Post-Christmas Lack of Knitting

I stayed up until about 6am on Christmas trying to finish everyone's gifts; in a ~totally unexpected~ turn of events, this did not happen. In spite of the fact that this is solely related to poor planning, I have gone into a pique and not picked up the needles since. I think perhaps tomorrow I will start in again on my Clapotis (yes, yes, I'm making one). I'm into the straight section, and could probably finish it by this time next week if I tried. I'm still rather a slow knitter. I'm using Noro Silver Thaw in color #9. Here's what I have so far, with yarn scrap markers and all.





The Silver Thaw is super soft and I think I'm going to pick some up from the Webs clearance section in color #3 to make a felted laptop case for my PowerBook.

You like that stockinette curl on the end there? Yeah, me too. I can't wait to drop stitches, although this yarn is sticky enough that I think I'm going to have to pick them all through. Huzzah!

One thing I love about knitting is that it makes me feel all domestic. You'd think I was a nesting pregnant woman, or something - my favorite thing is to get dinner started, then sit down, knit, and wait for my man to come home. What happened to me?

PONY HAIR Lace Headband

Pattern: Molly's Headband, free Interweave Knits pattern in Sweet Somethings collection

Yarn: Luxurious Lion Brand Wool-Ease in Grey Heather, not very much yardage at all

Needles: Swallow Casein dpns / 3.75mm, US5

N'at: I didn't even weave in the ends. There is no n'at.

I am not, normally, a headband sort of person. I have thin, fine hair that parts of its own accord no matter how much shellac I apply, so headbands that are skinny look stupid on me, and the wide ones usually result in a strange protrusion on the back of my head. However, this lovely design with its I-cord ties really does work; it's wide enough that the part doesn't show, and I don't look like a blobby alien from behind. It, like the Panta, makes a good neckwarmer when I get tired of wearing it all up on my head.

This really only took a matter of hours to knit, and I love it so much I have started five or six other headbands with lace patterns. It's a fun way to knit lace that has a fairly short repeat. I prefer a slipped-stitch edge to the garter stitch used here, but hey.

And no, fine, none of the other headbands are finished yet. They will be as soon as I can pick one I like and stick with it, see it through, help it grow into a lovely butterfly. Right? Right. Mark that one down on the Uberlist: Finish 17 headbands-in-progress.

Note: My hair does not usually look like that. It was kind of greasy and I tried to make it look fashionable for my from-above self portrait.

UNDELICIOUS RIBS Manly Man Hat

Pattern: there weren't no pattern
Yarn: Reynolds Lopi, selected by Zack for boringness of color
Needles: Icky plastic dpns and icky aluminum or some such metal 16" circular / 6mm, US10
N'at: One paperclip as stitch marker, the trusty old yarn needle


I wanted to knit something for Zack; I would've made a sweater since, due to the fact that we are engaged, I have no fear of the Sweater Curse. Thing is, apparently he doesn't wear sweaters, preferring instead to complain about being cold. I do not turn the heat up; I will convert him one of these days to sweater-wearing. (I don't understand not liking sweaters. My favorite season of the year is the Time When Sweaters are Worn.)

Anyway, it's a simple K2P2 rib, done for about seven or eight inches, and then I started the decreases, which I believe were every eight stitches or something vaguely symmetrical. It turned out hatlike, which is all I could ask for, since I was winging it and hadn't made a hat in some time. Zack claims to like it; I am not sure if this is just because he wants not to have his access to sex restricted (I would not actually do this). The major complaint is that it lets the wind through a little too much. I am a loose knitter but chose to blame the needle size; I also figure that since Lopi felts if you look at it funny, this problem will resolve itself soon enough on a sweaty head.

LOVE LIFE Glovelike Devices

Pattern: Knucks / Knitty Summer 2006
Yarn: unknown possible wool from stash, plus Dale Ull for the embroidery

Needles: Swallow Casein dpns and spectacular tiny Clover plastic circular for socks / 3.75mm, US5

N'at: I used a keyring and a free ring sizer for stitch markers here. Also, obvieusement, my cheap and old yarn needle. Nothing new was purchased in the making of this FO.

So this pair of Knucks marked my return to knitting anything of import. (I made a Panta first, but it's kind of hideous and made of purple Homespun and I only wear it in the house to keep my head warm, so let's pretend it doesn't exist, OK?) I saw them and fell in love with them and pictured in my head this utterly neat and perfectly finished pair of fingerless gloves, complete with clever message.

Given my rusty knitting skillz, these didn't take nearly as long as I thought they might. In fact, there is a third one in existence, which was supposed to be the first of a pair for my wonderful future husband; alas, I ran out of yarn, and haven't really had the heart to frog it out and start over with something that exists in adequate quantity.*

If you look closely, which you can't do with the photo, you will notice that there are gaps and general ugliness in the finishing of these. Still, they're warm, and handy, and I like them. However, I will personally punch the next person who asks if I didn't mean to put "HATE" on the left glove. I will use the hand labelled "LOVE" to deliver the blow, of course.

I will definitely be making more of these, just as soon as I free the dpns up from the other project they're working on. Or I could just buy more dpns. Hm, hm. My only complaint is that they are a little awkward to wear for things like knitting or typing, as they do hold my fingers rather far apart and I'm clumsy enough to begin with. And yes, I am cheapenvironmentally friendly enough that I require additional hand warmth in my home. They work fantastically well for being able to retrieve my bus pass from my coat pocket, though.

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* For this, read "I started too many other projects and kinda forgot this was in the bottom of the basket."

another hobby, another blog

I have this terrible habit of starting blogs and then abandoning them. I think that badbento was the longest-lived of any non-"this is my life" style blog I've ever had. Alas, the utter suckitude of this summer and fall meant that I pretty much abandoned the effort and forgot most of the Japanese I know.

Still, the good thing about breaking my foot was that it led me to sit around at home, all the time, with not much to do. I quit smoking, and then I really had nothing to do, so I thought I'd dig up my old yarn stash and needles and see if knitting would take me back. It did, and I've actually managed to actually finish some actual items.

At any rate, one hopes that since I have started acquiring yarn (again) and books (again), I will keep knitting. And if I keep knitting, I'll keep posting here, if only to keep a record of my efforts.

One recommendation: I use Google Notebook to keep track of my progress on my works-in-progress. If you don't have a blog, you might try this, since it's nifty.