I'm not a quitter

Several of my friends could have made 10 of these in the time it's taking me to do this one. Silver lining: I am getting pretty good at backwards knitting.

Shawl status update

Starting from scratch the third time. But this time, instead of unravelling and knitting with fuzzed up yarn, I got smart. Instead of starting with a new hank, I rewound my #2 ball so that I could start with the yarn end from the fresh inner core. I know you are all impressed by that. (I also know that my sister-in-law, Dani, is making an appointment for me at Broadlawn's.)

Treacherous

After reflecting on our trip to Duluth on the snow and ice covered roads, I've decided that knitting this difficult lace shawl is pretty much the same as driving on ice-covered roads with almost-bald tires and almost no breaks. Downhill.

I'm clenching muscles that don't even belong to me.

Crazy people

If you think some people who knit might be crazy you might be right.

Crazy people did this

And this

And there's lots more. More than you would think.

Photo Caption Contest #2

Felted clogs will be awarded to the winner. Send me your entries by this Friday.

Photo Caption Contest

The winner will receive a pair of felted clogs in the color of his or her choice. Deadline for submission is Friday, February 29th.

Who wore it best?

Although Gary is one who can really pull off the ski-cap-with-ear-flaps look, Hope has the advantage here because she modeled it only after I had applied the spectacular, purplish whip-stitchery around the edges. Stay tuned for more ski hats with flaps.

Thank You, Tube

I have been making myself insane for the last several hours by trying to learn to knit a rib stitch. I thought I knew how to purl and apparently I thought wrong. I googled up "k1 p1" and found this on YouTube. I wasn't bringing my yarn forward for the purl. No wonder it looked so messed up!

Hello socks! I may be able to knit a pair of you after all. I had nearly thrown in the skein.

Check it out -- my learning swatch:

PS: Remember my one and only New Year's Resolution? Broke it already. I'm glad to get that failure out of the way early in the year.

Resolved

To use up all scrap yarn before purchasing new. Hello, wacky scarves!

That did not take long!

I might have to call this my "Bolcom Bag" since in real life the colors match the Bolcom picture on the right side of this blog.

Tote

The book is 8"x8". The tote is huge but shrinking in the washing machine as we speak. And although the tote pattern came from this book, it was not made from only "one skein," nor was it "quick." But it was fun. Check back for the follow-up picture. (How small can we make it?)

The red sweater

It took me a year but it's finished. Actually it might have been done sooner but I just didn't feel the sweater-knitting vibe in the summer. But here is my sweet boy, dutifully trying it on for me.

Mom, I don't mind trying it on for you but I really don't want to wear it in public. I will wear it at parks and stuff, though.