Thursday, November 29, 2007

As the Year Draws to a Close, an Old Dog Learns New Tricks...

I'm the old dog in question, and I picked up a skill this week that I can't sufficiently sing the praises of. I'm working on a shifting sands scarf from the annals of Grumperina. It's so much fun, but involves a constant flow of little teeny weeny cable repeats, which become cumbersome, unless you take Grumperina's advice and learn to cable without a needle. I did it! My life as a knitter is forever changed. It took a little practice to master, as it involves a little dance of needles and frighteningly disengaged stitches, but now I'm so quick at it that it takes only a moment longer than a regular knit or purl stitch. This is one of my greatest accomplishments of 2007, and I'm not kidding.

My other 2007 knitting revelation was the Baby Surprise Jacket, from Elizabeth Zimmerman. Brooklyn Tweed has a stunning example of this magical invention, along with some good commentary...mine is made from Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino leftover from a baby ripple I did recently. I'll post a pic as soon as I sew the buttons on. I'm thinking of doing some sculpey buttons--lately A and E have been really into this stuff, spending whole afternoons making miniatures (A made me a little violin with a flamed wood back), beads for E's earrings, and some snakes and snails. But I might coopt some of the pearly pink for sweater buttons.

More anon.

2 comments:

Too Little Time said...

I just ordered the pattern BSJ for myself, unfortunately I have to finnnish christmas projects before I can do anything else! That and the two pair of neverending socks I am working on have got my arm hurting. Great to hear from you - will chat soon - K

Spooky said...

I gaze longingly at the shifting sands scarf from time to time but think it's far too advanced a project for me to tackle.
And the entire time I was knitting the baby blanket I kept thinking that I should have made a BSJ instead.
I'm looking forward to pics!