My waiting project is progressing. My original idea was a cowl double knit with polka dots. I chose two variegated yarns, which is making the pattern muddier than I envisioned. On the plus side, it looks like an old school monitor glitch, which is cool in its own right.
It drives me crazy trying to find the end caps for my knitting needles. I take them off to knit, and when I set them down inevitably one slinks off to hide somewhere. So I tethered them. I pushed safety pins through the flared edge of the end cap, then clipped the pin to a hair band. When I’m ready to knit, I slide the hair band on my wrist. When I’m done, the little rascals are right there.
My safety pins are a little different; they came with a knitting kit, so may actually be stitch markers. They have a nice sharp point and will go through the end cap material. A standard safety pin would work as well. I do recommend using a stretchy bracelet type object, so there are no clasps to undo. I don’t recommend using one of those silicone bracelets with the friction clasp, because the clasp is likely to pop open as the bracelet is pulled off and send the end caps on a merry flying trajectory across the room. (Yup, experience.)
I’m back to knitting for my next “in the car” project. I bought some beautifully dyed fingering weight merino wool by Bashful Armadillo and wanted to do a double knit project.
I tried a cast on technique that makes a knit transition on the edge, but I couldn’t keep track of the edge; it kept twisting. So I did a two color double cast on instead. I uploaded a short video, mostly so I remember how I did it, because the edge was easy to handle and came out nice and stretchy.
The pattern I drew out on graph paper. I had to make some adjustments after the first round of dots because I was thinking in rows, rather than spirals. Depending on how it comes out, the finished double knit tube will either be a cowl or I’ll make it into a bag. Options.
I’m pleasantly surprised how easy this project is to pick up and put down, essential qualities for a waiting project. I put markers every 24 stitches, and the pattern repeats within that frame, so figuring out where I am is fairly easy. When it is time to stop I don’t have to get to the end of a row, I just pop on a couple end caps and put the project back in the bag.
I finished my spun mohair fiber page. This mohair is from Rutabaga the Angora goat and is from her first shearing.
I did a knitting swatch in stockinette stitch with a garter stitch border, crochet round, a minute weaver, and a nålbound swatch.
I am calling this my waiting shawl, since I knitted it while waiting. Waiting in the car rider line, waiting in the doctor’s office, waiting in the parking lot. It feels like I’ve been waiting forever, but I’ve only been knitting for six months. I started spinning the fiber over a year ago, though. So. This is made from fiber from Sugar Plum the alpaca, washed, carded, and hand-spun with a drop spindle and some on my upcycled bicycle spinning wheel. The knit pattern is yarn over, purl two together, both front and back, with knit stitches on the edges to get the stripes vertical
The amazing thing about this shawl happened when I did a light wash and blocked it. First, there was still quite a bit of dust in the yarn that came out in the wash. Second, when I blocked it, it doubled in size. All the lace holes opened up, evened out and expanded. Wow. It made my spinning seem much more even. I’ll take it.
Critters and Craft 