Re-starting

After a lazy day in front of the television, I've done some good progress on the Open Collar Pullover. I'm loving it, but I know lots of people would be put-off by the incredible amount of repetition. I think I'm halfway towards the arm opening now.

So it's back to my knitting and finishing off New Year's dinner. Wish you and yours a great 2008. I'll be making my knitting resolutions after a beer or two!

Open Collar Pullover Body.

Child Scarf

Here's a "pattern" for a better late than never X-mas gift if you're interested. It's mindless knitting and only requires that you keep track of which weaving pattern you just finished.

You can knit this in an afternoon if you're in a hurry.


Materials:

• Any knitting board with at least 14 pegs in each board side. I used a 22" KK Long Loom.
• 3-4 oz. bulky wool. You may need more depending on how long you'd like it to be.
• Loom Pick
• Row Counter (optional)
• Crochet Hook
• Scrap Yarn
• Scissors

Instructions:

• Cast on using the anchor yarn cast on method (instructions for this cast on can be found at the instruction section of http://www.knittingboard.com) The amount of pegs is up to you, just keep in mind that a stockinette boarder of two rows will run along both sides of the scarf.With that in mind, you'll need at least 10 stitches to show off the criss-cross pattern.

• After knitting the first row, begin criss-cross stitch pattern (also found in the instructions>stitches area of http://www.knittingboard.com).
  

• (If you have a row counter) click away the first row you completed. Every odd number from here on signals that you executed the first weaving pattern, which has you beginning the weaving at the top 1st peg and bringing it down to the 4th bottom peg.
  

• Next Row: Start weaving at the top 1st peg, but bring the yarn down to your 3rd bottom peg. Every even row will use this weaving pattern. A row counter should come in handy to remind you of which weaving pattern you're supposed to start with at the beginning of each row. A piece of paper would also take care of the job. A third solution is to make 2 yarn rings of contrasting colours. For example, a blue ring could represent even rows and red would be odd rows, which you'd switch accordingly every time you complete the first or second weaving pattern.
  

Continue alternating even and odd weaving patterns until you reach the length you desire. Once such length is accomplished, apply your preferred removal method and weave in ends.


Wool scarf knit for my nephew.

Dusk Cardigan

Stefanie Japel's Puffed-Sleeve Feminine Cardigan is indeed stunning, but -- of course -- I had to deviate from her pattern because right away I wanted to skip the peplum and get this: I wanted to turn it into a ballet wrap cardi instead of a conventional button up one.

And... it didn't work. Now I'm agonizing over the decision of frogging up to the sleeves, or making it work as is by adding side buttons. As seen in the photo, I completed the entire body before I decided I hated the idea of a wrap.

With that in mind, I won't be back until I re-knit hundreds of rows and finish this project.

Happy Christmas~

The purpose of this.

This is my third stab at creating and -- most importantly -- maintaining a blog. In the past, I felt incredibly pretentious whenever I made my musings public. Another difficulty I found about blogging constantly is finding material to write about daily. Let's face it, not all of us are lucky enough to lead an extraordinary life, one which needs to be constantly written about and published for the world to see.

This time is different though. This time, I'll be writing about knitting and because it seems that I knit all the time, I hope there'll be plenty to write about.

Starting this blog today also makes a lot of sense. I don't believe it's a silly coincidence that a year ago I started knitting again. Twelve months later, you'd think I would have so many projects completed, but the truth is that I frogged so many things since then that I lost count of how many skeins of yarn I ruined. I shot myself in the foot many times, committing to projects I had no business even casting on for.

My mother and grandmother in law were very supportive when I began knitting. They gave me so much yarn, which, unfortunately, ended up frogged later on. Most of the time when I unraveled a project, in haste and frustration, the pile of yarn was so messy that all I could do was throw it away. Let's hope they can forgive my foolishness.

Since then, I learned a thing or two about all the other aspects of knitting that are almost as important as acquiring technique knowledge, some of which I could only gain whenever I had an opportunity to see my grandmother in law, which did not happen a whole lot. Thankfully, there were people figuring these things out -- particularly board and loom knitting -- while others were generous enough to impart their knowledge with the newbies. The online knitting groups I joined quickly taught me about things I had a much harder time figuring out alone.

Today I'm happy to say that I've learned to use a knitting board, a round loom and a pair of knitting needles. Of course I could never claim to be well versed in all of them. Instead, I know a little of each. And so we arrive at this blog; it'll be about the little I know about boards, looms and needles and while I'm not much of a wordsmith, I'll try my best to be very clear and concise when talking about knitting. It's the least I can do in hopes to continue the tradition of sharing stablished in the online knitting community.