On the Go!

It’s not usually like me to have more than 2 projects on the go at the same time, aka *startitis*.  Until recently it seems!  

I’ve had 5 projects in various stages, filling all available storage and horizontal spaces in my bedroom/office/knitting room, not counting the yearly sock re-knitting projects: 

* a stockinette knit bag (to be felted),
* a pair of slow-going fingering wt. socks at 8.5 sts/1”,
* a Fair Isle mitten and hat design, with just one mitten knit thus far,
* a worsted wt. striped pullover, and
* the last 2 samples for my newest design - Midnight Snowfall Stockings (whose first 2 samples sat waiting since 2020!)

As the Christmas stockings are done, I’m down to 4 WIPs.  But, only temporarily, as I have a Bohus-style yoke design to swatch.

As for the sock re-knitting, almost every spring to summer I assess my sock drawer to see which are worn enough to need their cuffs through heel flaps cut off from their feet, so to reknit the heel turns and feet.  When re-knitting, I use whatever yarns I have available, as, inevitably I won’t have the exact yarns or colors with which they were originally knit.  But I’m not fussy about such things – they don’t need to be pretty or even matching, just functional and warm.  One pair has been mended again, and will eventually be re-knit again!

Re-knitting makes good use of down time, when I need a rest, or just need something mindless to knit on, while I mentally figure out a design or other issue.  

For a long time, I’ve been fond of a k2, p1 rib for cuffs, as the repeat translates well into the stitch counts my socks need:  36 sts for bulky wt., 42 sts for chunky wt., 48 sts for heavy worsted, etc., and which work with my preferred 6 pt. round toe dec.  I also prefer how the this rib looks, as well as being less tedious to knit than k1, p1 rib!

And these WIPs are just the knitting projects.  We still need to finish putting the floor loom back together, upstairs, then I can rethread the rug warp for the remaining 3 rugs in a new series.  

The first rug in the series is still sitting, waiting for me to knot the warp ends, sew the hems, trim the tails and adjust any weft irregularities, then wet finish it.  I have read that rugs don’t need wet finishing, but I don’t find that to be true.  A good soak relaxes the materials used, helping to even out the fabric, and drying,  whether outside on a warm day or in the dryer, lets me know how the rug will wash and dry, for its new owners.

I’ve been putting the finishing off, rationalizing that until I can weave off the rest of the rugs, *this* one doesn’t really need to be finished, as I do want to present the entire collection at the same time.

As for new pattern – Midnight Snowfall Holiday Stockings – I began this design in 2020, then I went off on a tangent, designing the tea cozy, then the hat and mittens, then the cell cozy of the same name! 

In this design, I’ve kept my usual round toe shaping, but used wrap and turn short row heels, the shape and size of which seemed to suit the stockings.  I also tried the German short row heel for this design, but I find it easier to *read* the wrapped stitch heel turns rather than the pulled-snug double stitch heel turns in the German SR heel.

I've not knit SR heels in my socks, or wearable sock designs.  As you might guess, I’m a dyed-in-the-wool heel flap and V-heel sock knitter!  I like that a heel flap can be reinforced with heel stitch, eye of partridge stitch, or color patterns, none of which can be used in a SR heel, without a fair bit of trouble.  A heel flap's height and width is easily adjustable – it can also have as little or as much depth as is needed.  It seems that the only way to easily reinforce SR heels is by knitting a finer, strong yarn along with the sock yarn.

Thankfully, Christmas stockings don’t need to be reinforced, and SR heels *are* quicker to knit than a flap, heel turn, and gusset.  In an allover stranded pattern, like these stockings, a SR heel also eliminates the need to add in a separate gusset pattern, which I can imagine turns off some knitters, as they are more complex to knit, especially if the sole is *also* in a separate, though coordinating pattern.  Keeping track of 3 patterns while decreasing the gussets is a lot to be getting on with!

The pattern offers two sizes each in two yarn weights.  

Knit in Lamb’s Pride Worsted and Bulky along with Nature Spun Worsted, held single for the worsted stockings, and doubled, for the bulky stockings.    

Design details include:
corrugated ribbing,
allover stranded pattern,
duplicate stitching in a 3rd color,
wrap and turn short row heels,
rounded toe shaping, and
applied I-cord edging with a hanging loop.

Pattern includes 4 easy-to-follow color charts, and 4 short row heel turning charts.  The heel turnings are also written out.

Substitute Yarn Weights:  heavy worsted and bulky

Pattern is $6, available on: Ravelry, Etsy, Payhip, and soon, Lovecrafts

Start them now, and they’ll be done long before Christmas, to hang from your mantel, or string up and hang on your staircase!

Onward, to, hopefully, finishing more things than I start!

Happy Knitting!
Dawn

Need More Hands!

It’s been over a month since I’ve posted, but the autumn whirl has begun, trying to get enough yarn and handwovens ready for the winter season!  Lazy winter days won’t occur until after tax season next February or so.  I am sure I’m not the only one who’s perhaps busier than they’d prefer!

A set of 4 weft-faced rugs are on the floor loom, though just one rug has been woven thus far, because, once the small loom arrived, I’ve been trying to keep it warped and scarves woven off.  

Yes, I did have a 16” RH loom for a short time, then sold it – it was too large for scarves, but not large enough for towels.  The 10” loom is perfect – I should never have tortured myself about buying the 16” loom, but, like many other weavers, I was trying to only buy one loom to make too wide a variety of fabrics.  

The weft-faced rugs are slower to weave than my usual rag rugs, but the effect is worth the time.  The hard beat that rugs need does mean it’s noisier than weaving regular fabrics, so I don’t work at the floor loom when hubby has a headache, which is quite often.  I don’t want to add to his pain.  

So, the small loom is an ideal addition to my business, as it’s quiet and very quick to warp.  And, perhaps because I have been a knitting designer for so very long, I *love* to chart weaving drafts as well!  In a short time, I’ve charted 65 drafts, just for plain weaves. I love the interplay of color.  

With stranded color pattern knitting, the secondary color(s) are held to the wrong side, so the color charts are pure for lack of a better word.  In weaving, the yarns interlace.  Two colors interlacing can give the effect of a third color, and even a simple draft can look complex when using 3 colors.  It’s magical!  And something I don’t think I’ll ever tire of doing.

In between weaving, I try to keep the bins stocked with several weights of handspun Falkland and Romney wool yarns.  I’ve spun other finer wools, like Rambouillet, Merino, and Polwarth, and many other fibers from camel down to cotton and horsehair, but I find spinning the Falkland wool to be such a pleasurable experience – it’s soft enough to be pleasant to wear, yet has a long enough staple length and excellent prep which is easy to spin.

Romney has always been a favorite, one of my first, and one day, I’d like to spin enough to weave a blanket or 2.  In the meantime, it’s wonderful for handknit socks, which I wear almost all year long.

I may be imagining it, but I find the socks knit from Romney, or other long wools, seem to breathe better than, or resist retaining moisture better than, socks knit with softer wools.  I love Lamb’s Pride, both the worsted and bulky versions, but I find that they can feel damp during the day, requiring changing.  This doesn’t happen with the Romney pairs.

The change in activity from weaving to spinning is surely better for the body than making the same motions every day, and I do love to spin.  It allows my mind to relax and wander a bit, where if I did that when weaving, the patterning would go wrong, requiring un-weaving, which no weaver wants to have to do.  So, weaving requires much more concentration, which can be tiring.  I could probably spin all day long, but weaving is best kept to about 3 hrs.

I’ll post pics soon of what I’ve been making, with links to my Etsy shop.  I’m working up a small pile of scarves at a time, which I will wet block and lay flat to dry en masse, then sew on labels.

May all your work go smoothly and may you still find time to relax during this busy season!
Happy Autumn!
Dawn

A Summer of Socks

My sock WIPs have multiplied this summer, like bunnies!  It began as one pair, as a distraction from the cardigan I’m knitting, but then they quickly took over

Many sock knitters will likely have a drawer full of hand knit socks, and I am no exception, although I almost exclusively knit socks in DK to super bulky weight, instead of fingering or sport weight, and prefer non-superwash wool yarns, which I find to be warmer.  I’ve knit hubby several pairs of fingering and sport weight socks, but as he tends to be warmer than me, his socks last much longer, simply from lack of use!

I wear hand knit wool socks all year long – nothing is as comfortable and breathable, but I don’t have to tell sock knitters that!

The wide range of yarn weights I use covers all the seasons, with the bulky to super bulky socks knit larger, to be worn over a thinner pair, in the winter.  

One of my favorite yarns for socks (and sweaters and afghans) is Lamb’s Pride, worsted and bulky weights.  The mohair in the blend adds to warmth and wear, even though they’re single ply yarns, and they just feel cozy!  

I’ve loved other wools for socks, like Lopi, the defunct Woolpak Perendale, yarn I spun from a blend of 44% Mohair, 28% Romney, and 28% Leicester wools, which is also no longer available, but which lasted several years and were so warm, and the single skein of British BFL (Bluefaced Leicester, for non-knitters) I bought from Iriss of Penzance in Cornwall, England many years ago. 

Oh how I wish I could have bought a kilo (or 2, or 10!) of that beautiful yarn – it was heaven to knit and wear.  British BFL yarns these days all seem to be superwashed, unfortunately.  To my mind, and after many years of wearing wool socks, nothing beats long wools for socks.

These 2 most recent pairs are in a simple pattern, which has quickly become a favorite!  They fill a thickness gap in my sock drawer between the plain all stockinette LPW socks and the bulky wt. socks, as the pattern has two rounds of stockinette followed by one round of stranded color work, so it’s not as thick as an all color work pattern, but thicker than all stockinette. 

I mistakenly worked the first pair with the same 42 sts I would normally use for stockinette LPW socks.  They fit, but they are a bit snug, so I used 46 sts for the 2nd pair.  Stranding, even on occasional rounds, does take the fabric in a bit more than stockinette.  The summer heat must have made me forget this fact! 

Here is the 42-st pair, with slightly shorter leg than I usually knit. After knitting them, I decided the heel flap didn't look organic.  It didn't *flow* from the sock patterning, so I changed it in the 2nd pair, below.

     

 

This 2nd pair is on 46 sts, and I worked a few more rounds in the leg, so that when working the heel flap in the darkest color, the color flowed from the center of the stripe panel. A 1/2 repeat was needed just before the toe shaping, to give the desired foot length. This, too, flows into the dark toe color, and will be how I knit this pattern hereon in!

It’s a simple 2 stitch by 12 round pattern, which works well with hue/shade changes within a color family.  A 2 stitch repeat means the design can be easily adjusted smaller or larger as needed, and will work with any weight of yarn. 

Such designs are also ideal for using up bits of stash.  I used just 5 colors, but each color panel could be knit using a different set of colors, depending on your stash, or each panel could use the same 2 colors with a 3rd color as the background.

The other socks I’ve knit this summer (shown in the 1st photo above) are:
a 2-ply handspun Romney worsted wt. pair,
a super bulky handspun Romney pair (still in progress),
a Lamb’s Pride Bulky pair,
a re-knitting of the heels and feet of both a LPW pair and a Cascade 220 pair, and
a palindrome striped pair just begun.

I’ve knit many hundreds of socks since the very early ’90’s, and they’re still one of my favorite things to knit.

I love how they’re lightweight in the hands, so they don’t tend to stress joints, they’re small and portable, so they’re finished must faster than a sweater, they don’t use much yarn, and one can play with all manner of patterning or just enjoy plain knitting around. And who doesn’t like warm feet!

Onward!
Dawn

New Patterns and Staying Cool!

 New Patterns!

I haven't posted recently, as I've been busy trying to get the patterns written for this pile of mostly knit design samples I began up to 2 years ago!

About 10 days ago, I published 'Quilt Cloths' - an easy to knit set of quilt block inspired face/bath cloths, worked in KnitPicks Dishie cotton yarn.  Dishie is soft, smoothly spun, and easy on the hands, unlike some cotton yarns I have tried in the past.  It is also reasonably priced.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The newest pattern release is this - 'Cable & Rib Tea Cozy', sampled in Brown Sheep
Lanaloft Worsted and Lamb's Pride Worsted.  Pattern has 2-3 cup and 3-4 cup sizes, and sport a braided I-cord cable embellishment!  

The 2-3 cup size only needs about 38 gr of yarn, and the 3-4 cup size needs about 55 gr of yarn, which makes this project a way to use up those small amounts of stash yarns to knit up some gifts for the tea drinkers in your life!

Both patterns are available on Ravelry, Etsy, and Lovecrafts.

Staying Cool

Fall is definitely here, with its decidedly crisp air, which means the holidays start to take over our brains!  I, for one, wish there were more time between Thanksgiving and Christmas.  And I'm sure I'm not the only one wishing this!  I've never liked feeling rushed, and like it less the older I get.  

Winter is supposed to be that slow-down time, for rest and contemplation, but I find that doesn't happen until February at the earliest, after the yearly taxes are prepped to send to the accountant.  And here, on Cape Cod, winter only really begins in late December and lasts until March.  LOL, that doesn't leave a whole lotta rest and relaxation time!

It used to be that I lived for those two all-too-short winter months when I wasn't swamped with responsibilities, as it was the only time I ever slept well.  I always need it cold to sleep - a cool head but a warm body, facilitated by many layers of cotton bedding topped with wool blankets and afghans.  This means that every spring through autumn, sleep was a struggle, and we all now what happens to our health when we don't get good quality sleep.  It takes me down quickly, within a few days.  

Several years ago, I discovered this - a Coolbot. 

It's a contraption that is used by florists and others who need to construct an inexpensive walk-in-fridge.  It overrides the temperature sensor in an AC unit, to allow the AC to cool the space to a much lower temperature than AC's do these days, which, without freon, is only about 62 degrees.

They have an online calculator that shows the size of the AC needed to cool a given room size to one's desired temperature.  For my bedroom of about 10' x 12' x 7.5' high ceiling, the calculator recommends a 10K btu AC unit.  This spec put me off for years!  These windows aren't large enough for a 10K unit.

But this past spring I said to hell with it.  We'll get an 8K AC unit and the Coolbot, because anything lower than 62 degrees is better than nothing and watching my health and functioning fly out the window.  Lo and behold, I can cool my bedroom (in this circa 1947 not well insulated house) to 50 degrees.  I could probably get it colder than that if I wanted, but this is a perfect temp for me, until winter finally settles in, when I sleep with the window open and a twin window fan on.  

So, between the cool room temp every night and the several sleep aids I take, once I fall asleep, I'm out for the entire night.  I cannot tell you what a blessing this is!  Ever since chemo 14 yrs ago, sleep has been difficult at best and almost nonexistent at its worst.  No longer do I need to live for just 2 months of every year - I can actually function decently every day of the year.

If you too struggle with sleep and need it cold in order to sleep well, this gadget is
well worth considering.  Granted, it's not inexpensive, but I'm SO happy we bought it.

Onward!
Dawn

Christmas in August

I always need a Plan.  Not a Deadline, mind you, just a plan.  At this point in life, ‘deadline’ is a dirty word. Who needs the stress?

I do, however, need my mind and my environment to be organized, or I feel overwhelmed and flounder in indecision and a lack of motivation.  It’s logical, as being motivated intimates a state of action, or near action, but if one doesn’t know what to take action upon, the action is stymied.  Energy flow is blocked.  It’s bad feng shui, for both the mind and the body!

So, as I’m back to feeling well enough to cook, clean, and climb stairs to do laundry, my natural inclination is to get back to work - knitting patterns, spinning, and weaving, as well as planning some home projects – sewing, organizing, getting in a few much needed things, and getting rid of the old tat and broken electronics and appliances.  

There’s a lot that needs doing!  And although I am feeling well enough, though still on the mend, I’ve learned (finally) not to over do.  Being organized and having a Plan of Action is crucial.  Hence, Christmas in August.  I’ve begun the knitting for the grandkids’ Christmas gifts now, instead of putting it off until November.

I don’t really have time right now to design things from scratch, as heaven knows, there’s a pile of half-finished designs and patterns sitting here waiting for me the past 2 years.  

So, I pulled out the kids’ pattern books that I have hoping to, just once, be able to follow someone else’s pattern, as EZ used to say, as a Blind Follower.  At least, that was the plan.  And we all know how the Universe laughs at plans!

I have 2 Minnowknits books, this one and this one, also Takle and Kolstad’s “Small Sweaters”, 3 Debbie Bliss books, and VK’s Kids issue from 2001. Not a lot of books, but enough to inspire.

I also pulled out my binder of sizing info – data I had collected over many years of designing.  Looking through all this data, however, made my head begin to swim.  It all wasn’t organized enough to be a quick reference.  

So, a Detour.  Spent an entire day (and will need to continue it another day) organizing all this info into charts – body measurement info, but also ease and sizing info, which is affected by yarn weight and stitch patterns.  This short detour is a necessary refreshing of the memory, as I’ve not been knitting for children often, just once a year.

But of course, all the patterns I like will need some (or a lot of!) reconfiguring. It’s always the way – I’ll like a particular stitch pattern or color chart being used, but don’t have the pattern’s given weight and style of yarn, or the pattern isn’t in the size I need.  I’m sure a lot of knitters are faced with this same scenario.  Most of the time, it is all easily enough remedied, so long as one doesn’t mind some math.

I’ve begun with this hat, for my granddaughter, who turns 3 in January. The hat was originally designed in a DK wt. yarn, and I’m using Lamb’s Pride Worsted which leans toward a heavy worsted weight, so I had to reconfigure the stitch counts and the stitch patterns, as well as the ear flap shaping.  The ear flaps took the most time and I’m still not sure about them.

The edges of the earflaps, front and back edges are also left plain in the pattern, which I don’t like, so I’ll be adding an edging.  And a hat needs matching mittens, so I’ll need to design them.

I’m still not sure I want to continue knitting this pattern in the yarn I have, so I ordered 16” and 24” Basix circulars in sizes 4, 5 and 6, in case I decide to rework it (or start something else) in a DK wt. yarn, likely Nature Spun Worsted, which, despite the name, really wants to be knit at a DK wt. gauge. 

I have plenty of circulars, but in larger sizes, and, as is usual, the price of my beloved Addi Turbos have risen quite a bit since I bought my circulars 25 ish years ago!  I don’t mind investing in tools, as I LOVE tools, but am not eager to spend $90 for 5 sets of circulars!

So, while the hat is on hold, I decided to knit this aran sweater for grandson, who turns 5 in December.  

In both of Jil Eaton’s Minnowknits books, there is the same cream-colored aran sweater, in a chunky gauge. I have more than enough Lanaloft Worsted in Manor Grey and Ash, and I decided on the grey. Again, despite the name, the LLW really wants to be knit at a heavy worsted wt, gauge.

Naturally, my gauge is a smidge snugger than the pattern’s, so more reconfiguring was needed.  But that was just the beginning of the needed adjustments. As I knit sweaters in the round, never pieced like in this pattern, this too had to be addressed.  The next thing to change was the direction of the cables on the left front and the left back, so that the cables face each other (mirror image), instead of all crossing in the same direction. I really like things to be balanced, which shows an attention to detail when creating a pattern, that enough thought and planning has gone into the design.

The last change I’m making is how often the 2/2 and 3/3 cables are crossed. The pattern has them both crossed every 8th row, which is rather loose for my taste, so I’m crossing the 2/2 cables on every 4th rnd and the 3/3 cables on every 6th rnd.

I could have just designed this sweater from scratch, for all the changes I’m needing to make, but it will be all the better for it!  

Grandson is said to be fussy about what he will wear, so I knit this aran pullover more in hope, than expectation, that he will like it enough to wear it!

Onward,
Dawn

In Two Shakes of a Lamb's Tail.

(originally posted on WP 11/10/20.)

It’s been a busy week since my last post (when is it not!)  As of yesterday morning, I had almost 7 rows and columns sewn together.

By last night, all 9 rows of 5 squares each were all sewn up.

Today, I need to weave in all the WS tails, and begin the edging, likely in the creamy white, as the 17 ozs. of Samantha-Katya Pink Peace Fleece is used up, and there’s only 60 grams left of the Lanaloft Bulky in Wheat from the almost 35 ozs. I began with.  

Not sure why they call this color Samantha-Katya Pink, as it’s a red wine color, but there you have it.

All the Peace Fleece yarn came from deconstructed design samples, and the LLB was a 1/2 price bargain buy from LittleKnits.com.  The creamy white handspun, which filled in for the only 5.75 ozs of PF in Antarctic White I had, was some 2 ply Domestic 56’s top. which I had no other use for, so the afghan cost me very little in outlay – a good thing, as the hubster may or may not like it.  If he doesn’t, I’m sure I can use it.

I made stitch and row adjustments to each square (and hence to the seaming sequence), to accommodate the varying yarn grists.

So far, it is about 39-40”wide x 69-70” long, weighs 4.66 lbs. and is about 17 days in the making, with perhaps 2 days’ work remaining, so will meet my expectation of a 2 to 3 week afghan easily!

Onward,
Dawn

A Dathering of Garters (or a Skyscraper of Squares?)

(Originally posted on WP 11/3/20.)

Only 11 left to knit since I took this photo, this morning.

Was considering a quilt block layout of some kind, but as it's meant for hubby, I think a classic buffalo plaid layout would suit.

Kitchen table only holds 4 rows – there will be 9 rows.

I could have knit them as strips – either lengthwise with 9 blocks per strip, or crosswise with  5 blocks per strip, BUT, I thought the texture would be more interesting if the blocks alternated their garter stitch directions. Had I worked the squares diagonally from corner to
corner, then alternating the blocks could have resembled a faux broken twill, though the constant increasing then decreasing of each square would have tested the limits of evening brain power!

As for the joining, I don't like all the starting and stopping of joining just 2 squares together until each row is done.  That's just too tedious.  What I will be trying is * joining across 2 rows of unattached squares; rep from * down its length, until all squares are attached horizontally.  Then join down each column of squares.  This way, the joining rows will be continuous, with FAR less ends to weave in.

Undecided yet as to which way to join – seam them or crochet slip stitch them together.  I will likely try both and see which looks best and irks me the least!

Then the border.  Again, I may try 3 – a knit up then immediately BO edge, an I-cord edge, and a crochet slip stitch edge.  The I-cord and crochet edges will use more yarn, so the amount of yarn I have remaining will help determine the edging choice.

Onward,
DAwn

The Easy Two Week Afghan (not!)

 (Originally posted on WP 10/25/20.)

I have a variety of lists usually going at the same time - the chore list for that day, the fiber to-do list, the household sewing list, and the household needs-rearranging before it makes me nuts list. This last list I am needing to ignore, as the house, particularly the living room, for some time yet looks more like a hospital room than a living room.

On my fiber to-do list has been the making of a long-enough wool afghan/blanket for hubby.  Originally intended for when he is stretched out in his recliner, although lately, and for some time to come, he will need it for all the resting he needs to do on the loveseat and
then the hospital bed which should be coming at some point, which will be put into the living room.  

Like me, of all the quilts and blankets in the house, he prefers wool.  I'd be lost without my wool afghans!

I had intended on weaving him one, and had cogitated about the pros and cons of either putting a warp for one afghan on the floor loom (bah), or weaving 3 panels on the RH loom (triple bah).  

But, as sometimes can happen, this decision has been made for me.  I have been far too busy during the day spinning yarn, and dealing with current life and household work, to warp either loom. Not to mention that there really isn't room in the dining room/studio to  *both* spin and weave. If I'm spinning, the loom needs to be pushed out of the way.  That poor kitchen towel warp is still on it, since July!, with one towel left to weave, sigh. What I need is something easy to work on in the evenings when I'm resting with my feet up, before bed.

So, I pulled out Barbara Walker's stitch dictionaries.  And noped my way through them.  Stitch patterns either too busy, too small, too modern-looking, or too complicated for a weary brain and body to handle. I briefly considered EZ's garter stitch blanket, but the idea
wasn't tickling me, either.  

I want something classic, traditional, which doesn't involve stranding, cables, or slip stitches. I love stranding color patterns, but not only do my hands naturally want to knit color work quickly (which isn't relaxing!), but more than likely I’d run out of yarn.

I am needing to work with *just* what I have on hand, which is about 18 ozs. of Peace Fleece Worsted in Samantha-Katya Pink, which is a lovely wine color, 7 ozs. Antarctic White (although I can supplement with plenty of handspun creamy white 56’s and long wools), and 38 ozs. Brown Sheep Lanaloft Bulky in Wheat.

These 3 colors just happen to coordinate with our living room area rug. If needed, I have some lt. olive Naturespun Chunky, or doubled Lamb's Pride Worsted I could add in here and there.

So then, garter stitch.  Simple, cushy, no wrong sides.

I love quilt patterns, and remembered I had seen the Flying Geese and Log Cabin patterns knit up, so I checked.  I had a feeling the triangles in Flying Geese

https://www.purlsoho.com/create/2015/04/13/flying-geese-knit-baby-blanket/

would catch me up, causing me to spend too much time ripping out, from not paying attention, so then I considered this classic Log Cabin, but I don't have the right proportions of yarn available. (Scroll down to Cloth #1.)

So, I sketched several layouts of squares – the simplest, least stressful thing one can knit! I knit a few gauge swatches, and am in the process of knitting up 40-45, 8" squares. Well, 7.75" squares, but I'm not gonna fuss over the 1/4", not for an afghan. And unlike my usual designing modus operandi, the final design is not written in stone.  Once there’s enough squares knit, I’ll just lay them out and play with the order, until I like it.

Now, the LLB is a thicker yarn *by weight* than doubled PF worsted, but is a thinner yarn by grist. Don't we knitters just love these odd yarn idiosyncrasies! Not to be deterred by a small difference in gauge, I simply worked a couple more sts and rows in the LLB. We are the masters of our knitting, not the other way around!

Unlike stranded colorwork, I find garter stitch to be slower knitting, which is good for me right now, made slower still by the thickish yarn, ndls, and gauge. It’s the push-past-the-purl-bump bit!  To me, those purl bumps want to be purled into, not knit into, so it has taken several decades for me to have some appreciation for garter stitch – not until I saw this Classic Elite design on the back cover (if I remember right) of a Vogue Knitting issue 9 yrs ago!

I haven’t knit it, but filed away the idea that garter stitch *can* look sophisticated.

The last thing I needed to figure out was how long it would take to knit up the squares and either seam them or crochet slip st them together, then I-cord around the entire thing.  If I knit 3 per evening, it could be done in two weeks.  I *cannot* hear or write the words 'two weeks' without this popping into my head.

It would be a miracle, indeed. Realistically, at 1 to 2 squares each evening, it'll take about 3 weeks. Done by Thanksgiving. OK, I'll need to live with that, as I only have about 1.5 hrs each evening to knit.

These days, don’t we all need something simple to make? Something repetitive which doesn’t tax our energy and resources. Something that allows the mind to relax and wander, to dream of better times to come…

Onward,
DAwn