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occasional glimpses

• Twofer: knitting in progress

  22Apr
  Categories: knit Comments: 6

  

  I’ve realised I rarely show work in progress here: each project seems to be featured only once, either at the beginning or the end.

  Well, I’m still working on this, and still enjoying it.  I think it’d be a great pattern for a beginner, it’s only knit/plain/garter and decreases. But I think a beginner would need a friend to talk them through it, I agree it’s more like a recipe, it does require some  knowledge of knitting. And I read the decreases wrong, and had to go back: should’ve trusted that nagging feeling it wasn’t right.

  I’m trying to finish both hats together, a bit like a chef tries to plate everything up at the same time. That way the kids won’t argue about who’s first, who’s second …. I hope!

  Tags: beginner, child's, hat, knitting, simple, WIP

• Glad I’m not a cat: Curiosity #001

  13Apr
  Categories: knit Comments: 0

  Elly from green olives design recently wrote about Lands’ End and L.L. Bean. What got my interest was the shoulder seam on one of the knits she showed: it’s rotated to the back. (Above, courtesy Lands’ End). The arm joins the shoulder as usual.

  I’ve seen this before on commercial knits, but never really thought about it. What’s the purpose? Eliminating bulk? Just a style thing?

  Then I started thinking about hand knits: is there any technical reason why you can’t rotate the shoulder seam on a hand knit? I had a look through quite a few of pages on Ravelry (social site for hand knitters, with a huge user-created database of patterns). I couldn’t see any examples of this type of shoulder, although they may exist. I wonder why it’s not common?

  Tags: curiosity, handknit, knitting, knitwear, machine-made, rotated, seam, shoulder

• Fish: school holiday colouring in

  08Apr
  Categories: drawing Comments: 2

  Hi. D’you have kids? Youngish ones? On school holidays at the moment? If so, would you like the fish colouring in picture* I made for my kids? (Click HERE ). Maybe then you can get back to your own creative space, or at least have some mental space…

  This is the raw just-as-I-drew-it version, not a tidied up “design”. I think it’s nice for kids to see a little quirkiness from time to time.  And yes, I encourage my ones to draw from their own imaginations, not always do colouring in. But it can be fun once in a while, no?

  * For the enjoyment of children in your family and their friends in your care ONLY. Not for sale or modification. All rights reserved

  Tags: child, coloring in, colouring in, fish, kid, school holiday activity

• Guilt knitting

  06Apr
  Categories: knit Comments: 1

  

  I’ve been starting to think about writing down the knitting patterns buzzing ’round my head. I did once before.

  This means, for the first time ever, I’ve bought wool just for swatching. I feel irrational guilt about it. You see, after swatching, some wool turned out too thick, or the slubs didn’t look right, or the whole idea won’t work, at least not now, not easily, not ’till I think about it some more.

  I’m not a big stasher, I’ve 2.5 average-sized plastic boxes full of wool. (Ok, technically I should say “yarn”, but most of it’s actually wool). That’s my everything, all my half begun; abandoned; dreamt about but still untouched knit projects as an adult. I pretty much always have a plan for the wool I buy, even if that plan changes like, 5 or 6 times!

  So I’ve been feeling really guilty about my just for swatching wool. And hurrying madly to find a project for it. Yeah, I fully agree that’s irrational, but it’s how I feel.

  Mustaa villaa’s hat pattern is perfect for this situation, especially since it calls for 8ply/DK. If you’re Aussie you know that’s the most common weight here … by far. I’m really enjoying mixing the colours for the band, and looking forward to a guilt free knitting future. And to finally telling the kids, when I’m near the end: “Oh, yes, this one’s for you”.

  Tags: 8ply/DK, beginner, child's, hat, kids, knitting, pattern, swatches, wool