Knitting Bandit

Clapotis is no Cup-o-tea

I've read some complaints from bloggers who call the Clapotis boring...mindless.  You know...

I agree to some of it. It is easy knitting.  T.V. Knitting.  Let your mind wander knitting.  At least that's what I
thought.  I was cruising along.  Enjoying how the colors of my "Paul" Wollmeise were playing out.



I actually felt like I was almost done.  A bind off was just days away.  I finished the increases in Section One.  Then came Section two -the straight section where the stitches are cheerfully dropped.  Next up the decrease section.  The home stretch.  I was a few rows into the Home Stretch when I realized I made a mistake throughout the entire "straight" section.  The largest section (if you've knit one-I forgot to do the ssk and yo on the row before dropping the stitch).  I have yet to wrap my mind around how it affects it structurally. 

I snapped a quick photo (had some yarny goodness to photo from that days' mail-more Wollmeise-that made the mistake a little less painful).  Anyway, I digress because the Wollmeise fumes make me lightheaded with joy. I snapped a photo and promptly put that Paul away.  He's been there a week.  Hiding at the bottom of my bag. 

I think he's afraid to come out.

Blue Heather

My Blue Heather Clapotis has been reborn!  She is now known as True Blue Heather a.k.a. Montego Bay scarf.

 

I knit about 1/3 of the clapotis and was just hating it.  It just looked horrible. It was making me feel like an inexpeienced, bad knitter. Too many stitches looked uneven. 

I ripped "down" so many stitches.  Sometimes as many down as 20 (not the entire row-just down the ladder--does this have a knitting name?).

I tried a couple of the Clapotis tricks I read. 
The good one: instead of using markers purl the stitch. This seemed to work pretty well.  A time saver, but I found myself counting a bit more or occasionally missing the k tbl and having to re-knit it.
The "I'm not sure" it's good one:  On the purl side -purling the twisted stitch through the back loop.   It was good when I remembered it.  Sometimes I didn't and I think it made my stitches that would run along the dropped stitches too uneven. I still need to learn the correct way to rip back or down twisted stitches and pick them back up.
Perhaps, I was hasty in giving up on the Clapotis.  I had finished 1/3 of it and had just gotten to the middle section where I would start dropping stitches.  Maybe the dropped stitches would have helped.  Maybe blocking would have evened thing out.   I'll never know.

I decided to knit my 3rd Montego Bay. I know.  Boring.  "Come on girl--try something new".  There are too many things out there I want to knit to spend time knitting the same thing over and over.  But time was of the essence here.  Montego Bay was tried and true.

I modifed the pattern by casting on 49 stitches instead of 41 or  43. I was looking for something that could be used later as a scarf,  not just a "one time prom" stole.

In some ways this project was perfect.  The scarf itself is gorgeous.  Absolutely.  It is so hard for my photo's to give it justice.The yarn is wonderful.  Andrea at Das Schneeschaf  dyed the perfect color for Heather (Gorilla Boys' Girl.  It's as if she knew her personally.

 

The problems with True Blue Heather Montego bay? 

The small problems? 

#1  It is still a great width for a scarf-in fact, if I knit another--I will use 49 stitches.  It however is not quite wide enough for a stole and I did not keep in mind the growth that happens with blocking and it is a little too long.

#2 Blue Heather's dress is beautiful and strapless...there's snow in the forecast.  It won't provide much warmth.  Maybe that doesn't matter.  I think I am getting cold feet gifting this because I so don't her to feel obligated to wear this. Plus, another mistake?  I didn't tell her I was making it, so I'm sure that with prom 3 days away she has already bought a shawl.  A shawl she may love.  Next girl: I will tell, not surprise.

The bigger problem:  Monkey Boy helps with the photo shoot.  He is quick to tell me it smells like fish.  We talk about it.  I get some clarification.  Okay.  Maybe not fish, but it smells like water (we don't live be the sea, but we are surrounded by the beautiful Great Lakes). He said "I could smell it all night and it wouldn't bother me.  It's not a bad smell."  I can't smell.  SO I bring other noses in to verify this "fishiness".  It's official.  DO I have time to wash and block it a second time before Saturday?  Will that even help the smell? Hmmmmmm.  No girl wants to smell like fish or water, especially on prom night.

The Biggest Problem?    I totally forgot that Blue Heather is allergic to shellfish.  Now, I doubt she would have a reaction to this scarf (but what if?  OMG!!) I worry that this allergy might give her a natural aversion to anything that smells "fishy" or "watery". 

What to do.  What to do.  I have to give it to her.  Gorilla Boy seems to be excited about this gift (as excited as teenage boys would dare show about something like this)--he helped me block it.  He is the one boy of the three who never really actively participates in my knitting.  I didn't even ask him help.  He walked in while I was blocking and started to help.  Weird.  Sweet.

Plus, there 's always that feeling when you something for someone. Something you've put a lot of thought and time into.  It never feels right when you give it to a different person.

So, I think what I'll do is give it to her tonight "as is".  Along with the story of the special colored fishy yarn and the prom stole vs. campus scarf.  I will tell her that I will wash it again and braid the ends for her instead of the fancy fringe (show her mine with braids) and remind her that I think it'll make a perfect scarf for chilly days on campus.  I'll kinda subtlety take the prom idea away.  If she really wants it for prom night, I think she'll speak up and say so.  I hope.

And friends, please remind me of this stress the next time I mention this kind of gift knitting.

 

Here she is in a bowl:

Retraction: The Montego Bay Whine

Can I retract the whine that was so prevelant in my last post?

The Montego Bay Scarf did turn out to be a perfect, almost mindless knit.  Once I stopped trying to follow the pattern by counting my stitches, and instead just read my stitches as they came, the scarf truly flowed through my fingers effortlessly.

I love it.  Love it so much I won't complain about the pesky little braids I am still tying as fringe.

Braids!  Oh!  If only I had been a "girly" girl.  If only I had had 3 prissy girls instead of 3 stinky boys, then maybe these braids would not be the challenge that they are. If only it involved bulky weight, not fingering weight yarn braids. Braids that are the only thing keeping me from pronouncing this as an FO.  Braids! Ughhh...But cute braids.

Well placed braids! Just a stepping it up a little from long and limp fringe.  Funky fringe! Great design feature Amy Singer!

Braids that drove me to do this because I just had to knit more Montego Bay:

My Dark and Dreamy Montego Bay featuring Wollmeise in Dani.

There is Something SERIOUSLY Wrong With ME

Seriously. Wrong.

There has to got to be something wrong with me.  In my head.  No, I'm not talking about the headaches that make an almost daily appearance.  There's something wrong in the knitting part of my brain.

I have been knitting a Montego Bay Scarf  for at least a week (I really have no concept of time invested anymore, it might be two).  I decided I should "practice" knit with a skein of Handmaiden Sea Silk before I started my Tuscany Shawl (remember my three skeins that you drooled over and got slightly damp?).  Okay...you're on to me.  Maybe. Just maybe it was kinda an excuse to get more of this wonderful yarn from The Loopy Ewe.

Presenting Handmaiden Sea Silk in Earth.

My H always asks, "What's Se*xie about dirt?"  He doesn't feel my brown love.

Well, this is sex*ie dirt:

******WE INTERUPT THIS PHOTO to tell you it stubbornly would not upload after five patient attempts.  You will have to use your imagination to picture sex*ie dirt. You can do it.*****

When I opened this yarn I fell in love.  I literally rubbed it on my face. Over and over. while I drove down the road. Wrapped the skein around my neck and wore it like a necklace. A choker. It felt so smooth and silky.  So cool. I just kept rubbin' and squishin',

Anyway...before I get carried away and you become convinced I'm weird, I'll get back to why I think there's something wrong with my head.

I have this gorgeous yarn and a popular pattern that most Ravelers and Bloggers refer to as fun and easy, beachside knitting.  Knit while 'ya chat with friends over coffee.

Hmmm...not so much for me.  Not fun.  Not easy.  Well, not hard.  **okay, Knitting Bandit.  You make no sense.** 

I have had to tink this a lot. I finally figured out about halfway in that I can do very little else while knitting this. It demands concentration. It was too easy to gain a stitch or lose a stitch.   

Now I've got the pattern down. I only have to pay attention at the beginning of every row for a second.  But I am not having fun.  It's a "hurry up and knit so you can get it over with project".  The scarf will be pretty, I know I'll love it, but it is taking forever.

Taking forever. This coming from the knitter of three LMKG Chevron Scarves.

I've been knitting like a fiend and it's not done. My ball doesn't seem to get much smaller, while the scarf does grow longer. My goal was to wear it to my LYS tomorrow where I will meet Franklin and become one of his 1000 Knitters. 

I won't make that goal of wearing it.  Even if I do finish knitting it, which is looking highly unlikely, I have a ton (200 pre-cut 12 inch strands to be exact) of fringe to be braided and attached. Not to mention blocking.

It's obvious I'm not feeling the LOVE for Montego Bay, right?  No love.

Then tell me, my honest friends; why, as I finally start down the home stretch of this misery, I am envisioning casting on for another one as soon as I finish. Another Montego Bay Scarf. Using Wollmeise.  Sockenwolle. Dani.  Ummm...nice.

There is something SERIOUSLY WRONG with me.

My Smartest Gift Knitting

My Smartest Christmas knitting was given as a note..."I'd love to knit you a scarf.  What would you like? Long? Short? Thin and sexy?  Warm -n snuggly?  Pink or Purple?" This allowed me to knit the perfect scarf for an Aunt, AFTER Christmas.  It's now done and I'm pleased.

Yup.  Another Chevron.  What can I say?  It's my mindless, go to knitting.

This one is done with only one color.  I used a skein of Socks That Rock Medium in Lucy. 

She wanted a long skinny brown scarf to go with her coat.   This fits the bill! I wanted it to be long enough for two extra wraps around her neck with some length left over. I used every inch of my skein which allowed for only one extra wrap around her neck. 

I was sure that a Chevron scarf knit with STR Heavyweight would be heavenly. I was wrong.  I cast on with high hopes, however after several inches I could tell the resulting fabric just wasn't what I dreamed it'd be.  It felt too heavy and not "drapey" enough.  In my usual "quick rip", I frogged it, causing me to wonder almost immediately if I should have knit just a few more inches.  Hmmm...now I have two big balls of STR heavyweight enhancing my stash.  Maybe big socks?  Hats?  Or mittens?  I seem to be smitten with mittens lately, though I have yet to knit a pair, I keep thinking about knitting them.  Why?  I don't even like to wear mittens.  Hard to figure the rambling thoughts in this knitters mind.

Don't Stone Me....

Hey, guess what I finished? 

My Watermelon Farmhouse Chevron Scarf!!

I hate to say this, but....

Guess what I'm giving away?

My Watermelon Farmhouse Chevron Scarf.

I know.  I know.  I deserve a good old fashioned stoning in the village square (LYS parking lot in the knitting world).  After I bitched and moaned and whined and cried last week, I'm giving another one away. This won't be a hasty give away.  I'm not even sure who I will give it to.  I have three ladies in mind. This scarf I won't cry over.  It's surprising.  It's the color combo I drooled over for weeks from Dogged Knits, until I finally broke down and bought the same yarn, the same colors and the same book.  It is lovely.  The colors are bright and gorgeous, but ... my original "second choice"  color combination  SocktoFoo Chevron has ruined my chances of true love with the Watermelon.  I must find another that makes me feel like SocktoFoo did.  I think I'm halfway there....can't stop thinking about that Banded Agate at BMFA.  Just trying to find it's soul mate now.

I Gave My Chevron Away

Call it a moment of weakness.  Craziness.  A moment of foolish generosity.  I don't know what.  But I gave my Chevron Scarf away...and I want it back!

Why did I do it?

I'm not a gift knitter.  I've tried that.  Outside of the Neanderthals in my Man-Cave, it mostly goes unappreciated.  Or rather misunderstood.  The time.  The cost of the yarn  (I'm not using Lion Brand, Baby).  Mostly the time.  Once, I saw my nephews lovingly hand knit alpaca hat, dirty on the floor of his garage--- in May. That sucked.

So why did I give it away?   Especially when three days later, a crisp air on back of your neck, chilly day, when I wished so bad I was wearing it, I saw it at the recipients house.  Folded neatly in the chair where she laid it after I gave it to her.  She wasn't home.  She was out in the chilly air.  Bare necked.

I actually wondered, would she know if I took it back?

Evil thought.  Bad Knitting Bandit.

I've now started another one for me.  Unfortunately, I know how long it'll take to knit.  Since I'm whining and feeling sorry for myself, I'll tell you that I don't think I'll like the colors as much as the first one.  I loved that scarf! 

Poor.  Sad.   Knitting Bandit.

Cabled Goodness

Soft and Squishy Cabled Goodness

IRSIH HIKING SCARF

3 skeins Kersti Koigu

The color is just a number, which unfortuantely got mixed up with the other two Kersti projects I've finished lately so I don't know.  It's a lovely light brown.  Let's say taupe.

As I knit it, I wondered what am I going to do with this?  Why am I knitting another scarf?  Why?  Just to try the pattern.  Which I really enjoyed.  Mindless TV knitting. Pure joy.  But happily, after the scarf was finished it was so pretty and unbelievably warm I decided it was mine.  All mine!

My Neck Made Me Do It

                                                                                                                                                         

My chilly neck made me do it.

I didn't want to cast on the Irish Hiking Scarf. 

I know I have a few other "half knits" waiting patiently to be remembered. They long for me to to just pick them up.  Knit a stitch or two.  Show them that thy're not forgotten. I want to do this for them.  Really I do.

My neck doesn't care.  Bitch.

Now what am I going tell the others?

Chevron Soup

Here's a big bowl of SocktoFoo Chevron for you!   

I had a difficult time getting just the right lighting and angle to show off the color combinations and just couldn't quite capture it.

This scarf is really gorgeous. 

Pattern:  Last-Minute Knitted Gifts

However...be warned!  This is not a last minute knit.  It felt like I knit for miles and miles.  Well worth it, but I'd have to really love someone to give them one of these! 

Yarn:   Socks That Rock Lightweight

Socktopus and FooFaraw (not shown on their sight anymore)

(Check out this cool new color: smokey blue and this one is cool too:Banded Agate)

I think this scarf would be absolute cold weather heaven in heavyweight.  Maybe too heavy?  Your neck would be down by your knees!

There is a lot of leftover yarn.  A little less than 1/2 skein each.  Not enough for another chevron scarf (plus-BEEN THERE/DONE THAT cool color combo for miles and miles) but perhaps some wristers like these at Through The Loops.  Pretty cool, huh?