Loose Ends

I don't know about you, but I have too many unfinished projects. In thinking of this blog post, I realized that all of my unfinished projects are knit and not crochet, unless it's an afghan or something huge that I've squirreled away in a box. I'm a much better crocheter than I am a knitter, though, so it makes complete sense. I can bust out a baby pinafore in a couple hours! I've also done my own pattern of crocheted tam, something I'm not nearly comfortable enough to do with knitting. I've even got some yarn on hold at the factory because I know if I bring it home with me, I'll want to start another project (or two) with it. I'm waiting until I complete at least one project before bringing home more yarn.

So here they are, my loose ends:

Sunapee Shawl by Tian Connaughton
Anzula Squishy in Alice

I started off strong! This was after 2 or 3 days.

I love love love this shawl. I saw it in our knit sample collection and knew I had to make it, even though I haven't really done much lacework. The colorway Alice is one I was lucky enough to name after my grandma and so I wanted to make her something in her colorway. With a little help, I got it started and did pretty well until I got to the lace part.

Lace is hard! It's not the knitting that's difficult, though, it's paying attention to what you're doing. I can't tell you how many times my husband has said something to me and I just started counting out loud so he would know I wasn't ignoring him. I hope he's nodding his head as he reads this. I'm really almost done with this shawl, but I do have to pull some of the lace rows out and get going on it again.

Socks by Me!
Anzula Squishy in Navy

I had originally gotten this yarn to make some baby leggings for my adorable daughter, Frankie, but I didn't complete one before she decided to grow. So I ripped it out and stored it away. I forget how I got it into my head that I would make some socks, but I (incorrectly) thought making socks would be easy. I'm good at math and the math part wasn't easy! Another Frankenstein'd project later, and I'm almost done with the instep part of the sock. But it's taking forrrr-eeeee-veerrrrrr. If my foot weren't so long, I'd probably be done with it by now. Oh, but then I'll have to make another one. Sigh.

My favorite part about this sock was learning about how to do a heel flap and doing it S1K1 (check out Step 5) to make a more durable heel. I liked that so much, I'm doing it on the bottom of the sock as well.

3D Glasses Hat by Me Again
Anzula Cricket in One Red Shoe, (Not shown) Paradise and Au Natural

I'm embarrassed to admit that I've started this project like 3 times - I twisted my round once, didn't leave a long enough tail to cast on, and I think the first time I pulled it all off because I wanted it to be smaller or bigger or I don't know why. I'm like the knitter version of a cat.

Remember the Cricket Paradise I had leftover from a pillow cover AND some fingerless mitts? I still have just a bit left, so I tried to think of what I could do with it. I had a ball of Cricket One Red Shoe (my very first Anzula yarn) that I never got to because I couldn't figure out what to do with it. I haven't delved into intarsia yet, so I decided to try my hand at it. And what better than 3D glasses on a hat?! Charting it wasn't too difficult:

It took me a little while because I did it upside down at first. But it's cute, right?!

Well, there you have it! My unwoven ends. If only I just had ends to weave. What are your unfinished projects? What's keeping you from completing them?

Info

Comment

Leftover Yarn and the Vertical Thumbhole

What to do with leftover yarn? I had about 2/3 of a skein of Cricket in Paradise leftover from a pillow cover project I finished, so I decided to try my hand at some fingerless mitts. I usually prefer fingerless gloves, but I needed a simple project I could hopefully complete in a weekend and this was it!

I found a few patterns I liked but they involved cabling, which I haven't ventured into yet. If I can't find what I'm looking for, I will usually piece things together myself. Sometimes it's Frankenstein's monster and sometimes it works out! This time it did. I found a stitch I liked, called broken diagonal stitch. It's done in multiples of 6. I started with a 4 x 2 rib for the cuff, then did the broken diagonal rib stitch until I got to the thumb. How in the heck was I going to do the thumbhole? I'm sure you more advanced knitters are thinking to yourselves, "Isn't it obvious?", but I was momentarily stumped. More googling ensued, but I really couldn't find what I was looking for. I knew I wanted it to be vertical and not horizontal like a buttonhole. How do I create that gap? Duh! Turn my work and knit a few rows back and forth, and then connect it back on the round and keep going.

I made sure that my beginning and ending two stitches were K (RS) so that the perimeter of the thumbhole looked finished. This worked for me, but now that I'm thinking about it, I probably would have cast off (per horizontal buttonhole protocol) one or two stitches so the bottom and the top of the hole were also finished.

Unfortunately, these mitts were too big for me. But my loss is my husband's gain. And even though Paradise isn't really his color (he's more of a Charcoal guy), he loved them!

What do you think? What projects have you Frankenstein'd?

Info

Comment

Living Vicariously Through Anzula Trunk Shows: Part 2

Last we met, I was expressing my jealousy over the adventures that Sabrina has on the road. Well, I'm about to do that again. This last leg of the West Coast yarn adventure has ended, but there are new dates (Which I'll list at the end in case you're too lazy to click the link) so there could be some Anzula coming your way pretty soon here.

But in the meantime, here are a few of my favorite adventures from that last little bit. Hint: It includes Stitches West.