Starting over...

When my mother-in-law Margaret was visiting us a couple weeks ago, she helped me back up with my itty-bitty mistake (translation: she brilliantly knew where I'd made my mistake, unraveled to the row before the mistake, and picked up the pattern at exactly the right place!), and together we finished my project. We both concluded that the design, from a beginner's knitting book, was most definitely NOT a beginner's design! I bought two buttons to attach (hoping faux pearls on light green yarn will not look too girly for my baby boy), so once someone shows me how to do that (I do have a knitting cousin visiting in a few weeks!), I will finally post pictures! Other than the buttons, I'm done!

As soon as Margaret left, I started another dishcloth all by myself. I felt silly starting a dishcloth after these beautiful booties, but I do really need to practice my beginning skills. I'm almost done this cloth (not getting to it every day...I don't think it would take even ME 2 weeks to knit one dishcloth!), and maybe I'll make a couple more before trying something brave on my own...like a scarf. Kidding. Any suggestions for an easy project that would match newborn booties? I have a lot of yarn left over. OK! Maybe I'll be blogging a bit more often now! :)

Re-learning

Well, it's been so long since I've knitted that my blog is actually quite up to date. April?! Wow. I had brought my itty bitty project to Oregon to have Katrina have a look in May, and somehow it didn't happen. (Hmm--people have lives? You want to actually catch up with your friends when you're visiting? You have a doctoral degree to finish?) I brought the project to Oregon AGAIN when we went for graduation in June, and again, the opportunity never came up to have my mother-in-law help me. I brought it to Calgary in July, and the same thing happened. We were hardly home.

I pretty much decided to start over, since I can't fix it myself (and I'm pretty sure it's unfixable), but I've forgotten how to cast on, knit, purl, decrease and increase, and bind off. Luckily, Katrina sent me her first knitting book: Knitting for Dummies! I'm actually really looking forward to starting over.

And maybe I'll even make an itty bitty thing or two for my own itty bitty one arriving in November! :)

Itty bit backwards

I'm frustrated. I wish I could just do this knitting thing without help from knitting friends and family. Itty bitty #2 is on hold, as I finished the first part of it, and it does not look right. It's hard to blog about it, as it is a gift. I'll have to bring it to Eugene with me in May and see what miracles Katrina can come up with. ;) See?! I want to be the miracle worker! Or not need a miracle in the first place.

Woke up this morning to big fluffy cat scratching away at our bedroom carpet. Time to clip her nails. Perhaps little booties for kitty? I'm sure she'd love that.

Itty bitty!

I started making something teeny tiny and adorable, but I can't post a picture of it because the friend who is receiving this gift might look on this blog. I can't wait for it to be done though! Sooo cute! I'll take its picture and post it after I've given it away. :)

Margaret (my mother-in-law) is here this week, and she taught me how to increase, decrease, cast on more stitches and bind off neatly. Look out, world! Soon I'll be able to make that pot holder!

Silly Dave

It's amazing I got him to pose normally for at least one picture.

Nothing on my needles!

I finished Dave's scarf! I messed up the last row, kind of dropping a stitch (not as simple as that, but the same result), and I'm not very good at binding off. Another thing--how do you make a scarf without it curving into itself? This scarf would make a very nice sweater sleeve. I read the yarn label, and it said no ironing--that's what blocking is, right? Does that mean no blocking? Well, Dave likes it. I'll post a picture of him modelling it later tonight.

Using Katrina's shorthand translation, I'm going to try a pattern for a tea cozy. It's going to be yellow and blue and will require working with two colours at once. Eek! I may need some help along the way!

Acrylic

I have a question: is acrylic yarn really so bad? I was at our glamorous Walmart today, and that's all they have (and cotton). I've been warned against using acrylic yarn--why should we stay away?

I guess I'll have to find a knitting shop (there's one in Des Moines I have yet to visit--another newer shop has closed its doors) to buy a wool blend.

Next project: I'm bound and determined to make something with various colours, so I'm going to start with a pot holder for which I have a pattern (three colours). A simpler project might actually be these newborn booties in the same book. One colour. It's also 1 star (in difficulty) vs. the 2 or 3 the book goes up to. I have a friend to whom these are designated. :)