scarf

I know, I said in my last entry that I had another knitting conundrum and I was going to write about it the very next day. HAH! That is like the funniest thing ever that I would think that I would have time.

First, I do want to mention for future me that I did manage to buy the peaches from the orchard I prefer and I did get them all canned in early September. I've also been worried about tomatoes since I didn't join my usual CSA this year. I've been doing ok with vegetables at farmer's market, but I really miss their tomatoes. I did find a tomato vendor the day after my last entry who had bushels reasonably priced that looked a) ripe and b) delicious. They were good but small and somewhat watery. I canned them as regular crushed tomatoes. I didn't pressure can as the drop in liquid of those wigs me out. I still have a few pints from last year to use up so I think I'm going to be happy with having canned less this year.

Ok, so the conundrum. You see it got cold here (and then hot but that's a whole other story) and I got this brilliant idea in my head: What if I knit a scarf (or two) in gang school colors for the big cross town rivalry game, which is the last game of the season?

I had in mind a scarf in stripes, done in the round. Basically you knit a really long tube and then make it flat by putting fringe on the ends to hold it shut. So off to Joann's to find the right yarn.

I don't know about you, but when I go yarn shopping be it at a LYS, or a craft store, I get a little overwhelmed with all the choices. Craft stores are generally easier for me though because I don't get so distracted thinking about other projects, but when your project calls for something that is in abundance.... well usually that does me in. Joann's had SO MANY different choices. There was already striped yarn, there was novelty yarn, there was just plain red heart in the right colors, and there was Hometown USA which is a bulky but very soft acrylic.

Yes, I did basically choose it because of how squishy it is.

The more astute of you may actually see my problem coming before I even tell you.

Yes, a double thickness in this yarn was WAY too thick.

Yes, I did knit about 8 inches before deciding that

Yes, I did set it aside for nearly a week

Yes, I did rip it out and start over.

So here was my problem. I really really really wanted this yarn. I really really wanted a scarf that looked like stockinette stitch without the curling. I really really wanted stripes that looked effortless.

I could not decide what to do. My choices seemed to boil down to a) continue on and be unhappy b) return unused yarn to the store, get different yarn and be unhappy or c) start over with a garter stitch one layer scarf and be less unhappy. So I chose C. I ripped, and I started over with a garter stitch scarf that isn't perfect. The back shows the color changes, my stripes are so wide, I can't carry up the yarn and am having to do a lot of end weaving. But, I am going to have a scarf that I can knit at the next two football games and wear at the "big game" and it's going to be soft and squishy.

I probably won't make two though. If I decide a second one is needed, I'm getting thinner (scratchier) yarn and making the tube.

School color scarf (no not u of m thankyouverymuch)

A post shared by Jodie (@ja_gardner) on Sep 25, 2017 at 6:18am PDT

Finished objects

Sometimes when it has been a while since I posted I worry about the fact that I have no finished objects to show off. I mean what possibly could I have been doing?

Today I have two finished objects and a whole quandary that is most likely a post in itself. I'll type that up if I have a chance today too.

In the meantime--on to the FOs!

First up the "secret project I was knitting was a pair of socks for my mom! Back in June when she came to visit, she heaped on me 5 balls of sock yarn (seven actually, but enough for 5 pairs of socks) and said--it would be nice if you (hint hint) made some socks for me. Well one ball is pink, one is purple, one is blue, one is alpaca (and would probably felt immediately) and the other became this:

Surprise socks for my mom! #handmadewithlove #handknit

A post shared by Jodie (@ja_gardner) on Sep 8, 2017 at 11:09am PDT

The yarn is Cascade yarns Heritage handpaint in dark sunset. Which I can see is discontinued. I'm pretty sure I used my smaller sized ones for these. See this is the problem with knitting something and then waiting to write about it until I mail it, and am sure it has arrived. I can't remember what I did. Mostly I knit these at baseball games--and it is a plain toe up pattern that I've memorized over the years, but is from an article in Interweave Knits that Ann Budd wrote. My plan was to finish these before she came to visit this fall, but then due to scheduling, there is no fall trip planned. So instead I mailed them.

But baseball season wasn't over (still isn't if you follow the majors, but this is high A ball we're talking about and they didn't make playoffs, so over) so I started what I was calling "Rally socks" and they almost worked as our team was one win shy of breaking .500.

I really cranked these out--even though technically I finished them after baseball season. I didn't have enough left to knit on these as my first football season as a band parent kicked into gear. Again, the same basic toe up pattern. Knit on 2.25mm needles. The yarn is Modeknit sock yarn in a limited edition colorway called Purple Rain.

Finished socks in time for the weather to cool down

A post shared by Jodie (@ja_gardner) on Sep 12, 2017 at 9:40am PDT

I love this yarn. It is squishy and pretty. I'm sad that I finished except that I have a great new pair of socks.

Now that the weather is turning, I'm trying to decide some things about my next project or projects and am running into some issues. I'll write about those in another post.