Wednesday, October 12, 2005

a distraction

i've not been terribly productive knitting, because of this.

fishes postcard


what can i say? i find these fishes even more soothing than knitting .... but, i have some show-n-tell!

tuck lace shawl


this is a machine knitted tuck/lace shawl that i made almost 2 years ago (gasp!). didn't i say here once before how much i don't enjoy finishing ? and that sometimes includes blocking ? i think i just knitted it tooooo long, so it seemed like a major ordeal to block. (it's stretched and pinned onto a queen size bed) but, i was the bad daughter, because i started to block it, but ran out of time, and left it for mom to block! i'm soooo sorry mom! i know it sucks, and you remember the last time i blocked one of these? i couldn't bend over for days ....

tuck lace close up


but, it is very pretty, and has beads crocheted into the short ends. and, i wish it was mine.

people often ask about my maching knitting. some think of it as cheating, but, it's just a different process. once you figure out the math and mechanics, the knitting part can be fast --- but, there's a lot of figuring to do before you cast on, lots of math, and the usual finishing. if you think knitting lace is hard, try looking at a chart for handknit lace, and translating that to punchcard --- meaning, lots of holes punched in a card. geeez!

i'm still working on my sock ... i have most of the leg knitted!

toe up sock 1


i did knit these with size 1's, and probably could had gotten away with 2's. i'm thinking about using this technique with my colorful sock yarn i got in vermont, but with a different toe. and, i think it will all be stockinette, just to show off the patterning of the yarn.

and lastly, while (still) unpacking today, i found this treasure ...

andean hat


my friend, panda, brought this back to me from his trip to south america. i had been years before, and remembered the beautiful handknitted hats, but, i never got one for myself. panda appreciates knitting and crochet, and bought this as my gift. i was looking at it today, admiring the fine fine kniting ... and then i looked inside and wowed over all the ends woven in!

andean hat interior

2 comments:

scarlet said...

Hey I remember that hat! I'm glad you found it; such a treasure should not be lost. Your shawl is beautiful and I'm glad you finally got around to finishing it. Your mommy is indeed a lucky lady to have you as a daughter!

Terhi said...

Oh wow, that scarf is so beautiful! I don't think that machine knitting is cheating either - I've tried it once and found it quite difficult.