P o c k e t CT

I have been knitting for a few years now. Mostly I liked to make simple hats on circular needles that just required knit and knit two together. Purling felt clumsy, so I avoided it entirely. I couldn’t read patterns, they looked like spy code. Then I met Jan who could do complicated looking thinks like cables, color work, make 1, yarn over and the like. She said “it’s easy” and helped me find a sweater pattern. I didn’t have to read the pattern but just look at the photo and see if I liked the sweater then send it to her. “Can I do this?” Yes. So at the beginning of January I started the tubey sweater. It was fun to make even though I had to rip the body out three times and start again. The real term for this in knitting is hellaciously cute, but I still got frustrated. (to frog = rip it rip it rip it.) When it was finished I was looking to make a sweater for my mom. I showed her patterns and she would shrug a bit, sometimes I was looking at smaller projects for in between. While dancing at the flurry, Christopher pointed out a hat he liked. It was this beautiful dark cornflower blue color, but hat was all knit and looked completely boring to make. When yarn shopping I spotted the same color in a yarn that is delicious so I picked a hat with a cable pattern and gave it a whirl. The cables were fantastically fun and making a hat after making a sweater went lightening fast. I modified the pattern a bit part way through. You could also say that I messed up the pattern and just decided to continue on that way. Instead of making the swirls that the pattern originally called for it made stronger Xs. Jan called it a kissing hat.
Now hats seem a little too small but I still wasn’t ready for a sweater. I decided to try socks. My coworker gave me a pattern that was like a sampler of patterns on the top – lots of fun and I got to learn how to turn a heel. I started in June, sitting in Christopher’s new house. I knitted the top rib while he made phone calls for an interview. The place was timber framed and has a the beginnings of a roof but was without sides. There was a late spring thunderstorm making the world smell wonderful and I was content. I sat happy against a post, listening to the rain and worked steadily. I make one section for one sock and then the same section for the other. In the end I will finish both socks about the same time. I will not finish the first sock and never make the second a possible danger with me. I have two inches done on the second sock and I hear Christopher and Sienna, his housemate’s exuberant golden retriever, coming up the stairs. The dog is happy to see me and starts to run over to me. I get ready to pet her head but am surprised when instead she snags the ball of wool in her mouth and starts to run around wagging her entire body.

“Nooo Sienna stop!” I howl as the already knitted portion gets caught around her legs then stops to take a good chomp on this nice soft ball that smells faintly of sheep. She is not a dog that plays fetch but rather will take something you throw, takes off and expects to masticate it for a good while. This is problematic when my new project is the item being consumed. Christopher rescued my project and I started to assess the damage. The wool even if it falls off the needle stays put usually but the run around in a dogs mouth dropped some stitches. The repair looks difficult but only takes twenty minutes or so.

July and August left many opportunities for mushroom hunting so the socks were slow going. A little done waiting at the dentist, more taking a break from contra dancing, lots while chatting with Jan. I finished them Sunday. Just in time to mail them for Robin’s birthday. Hopefully the dog slobber is all rubbed off by now.

Go say happy birthday to her on her blog or artist’s blog

I’m heading to LA tomorrow and will make a quick hat on the trip. After that though, I am back to socks!

I just finished my first sweater! What I didn’t know is that I knit really loose and should have made it even smaller than the XS size. I may make it again so that it fits better. I won’t rip this out but will give it to someone who will love it appropriately and fit well. If you are interested in being that person let me know, but you won’t get it until the new one is finished so don’t hold your breath.

Here is what I call the BC Hat. I made up the pattern, made the first one for JoeTAH. That got lost in Peru and JoeTAH is pretty mad at whoever has it. I made the second one when I had to rip out the beginning of the body of the tubey for the third time – so that I could do something that would come out right nice and be easy. It was named the BC Hat as the person who got the hat wore it over the baseball cap – or it could be for another reason that can be abbreviated that way. Either way I am making the replacement cap for JoeTAH and here is how you do it.

Takes one ball Noro Kureyon and size 8 circular needles.
Cast on 81, 90 or 99 depending on how loose you knit and how big you want the hat.
12 rows K6 P3
10 rows P6 K3
8 rows K6 P3
6 rows P6 K3
4 rows K6 P3
2 rows P6 K3
Switch to double pointed needles when it gets too small for the circular
1 row K7 k2tog
1 row k
1 row k6 k2tog
1 row k
1 row K5 k2tog
1 row k
1 row k4 k2tog
1 row k
1 row K2 k2tog
1 row k
1 row k2 k2tog
1 row k
1 row K1 k2tog
1 row k2tog
tie off

I suggest you make this for someone wonderful (or someone who was kindly serving only one purpose in your life, because anything else would have been a total disaster)