Knitting

I've finally got back to knitting after putting it down for a year or so. And this time - get this! - I've finally started making things that aren't squares or rectangles.

I'm pretty much amazing, I know.

Tonight I used double pointed needles for the first time ever. Tonight was also the first time I picked up stitches to add something to a knitted piece. And when I bound off too tight, I was able to take out the bind off and redo it better.

For now, let's ignore the fact that after I bound off the second time, I discovered that the entire thing was too small, tight bind off or not.

D'oh.

When MIL was here in August, she helped me knit a diaper cover for the little guy. It turned out quite well.

"No Mom, I don't want you to lift my shirt up."


"Oh fine."


But I wanted to add cuffs to the bottom to help keep everything in the diaper better. This is where I left off tonight. I need to rip out the entire cuff and do it on bigger needles. It barely fits over the little guy's thigh as it is right now.



But at least I now know what I'm doing.

I recently managed my first successful start at knitting in the round with circular needles. I'm making at hat in these two gorgeous shades of blue.



I'm making it for the little guy, but we'll see how that goes size-wise. It might be keeping my ears warm this winter instead.

I also have these grandiose plans of knitting a sweater and a pair of pants for the boy. I have the wool and the patterns and everything - everything, that is, besides the courage to actually start knitting them.

But I've finished a couple more dishcloths since I started knitting again. That has to count for something...right?

I also made, just for fun, this silly scarf using 19mm needles.



It was a bit confusing to start with, but things all fell into place after a few rows.



Initially I just thought it would be fun trying to knit something with such massive needles. And it was! But more than that, it was intensely gratifying, as I was able to knit an entire scarf in a mere evening. My need for immediate gratification was happy. It's why I've never been able to finish projects in the past - the process is simply too long, the results just don't come fast enough. So an entire scarf in one evening? Very cool.



The scarf itself, however, was much less cool.



I sent it to my little sisters. They can play dress up with it or something.

My current major project is a blanket. I started making it with this yarn that initially made me go "meh". After a few rows, "meh" had turned into "blech". So I found some gorgeous yarn in a blend of blue and green and started again - I'm in love. I couldn't get the colours to look right when I was taking pictures of the blanket-in-progress, but this is pretty close.



It's a very pretty pattern.



It'll be a nice sized blanket when all is said and done. I'm learning to simply enjoy the process of knitting and the anticipation of a nice soft blanket at some point in the not-too-near future. It's coming along faster than I expected, though - which means that maybe it'll be done this year instead of the next. What can I say, I'm an optimist.

Maybe by then we'll have a new baby to snuggle.

One can always hope.