Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Knitting Mojo

My knitting mojo is back and doing its thing.

Could this be related to the fact that I've eaten food for the past three days and not vomited not even once that whole time and you couldn't make me touch a smoothie with a ten foot pole but I have all this energy and pleasure in life again?

Could be.


I give you Aviatrix Baby Hat, by Justine Turner. And really, I think a fair amount of my knitting pleasure must be attributed to the yarn. Some delicious handspun, in Rhubarb, was a gift, and this pattern showcases it so well (I'm also working on a shrug for Baby Roo, but the yarn looks better in the hat). The color changes are lengthened, and the thick/thin is emphasized. I love this little hat.

The pattern is supremely clear, and very simple and funky and fun. It flew by during half a season of Buffy (Dave was out of town a couple of weekends ago, so Season 5 of Buffy it was. Yes, it's my favorite. Yes, I agree Glory is not what you'd call the coolest villain ever. Yes, I agree further that Dawn is not pleasant to be around--though I'd argue she's worse in Season 6. But no, you can't tell me that there aren't some truly wonderful episodes and moments within episodes in there. Triangle? Pssh, Intervention? Come now.)

(It's Halloween. I feel emboldened to talk about vampires.)

But back to the knitting. I've also resurrected Coachella from my desk at work (where obviously no work was getting done on it).

This yarn, Knitpicks Cotlin, has tried to be many, many things, and has failed at all of them. I didn't buy enough to make a textured tunic by Stefanie Japel, nor do I have enough to make Buttercup by Heidi Kirrmaier, though I did give it a good shot because I'm stupid like that.

There is in fact too much for Coachella, and I have no earthly idea what the rest will be--there's only so much you can do with bright red linen, and after all those burp cloths I made for Roo, I don't think dishcloths are in the cards--but at least this will make a dent. And it is a fine yarn, and it's been mournfully waiting to be used.

I went down a needle size, and am making a Size 34--it seems there were stretching issues, and I'm hoping this will take care of that. I think it will be a Christmas gift for my sister Puanani--she lives in Southern California, and goes to a lot of pool parties (or at least, I imagine her doing so). I just hope it fits.

5 comments:

Jodi Meadows said...

Oh yay! I'm so glad you have the knitting love back! My yarn love waxes and wanes sometimes, too. Sometimes it's just more fun than others. (And knitting with handspun is always particularly exciting. I made a pair of mitts out of mine recently and I love them more than all other mitts!)

Thanks for the Material Whirled link; I haven't heard of them before, but I recognize some of those names from Ravelry. They're talented spinners.

Sarah said...

go you!

Nikki Van De Car said...

Jodi--I feel like I'm insane...that yarn was from you! I feel like there was a Material Whirled tag in there (which of course I've now misplaced, but I had this memory, and so that's why I put it up there.)

I feel crazy--something got wrong here. I'm not sure exactly what, but it did and I'm sorry....

Jodi Meadows said...

No problem! There *was* a Spunky Eclectic tag in there. Maybe that's what you're remembering? That's where I got my wheel; she threw in the Rhubarb to get me started. (Maybe she was worried I hadn't ordered any with the wheel. Little did she know, I already have a spinning shop in my house. Heh.)

Jodi Meadows said...

At any rate, I'm just glad you like the yarn and it's helping with the knitting mojo. I can't wait to see what the rest has become. :)