Knit Your Own Autumn

Why not? There are instructions for knitting your own dog, your own cat, barnyard critters, even knitting the sky.

This came about because I asked my friend--we'll call her Chavvy (NB:  not her real name)--what color she'd like me to knit her a scarf/shawl/birthday present. The response was NO...she had too much of that stuff. (Nothing like blunt honesty, d'acc?) Could I please just knit her a flower, preferably one she could pin onto her clothing?

Hmmmmmmmmm. I checked out patterns and somehow these absolutely didn't ring my chimes. The designs I encountered seemed so, um, tea-potty. So I decided to knit her a pair of mitts and pin a seasonal something onto them. This is the result.

Go on Ravelry and search for "leaves," "acorns," and the like. You will be amazed.

I think I'm celebrating Autumn because my summer was such a drag. I had an unpleasant visit to LA (adult son acting out, grrrrrr), I've been dealing with ongoing hand problems (see last post), and in late August I broke my left foot while standing on a perfectly flat surface, an asphalt driveway, and simply being the klutz that I am.

The good news is that my hand problem has recently diminished, thanks to some awesome medical treatments, and my foot healed fast. And now it is AUTUMN! This is the most beautiful season of all in New England. No wonder I'm knitting oak leaves and acorns. (I may also have a squirrel ancestor.) Note to self: knit an autumnal corsage for thine own adornment.

Gentle knitters, I highly recommend my latest article, in the most recent issue of Interweave Knits Holiday Gifts. It's an inspirational profile of an up-and-coming New England designer, Bronwyn Heffernan (aka Casapinka), whose patterns provide mood-elevating knitting and wearing, and who herself is a paragon exemplar of survival and reinvention. The piece is called "Rescue by Design," and you'll find it on pages 56-58.

Seasonal knitting

Time to expand our notions of what seasonal knitting implies! Passover provided the opportunity to knit yarmulkes for two of my guys.  Here they are, facing the promised land.

T, left, models yarmulke made from self-patterning Fair Isle sock yarn; H, right, models yarmulke of  silk/cotton blend DK yarn.

I discovered this lovely and quick pattern on Ravelry. It's free, of course. Designed by Jennifer Tocker, the yarmulke is intended to be in reverse stockinette, but I found that it's completely reversible. (Model on left is in reverse stockinette, model on right is stockinette.) Pattern instructions are meticulous and detailed. Thanks, Jennifer!

And then I learned that April is National Stress Awareness Month, and that the Craft Yarn Council is running a campaign to "Stitch Away Stress." To that end, it's providing a free pattern for a knitted or crocheted stress ball shaped like a lemon.

Possibly you're thinking, "I need this like a hole in the head"?

Look--if it reduces stress, why not? And you might have some yellow yarn in your stash that's just yearning to be liberated. And you have loads of free time to sit around knitting lemons, right?

I checked out the Craft Yarn Council website, which I've in the past consulted for design issues, like sizing measurements, and this time, under their Health heading, I was favorably impressed by a video in which folks discuss how knitting reduces anxiety, and so forth. There are also compelling anecdotes in the readers' comments section. You can see them all by clicking here. You can add your own two cents, if you feel so moved. On this website you can also find ways to connect with other squeezable lemon-knitters/crocheters by posting on FB, Instagram, etc. (I don't travel to those places, so I leave it you-all to figure out the nuances.)

Et voilà:

Lemon Stress Ball Pattern

Designed by Twinkie Chan

Knit Version:

FINISHED MEASUREMENTS
Approximately 4.5 in. (11.4 cm) long and 2.5 in. (6.4 cm) wide.
MATERIALS

• Red Heart Super Saver by Coats & Clark, 7oz/198g skein, each approximately
  364 yards/333 meters (acrylic)
  
• 1 skein in #E300_324 Bright Yellow (MC)
  
• 1 skein in #E300_672 Spring Green (CC)
  Note: Approximately 18 yards (16.5 meters) of MC and 1 yard (91.4 cm) of CC used to make 1 lemon
  
• One set (4) size 7 (4.5mm) double- pointed needles (dpn) OR SIZE TO OBTAIN GAUGE
  

LH = left hand
M1 = Insert LH needle from back to front under the strand between last stitch worked and next stitch on LH needle. Knit into the front loop to twist the stitch.
MC = Main color
RH = right hand
rnd(s) = round(s)
st(s) = stitch(es)
SINGLE CAST ON

1. Place a slip knot on the RH needle, leaving a short tail. Wrap the yarn from the ball around your left thumb from front to back and secure it in your palm with your other fingers.
   
2. Insert the needle upwards through the strand on your thumb.
   
3. Slip this loop from your thumb onto the needle, pulling the yarn from the ball to tighten it.
   
4. Continue in this way until all the stitches are cast on.
   

LEMON

With CC and single cast on method, cast on 5 sts.
Stem
I-cord row 1: Slide sts to RH end of dpn, slip the slip knot onto RH needle. Pull the end tightly from the end of the row, k to end. Slide stitches to RH end of dpn.
I-cord row 2: Drop the slip knot, (kfb, k1) twice—6 sts. Pull on tail to

release slip knot and tighten i-cord. Distribute evenly over 3 dpns. Place marker for beginning of rnd and join, taking care not to twist stitches. Next rnd Knit.
Cut CC and attach MC.
Body
Rnd 1: Knit.
Rnd (inc) 2: (K1, M1, k1) 3 times around—9 sts.
Rnd 3: Knit.
Rnd (inc) 4: (K1, M1) 9 times around–18 sts.
Rnds 5–7: Knit.
Rnd (inc) 8: (K2, M1, k1) 6 times around—24 sts.
Rnds 9: Knit.
Rnd (inc) 10: (K5, M1, k7) twice around—26 sts.
Rnd (inc) 11: (K7, M1, k6) twice around—28 sts.
Work even until lemon measures 4 in. (10 cm) from beginning.
Dec rnd 1: (K2tog, k5) 4 times around—24 sts.
Next rnd: Knit.
Stuff lemon firmly. Additional stuffing may be added as necessary while decreasing as follows:
Dec rnd 2: (K2, k2tog) 6 times around—18 sts.
Dec rnd 3: (K2tog) 9 times around—9 sts.
Next 2 rnds: Knit.
Dec rnd 4: (K2tog, k1) around—6 sts. Cut yarn, leaving a long tail. Thread yarn through remaining stitches and pull tight to close. Weave in ends.

• Stitch marker
GAUGE

28 sts = 5 in. (12.7 cm) and 7 rnds = 4 in, (10 cm).
Take the time to check your gauge.

ABBREVIATIONS AND GLOSSARY
CC = Contrasting color
dec = decrease
dpn = double pointed needles
in(s) = inch(es)
inc = increase
k = knit
k2tog = knit 2 together
kfb = Knit into front and back of stitch
Photos and text are © 2015 Twinkie Chan Inc. All rights reserved. http://www.twinkiechan.com

Well, this lemon is a win-win, because you can stitch away stress while you’re making it and then squeeze away stress as often as you need after it’s done! How great is that?! Oh, and don’t forget to show off your lovely lemon when you’re done! Post a pic of it along with the hashtag #StitchAwayStress and #lemonstressball on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook!
**To view a tutorial of this project, visit: www.craftyarncouncil.com/health** The information on this instruction sheet is presented in good faith and without warranty. Results are not guaranteed.

D651_Lemon_Pattern_3 | 04/03/15 

Tiny mittens

Here we are ten days into December and New England is dank, dark, bleak, bleary, depressing. No snow yet on the southeast part of coast, just freezing rain and more rain. Also wind and more wind and more rain. As I was battening down my insulated storm-gear, bracing for a trip into the depths of Hope Valley, the thought came to me that tiny mittens would be a useful antidote to the gloom.

What do you think, gentle knitters? Do these not elevate the spirits?

They took me about an hour each to knit, on #2 dpns, following this free pattern designed by Andrea Kopacek:  http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/mini-mitten-ornaments  The next pair I'll try on 1.5 needles, just for fun. I discovered the pattern by searching Ravelry for "tiny knitted mitten ornaments," which yielded three pages of free designs, so search for yourself and take your pick. These are made of leftover sock yarn which incorporates lurex, creating a festive look.

Think of the possibilities! You can wear tiny mittens pinned to your hat, coat or lapel, you can hang them on your holiday tree, you can make chains of them and swag a window, you can mail them to friends, you can affix them to gifts...and you will be transported out of your weather-induced funk, guaranteed!

Deep freeze

Last week and the week before we were clutched by the Polar Vortex and it was totally f-ing cold.  The only open water hereabouts was in front of the house. Hence the goose party that went on for days. Like any respectable orgy, it was noisy, filthy, and crowded. Then it warmed up, the ice melted, and everyone left.

Meanwhile, chill-averse, house-bound moi was knitting away, fashioning a sock-monkey cap for grandson Max. The pattern, from the recently-reviewed 60 Quick Knits from America's Yarn Shops (Sixth & Spring, 2013), definitely had problems. (A word to the wise.) So I had to wing it in the dicey places, and everything turned out fine. If you're not an experienced knitter and are yearning to knit a sock-monkey hat for someone special, I'd suggest trying a different pattern. There are a bunch on Ravelry.

So Max will get his cap, modeled here by Ted, and maybe if the temps out there in LA get below 65F, he will actually wear it. The sizing looks to be about right for a child between six to eighteen months.

Socks and Natural Selection

Like many of you, I love to knit socks. Behold a recently-completed pair, modeled by my Companion in Life:

These socks are entirely typical of my repertoire, consisting of about three variations of an archetypally basic pattern, the brainchild of my friend and local Langworthy Librarian, Jane Green. It has served me well during the first three years of my sock-knitting mania (life total to date: 40 completed pairs). A pattern like this is a great teacher of sock knitting, and an excellent way to showcase variegated or printed yarn, being, as it were, a blank canvas.

Almost two years ago I started a complicated pattern, with faux cables and lacy bits. It looks great, but I cannot knit it unless I'm in isolation, so I save it for when I have hours on Amtrak ahead of me. This Sterling Lace pattern, while beautiful, has furthered my resolve to simplify, simplify, simplify, as HDT says.

A free download,  Lace Sterling is designed by Clara Masessa for Kraemer Yarns.

Frankly, though, I am getting a wee bit bored by knitting the same old same old, so have been searching for a subtle variation. I found a much-touted pattern on Ravelry that looked like just the ticket, a classic rib with nice detail over two stitches:  SKYP; but I should have known something was wacko when I saw the sizing chart offered the following options only:  Men's X-Small [Small, Medium, Large].  OMG, I wondered.  Where would my women's size 8 feetsies fit into this? Regardless of all warning signs and alarm clocks, I dove right in.

This beautiful yarn is from Dirty Water Dyeworks, a New England hand-dyeing atelier.

It took me until the heel, when I tried it on, that I realized continuance was futile. The gauge and size were enough off to be tacitly annoying for the rest of my life, and suddenly, like a big blurp of water down the drain, the entire pattern lost its allure. I felt annoyed at all the hours I'd wasted, until I thought of how to adapt the herringbone pattern formed by the designer's SKYP (slip 1 purlwise, knit 1, yarn over, pass slipped stitch over).  Then this seemed to me a useful rehearsal for the next iteration, which I will share with you before too long, I hope.

Up close and personal so you can see the SKYP.

So ultimately, the time spent seemed more like a good practice, and possibly an evolutionary stage.

Ripped and ready to roll.

The ever-perfectible Piet

A trip to Free Pattern Land acquainted me with the Berocco design called Piet and I began knitting him around 9.30 pm on the evening of November 12, 2012, when I had to visit the ER at Westerly (RI) hospital and figured (correctly) that I'd be sitting around in an examination cubicle for a while so I needed something to occupy my always frantic hands. On the way out of the house, I grabbed yarn, pattern, and needles, et sic Piet nascitur. By the time I left the ER (around midnight) Piet's feet and waist were complete.

Then a hiatus. But recently, in the interest of fulfillment, I picked Piet up again, and today, as Neuroknitter and I knitted and exchanged bons mots before the cozy wood-stove,

Neuro's hard at work on her beauteous fair-isle vest.

I finished Piet and saw that he was good.

It's my sense that Piet's name and color-blocked composition are in homage to the Dutch painter, Piet Mondrian.

***

At first I thought I was making Piet as a baby gift, but as he emerged I realized it would be hard to sacrifice him to the ravages of baby love. Moreover, as I moved through the knitting pattern I saw that certain adjustments had to be made to accommodate the wear-and-tear inflicted by children...so I determined that this Piet is a prototype, and Piet II will be birthed in the not-too-distant future.

Is it not serendipitous that Piet is two-faced, like Janus, the Roman god after whom this month is named? Respice prospice, etc. Implicitly, then, Piet is of variable mood, a character of depth.

Check out the Ravelry page featuring many different iterations of Piet. You will enjoy the creativity of his knitting progenitors.

Alfie graciously shares his bed with Piet.

The Tyranny of Resolutions!

Or, Embracing my UFOs.

There's this idea out there that when January 1st rolls around we should make promises, otherwise known as resolutions, for implementation in the coming year. The ever-popular New Year's resolution is certainly "I will lose weight," which is why gyms and fitness equipment companies do so well during the holiday season and watch their profits shrink as the months progress. Some folks make blander resolutions, such as "I will be a nicer person," and "I will spend less money." They are the Burger King resolvers--"have it your way" when "your way" is essentially meaningless--and to their lack of imagination I say, "Whatever." But a lot of knitters, it seems, resolve to quickly dispatch their UFOs, aka UnFinished Objects. (I base this surmise on the Knit Chatter that comes across my radar screen.) Whether they do so or not isn't clear, but it's worth considering why UFOs hang heavy on some knitters' minds.

Surveying the two unfinished sweaters, one-and-one-half socks, one-half sock, and several incomplete scarves that dominate a section of my living room, I almost fell into this trap. I told myself I should resolve to finish these projects before I undertake any others! And then I ruminated on the purpose of UFOs and decided there was no need to hurry up and deal.

UFOs in various receptacles, Lola, and Rufus

The basic question is what purposes do UFOs serve? To this I answer

• They allow for the creative process to unfold slowly, and this has various merits.
• They allow someone like me, with Knitting ADD, to hop from one project to another. 
• Certain knitting projects require more attention than others do. For example, I cannot talk or (in rare cases) watch tv when knitting instructions are complex. It's important for me to have ongoing several projects that require varying levels of engagement.
• Sometimes I am not in the mood to knit a particular project.
• Sometimes I stop knitting something because its instructions are aggravating, or I've come to a place where I need help. That project goes on hold temporarily. In the meanwhile I need something else to knit.
• Etc.

Kit and mitts

Last week I put most of my knitting aside in order to make a pair of fingerless mitts in a beautiful alpaca yarn. The pattern, "Susie's Reading Mitts," is a free download on Ravelry, and honestly, I think it's excellent. Designed by Janelle Masters, it knits quickly, has elegant details, and feels wonderful on the hand.

This pair's for a friend, but I just might have to make another pair for myself. And so the list of projects undertaken grows ever longer, providing ever more possibilities.