a blanket for Mary and a scarf for Moi

here are my latest knitting projects.

This blanket is for my cousin's daughter. It was pretty easy to make, but taught me a lesson in why my stitches don't need to be quite so tight. It was made in squares, and if they aren't all the same they will be lopsided. Which they were. So after completing all 4 squares, I had to undo one and redo it. And then after finishing all 4 sides of the border, I had to undo one purple stripe and redo it. But NOW I think I've learned my lesson.

And I'm finally knitting something for myself, a scarf with a wierd bubbly texture. I got this mystery yarn at Tuesday Morning. No label, no fiber content, just three bits of cardboard with an unknown length of this wierd pink yarn wound around. John thinks this looks like dryer lint, but I quite like it :) In fact, if I have enough left over, I might even make a hat!

this bird has flown

Here we are, it's REVEAL DAY. After a frantic Wednesday night of finishing, the Doctor Who scarf is finally ready! All tails are tucked in. All fringe is attached. The foolishness and mayhem has been put away forever and in it's place is a gorgeous gift.


I invite Kimie to sit on the chaise with her eyes closed and her anticipation running high. With shutters flashing, I place the folded scarf on her lap. "Okay Kimie, open your eyes!"



"Oh my god, it's the longest Doctor Who Scarf in the space-time continuum!" she shouts in amazement. I breathed a sigh of relief that she didn't have to ask "what is it?" :)

It turned out to be a tad shy of the desired length at only 10'3". But still long enough to keep us both warm at the same time!



And do you know what happens now? The scarf is going home with Kimie to Scotland, and my house will be sad and lonely and empty without them
:(

week 10

I'M DONE!!!!

The knitting of the Doctor Who scarf is finished!!!!!!! There is still some finishing work to do, but the knitting is done! done!! done!!!

This past week, I was faced with the reality that I was running out of yarn. No two ways about it, I was NOT going to be able to complete the scarf according to the pattern with what I had left. I had two choices: buy more or improvise. I chose to improvise. I set aside the colors and lenghts I would need for the fringe, and knitted up the rest.

I added 57 rows: 1 green, 35 rust, 14 purple, and 6 green.

That makes the scarf 72 rows short! Not to mention that the color pattern is all wrong!!! AAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!!!!! Wait, wait. Calm down. It will be ok. Yes, it's true, the Doctor Who Scarf does not match the Doctor Who Scarf Pattern exactly. And if Kimie ever brings it to a Doctor Who convention, I'm sure someone will notice. But it's ok, don't worry. I'm not making this for a bunch of Whovians, am I! I'm making it for Kimie! And Kimie will love it! That's all that matters, right? RIGHT!!!!

Of course, you will have to tune in next time for pictures of the finished product. See you then!

week 9.5

This week's update got a little sidelined by an attack of vertigo. It ain't fun to knit when you're dizzy :(

But through it all, I DID make progress on the Doctor Who Scarf. Not quite the 200 rows I'd hoped for, but the end is in sight and I'm confident that I'll be finished by the Nov. 15th deadline.

I've added 179 rows: 30 camel, 8 rust, 16 grey, 8 mustard, 42 green, 10 purple, 8 bronze, 14 rust, 28 camel, 8 mustard, and 7 green. The scarf now measures 8'3"!

My biggest concern at this point is that I'm starting to run out of yarn. I'm all out of camel and I have 52 rows left. Hardly any mustard, but I've got 10 more to do. Do I buy more yarn or just improvise with the colors?

In addition to the 129 rows left to knit, I also need to make 14 tassles, 7 for each end. Each tassle is supposed to be made up of 7 1-foot long strands, each of a different color. That's 98 feet of yarn needed just for the tassles - even if I just make do with the colors I have left, I don't know if I will have enough!

Stay tuned for the exciting conclusion of the Doctor Who Scarf...

week 8

This week, I didn't get as much done as I'd hoped.

Spent most of the week in South FL, where just three short months ago, my sister Diane introduced me to the world of knitting. Hard to believe it was just 3 months!

I decided to try somthing new - knitting Continental (or European) style rather than American style. The difference is basically how you hold the yarn. Continental goes much faster, so I was zipping through - finished three colors in no time. But then I really looked at my work. The stitches were uneven - some were really tight, others really loose. It was a train wreck. So I ripped out the 34 rows I had done and redid them all. It's much easier to rip them out right after knitting them than realizing when it's finished that the middle looks a mess. So I didn't get as much added as I would have liked, but at least what I added is presentable.


I added 84 rows in all (not including the 34 I did twice): 4 bronze, 8 purple, 18 rust, 8 mustard, 12 green, 10 purple, and 24 camel. Added about a foot in length. It is now long enough to wrap around myself several times - this will keep Kimie very warm :) I still need to weave in some tails, something I have to do with each color change. This is my least favorite part of the job, so I have decided to put it off until later. Those are the strings you see hanging toward the bottom.

This week, I hope to add about 200 rows. Kimie will be here in a mere 16 days, and I am beginning to feel the crunch!


I also taught JT & Nicole to knit during my visit. JT didn't really take to it. But Nicole was ready to work on a knit-yourself-a-pony that I gave her for Christmas last year. So sad that I didn't get any pics for posterity...

week 7

The scarf is growing!!!


The Doctor Who scarf is finally taller than me. I know, I know, I'm not the greatest measuring stick. But if JT can use my height as a milestone, so can the scarf :)

I've added 117 rows this week: 11 green, 14 mustard, 40 rust, 8 grey, 10 camel, and 34 bronze. In all, I've completed 440 out of the total 832 rows! I'm just over halfway there! I've also done some calculating, and found that there are actually 49,208 stitches in this scarf, and I've completed 26,020 - 53% On the one hand, that's a great accomplishment; but on the other hand, I've still got so much to do!

Kimie will be here in four weeks, which means I have only that long to finish the scarf. Yes it is a Christmas present, but I don't want to ship it to her, I'd rather hand it to her. Because of this rush to finish, I'm going to be putting my side project aside. I did make a little progress on Erin's scarf this week, but it was very little. Here's another picture to tempt her with (Erin, I couldn't resist).

I had a "knitting party" this week - and I almost slipped and emailed Kimie about it! It was supposed to be a night of knitting and cocktails and chick-flicks. In the end, it wasn't much of a party - only one other person showed up, cocktails were replaced with Chinese take-out, and chick-flicks became half of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and my first (and likely last) viewing of Gray's Anatomy. And my guest wasn't so much into the knitting :C (TK, I guess you just don't have enough of the OCD in you!) But I did get some work done, and it was nice to hang out with my friend.

Stay tuned for more knitting notes! It's all downhill from here!!!

week 6

This week, I finished scarf #4, made strides on scarf #1, and got creative with scarf #5.

#4 - Lauren/Brenna's pink fluffy scarf is finished!!! Now I just need to figure out who gets the purple one and who gets the pink one...

#1 - I added 81 rows to the Doctor Who scarf: 10 grey, 12 bronze, 42 camel, 8 purple, 9 green. It is now just about 4-feet long - 1/3 of the final length. It's starting to look like an afghan :) Seems like I've been knitting forever yet I'm only 1/3 finished. Oy vey. I would've done more but I was getting really creative with...


#5 - Erin knows I'm making her a scarf, but what she doesn't know is that it is my most ambitious attempt to date. I had worked on it a little each day and on Saturday morning, I had about 10" completed. Problem was, I didn't like how it was turning out! The stitches on the edges were much tighter than the patterned stitches in the body so the edges were curling up - NOT the way I wanted it to look. So, I pulled it all out and started over, this time with a new border. I reknitted it all and it's turning out just fine! Everyone except Erin - click HERE to see the before and after pics. (I trust you, Erin...)

So that's where I'm at - tune in next week for more exciting news from the world of wool!