Monday, October 03, 2011

What Project List??

I'll admit it. I'm an anal-retentive planner. I like lists. While I don't always FINISH (or start?) what's on the list, having the list makes me feel secure.

And I had a list. Now blown slightly sideways by a request of my mom's. She called me and said, "I have this picture - and I need to know if you can knit this because I need a scarf."

"What about the scarf I made you for Christmas last year?" I asked.

"It doesn't match my coat."

Ok. Well, she wasn't sure what yarn she wanted, but "I don't want wool - it itches." So I told her to come to the LYS and she could feel the yarn and figure out what she wanted. Only caveat was that "I don't do mohair" because if you've ever knitted with that and had a mistake, you will know exactly what I mean. It's expensive. Lovely. A bugger to take apart if you've made a mistake. And anyway, it can itch. I'm not spending that kind of money and time if "it itches" and the scarf never gets worn!

She came to the shop and talked to her friend. They went around and petted the yarn. I looked at the picture. It's from a catalog - where you can buy this thing. It's sort of a cowl, but not really. It's crocheted in cotton. And it's holey. As in "how does this thing possibly keep your neck warm??" holey.

Start of the crochet sorta-cowl
After they cruised the shop, she picked this:

It's wool. Seriously, can you believe this? I was laughing because she told her friend, "I don't do wool - it itches."

Her friend said, "That's because you've only seen crappy wool."

This is Cascade Yarns 220 Superwash - find it at www.cascadeyarns.com and check out color number 817, dye lot 6974. It's a gorgeous creamy white that has "snow" tones not some of the "cream-to-beige" tones you can sometimes see. The yarn is 100% superwash and has a lovely hand to it. It was around $10 at the LYS (I got the only ball without a price tag on it!) and it's 220 yards - wayyyyyyyy long enough to do this.

So click on the picture and see what I've done. The original pattern was in a double-crochet. I didn't like it. I'm doing something called "Urchin Stitch" using a size N crochet hook.

The "Urchin Stitch" is from The Complete Encyclopedia of Stitchery by Mildred Graves Ryan. It's old. Like, older than Kid #1... so we're talking a book that's nearly 30 years old and still something I reference when I want to look up a stitch for a project.

The Urchin Stitch is super-easy. Google it and see what you can find, since I don't want the copyright police coming after me. It's a no-brain, crochet while you wait, crochet while you're bored, almost don't have to look at it kind of pattern.

The original cowl had a button. My mom says she has a button, so I'll just crochet along, wedging this in between the White Chocolate Bunny, the blueberry tee shirt (that almost has one side done and I was planning to wear yet this fall), and the baby afghan I have to start for a March baby. And the knitted Easter eggs I'm trying to get to just in case the pysanky don't work out! And I still have "wristers" that the kids want me to make, since they both have really long arms, and these wristers can be an "addition" to the gloves (why don't they make mens' gloves with longer wrists?).

It'll all get done. It'll all get done. It'll all get done.

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