You Were Here

little mid-week dates with my knitting

I struggle to find time to knit these days. With work and class and a dog that insists on his fair share of my time, the opportunity to sit and do nothing but knit just isn't showing its face as often. And I miss it.... So, although I can't quite justify pulling out knitting needles during a meeting, there are ways to incorporate some quality knitting time.

Step #1: Get a really big everyday bag. Every other step is pointless if you can't guarantee that your knitting will fit. If your bag isn't big enough, you may find you occasionally give up precious, precious knitting space for other not-so-precious things (i.e. textbooks, dog treats, umbrellas).

Step #2: Leave home early and take the long way to work.

If you take public transit to work, you may need to do some investigating to find the ideal solution for adding knitting to your commute. Busy bus routes are far from ideal if you can't get a seat. You'll be jostled around and may accidentally poke a fellow passenger with your knitting needles. Not ideal. At all. Crowded subways that resemble a jar jammed full of pickles moreso than a modern transit system are also not ideal. There usually isn't even room for breathing, let alone knitting. Try getting a different bus route, or opt for the streetcar instead of the subway. Drive? Try carpooling with a perfectionist. Done.

Step #3: Step away from your desk.

Since you cannot eat and knit at the same time, take lunch early at your desk. Regardless of how sloppy or soupy it is, eat it right over that keyboard - don't be shy (your IT department will be your new best friend), keep on working, and save your lunch time for knitting. Then, pick up a hot, cozy beverage (it sets the mood) and find yourself some comfortable spot nearby - like a bench, or a big tree with a nook for sitting in - and knit. Knit yourself happy.

Step #4: Take the long way home.

Repeat.

 

a hat for my honey

A couple of years ago I made this hat for my fella. Somehow, in the past nine months it has managed to get itself lost in this tiny little house of ours. In this very small house, there is no way this hat has gotten very far, but truthfully, I haven't actually spent any time looking. Why find a knitted hat when I can devote that time to knitting another one? 

And so, naturally, I found myself perusing Ravelry patterns in search of the perfect quick pattern (I chose the Family Ribbed Hat from More Last-Minute Knitted Gifts, Joelle Hoverson) and stumbled into a local yarn store for my first try at Madelinetosh (tosh merino). The pattern is perfect and timeless, and the yarn in 'Twig' (how awesome is that name?) was a dream. I'm actually, possibly a little too in love with Madelinetosh yarn right now as a result. If I see it, I will buy it, so, so help me, don't get in my way.

All in all, a great knit, and a great little birthday gift for my great guy. He wears it, he doesn't say a word about it being nearly (gulp) two weeks late, and he lets me take countless dorky photos of him wearing it. He may get the occasional knitted hat to keep his head toasty warm, but I'm even luckier - I get him.

i like friends who like folksy-looking bookmarks

A good friend of mine celebrated a birthday last week. And to 'mark' (oh punny me!)  the occasion, I made my book-loving friend this bookmark. Now that all is said and done, instead of focusing on the fact that I ran out of time to block it into a nice consistent rectangular shape, and I hadn't practiced my embroidery skills in a dozen+ years before laying needle and thread to this project - thus resulting in a very abstract looking design (those are flowers, by the way...it's okay if you couldn't tell), I will focus on the fact that my friend seemed thoroughlypleased by this little token gift.

I wouldn't trust just any friend to receive a folksy, imperfect, well-intentioned little knit project, but this friend has to be one of the most supportive, positive, and caring people I know. Whatever is going on in my life, she is always there, encouraging my endeavors - big or small, sharing joy in whatever I'm smiling about, lending an ear for a vent or two (or twenty), and doing it all over regular (and treasured) lunch dates.

So, as much as I wish I had practiced my embroidery skills first, there just isn't always the time or opportunity, and I knew that my friend would prefer to receive this gift - imperfections and all - than to know I was either too embarrassed by its lack of perfection to even give it to her, or to not even try in the first place in the absence of oodles of time to practice. 

It was made using this pattern from 'More Last-Minute Knitted Gifts' and it was such a great little pattern I will definitely make more. 

I may even try embroidery again sometime soon, since my first attempt was so well received...

burberry & the new year

It feels so good to finish off 2010 (well, truthfully, finish off the first few days of 2011) with a FO. This was supposed to be a Christmas gift for someone…. but, now that it's finished (and finished too late for Christmas), I sort of want to keep it for myself (go away guilt! the season of giving is over, it is now the season of surviving winter with as many cute handknits as possible).

The pattern is Burberry Inspired Cowl Neck Scarf (by Julianne Smith) and it is truly one of the coolest cowls I've ever seen. I just love the drapy, soft, goodness of it all. While the yarn itself (Malabrigo chunky) is luxuriously soft, the big gentle cables of the pattern itself make it irresistibly cozy. I'm glad I went with a solid colour - keeps the focus on the lovely swooshy cables. The colour was chosen because I think the intended recipient would really like it… but, while the colour was perfectly her, I'm not sure if the style of the cowl is a perfect match (this is me trying to convince myself not to feel guilty about wanting to keep it). I was lucky enough to receive two knitting books and the new Interweave Knits magazine for Christmas, so I think there just might be the perfect pattern in there somewhere to make up for her instead. 

For now, I'll do the grown-up thing and put this pretty pink cowl aside to avoid growing too attached to it until I find a better pattern to gift to this person for Christmas 2011. But, if you see another pink-yarn project pop up in my Ravelry… you'll know that I was successful in keeping burberry all for myself.

Looking ahead: 2010 was a bit of a dud knitting wise, so, in the spirit of the New Year and because I don't care to make any actual non-knitting resolutions (why fool myself into thinking I have a shot at keeping any of them), I present a short list of things I want to do in my knitting life in 2011:

• Knit more. This one's easy. I want knitting to become a part of my everyday again, as opposed to something I just think about doing.
• Knit a pair of socks. I'm terrified of sock knitting, so terrified in fact, I can't even bring myself to give sock patterns more than a passing glance.
• Meet other knitters. I don't really know any other knitters. Ravelry did wonders for my habit hobby by opening up the world of knitting beyond my couch and limited selection of inherited (and kind of ugly) patterns. But, I would love to talk to other knitters about knitting and yarn, knit with them, and learn from them. There is a world of knitters out there in this city and I would love to become a part of it.
• Knit an adult-sized sweater. I tried once. But… it didn't work out very well. It was a horrible pattern and was loaded up with mistakes. My yarn, too, was pretty awful, and not proper for the new knitter that I was (am?). I want to do it right. 

Better get knitting...

before a golden retriever eats one of these mittens....

... I thought I should take a photograph, for the record books (aka Ravelry). 

These are pretty special mittens, but since they pre-date my Ravelry years, I hadn't bothered to photograph them before. A certain incident on the weekend (to be discussed shortly) made me rethink this decision. So, here they are: one of my earliest knitting projects and my very first mitten knitting.

My inaugural knitting project (as an adult) was a scarf (naturally). Almost every knitter in the world stupidly, or not stupidly, starts with a garter stitch scarf. If you can get through THAT many rows of garter stitch, you have the perseverance required to take up this craft. I still have this scarf. But I have never actually worn it... and will likely never photograph it.

These mittens might have been my second knitting project (or maybe there was a baby blanket - garter stitch, of course, with a few yarn-overs to keep it fresh - in there too). But, the blanket has long been sent of to its recipient, so these mittens now count as the earliest real knitting project I have a record of. And I love them so.

While they're not the warmest things, I wear them many days each winter. They fit perfectly over my hands. The pattern is from an old mitten pamphlet of my mom's and there are still her small edits dotted in pencil throughout the entire thing. I love that. She was likely noting customizations for mittens to fit my hands (she knit me so many mittens throughout my childhood) but, for these mittens, I stuck with the printed instructions and it seems my hands have grown into them perfectly.

I have no idea what the yarn is - likely an acrylic blend picked up from a local Michael's or Walmart - back when I didn't know knitting or this city. While my tastes in how yarn feels (and smells... yes) have changed so much in the last few years, this blue multi-coloured yarn will always be among my favourites because it was the one that started it all.

And now.... about that golden retriever:

On Sunday, I took Boomer to the dog park and in the few seconds of chaos while I tried to unhook his gentle leader while holding a bag of poop while holding my right-hand mitten while warding off the four big dogs who came to sniff out the new guy...... i dropped the mitten and one of the big dogs - a golden retriever - scooped it up and took off across the park.

Before I even realized it was missing, his owner was running after him yelling at him to drop it and I saw the Golden desperately gulp down my mitten before being caught. Gone. Hours of handknitting gone. Why on earth couldn't I have dropped the poop bag instead!!!

I apologized profusely and assured the owner that it was mitten of quality material (wool and mohair surely digests nicely?) but I'm not sure that helped the situation and I received nothing more than a quick apology as he and the Golden left - and a promise to return the mitten if he "found" it... um, yeah, no thanks. 

Here's the thing... I have known a fair number of Golden Retrievers in my life, and of all the dogs I've known and loved (a list which includes a pit bull, a boxer, THREE beagles, terriers, countless labs, a coon hound).... the Golden's are BY FAR the most pleasing. Something tells me there was a reason that Golden Retriever felt he had to swallow a (beautiful handknit) mitten, and it's likely the same reason why I hardly got an apology. (okay, I'll step down from my soapbox now).

You'll probably hear me mention this incident again (maybe you have already). It's been my go-to story since it happened.