Wednesday, November 24, 2010

A New Challenge

© Annette Petavy
In searching for my next project I was somewhat disappointed when I opened my latest copy of Interweave Crochet. Granted my favourite crochet mag usually has a couple of patterns that I could do without but on the whole it is usually filled with funky patterns that I look forward to tackling. However, in the Fall edition of Interweave Crochet up to a third of the patterns involve knitting! 'What a waste', I thought to myself, 'I can't knit', I tossed the mag aside in frustration. You see I've spent years telling myself and others "I crochet, not knit, I can't knit". As a child my mum and grandma both attempted to teach me to knit, however I always gave up after hours of dropping stitches and succeeding only in creating ridiculously clumsy looking scarfs. So whenever asked whether I can knit, I have replied "No, I just can't coordinated two sticks at once". That excuse has worked for me quite well for years. However, it recently dawned on me that I can coordinate two sticks just fine when I play the drums. Maybe it's time to review my knitting ability... With that in mind I picked up 100g of cheap acrylic yarn, borrowed some knitting needles from mum and took a second look at my Interweave Crochet mag. I spotted the Lacy Cables Scarf by Annette Petavy instantly. I know I really should have picked something much more basic for someone just learning to knit, but if I'm going to attempt to knit then I want something funky to show off at the end. So here goes, wish me luck...
4VXXFPGEGHUB

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Finished at Last

Well I've finally finished my 'Birch Vest' by Kristin Omdahl.
I'm quite pleased with how its turned out. I wasn't sure how the yarn would work with this pattern as the recommended hook size and stitches per inch guide differed between the yarn used in the original pattern and the yarn I've used. However using the wpi substitution method seems to have worked well, my vest's final measurements match those given in the pattern. The pattern itself was easy to follow, some parts of the project required extra concentration for counting, but overall it was repetitive enough to not require the pattern constantly by my side.