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Knitting Friday

I'm looking at the god-awfullest looking breakfast as I'm typing. OK, I'm in the swing of things in that I'm eating early and I have at least 300 calories. Apparently those two factors help you lose weight in re: to breakfast. But I started with microwaving frozen strawberries for 3 minutes and getting an wet bowl of red mush. Then adding a sliced banana; still ugly looking. So I decided to make some oatmeal (good stuff, oatmeal.) So now I have a bowl of red mush, banana pieces and something that looks like the paste you make with flour. Oh, well.

I hope you practiced wrapping and turning last week like I suggested because - I know I didn't! I was such a busy week; as if no one else has one of those but I didn't get to any serious knitting until yesterday and that was because DH said: You know I can't wear the scarf you're knitting for me in the summer. So I only worked on that yesterday and had a chunk of time  because the boy was in Kumon for over an hour. Wow! A hour of knitting time! However, the 51 degree weather promised yesterday arrived at 41 degrees and after about 20 minutes in the car without gloves, I bailed. (Not to mention I was wearing CK black, light slacks, a wool coat not a parka, and a white wool scarf which I couldn't wrap around my face because of lipstick.) I was not dressed for car sitting in that weather. But I had taken the wool car throw that has been in the back of the car for years and only used years ago when the kids were very little. The climate is changing.

I really didn't get to far with the scarf yesterday; it's only 24" now. That could be because it's a one row pattern and I don't know why but simple patterns become boring fast. However, if you get 2 skeins of Paton wool, US 9 needles and US 10 needles.  And, using the US 10 only for the CO and later the BO, CO a multiple of 3 + 2. Then, changing to the US 9s work: Sl1P *K2, P1* K1 for every row you will get the most striking pattern. (Sorry, I didn't take a picture of the scarf yet; next week.) What is so great about this is that most striking patterns with variegated come when you use expensive yarns and with Paton variegated, in the garter stitch scarf I made for DH, the pattern was blah. But that one row above is the miracle worker. Try it and experiment with different variegated, different needle sizes and different cast ons. However, you might want to make this a "travel" project since I think it's too boring to enjoy working on for a long block of time.

Ravelry has a lot of threads, many of which I follow but few of which I ever contribute. Usually any ideas I think about posting someone else will (we have 2 million people worldwide), so I just read and learn. However, something I have noticed in the past and it's also reared its ugly head again: some Ravelers see themselves as the morality police. Usually the issue is copyright law ("thou shall not infringe on copyright law."), you must support your LYS (local yarn store), you must buy "made in America" and Dyak Craft needles are the best in the world - no arguing. Lately, the MP (morality police) have been out in force concerning the last two issues though they did get a good slap down from a Raveler who wrote: Hey, I don't live in America, you jingoistic pigs! (I added the last two words.)

#1 K/C shawl

However, it's important to read the threads daily because I was working on the shawl on the right with US 13 fixed circular Chiaogoo needles which have a thick cord. The last time I made a shawl on US 17 fixed circs this way, the cord pulled out from the weight. That's when I decided to BO and finish the shawl in crochet. This time, I liked the thickness of the cords on the Chiaogoo and I thought I could finish the shawl on these needles. That's when I found this Ravelry thread: The cords pulled out of my Chiaogoo needles and I got spooked. It looks like the problem may have been when you're working the magic loop when you twist your needles a lot but I had 24" of approx. 150 stitches weighing on these cords so I bound of and finished in crochet. I'll post of picture next week because the finished shawl is out visiting now.

But here's some quick directions if you want to try this shawl in all knit, perhaps on a lighter weight like fingering or even lace.

Materials:  

Yarn (I can't tell you yardage because this was always going to be an "inside" shawl and I made it will leftover yarn. But in my first one, I used a pound package of DK mill ends and I used about 3/4 of a pound). 
Larger sized needles than the yarn weight would use.

Larger sized crochet hook: see above

Contrasting yarn to mark the increase side of your work.

Terms: SSK: Slip 1 P, Slip 1 P, K these stitches together

Directions:

Increase section:

CO 11 sts and K one row.

Row 1 (inc row to be marked): K1, YO, K1, YO *K* YO, K1, YO, K1

Row 2: K

Repeat these two rows until your shawl is long enough. End after Row 2. On the above shawl, I had more than 140 stitches on the needles at the length.

Work even section:

Row 1 (same side as inc side above): K1, YO, K2tog *K* SSK, YO, K1.

 (You are making an edge "hole" like the YO did in the increase section but the K2tog right after/before it sees that you don't increase any stitches.)

Row 2: K

 BO at your width. Don't cut your yarn.

Bottom and Side Ruffles:

With a larger sized hook than you would use with your yarn (on DK, I used an M hook) work your ruffles down the side of the shawl, around the bottom (see above, the bottom of the shawl is at the bottom of the picture above) and back to the top of the shawl. You will use a different stitch across the top of the shawl.

Ch 4 = 1 dc & ch 1. In each space made by your YOs, work :*1 DC, Ch1, 1 DC, ch1* (The pattern is 2 DC separated by a Ch1 in each YO space. You can fudge the number of DCs to make a smaller or larger ruffle.)

Top Ruffle:

Working in each BO stitch across the top: Slip stitch in the first stitch, Ch 8, slip stitch in the same stitch, then * sl st in each st, ch 8, sl in same st* across.

That's it. No blocking. Weave in any ends. Turn the top ruffle to form a small collar. Put in around your shoulders. Fasten with a shawl pin. (Remember my chop stick and small wooden doll's head.) Once again, I'm typing wearing my mills end shawl which has got to have wool in it because it is so warm.

And finally, I didn't forget. Here are the directions for wrapping and turning in garter stitch. You do things slightly different than with the directions for stockinette. (See last Friday for more.)

In W & T Garter: At the stitch you plan to wrap (the 1st st on the LN):

1. Bring your yarn to the front.

2. Slip 1st st on LN as P to your RN.

3. Bring your yarn to the back.

4. Turn your work. (The stitch in # 2 now back on the LN & Y is in F.)

5. Bring this stitch (1st st on LN) back to the RN. (Try it and it won't be confusing.)

6. Yarn to the back. The stitch is wrapped & you can see the wrap.

7. Knit back to the beginning of the row.

#2 W & T in st st

That's it. In garter stitch, you just wrap the stitch. When you reach it again, you just knit past it. You don't knit together the wrap and the wrapped stitch.

# 3 W & T in garter

On the left, is the picture from last week where, in stockinette, I wrapped, turned and then knitted the wrap and the wrapped stitch together. On the right, is wrap and turn in garter where I wrapped the stitch (see marker) but didn't knit it together with its wrapping. 

As you know, with some short row patterns in garter, you just turn and don't do any wrapping at all and the holes you get become part of the pattern. Wrap and turn is very easy with some practice, however, be sure to mark out where you are as you go along. Most W & T directions will just say: K 5, T; K 10 T; etc., and don't give the W & T rows a row number. If you are called away from your knitting, unless you have created your own marking system, you''ll just return to your work with: Now, where was I? Not good.

We will miss you.

That's almost it for today. Next week: pictures and more. But before I leave you. Miss L. was taken for her second tier of training yesterday. After she left, sitting in the kitchen at the computer, I heard her crate rattling so many times. It was spooky. The girl came home and immediately dismantled her crate and we put furniture in its place. I don't know if that's going to help us stop missing her. But the good news is, she was so happy to see the Area Coordinator and we got an e-mail from her (the Coordinator, not Miss L) saying that she had a good trip.