Knitting...again?

I don’t understand my obsession with knitting patterns. I am such a basic knitter that there really aren’t many projects I can attempt with any hope of success. Reading the directions is like trying to interpret a foreign language. Can you make sense of the following? Honestly, I just don’t have the patience.

PATTERN STITCH: (Multiple of 4 sts plus 3) With Color 1 cast on sts. Row 1 - With Color 2 K. Row 2 - With Color 2 P. Row 3 - With Color 1 * K 3, with yarn in front sl 1 as if to P, repeat from * across, ending K 3. Row 4 - With Color 1 * P 3, with yarn in front of work sl 1 as if to P, repeat from * across, ending P 3. Row 5 - With Color 2 K 1, * sl next 2 sts onto cable needle and hold in back of work, K 1 (sl st), then K the 2 sts from cable needle, K 1, repeat from * across, ending K 2. Row 6 - With Color 2 P. Rows 7 and 8 - Repeat Rows 3 and 4. Row 9 - With Color 2 K 3, * sl next st (sl st) onto cable needle and hold in front of work, K 2, then K the sl st from cable needle, K 1, repeat from * across row. Row 10 - With Color 2 P. Repeat from Row 3 for pattern.

Besides interpreting the pattern, you need to know about such things as gauge and various types of yarn. If you are off on either of these two things your project will not resemble the beautiful picture that enticed you to take on the project in the first place. You may remember my attempt to knit a scarf last year. I could not find the yarn called out in the pattern and used what knitting needles I already had even though the size was off. The result? An afghan-sized scarf that is more appropriate for use as a lap rug than a scarf.

Undaunted, I keep searching for simple patterns that will both satisfy my desire to knit and have some useful purpose. Enter Miss Guinea Pig. This adorable little pattern was delivered to my email (yes, I torture myself with a pattern-a-day delivered straight to my email!). I like this pattern because it says things like “Gauge is not important” and “If your stitch count is off it is really no problem”. How can I go wrong? True to form, I started with yarn I already had that was close to the required material. Big mistake! The result was a brown blob of ugly yarn. But the pattern was easy to follow and the project quick to create so I decided to find the right yarn and try again.


I have to admit that I am pretty pleased with the end product. This little animal is soft and fuzzy and has a friendly face. I know a little girl who has been feeling a little under-the-weather and thought my creation might cheer her up for a little bit. It looks like Miss Guinea Pig is just the right size for a little girl to cuddle and love. I have already received a request for another guinea pig. Maybe I have finally found a knitting project with a future. I’d better get started!

Knitting

I love hand-knitted sweaters, scarves and mittens. There’s just something so warm and comforting about bulky yarn. Maybe this feeling comes from the mittens my mother used to make for us when we were kids. Mom taught me how to knit mittens when I was young. I was never very good at it but it was very rewarding to take a skein of yarn and turn it into something that could be worn.

This brings me to my next challenge. From time to time (usually in January), I get the urge to knit. I seek out a pattern that seems fairly simple as my skills have not progressed much since I was a kid. My most recent efforts have been in the afghan direction. The picture above shows my latest afghan projects. The red yarn is chenille and it really did end up as an afghan. A very ugly one at that! As soon as it was finished, I tore it apart to destroy the evidence. I recently decided to use this yarn to make a scarf (pictured). It wasn’t too bad until I lost track of my pattern and created several holes across one row. This one will have to go as well!

I have six skeins of the brown yarn which is nicely variegated and bulky. I started afghan #1 with this yarn on straight knitting needles and it was way too cumbersome with 108 stitches across. I tore it apart. I restarted the pattern on some circular needles but they were too weird. I tore it apart. I started to think that there must be more to my problem than the materials and the pattern. I looked deep within my soul and decided that an afghan using six skeins of yarn and 108 stitches in one row is way too much of a commitment for me. Enter the scarf. A scarf is the perfect project for someone with commitment issues.

I found a basic scarf pattern from Martha Stewart and it was really quite manageable. I worked every evening this past week and voila: a scarf is born! I will call this project an afghan for my neck. As for the rest of the yarn, I saw an ad in the paper requesting donations of yarn for senior citizens. I think I’ll give them a call.