Tag Archives: yarn

To-do list progress

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Or maybe I should call this post my procrastination list.  The things I did because I didn’t want to do the things I needed to do.

To-Do List:

  1. Recover ottoman
  2. Clean basement
  3. Paint basement walls
  4. Reattach insulation to floor joists/ceiling in the basement
  5. Clean out walk-in closet
  6. Finish Bacardi Cardi
  7. Sew seams in Sunny Day top

Did-Instead List:

  1. Knit 2 Kindness Shawls (one, two)
  2. Knit Ka’ana Shawlette
  3. Knit top-down cardigan
  4. Sew travel bag for GPS
  5. Knit four face/washcloths
  6. Knit the Accidental Shawl
  7. Recover ottoman – Yes!  I can check this off the above list!!!
  8. Repaint outside door from the garage
  9. Repaint front door and trim

Ok – so I actually did one thing from the To-Do list.  I finally finished recovering the ottoman that went with one of the chairs that I reupholstered last summer.  The only reason that I didn’t do it last year was that it is just too cold in the basement during the winter months to do that kind of work. More on this project another day.

The face/washcloths were a gift along with some handmade soaps from West Virginia to my daughter-in-law that we met for the first time while on our vacation.  I forgot to take pictures of the ones I gave to her but they were similar to these. Picot Swirl Cloth in the small size.  

Repainting the outside doors were always in the back of my mind so when I saw that the paint was on sale for 40% off, I had to jump at that and buy some.  More on this project another day, too.

So do you follow your To-Do List or do you find something else to do because you don’t want/need to do them?

The Accidental redo

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We’ve had such dark and dreary weather here for the past week so I decided to rip out the last part of the Accidental Shawl to the dropped stitch.  No point in waiting and forgetting the plan.  I also began to join the other colors sooner to make them blend in better.  The red is definitely a brighter shade than the original but I think it still works.

Instead of adding more eyelets (and doing the math so they would line up), I just increased stitches at regular intervals.  Then the last seven rows before binding off in a picot edge, I added two rows of eyelets without increasing the stitch count.  Meaning I would knit two together and do a yarn over (K2tog, YO).

The eyelets aren’t that noticeable since the yarn is variegated and I used a garter stitch throughout the shawl.

These two white stitches scared me at first as I thought I dropped another stitch.

But as you can see, it’s just a part of the dye (or lack of it) in that one section.

I’ll just weave in the ends and call it done!

The Accidental Shawl Part 2

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Mr. Aitch and I are finally back home from an extended vacation out west.  Along the way, we stopped to visit friends and family.  While stuck on the Interstate due to an accident, I began knitting a shawl based on the beginning of the Kindness shawl.

I didn’t want to deal with constantly looking at my work so I changed from stockinette stitch to plain garter stitch.  For non-knitters that means I knit every row.

Mr. Aitch drove the entire trip (his choice) which meant that I could knit when not navigating or knitting the row with the eyelets and the row after.

I knit about one third to one half while away and finished it once we got back home.  

Good thing as I was running out of yarn and I had to dive into my stash for some coordinating colors to knit the last several rows.

The shawl took a bath yesterday for blocking when I realized that I wasn’t extremely happy with it.

The eyelets are way out of line below the green line.

Plus I dropped a stitch.  Didn’t see that until I started stretching it out for blocking.  You can see the wonky eyelets better below…along with the dropped stitch.

I might tink it back to the eyelet row (which includes the dropped stitch) and begin adding the coordinating yarns earlier since I already know I won’t have enough.  They would blend in better.

But for now, it’s going to hibernate.

 

 

Dealing with kinky

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…kinky yarn that is.

This scarf has been in my UFO (unfinished objects) pile since October 2011.  That’s right, almost seven years.  The plan was to wear a bright color between my leather motorcycle jacket and helmet.

I love the colors.  I like the pattern.  I like the Linen Stitch.

Just not going to finish it.

Yarn gets kinky when unraveled, especially when it’s been knitted or crocheted for a long time.  To get the kinks out of the yarn, Mr. Aitch unraveled the scarf while I wrapped it around my (homemade) Knitty Noddy.  (Make your own here.)  The yarn was taut enough (though not too tight) on the Knitty Noddy so I left it on there, sprayed the yarn with some cool water and hung it on a towel rack to dry overnight*.

When all was dry, I took the yarn off the Knitty Noddy and saw that most of it was straight.  Only a little was still kinky but it was good enough.  I think those parts were on the loop end and didn’t get wet enough.

Mr. Aitch was busy and I was impatient so I “tried” to wind the yarn into a ball by myself.  Oops!  Made a knotty mess.

It’s almost like getting free yarn!  Now I need to figure out a project that uses 285 yards or less of DK weight yarn and isn’t a hat.

How do you get the kinks out of unraveled/reused/recycled yarn or do you just knit with it all kinky and such?

*This Knitty Noddy is made from PVC pipe so it’s ok to get it wet.  Not sure if leaving the wet/damp yarn on a wooden one would be a good idea.