Not Much Knitting

I expect there will be some rolling of eyes at this, but I am going to rip the second Kaari after all. I made a bit of progress with it and it was still awfully wide, so I sat down last night with measuring tape, pencil, paper, slide rule and calculator. It would appear that I'm getting four stitches to the inch, not four and a half. I don't want to go down a needle size because I think the fabic will be too stiff and I've noticed that I'm slower knitting Jet on 5mms than the 5.5mms that I'm using for the Pinwheel, so I shall go down a pattern size - or is it up? The next smaller one anyway. While I was rummaging, I came across an Addi Turbo circ in the right size so I'll use that instead of the rosewood Suzanne and that might speed me up a bit.

I haven't done any more on the Pinwheel because I've been so busy muttering over Kaari.

I watched Frozen River last night. I thought it was good, but I'm slightly surprised that it's up for a couple of Oscars. It's described on the DVD box as a thriller but I'd say there's more to it than that; I never felt particularly on tenterhooks but it has much more human interest than the average thriller. I always felt I was watching it; I didn't get drawn in, but perhaps that's because I watched it at home instead of in the cinema. I kept being distracted by the fact that although it was deep winter and very snowy (the river was frozen, after all) nobody was wearing a hat, even at night. I finally said this and my companion said, You know, I was thinking exactly the same thing. They didn't even fasten their quilted jackets and the times that we saw Melissa Leo getting dressed, I thought she should be putting on some warm underwear but she didn't. It sounds daft, but it was distracting. Charlie McDermott, the actor who played her teenage son, was very good - they all were, but he's young and deserves encouragement.

I've watched Moon twice now and I love it. I've still to watch all the extras and listen to all the commentaries but I think I'm going to become a Moon geek. Like all the best science fiction, it's not really about science at all but about human beings. It's difficult to say anything about it without giving away too much, so I won't, but it's not a secret that Sam Rockwell plays two roles in it. The first time I saw it I was very aware of this and thought about how they did it and so on, but the second time I forgot completely and just got absorbed in what was going on. Sam should be up for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor.

It got Best British Independent Film at the BIFA awards this week, and Duncan Jones got Best Debut Director.

Lynne Barr of Knitting New Scarves and Reversible Knitting will be making a guest appearance on this blog on Friday as part of a blog tour she's doing - isn't that exciting? If you've got any questions of burning importance that you would like to ask her, please leave a comment here before Thursday eveningish (evening UK time) and we'll try to fit it in.

Mary Lou, I'm so excited to know that my website is dangerous (see Comments in previous post). You're right, it must be the jigsaws. I mean, it can get a bit tense around here sometimes, what with the ripping of Kaari and the mistakes in the lace, but I've never felt anyone was actually in danger.

Tilted Blocks Scarf

A friend had started on the Tilted Block Scarf from Knitting New Scarves and was having problems. We were due to meet today so I said to bring it with her and I would have a look at it. So that I wouldn't be speaking from a position of total ignorance, I cast on last night, intending to do a couple of blocks just to see if it worked the way I thought it did. I liked it so much I kept going, and when we met today she hadn't brought her scarf but I was able to show her mine. She said, 'I think mine's going the other way,' so I turned mine over and she said, 'Oh.' So I don't know if I was any help.

This is a Rowan Yorkshire Tweed. It isn't Chunky as it's meant to be; I think it's Aran, but I like the smaller scale. I can't remember the name, but it's a lovely forest-y green with dabs of blue and light olive.

The tiles are nearly four inches wide, and three inches high. One of my nieces loves anything dark green (well, almost anything) so this will be a Christmas present for her. More photos when it isn't dark.

Shag Scarf Completed

I finished the Shag Scarf from Knitting New Scarves last night. You're meant to keep going until it's 49 inches long, but I had a bit of yarn left after that so I just kept going till it was all done. I used one skein of Debbie Bliss Maya (2 balls of Soho if you're in the US) and a bit that was left in the bag. You don't really need the extra bit.

Every time I measure it, it comes up a different length anyway; the stitch is very elastic and the yarn is quite heavy so it lengthens in wear. It's a little wider than it should be, 3.5 inches instead of 3 inches.

This pattern would work in all sorts of lengths. A friend suggested that it could be made quite short, with a fastening at one end, so that you wear it as a collar with one dangling tail, like a jabot. I might try one like that.

I think it would also be good in a lighter yarn made very long and wrapped round and round.

I am thinking about making a scarf for my god-daughter from Rowan's Natural Silk Aran for Christmas (she is allergic to every animal fibre under the sun so it's the perfect excuse for breaking out the silk). I'm going to try it with this pattern; it might be too narrow even for this winter's fashion but I'll give it a go.

I love how this looks from the back: it looks like dinosaur scales.

The diagonals show the yarn off a treat.









I have a great notion to make this up in shocking pink or a really juicy purple, in a soft yarn.





Lorna's Laces Bittersweet would be fabulous, but I think I only have that in Sock, not Worsted. It would be a terrible extravagance to buy some, wouldn't it?

Anyway, I'm very pleased with this. My only question
now is whether I make another Shag in a different yarn, or if I do a different pattern.

Knitting New Scarves Knitalong

Melanie Falick is hosting a knitalong for Lynne Barr's Knitting New Scarves on Flickr. See here.

Photos of some scarves from the book have already been posted to Flickr.

Lynne Barr's Scarves

Now that I'm back in glorious technicolour, I thought I'd expand on Lynne Barr's Knitting New Scarves.











I love this undulating sea creature.
















And I always like black and white together. Or charcoal and cream.







A simple idea, but if it's so simple then why didn't I think of it?










And the detail that makes these scarves achievable, the excellent instructional photos. Thanks again to Doug.
Does anyone fancy a knitalong?

I started this one, Parallelograms, with two yarns I've been sitting on like a broody hen; on the right, a lovely merino from A Piece of Vermont, and below, Cherry Tree Hill's discontinued Possum Paints Worsted, which is 70% merino and 30% possum (that's the New Zealand possum, not the North American one). Or is it Australian? The label doesn't say.

I've decided they're not the right yarns for this scarf, but I might try them without the diagonal. The possum is fabulous yarn and should make a very warm scarf, but it has absolutely no stitch definition. I think the best thing to do with it might be just to make a stocking stitch tube: I bought rather a lot of it under the impression that I was ordering the laceweight, and that might use it up. But the scarf is a good design.

Then I started Shag.
The yarn is some Debbie Bliss Maya (aka Soho) in a discontinued shade. The colours look wonderful on the ball, a mixture of grey, lilac, cream and petrol blue (it's worth clicking on the picture) but once knitted it tends to turn into an undistinguished smudge -and I speak as one who is quite fond of smudges. I've swatched it for a few things and never been satisfied, but I think it works better here, where there are lot of edges where the colour can catch the eye.



I read the instructions and thought I could wing it, count the rows in my head and that, and I ended up with this.If continued, it might make a good collar, but it's meant to be straight. So I started again, made myself a 17-row counter, and thought about what I was doing, and now I've got this.

The pink strand is my row-counter.

I put it down while I was circling the Kaffe Fassett hat, but I've picked it up again. I like it a lot, and am trying to decide who I know who is cutting-edge enough to wear it.

Picture-free post

My computer has had a nervous breakdown. It did one of those Microsoft Automatic Updates, re-booted and took it into its head to do a CHKDSK, and it's been quietly weeping in the corner ever since. It hasn't lost any files, it just can't remember what to do with them. Or how to find the Internet. Or how to play music. Or anything.

I'm using my neighbours' pc this afternoon - they're out watching a sporting event of some sort (rugby? what rugby?) - and I can't find the slot that would take the card from my camera, so this shall be short and sweet. Don't be disheartened though; my pc will be repaired or replaced early next week and I'll catch up then. Being computer-free, I have had more time for knitting, and have got worse RSI from knitting than I ever had from computering, which is a surprise.

Before I go, I must recommend Knitting New Scarves, by Lynne Barr, which I got last week. I am not always terribly enthusiastic about people who take a 'new', 'exciting' or 'architectural' approach to knitting, since I often find that these are terms used by publishers to describe the same old same old, i.e. very large needles, lumpy yarn and holey shawls. 'Spectacularly modern' and 'fun-to-make' are not usually terms that make my heart beat faster either, but this time they're actually true.

There are 27 patterns, some easy (one I worked out how to do it from looking at the picture, but it's still a brilliant idea) and some challenging. They are clearly photographed (by Tyllie Barbosa) in close-up and full-length. The instructions are clearly written and also very helpfully laid out with effective use of colour and type sizes. And most brilliant of all is the section for each scarf which has instructional photos. These were taken by the author and really are easy to understand - they're the photos you need. She says in her acknowledgements, 'Finally, but not minimally, thanks to my husband Doug. He rigged up an ingenious little photo studio, so I could take the instructional photos as I worked, clicking away with my foot, while my hands were busy knitting. ' I think we should all thank Doug too.

Until I can post pics, you can have a gaze here. There really are a lot of things I want to try.

I have nearly finished one scarf and have done a few inches of another. I am very tempted to combine this book with my stash and make everyone a scarf for Christmas - would that be too selfish?