sHaring the Love

We sketched an untitled Keith Haring painting onto a large palette of plywood.

The sketch was divided into 8” squares and oddball shapes which Fiber Cafe members checked out to knit.

Each shape was then sewn together and applied to the palette which will be displayed with other palettes on Queen St. in Martinsburg, W.Va. during the month of June 2010.

sHaring the Love

Fiber Night

Fiber Night, we'll knit a version with Martinsburg landmarks.

Out!, Damn Socks!

Okay, okay, okay. I hate socks.

I was knitting some toe-up socks for a Christmas gift for Cat.

I'm completely convinced that toe-up is the way to knit socks. There's none of the sloppy picking up of stitches. The hard part is getting started but after multiple attempts, I finally understand and appreciate Judy's Magic Cast-on.

I was knitting some lacy sock pattern from a toe-up book, Knitting More Circles . . . I think it's near-called.

After trying and failing and trying and failing and trying and succeeding, I got the toe-up cast on. I understand it. It makes sense.

I knit for a bit, not closely following the pattern, adjusting for gauge, got past the heel . . . HATED it. Frogged it.

Cast on again, this time following a pattern, the lacy one. I discovered in the first repeat (four lines) that you lose two stitches. In all the other lines, there's a K2T and a YO that cancel each other out, but in one line there's two K2T and only one YO in the repeat. So you lose a stitch.

I discovered it and decided that when I get to row 5, I'll just do a knit row and increase two before starting the repeat again.

This worked fine, but it was frustrating. I was already VERY upset with these socks and Christmas was looming. I decided to just stockinette the rest of the way. I turned the heel (loved it) p2k2 up the leg and cast off.

It was too tight. So I UNcast off, picked up those maddeningly tiny stitches and cast off again, using a much larger needle.

Then I cast on the toe of the second sock. Got into the lacy repeats, got mad at the pattern again and decided SCREW IT. (I even wrote in my journal "I'm beginning to despise socks.")

I wrapped the sock in a lovely Girl Scouts tin with a note . . . "If it fits, I'll finish it. If not, then at least you have a lovely box."

Christmas afternoon, we're opening presents. Cat opens hers and reads the note and immediately decides to try it on. IT DOESN'T FIT!!!!

As Cat is getting MY present, I'm LOUDLY forsaking socks. "Alright, I'm done! I am no longer knitting socks!~ I HATE SOCKS!"

Then I turned to open Cat's present to me. It's "2-at-a-time Socks" by Melissa Morgan-Oakes, 40" size 2 circular needles and a lovely skein of sock yarn.

Okay . . . I'll try again.

Elizabeth Zimmermann was BRILLIANT !

Oh that woman was a spatial genius !

I did this little number in just a couple days. It's only 100 lines of knitting (and the original pattern is garter stitch - I now know why).

All you need to know how to do is knit, M1 and K2Tog. WOW. Oh, you also need to trust that the pattern will work, because when you're done knitting, or near the end, you think to yourself "How on EARTH is this going to be a sweater?"

I tell you, she was BRILLIANT!

My First Sweater for Someone Else

I love cables and my husband, so hopefully together it'll be a perfect fit!

One sleeve done, now I must decide which part to do next.

Wrap It Up

Yo, here's my latest - I'm still here going full tilt into Summer Solstice ! ! !

Woohooooooooo!

The pattern for this is on Ravelry under my projects (Profaknitty)