Knitting on the Road

Knitting in the car works for me. Don’t worry; I’m not driving at the time. We love to take driving vacations, and often there are long stretches of highway with absolutely nothing to look at. This is when knitting has been a godsend for me. I used to fall asleep a lot, leaving my husband to fend for himself when it came to looking for the next highway. Of course navigation has always been one of his strong points, but I like to follow along and note places of interest.

I polished off two (count ‘em 1-2!) projects in the car. I had started a scarf for my niece in my crochet class back in February. I had mostly put is aside and had about 14 – 18 inches done. I really needed to get cracking for her Birthday on Easter. Working in the car, I finished a scarf about 4 inches wide and 6 feet long. I made it like that to double and wrap around, slipping the end through the loop. Pre-teens love to play around with fashion so I left her options. Since I had never done it, I asked for some help and added the fringe at K1P2 one night. I’m glad I took their advice to hold off on cutting the fringe – Jessica wanted it just the way it was. I wish I’d gotten a picture of her in it but I plum forgot to.

Next was a pink chemo cap. At Stitches East last year I made a miniature hat knit top-down. I also saw an adult pattern called Karlchen and experimented with my own top down version. It has a nipple at the top (tee hee) and four peaks to let some air circulate or keep the crown off sensitive scalps. I put in a little eyelet while I was working my increases. It adds a bit of a feminine touch. I still had a good bit of the yellow left, so I designed a little fairisle pattern too. I wish now I had thought to do a Mickey Mouse head for my Disney vacation, but working out the simple design was tough enough. I had to guess on the look with hand drawn long-box graph paper. I kept it veeeery simple.

That makes four chemo caps so far for me. For John.

My Punkin Hat

I thought I would take some pictures of my other Stitches East project yesterday. I'm so proud of the way it turned out. The class was my first using dpn and a bit of a struggle at first 'cause it was a hat knit top down - beginning with I-cord. That was another first for me. Such close work first thing in the morning? By plunging in, and with the calm reassurance of our instructor, it began to take shape. Slowly. Verrrrry slowly. Then ooooh aaaah, the increases made such a pretty swirl on the top. The other hats I've made were all bottoms up and the only said "decrease 1" so I knit 2 together. God bless beginner patterns! Since I am a methodical (read slooow) knitter, my Stitches hat ended up in miniature as I started each step when she began them, except the cables. I was in the middle of changing colors and couldn't keep up. No biggie I told her, I learned so many things - I was content with all the new skills I DID learn.

About two weeks ago I had frogged it back to the color change. With the help of a book I bought at the Marketplace there at Stitches and listening with one ear while I was still changing colors, I made some rather impressive cables for a beginner (applause gratefully accepted). I did goof a bit at first when I mis-read the pattern, but it was late at night. With fresh eyes, brain and hands though it was a different ball of wax (errr. . . yarn). I may look for a different cable needle though. Mine seemed a bit short.

Then it was on to the Fair Isle, another section I sort of missed. This one I did a short piece of on a new swatch first. It wasn't that tough though, and switching to the the other color was okay. Until that needle change. Arrrgggghhhhh! I still am not happy with doing that. I think I changed my fingers each time I turned a corner. I just couldn't get a flow for that "slide one needle out -reposition hands - rewrap yarn and insert". But it did turn out nice and even. The raised row of K1P1 before and after it obscure it a bit which I would change were I to use the pattern again. Perhaps two rows of diamonds or another row of straight knitting above and below would keep the Fair Isle from being obscured.

After a quick rolled brim, I was finished the little hat as written. It's amazing! So many new things in one project yet they seem to go together. I thought of donating my hat for chemo - there are some pretty little kids with cancer. But from what I understand wool is uncomfortable for them. This Saturday I have a family breakfast up in Baltimore County. We gather once a month at a buffet place. There are usually 30 or so relatives but December always draws a few more. I hear we have a new baby less than a year old. (Tammy is a grandmother??? I used to babysit her.) It'll be cool to make a gift for someone not expecting it.

Right now, I'm busy making Christmas scarves. I already gave one to my nephew Thomas who was visiting from California. He was freezing the day he got here, so I gave him his present early the next day. I made it long so he could double it and do that loop thing in the front. He was most impressed with my knitting prowess, even if it was a simple garter stitch.

And now a note about my blog. Editing those pictures so they appear where I want them is a bear. Appreciate them.

::note to self - learn to make linked pictures not so freaking HUGE::