miles of garter stitch is done

This is the wedding present, the wedding is tomorrow, so I made it, even if it won't get to them til after the honeymoon. I LOVE it, I hope they do too!
This shows the edges, which are attached I-cord. Took almost 2 balls of yarn just for the edging, but it looks wonderful and gives it a nice support. I was tempted to leave the edges off, but seeing Jared's much bigger and heavier version convinced me it needed an edge.
This is it draped over the edge of the bed. I didn't double the yarn, so it is not way heavy and it is about 4.5 feet by 6 feet. An unusual size, I guess but it is what it is, and I think it is big enough for the living room sofa.

I think this is my favorite picture, you can see how the garter stitch going in different directions gives it an interesting texture.

HOORAY!!! the edging took a whole day, but it is all worth it right now.

miles of garter stitch second report

Miles and miles of garter stitch is piling up here above the GWB. You can see the occasional unwoven in end hanging off this pile of garter stitch, but it does look pretty all stacked up there, doesn't it?



I love the yarn - Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Chunky in the color they call charcoal, but is a bit more purple than truly grey. I better love this color, I have a ton of it since I re-ordered in a fit of panic twice!

I had this nervous breakdown that I was not going to have enough, so I went back to the well and now I think I will have about 6 skeins left over. It's ok, I really do like the yarn, so something will happen with it, though I am generally not a chunky yarn knitter.



This is miss Clementine peeking out from behind the stack to give you some perspective. It is tall.



The afghan is an Elizabeth Zimmerman creation from the Opinionated Knitter and it is actually more interesting to knit than I thought it would be. Aside from the garter stitch, the corners are fun to knit and cleverly done and the edge is beautiful. I could add knit on I-cord, but the edge just as EZ designed it is really good looking..

This is more purple that the yarn really is, but doesn't that edge look fine!




It is a tossup for me about I-cord, but maybe I should do it anyway. This edge might catch on things and I guess the I-cord will protect it.

This last photo lets you see how the corners are formed with short rows. The stitching that forms is decorative.


Anyway, I hope she loves it and I HOPE I get it done in time to have it there by the end of the honeymoon. I think I am going to miss the wedding date....but she is a bride for a year, right?

AND, I got tagged for the 6 unimportant things about myself by Susan at Martha's Vineyard Fiber Farm. Well, I am pondering, and will post that one tomorrow, I just can't sift out the unimportant at the moment, since unusual would probably have been more fun, but we shall see. Besides, there are people who don't "get" my knitting obsession, those who just looking at Clem on the screen makes them sneeze, those who are sure I am crazy for the telectroscope obsession and keep trying to tell me it isn't REAL, and those who are bored with that big old bridge in my backyard... So they would all have different definitions of "unimportant" so I will ponder some more.

socks again

Facing miles and miles of garter stitch, I find myself contemplating why I am a sock knitter. Or IF I am a sock knitter. I guess the pictures speak for themselves, so here are some of the pictures.

These were probably the first pairs I ever made. 2 skeins of yarn, 3 pairs of socks. I learned about how top down socks can be too tight to put on. If you notice the thin line of another color of yarn at the top of one of the red pairs, I cut the tops off and added a sewn bind off to replace the original tops.

On this pair I learned toe up and I also found eye of partridge toes and heels, halfway through, the right one has them, the left one only has heels.

These were toe up from a pattern that was top down. By this point I think I was really a sock knitter, not just playing with it.

Monkeys ... need I say more?

Fair isle knitting of my own creation. The left ones are merino, the right ones are cotton. I am not a knitter for cotton, though in the mass picture over on my picture blog you can see one more pair.. I am wearing them... that are cotton fair isle that I do love dearly.

In addition to these, I have also finished 3 pairs each, or maybe 4 each, for Bob and Fred, where I have spent Christmas many years, a pair for Travis and a pair for Jenni, and a pair for Josephine, all blogless for a variety of reasons.

I've also done 2 sweaters since knitting came back to me a few years ago and a variety of small things, but it seems that once I figured out socks I always have a pair going somewhere, even including the Jacobean socks from hell.

They have been torn back 4 separate times. It is a pattern that does not lend itself to A train work, and when it does get knitted it seems to be particularly prone to holes, thin spots and general insanity. But one is done so they WILL get finished.

Because I know some of you care not one fig for knitting, I will only say one other thing... toe up, 2 circular needles, one sock at a time. If you know what I mean, you're a sock knitter ... and I am now, despite the Jacobean diversion, facing miles and miles of garter stitch.

miles of garter stitch to go before I sleep

It looks more purple here than I think it is overall, but it is NOT really charcoal, though that is what they called it. I love the color, and I hope Sarah will.

I figure she is much too busy getting ready to get married to be reading my blog, so I would guess I am safe, and if her family looks.... Keep your traps shut til I get it done and send it to her.

This is from Elizabeth Zimmerman's Opinionated Knitter with modifications by Meg Swenson. It is miles and miles of garter stitch, and although this Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Chunky says chunky it is not quite chunky enough for me to get gauge and a fabric that I like, so I added 6 stitches and therefore 6 X 16 = 96 rows...oh well. I hope I have enough yarn. I love the fabric I am getting and it won't be way heavy. One of 2 smaller pieces done, and one more small and two looonnngg to go.

This may become a cliffhanger in terms of yarn, but when I finish one part A and one part B if I use more than half the yarn I am going to get a different color for the other two pieces. Stay tuned.

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The next BIG project...

Last night I was dipping into and out of the Elizabeth Zimmerman catalog of knitting books. I was looking for a good restrained afghan pattern for a bride-to-be with elegant taste. Saw it on Brooklyn Tweed and went digging about for it in the Opinionated Knitter. Exactly what I wanted. Great changes via texture, warm, not too heavy. I have already ordered the yarn from Webs in a lovely, I hope, granite grey blue.

Well, while I was mucking about in the Opinionated Knitter, I realized that it was time for another innoculation of EZ and her amazing viewpoint on knitting. I bought Knitting Without Tears back in 1971 when it first came out. I am not even sure I knew who EZ was at that time, but it made sense to me and made me a better knitter, for sure. I had forgotten how pithy and funny she was as a writer and how she made you see what she wanted you to with just some sketchy drawings and words.

In any case... once the yarn arrives and I figure out the guage I am going to post regular updates because this has to be finished SOON! I have procrastinated long enough.