say something knitty
november 21, 2003
being throughly inspired by asian superwomen knitters such as lan, gg and amabelle, i decided to try my hand at knitting for the first time in my life. after an exchange of an email or two with gg earlier this month, i went out and got a pair of size 8 needles, a couple skeins of yarns and a really crappy knitting book from joanns fabrics which thoroughly confused the shit out of me. during the first week or so, i didn't have much time to devote to learning this craft but what time i had, i got really frustrated because of the stupid book. it must have been due to the old school line drawings and the way things were worded. but i got smart and asked around (a colleague and my mom - whom i didn't know could knit!) for advice. nearly every night after that, i sat there practicing on my barf scarf until my fingers could do things with fluidity and comfort. my lovely green barf scarf is pretty much a frankenscarf at this point - a way for me to test out new knitting methods and such. it is not made to be worn, except for maybe my dog. but no, i shouldn't subject her to such shame either. finally, i felt comfortable enough to try something from scratch and got some new skeins of yarns and larger sized needles. the results are these two scarves that i did this week.
size 15 needles
cast on 10 stitches
98% acrylic 2% polyester
lion brand homespun yarn: 320 regency
garter stitch
it's really lofty and soft. i was first captivated by the bluish ocean colors on the skein but when i began knitting, i realized that the dye varied from blues to greens to vanillas all interwoven. i really love this color. the yarn however was not very pliable and made it harder to knit than the wool variety. after a couple wearings, it's beginning to stretch out a bit but it's all good.
size 17 needles
cast on 10 stitches
80% acrylic 20% wool
lion brand woolease yarn: claret 143
garter stitch
this is the same scarf i modeled in the last entry. however as you can see, the color varied greatly in sunlight as opposed to artificial lighting. it's a rich claret/burgundy/black yarn interwoven together. this is actually my first completed scarf. it's a super bulky knit and makes for a lovely warm knit around the neck. i'm currently making a charcoal version of the same thing. see how different the color looks when taken with a flash? (see below)
i have to say that knitting has been something i've always wanted to try but never got really inspired to until i saw the lovely creations from the women noted above. i actually began to do it because of the mounting stress this year and i find that its a great "relaxer" in itself while keeping your hands tactilely useful. now i find that whenever i have free time, i can't wait to get my hands on my needles and yarn. i've begun to purl now, albeit at a much slower rate than the knit stitch but hopefully will get used to that soon. hopefully, i'll have some more advanced projects to show in the future aside from just scarves.
^ the barf scarf.
i WILL eventually make a normal looking item out of the same yarn because
it's just too pretty to go to waste. :) if you look closely at the top, you
can see where i'm purling and knitting.
i also picked up a couple more books about knitting that makes so much more sense than the crappy one i initially got. gg suggested stitch n bitch, and it's a really fun read! i also picked up the knit stitch - which has great step by step photos on how to knit.
i guess my friends should know what they are getting for christmas this year. ha! ha! ;)
