Like Magic… February 29, 2012

Lately, I have been spending a little more time than usual crocheting. In part, I was inspired by a particularly fun Crochet Class I had the honor of teaching a couple of weekends ago (8 new crocheters in the world; woohoo!). Also, I happened to have had a ridiculously cute crochet project on my list of 30.

You may be happy to know that the list is now 28. Boo-yah.

Note that I did not design this adorable creature; it is a Ravelry download by Dawn Toussaint.

I have, however, written up a very simple crocheted beanie pattern (I wouldn’t call it “Design”, but I did do the typing, anyway).

I recently discovered that all my husband ever wanted was a crocheted beanie.  The discovery process went like this:

Husband: I would like a hat, please.

Me: I would love to make you a hat!

Husband: Could it be just a plain hat with a plain edge?

Me: (makes stockinette hat with rolled edge)

Husband: I love my hat, but could it have a different kind of edge?

Me: (starts hat with ribbed edge)

Husband: Hmmm…no, just a plain edge. My friend has one I really like; I want one just like his.

*Meet with friend, discover that coveted hat is a crocheted beanie*

He is very happy with it.

Both the hat above and the unicorn are crocheted in spirals. Now, I am generally a discrete rounds kind of girl*, but I discovered through the process of crocheting this hat that spirals are really a wonderful way to show off handpainted yarns, like Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Worsted  (used for the hat above).

*When I refer to spirals vs discrete rounds, it has to do with the process of ending and beginning a round in crochet. When you crochet a spiral, you don’t do anything different at the end of the round; you just keep crocheting on top of the previous round. If you were to crochet stripes using the spiral method, you would get a jog at the end of the round when you switch from one color to another. When you crochet in discrete rounds (at least that’s what I call it), you begin the round with a chain to bring the yarn up to the height of the new round. When you get to the last stitch, you slip stitch in the first crochet of the round to close it off.

Anyway, as I was saying…

Both these patterns also start off with a Magic Ring.*

*Not the kind that makes you invisible.

The Magic Ring, (or “Magic Circle” or “Magic Loop”) is an adjustable ring. into which you make the sts of your first round. It takes the place of instructions like, “Ch5, slst in first chain to form ring”. Now, we just say, “Make Magic Ring”.

Here, in painstaking detail, is what that looks like:

You with me so far?

So here is the big secret: the “Magic Ring” is just a slip knot that you don’t tighten. Why didn’t we just say that in the first place?!

That said, let us continue. So you have this slip knot that you haven’t tightened…

From here, I imagine that most of you can figure your way to the beginning of your crochet project. Just for good measure, though, I will include the next few steps.

The number of single crochets you make in the ring will be determined by your pattern. The number will, however, very frequently be 6 (or 5 or 8). In the picture below, I have done 6 single crochets (the thing at the very end that looks like a 7th st is the chain I made in step 8).

   Since we’re on the subject, I might as well keep going (I’ll have a whole hat by the end of this post…not really).

If you choose to crochet in a spiral, it is quite helpful to keep track of where you round begins and ends. I do this with a piece of yarn.

Now you have all the skills you need to make a simple crocheted beanie.

This tutorial has been brought to you by the letter G:

and by the color “Franklin’s Panopticon”:

I hope you’ve had fun. With any luck, the next time you hear from me I will have only 27 unfinished projects.

29! February 26, 2012

I have a little update on my sea of unfinished projects. I am officially down to 29! *applause!*

OK, almost officially. The Cthulhuclava is pretty much done and has, in fact been worn.

I wove in the last end just in time for a Fat Tuesday party at our favorite bar. Since it has made its appearance in public,  I think that counts. A small miscalculation in picking up stitches may have led to some holes in the cheeks, which I have promised to go back and close up with little gusset panels…but that doesn’t count. Really, it will take just moments to fix. moments.

In the meantime, I am a couple of freckles away from finishing the unicorn. : )

Since my last blog post, I have not cast on any new projects (because we determined that ripping out and recasting on one of the projects on the list does not count).

In addition, I have only purchased yarn for one new project (a sweater). Notice the clever phrasing I use to make that seem like an immense exercise in restraint (which it really was). For the record, the yarn was green and on big time sale, so it does not count. I just made that rule up.

I swear I will finish one of the six sweaters I have on the needles before I cast on my green sweater. Really.

My goal is to keep posting my project status as a way of encouraging myself to stick with it. I have learned better than to make any promises when it comes to blog posts, but I really have the best intentions. Next up on the finishing block (after the unicorn) is my Scout pullover. This is the one I could, ostensibly, finish with just one night of knitting and seaming. My goal is to have it done by next week. Lets see…

Nothing to be Ashamed Of February 20, 2012

As promised in my last post, I have embarked on a stash spelunking, UFO unearthing, start-itis quelling (not really) expedition.  The goal of this endeavor was to take stock of my unfinished projects and shame me into encourage and re-inspire me to finish them. I have to say that I was indeed rather encouraged by my findings. Given my penchant for casting on and my “I’m cold, I’d better cast on a sweater” outlook on life*, I expected numbers in the triple digits.

*The general pattern of trying to meet immediate needs by embarking on long term projects, may pop up other places in my life, though certainly not to this extent.

The actual number was exactly 30. (Since I completed the count, I have finished one of the pictured projects…and unearthed another.)

Upon sharing this little fact about myself with people, I have received everything from incredulous smiles and appalled stares to understanding nods of the head, accompanied by an “I figured as much” or “Really, that’s all?!”  Several of my knitting friends (well, one or two) have agreed with me that 30 is a fairly reasonable number. I know plenty of people with easily twice that number of UFO’s. Granted, most of these people are also roughly twice my age, giving me what I assume to be a fairly accurate projection of my fate.

I did a little breakdown of the total. Would you like to see it?

We have 6 sweaters.

Only 4 of them are pictured here. They range from oldest to newest going left to right. First, a crocheted shrug; I have no idea where the pattern is. Second, a sweater that was actually knit and completed by a friend of my, but which did not actually fit either of us. I have since dismantled it and am reknitting the body and sleeves. Third, a Scout Pullover I began for myself. Note that the body is entirely done. When I was at this point on the original sample, I had it finished by the next day. I could, ostensibly, be wearing this sweater tomorrow. And yet…there is also number four, a simple top-down sweater I started last Fall when I was teaching a First Sweater Class (innocent enough). In my own defense, I do actually knit at least one row on this one every day (I keep it in my purse).

Not Pictured: a purple sweater which also has the body completed and a silk lace top from Knitting Lingerie Style, by Joan McGowan Michael, a master of sultry garment shaping.

I had hoped to have this one done for Valentine’s Day (two years ago), but I was busy counting my projects.

So. 6 sweaters, 4 socks.

Each of these socks has at least a couple of hours of knitting invested in them already.

4 shawls.

Two of these have since been torn out and re-cast on as a different kind of shawl, which, for the record, DOES NOT COUNT as casting on a new project. It is just repurposing a previous cast on.

2 scarves and 3 hats (2 pictured).

Three of these four items are intended for my beloved, long-suffering husband, which might make me feel a little guilty, were I not also knitting him this:

In case you couldn’t tell, it is a Cthulhuclava, designed by Anne-Marie Dunbar. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it for new knitters, but if you are ever looking for an exercise in extremely clever shaping, this would be the pattern. It is actually next on my list of must-finish, which is turning out to require an immense amount of self control, seeing as I also have this project staring accusingly at me.

   In fact, quite literally staring. I know what you’re saying, “Hannah, how can you just leave it there? It has a face!”  Well, sometimes being a compulsive project starter requires me to harden my heart and just look away.

The oldest UFO I unearthed was a (not yet) Felted Clog.

Anyone who has ever knit the Fiber Trends Felt Clog pattern will look at this picture and know that this clog is just about an hour away from being done and ready to felt. Its mate is done and, in fact, felted, and has been for about 4 years (yes, I do know where it is; I found it while I was digging). I would sit right down and do it now, except that this project is even closer to being done.

It’s a linen stitch headband. All I need to do is finish the button loops and sew on the buttons. That’s it. Minutes. (Since this picture was taken, I have actually finished it; I have also unearthed another UFO, so the number is still 30).

The prize for the furthest-from-being-done goes to my Little Black Dress. It is currently, ahem, very little.

It is, in fact, about 8″x4″. I have hope, though.

   In addition, I have an unfinished baby blanket (one square done), baby sweater (ribbing and cable set up done), baby bootie (one completed, just needs seaming), a pre-felted bag and two mitts. The mitts are actually using the same pattern, but using 2 different yarns and with 2 different intended recipients. Oddly enough, I stopped working on them in precisely the same place.

    In the interest of full disclosure, I chose not to count pairs of socks, one of which is completely done and the second of which has not yet been started (I may be an optimist, but even I have my limits), and swatches that I have done for design ideas (that’s work, so it doesn’t count).

  Also, during the time it took to gather up, count and photograph all these projects, I may have begun and finished (finished, so it doesn’t count) another project.

    So there we go. If we were to separate the world of knitters into two types, those who knit because they want to eventually possess a specific thing (product knitters) and those who just knit (process knitters), I would apparently fall into the latter category. It’s not that I don’t want to have each one of these projects that I have started. It’s just that I don’t seem to want it very badly or for very long. I consider myself a fairly steadfast person, so it may be that I have concentrated all the fickleness in my character to this one pursuit. My husband, with whom I have happily spent the last 13 years of my life, is quite satisfied with this arrangement.

   When I brought up my UFOs with my parents, my mother (who does not share my compulsion at all and has a respectable 4 or 5 works in progress, none of which are more than a few months old, I’m sure) reminded me about Grammy. We’re pretty sure that Grammy’s compulsive yarn buying (I had never actually seen the walls of her guest bedroom because they were piled up with yarn) was her way of seeking immortality. How could she possibly ever die if she had so much yarn to knit?

   I don’t really think that having an unlimited supply of UFO’s will keep me alive forever, but it should, at least, keep me from ever being bored. If I ever feel boredom sneaking up on my, I can just pull up this post and be re-inspired. If I am ever having a day when I feel miserably unproductive, I can just pull out one of those oh-so-close projects and finish it up for a quick, easy feeling of accomplishment. See? It serves its purpose, and I am not at all ashamed.