I have gotten bored with the basket weave scarf.

So I tried to do a different stitch! And failed. What I was suppose to be doing is what I assumed was stocking stitch interspersed with blocks of purl so it looks like a verison of basket weave. Well, that wasn't it.I definitely need a stitch dictionary. Then I just did 5 by 5 ribbing and now have gone back to the basket weave stitch. I really should frog my experiment and just do it all in basket weave.

My finances have tanked. No more wool for me. I can use what I have, but I'm not planning on doing that until I am better at this. Meanwhile the giant red-violet skein beckons. But I will get some lavender acrylic.

I am going to learn how to do mitts and mittens, and gloves. I figure there is a market for mitts that have a lacy top for driving around here during the summer. If the inside of the car can hit 140F, how hot do you think the steering wheel is? I am still planning on doing flea markets and other such things.

So I Have Conquered The Knit/Purl Problem!

I started out making a basket weave scarf. I proved to myself that I did indeed know how to switch stitches. In fact in got to the point I was solely concentrating on remembering when I starting a new block. For the most apart I did pretty good at that. I made some mistakes, but I'm okay with them.

However I forgot to take pictures of it while it was still a scarf! Yes, half way through the scarf knitting I decided to make it into a hat. I seamed up the ends and picked up stitches from the side and started knitting with the DTNs. I had suspected that I was knitting with too small needles and switching from the straights to the DTNs confirmed this. After about two inches, or so, it got too tight to keep on knitting. I switched over to a crochet hook and did two rounds, trying to make it loose. Then I switched back to the same DTNs, (they were what I had) I tried really hard to pull a loose loop out as I K2T. I messed up at the very last as I decreased (have done this before on another hat too, must watch out for this), and lost track of what needle was next. I skipped one needle and had to come back to it, so in reality, this hat has two centers!!! I then decided that the hat was too short, so I picked up the stitches on the bottom with the crochet hook and did three rounds on it in single stitch.

The material is very dense and holds it's shape. I like this and because of this and the fact I only did one row of knit, K2T for shaping, it pops up in the center like a quince apple, which makes it look very organic I think, and I really like the results.

1st Attemp At Ribbing

So, in this somewhat fuzzy picture, you can see my problems with this.

I'm still looping underneath!! That's why it's scalloped.

Although I don't think you can really see this, I was still getting 3 stitches for every change over from knit to purl.

And thanks to the ADD, I kept forgetting whether I was knitting or purling.

But I am getting a grip on where I'm going wrong, and I'm going to keep practising this until I have it on a subconscious level.

My Yarn Came!

The Wool Pixie Is Pissed At Herself

The Wool Pixie spent the day at her Best Friend's house, working on ribbing. Nothing worked out. The Wool Pixie frogged it all. First she tried casting on in two colors so she would "know" when to knit, and when to purl, (and to try stranded knitting, ooh la!). Well, that didn't work out. It was real interesting, however with the strands in back and FRONT. Then the Wool Pixie tried just one color. This was also a failure. Once again her old problem of three stitches per stitch when she tried to knit and then purl on the same row  shown up. She frogged it. Tried again. Same results. Frogged again. Tried. . .wished she had her Dummies book with her. The Wool Pixie tried about four times, before she gave up. Then she just tried kniting for the hell of it. Yes, by that time, the Wool Pixie couldn't even do that! She then gave up completely and watched TV with Best Friend.

Why I Am The Wool Pixie. . .

1), My Mom was British, and I was brought up on fairies and stuff. My Nan actually believed in faeries and would say the Lord's Prayer and turn around ten times if she forgot something at the bus stop and had to go back to the house, so the "bad" faeries wouldn't get her.

2), I saw the phrase in the blog The Panopticon, and I fell on it.

3), Thanks to the Yarn Harlot,  Crazy Aunt Purl, and Adrienne Martini's book, Sweater Quest: My Year Of Knitting Dangerously,  Alice Starmore, and hat #2 (25% wool), I became aware of wool, specially it's ability to at least try not to unravel when I drop a stitch. And oh ya, it's green! Completely renewable, doesn't melt into the skin when you are on fire, in fact doesn't burn under it's own power, and thanks to the Yarn Harlott's information, doesn't OUT GAS like acrylic yarn!

4), Acrylic yarn comes from oil, and therefor will only become more expensive as time goes on (Yarn Harlot), (wool may too, due to global warming, but at least sheep will be around unlike oil). Save your ziplocks bags, ladies. Someday they will be worth their weight in gold!

I eagerly await my $36.00 worth of wool from KnitPicks.com, so I can start exploring on how to knit mittens. But, I think at first I'll try it in acrylic first. . .work out the problems first.

I know there will be problems. . .That's the fun isn't it!

So, I'm Starting A Second Blog!

And It's about my knitting efforts. Which so far are mixed, to say the least. Yes, I have finally conquered the knit stitch. . .Maybe I should start at the beginning.

Once upon a time, there was a woman who wanted to knit, really badly. However she couldn't mentally get how to "do it," due to her ADD and let's face it, most likely brain damage from a difficult birth. She even join a knitting guild in order to learn the basics, but while she did produce some stocking stitch, she couldn't figure out how to cast on even although the very nice ladies at the knitting guild showed her over and over. When one of the (really, they were) very nice guild ladies told her stitches were too loose, she gave up and never returned.

The Knitting Fates however kept thrusting examples of to die for knitting in her face. Alice Starmore, anyone? Finally, in a fit of insanity, she spend a great deal of money (she's on unemployment!), on the wondrous book Knitting For Dummies, and she finally grasp how to CAST ON!

She then bought a knitting loom and produced Christmas scarves for her family and friends on it. Go figure. . .

However, Her family gave her the knitting equipment of her sister's late mother in law for Christmas! There were many needles, including circulars. The Wool Pixie attempted to knit a hat on one. She then discovered the need for doubled tipped needles.  Never the less, she loved the giant hair band she made with her two little hands and persisted in wearing it to her best friend's disgust. She then bought doubled tipped needles (not realizing there was some in her sister's gift) and went for hat #2.  She then found out about decreasing, and various other things such of keeping track of which way the knitting was hanging. Also, point protectors, which she keeps losing, but do make a BIG difference to how many stitches she loses. Mind you, she's still losing some, but she hasn't figured out how yet.

Hat # 3 was suppose to be PERFECT, but wasn't. The Wool Pixie learned about increasing the rate of decreasing. Stupid nipple hat!

Hat #4 was actually a success as to being, well, hat shape. However, she tried the seed stitch and so it was a mix of seed stitch and one by one ribbing. The Wool Pixie is going to work on that.