Your greatness is not what you have, it's what you give.

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Listen to your inner voice!

Have you ever started a project without a pattern and right from the start you knew something just wasn't quite right? I planned on making a man's scarf using a Cascade 220 denim colored wool and wanted a reversible, warm stitch that had some interest to it. I finally decided on a Brioche stitch and cast on what I thought was a reasonable number of stitches. Too narrow! Ok! Start again! Knit a few inches...too wide! Alrighty then! Start one more time with fewer stitches. I knit happily along for 6 inches or so, all the while thinking to myself that maybe this is still a little bit too wide. Nah! It's for a man! Men need manly sized scarves! Against my better judgement I knitted blithely along to a good 12 or 13 inches long and looked back, admiringly at my work to see a blip in a row a couple of inches back. Hmmm.... I'll just tink back and fix it. NOT! Well, I did tink back without a problem but after knitting back to my original length there was now a HUGE blip across the whole row! It was the Knitting Goddesses telling me to forget this project and make something else with this yarn. So the whole week's worth of knitting was frogged and I cast on for a Mistake Stitch Scarf. When am I going to learn to listen to my inner voice?!!!

This week Carole put the finishing touches on her Bridger Cowl. The last few rows were finished before evening's end and now it just needs a gentle blocking.
 Carole and I both bookmarked the same cowl for another project and since I was feeling bored with my current projects and was itching with startitis, we both cast on for this Olivia Cowl, a freebie on Ravelry.com.
 This cowl starts with provisional cast on. Carole's favorite method casts the stitches directly on to your knitting needle. I have mastered the first two methods in this video and find that by casting the stitches directly on to an extra circular needle, I can graft the stitches at the end of the project without then having to stop to pick up the stitches from the crochet chain.
No, we are not having a race! LOL! But this is how much knitting Carole and I accomplished last night. The top cowl in green is Carole's and the bottom one is mine. You can see the two different methods of provisional cast on we used.
 I worked a bit last night after Carole left and a bit more this morning. I think I'm really going to like this cowl!
 Now I need to go back to my fingering weight reversible stripes scarf and finish it off before...
startitis strikes again!
And a quick look at my two favorite little boys who came to visit me this weekend. We took Moose and Leo to the MiSci Museum in Schenectady, NY for their temporary exhibit on butterflies. I have an unnatural fear of butterflies which stems from a childhood nightmare but I mustered up my courage and accompanied them to the museum. Much to my delight, neither of the boys wanted to see the butterflies but did offer to stop for a cute photo op.
I'll take these butterflies anytime!

1 comment:

AlisonH said...

The orange cowl matches the adorable little monarchs.