magazines occasionally get hoodwinked into publishing completely insane designs, it has nothing to do with us.  We do promise to consider punishing such designers with plagues of moths, but we reserve all discretionary rights no matter what  curses you choose to throw at them. *  Enough with the darn chemo caps already *  We respectfully disagree with the Cold Sheep movement you have started.  Until one actually has yarn in every single room in the house, you're not even close to maxing out your stash potential. *  Stop blaming us when you "know" a pattern so well that you don't ...

*  That just once I find a project that actually takes less  time than I think it will *  That after 100+ hours of knitting, I'll look exactly like the 12-year-old model in the knitting magazine does while wearing the sweater *  That I can block something without kitty assistance *  That 5 years from now no one will even remember what the word "errata" means because editors have actually started editing patterns before publishing *  That if someone publishes a bad or confusing pattern, every knitter who has attempted it gets to line up and give the author one of those top-of-the-head knuckle-thumps that all older siblings learned how to do. *  That knitting would burn as many calories as cross country skiing *  To see a yarn label that actually says "Crappy yarn that will pill like crazy and has big freaking knots that we tied using a blender in every single skein" *  That just once, when someone tells me that they "could never"...