Want to know a secret?
Keeping consistent gauge when knitting in garter stitch is kinda hard. At least I think so. The evidence:
See, you guys think I'm a good knitter just because I have a blog and stuff. But you are wrong ;-)
I started the first strip of Emily’s Circle of Friends Blanket yesterday after my first bar review class. (Remind me some time to show you my first-ever knitting project: a scarf that looked remarkably like this, except more consistent width-wise because I was suuuuuch a tight knitter. Ironic, huh?). Frankly bar review seems so mind-numbing I might need a more complicated project for decompression purposes, but for now, just keeping the squares on the blanket in the realm of 4 x 4 is complicated enough. Most of the inconsistency will be remedied during seaming and blocking, so I’m not stressing about it. Plus, you know, this will be mostly used by a teensy baby who won’t care that the blocks aren’t perfectly square and will just barf on it anyway.
A word about Knitpicks Shine. This is some tough stuff! I forgot my scissors yesterday on the subway and could not for the life of me rip the yarn from the ball. It should hold up beautifully. Plus it’s the least splitty cotton blend I’ve tried, especially compared to the Debbie Bliss Cathay I’m using for Calla. Sarah and other knitters in her clinic made a CoF blanket using Shine Worsted, and she gets credit for turning me on to this yarn! (which makes me still love her even if she is moving to Tampa). [photo courtesy of Margaret - thanks Margaret!]
Moving on: Look what the fabulous Jessica of Yarnmonster brought me from Maryland!
That’s right, two skeins of Tess Supersocks, the amazing hand-dyed machine wash & dry sock yarn. Nice, huh? Although Jess tells me they informed her when she bought it that the turquoise color fades when exposed to sunlight. Weird. Anyway, Tess is only available at festivals, and reportedly there are limits on how many skeins you can buy there. The Tess booth was mobbed all day long, but tough-cookie Jess braved the throng to obtain this (and, of course, some for herself). Thank you, Jessica!
This Tess stash addition has me in an expansive mood. As a result, I’ve actually decided to modify my stash-keeping policy a bit in the following manner: there will henceforth be no limits on solid-colored sock yarn. There are just so many projects for sock yarn, and it’s so universal, that it’s a nice outlet for stash enhancement without guilt that it will sit unused foreverandever. Initialed: JK.
Posted by jess at May 24, 2006 4:20 PM | TrackBackthe tess is definitely stash worthy. it holds up like a champ in the washer and dryer...unlike the str
Posted by: yahaira at May 24, 2006 4:45 PMknitting at bar review. hmmmm...that would have saved a lot of hair pulling and nailbiting. I wish I had known how to knit back then. Good luck! You'll do awesome.
Posted by: Kristin R. at May 24, 2006 5:18 PMThanks for the yarn recommendation with the Knitpicks Shine. I'll have to try it myself soon.
Posted by: jessic at May 24, 2006 6:03 PMStash enhancement revisions? Slippery slope...
Teasing!
I'm using shine to make a pair of throws as a wedding gift (almost . . . done . . . ). I really like this yarn a lot. I also really like the fabric it's creating (though I should note that I'm crocheting, so I can't say how much it's the stitch vs the yarn).
I also bought way too much of it and am not sure what I will do with all the rest. Nothing for a while, that's for sure. ;)
Posted by: Alison at May 24, 2006 8:50 PMYou're very welcome for the yarn! I felt like I was accomplishing a knitterly mission--for the enhancement of a fellow knitter's stash.
And I think your stash policy amendment is a good one--and sock yarn barely takes up any room, either!
That is some beautiful sock yarn! I can not wait to see what you are going to knit with it. :-)
Posted by: Emma at May 25, 2006 3:19 AMI'm with you on the solid color sock yarn! That is pretty much all I bought at MD! (Including Tess'!) It seems like there is so much varigated/handpainted stuff out there now. I'm actually going to dye my own solid!
Posted by: Stacey at May 25, 2006 9:29 AMIf your friend needs a friend in Tampa send her my way ! I'd love a knitting friend that isnt a million years older than me out here !!!
I love the pics of the collaborative baby blanket - a very sweet idea :)
Kitty love to Catty & the furbabies
Ohh.. I'm visiting your blog for the first time and it's so beautiful! I really like your style!
Posted by: uhoava gnu at May 27, 2006 4:02 PM