Knitter in the Kitchen

Yay! I am so excited about finishing the Manos scarf that I am wearing it around the house even though it’s not even that cold. My cast on and bind off edges flare a little bit but I don’t mind it at all. The scarf ended up being 60″ long, which is exactly how I wanted it. I’ll have to take some more pictures for my completed projects album.

Now I can focus more energy on the Marsupial Tote…which I am going to frog tonight. That’s right, I’m going to start again from beginning. I read more about picking up stitches, and I think I did it wrong. I’d like to try again, and since my bag is only about 1.5″ tall I figure it won’t be too bad to start over. Hopefully I won’t tangle up my yarn in the process.

So after I posted the Marsupial Tote photo last night and then knitted a few more rounds, I realized that I was knitting the tote inside out and that my photo shows it inside out as well! Oh, how embarrassing! I had read that when knitting every round on circular needles, you get the stockinette stitch. Of course, I completely forgot. So the outside of the bag is supposed to be the stockinette stitch.

I can’t figure out why my “KR Secret Pal” button and my thumbnail picture of a completed scarf keep disappearing and reappearing???

Felted Marsupial Tote: The Beginning

Last night I started knitting the Felted Marsupial Tote from Stitch N Bitch and it’s been an interesting experience so far. Lots of “firsts” involved…first time knitting on circular needles (and I really like the Addi Turbos, by the way), first time knitting with two strands at once, first time picking up stitches, and first time joining the round. I had a lot of difficulty picking up stitches. First I picked them up in the wrong order and then had to put some stitches on a holder so that I could correct the order. Aside from that, I think I did it right along the sides but I’m not so sure about the cast-on edge. If I picked up the stitches incorrectly, will my bag be completely messed up? As for joining the round, it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be but even with the stitch markers I have a hard time remember how far I have gotten in a particular round. LOL

So the picture above is supposed to show the bottom of the tote…I say “supposed to” because I’m a little skeptical. The bottom of this bag looks nothing like the bag in the picture…Ummm…maybe it will change after felting? I certainly hope so. So far, though, I really like knitting with the Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride Worsted.

Yesterday I asked a KR member for more help on the Lacy Scarf from VKOTG Chunky Scarves and Hats. She was kind enough to provide additional insight, and last night I made another attempt at knitting it. But it still didn’t work for me and I got a bit frustrated. So this morning I went to Rumpelstiltskin with the hopes that I could ask one of their saleswomen for help. Amazingly, there was only one other person in the store and the saleswoman was free and didn’t mind looking at the pattern with me. First she counted out the stitches and came up with the same total that I did (which is the wrong number). Then she actually took out her own personal knitting and tried knitting the problem row. She encountered the same issue that I did. She also thinks that she knit it correctly. So when I got home, I sent an email to Vogue Knitting asking for clarification about the pattern. Maybe we’re both misunderstanding it, or maybe there really is an error.

Last night I really got into a good groove with the Manos scarf. I made a lot of progress between last night and today. I’m pretty surprised because it’s 30″ long already and I haven’t even finished the first hank. And this hank was cut short by my discarded wrong attempts, so when I’m done knitting two hanks it should be over 60″ long. I’m a bit concerned about the “wrong” side, though, because the stitches on one edge look loose.

Since I’m not going to be working on the Lacy Scarf just quite yet, I think I might start knitting the Felted Marsupial Tote from Stitch N Bitch. That should be a challenge because the pattern calls for skills I haven’t done yet (like picking up stitches and knitting in the round).

Below are photos of my works in progress…

Manos del Uruguay “so-called scarf”

Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran scarf in double seed stitch

Last night I worked on my in-progress scarves for about half an hour each. It’s funny because I love the look of the so-called scarf , but I don’t particularly like knitting it. Maybe it’s because I’m using big needles (#11) and I still think my stitches are too tight…or maybe it’s because this one just takes more work! On the other hand, I love knitting the double seed stitch scarf in Debbie Bliss cashmerino, but I’m not in love with the pattern. I like it and think it looks nice, but I wouldn’t say that it’s my all-time favorite. Maybe I like this one more because I’m using “small” needles (#8) and it only requires the basics.

I’m still trying to figure out whether I want to start another project right now. And if I do, what should I start? I’d like to knit the Lacy Scarf from VKOTG Chunky Scarves and Hats, but it’s going to take some time to get that one rolling because I need to figure out the first row of the actual pattern. I was having trouble matching the number of stitches on my needles to what the pattern calls for. I posted on KR about it, and one member actually tried the directions twice and they worked for her. (I thought it was so nice that she actually knitted it!) If they worked for her, then I must be doing wrong. I need to go back and troubleshoot some more…Another potential project is to try knitting a scarf using a lace pattern from Barbara Walker’s Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns.