so as some of you know and most you don't, i know how to knit...and crochet and decorate cakes and pin insects inside a bug collection box and make rag wreaths and all sorts of other arts and crafts...all thanks to 4-H - well i think actually my grandmother taught me crochet but that's beside the point. i have dabbled in the yarn arts for well over ten years - in fact i think i joined 4-H when i was 9 or 10 so probably more like 15 years in the world of yarn and yarn accessories. thanks to my friend down the street lana, i joined a 4-H club and learned that i was to use my head for clearer thinking, my heart for greater loyalty, my hands for larger service, and my health....hmmm what was that last H of health for? wait right there...i'm going to do a little google search...ahh yes, still with me? ok my health (duh) for better living...not just for myself, but for my club (my 4-H club), my community, my country and my world. what a great pledge...i should do that pledge every morning i think! anyways, i never did animals at the fair or anything like that. just meetings about creating memory books and lots and lots of knitting instruction. which brings us to my current dilemma. i read a book called the yarn harlot: the secret life of a knitter by stephanie pearl mcphee - hilarious, but really only if you or someone close to you knits. she inspired me to take up a big project - not just a scarf that i could whip out in an hour or two but a real project with no cheating on large gauge needles! i have endeavoured to knit a blanket...a baby blanket - i'm not crazy enough to jump from scarf to queen size blanket straight off, come on how silly do you think i am? don't answer that. i have high hopes for myself, high high high hopes for this blanket - it will be an heirloom passed down for generations, treasured by all who touch it, all who even catch a glimpse of it! ok, really i just have high hopes it will be straight down the sides and maybe have two colors...maybe. knitting is just two basic stitches (or so they tell you) knit and purl. you put the needle in the loop one way and that makes it a knit stitch and if you put the needle in the other way, well then you get a purl stitch. sounds truly easy doesn't it! well you're wrong. well, not totally wrong, if you just want a flat (think boring sweater flat) blanket with no texture it is super duper easy - back and forth - knit one row, purl one row, knit one row, purl one row...on and on and on.... so why i am in a dilemma? well, first off, since it's been a while since i picked up knitting needles (crocheting goes much faster but you use at least twice as much if not three times as much yarn as knitting) so when i looked at the yarn's suggested gauge of 9, i assumed it meant a size 9 needle - or a 5mm needle. however, i was wrong in my assumption and they in fact meant a 9mm needle or a size 13 needle. BIG DIFFERENCE. i got through a skein of yarn and a half and then shane so politely asked me, "is it going to get looser?" i pulled myself back from the beautiful creamy, wool blend (so it's clothes washer safe - hello it's a BABY blanket it has to be washable) and for the frist time in about 5 hours of knitting take a good long look at it...it is so stiff and tight ( thank you teeny tiny needles) that even as a sweater you couldn't move your arms ... hmmmm what to do - i'm not half way yet, i could start over...oh god. or i could somehow add cables or something interesting and make it just for looks on the side of a crib...brilliant, i'll do that! this is the vision i now began to have in mind for the awe-inspiring blanket:
or not...problem two...remember how all those hours and hours of knitting instruction in 4-H 15 years ago only produced in me the ability to do the only two stitches you are supposed to need, knit and purl? i looked at a pattern for cabling - there are crazy things in there like YARN OVERS, DROP STITCH, CABLE NEEDLE... not to mention that a pattern looks like this - can you read it?
1. Work Row 1 (RS): P4, k6, p4.
2. Work Row 2: K4, p6, k4.
3. Work Row 3: P4, k6, p4.
2. Work Row 2: K4, p6, k4.
3. Work Row 3: P4, k6, p4.
4. Work Row 4: k4, p6, k4.
5. Work Row 5, the turning row: P4, sl 3 sts to cn and hold in front, k3 from LH needle , k3 from cn, p4.
5. Work Row 5, the turning row: P4, sl 3 sts to cn and hold in front, k3 from LH needle , k3 from cn, p4.
i didn't think so...now i'm going to have to go a specialty yarn shop and look for a class on knitting because apparently i don't know how to knit after all...whimper whimper
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