Now that the holidays have past and we’ve entered the days of bleak midwinter, I have been knitting a lot. (not that I ever am not knitting alot, really!) But there’s something about these arctic cold days that make me want to do nothing other than drink coffee and knit, while snuggled on my couch and under a plush blanket. I’ve decided that 2010 will be the Year of Knitting Selfishly. It’s pathetic how few items I’ve made for myself. I knit for the boys, for the Hubster, for gifties, and (always) for the shop. And it’s not that I’ll stop doing those knitting projects (onthe contrary, I am all aflutter with knitting for the Spring Collection!) but I am being more conscious about taking time to work on projects for myself. So, this week’s Ten on Tuesday list is of those projects I plan to knit selfishly. Anyone want to join me?
February Lady Sweater – this is actually a re-knit, as the one I did last year is way too big on me now (yay for losing 15 pounds! Boo for too-stretchy knits)
Strawberry Lace Cardi – I’m a sucker for anything Veronik designs. Planning to use some Malabrigo for this.
Shifting Sands – To be done in a Merisoft Shimmer from Punta Yarns. Love that stuff!
A knitter on Ravelry posted asking for clarification on the pick up and purl technique on my Stripey Slippers. I promised that I’d get a video of the technique, since it’s one that would take far too many words to describe (but can be shown in less than 30 seconds!) Please excuse the insanely poor quality of this video – it’s what you get when your 8 year old is weilding the tiny camcorder. You might want to turn down the volume before you hit play, he was way too close to my mouth!
I learned to knit + crochet from my Grandma, one rainy day when I was a little girl. (Isn’t that how so many of us learned? A weary adult trying to find a way to entertain us and contain a bit of the boundless energy? I fully admit to teaching my boys just so I could get them to sit down for a few minutes) Now, she’s too arthritic to be able to do any stitching, though she asks me about my projects whenever I see her. I know she probably misses being able to work with yarn, although it wasn’t an all-consuming passion for her like it is for me. I think it was more just something all women her age knew how to do, as much a part of a young Brooklyn girl’s education as knowing how to make gravy and meatballs.
Her birthday is this coming Monday, and I though there was no more appropriate gift than a handmade blanket, born of the craft she passed on to me so long ago. I started this on Saturday night, but had to rip out all but the first row I did that night, because I was distracted watching a movie and did the stitch all wrong. The pattern is the 5 1/2 Hour Throw, modified to work on a slightly smaller hook, with doubled yarn. I’m using Homespun in a plum shade, and Red Heart in a medium pink.Only for her would I suffer through these yarns, because I know she’s neither got the space nor the inclination to handwash a wool blanket. I know she’ll love snuggling up in this, and then being able to toss it in her building’s massive washing machine without worry.
