Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Is it Back?

My mojo stumbled back last night, bloodied, bruised, and very weary. It's clearly not back at full strength yet. I've put it to bed with a nice cup of tea, and hope that it will feel all better in the morning. In the meantime, I finished my "Will Spring Never Come?" socks:

These are made with Duet Skinny sock yarn, purchased from the always wonderful people at The Loopy Ewe. I used size 0 needles and whimsically added the ruffle at the top. When I had the top ribbing as long as I wanted it, I changed to the solid heel/toe yarn and knit one round. On the next round, I k1f&B into each stitch, then knit 3 rounds even, then bound off. I think they're cute :) I liked the yarn a lot, and was tempted during the last Loopy sneak peak to buy some more.

I also restarted the doily, this time using off-white Alpaca Fino with a Twist yarn (one of my favorites for lace) and size 1 needles (Knitpicks Harmony wooden needles, to be exact). Instead of casting on 6 stitches as the pattern directs, I cast on 12, which gives me the six petals seen in the book:


Looks much better, doesn't it? This pattern, more than anything else, is responsible for the slight return of my mojo. It's a lot of fun to knit. (At the end, you thread the tail from the cast-on through the center stitches to pull that hole closed.)

I also joined a Mystery Lace knitalong. I've never done one of these before, because I'm pretty picky about what I like and don't like in lace knitting (as in everything else). But it's free, the yarn was cheap, and if I don't like it, I don't have to keep going. You can find the KAL in Yahoogroups under "MysteryLace." There's also a Ravelry group going. I'm using Lane Borgosesia Cashwool in the Pearl color, which is a very light grey:

It's billed as a springy shawl, in a stole shape. The swatch motif is leafy. I'm not sure I love it, but I'm going to give it the benefit of the doubt for now.

Knitter's Magazine, Spring '08

My issue arrived yesterday. To be blunt, what a fat bag o'crap that was. What a long way down this magazine has fallen. When I reorganized our study not too long ago, I took the opportunity to look through some of the really old Knitter's that I have. They used to have such beautiful designs, even sweaters knit in the round and steeked! Now, it's all brightly colored yuck. (Not that I'm opposed to bright colors, but not like this.)

A while back, I commented on how the editor's of Knitter's have a place on their site where readers can vote on which sweater makes it onto the cover of the next issue. I noted that it often seemed to be the case that the sweater that got the most votes didn't make the cover. This continues to be true. This sweater:



did not get the most votes. Shocking! And what's more, the sweater that did get the most votes didn't even make it into this issue. Maybe they're holding it for the summer issue, but still. To make matters even worse, the cover sweater is actually in two pieces. That little asymetrical cape thing comes off to reveal that the sweater underneath is actually STRAPLESS! Because yes, strapless knits are what we all crave. Who the hell would wear such a thing? Other than its inherent fug, you'd spend all day holding the damn thing up! Most of the offerings in this issue were of this ilk.

I've held onto my subscription for sentimental reasons, mostly, and because there's occasionally a decent technical article and an interesting Perry Klass column. After this, I can honestly say that I will not be renewing.

4 comments:

Scott T. said...

all hale the return of the mojo.

yes, that sweater is butt ugly, although sexing up the knitting isn't a bad thing (but even the most driven of male would not be repelled by that sweater; I mean that thing would make Heidi Klum repellent)

kippi said...

This post left me laughing out loud. That sweater is too, too much. And it is two pieces no less! priceless. I don't even know where one has to go to find something equally as ugly. I think Scott secretly finds it very attractive.

Your spring socks, however, are the opposite of that sweater. They are lovely. I very much like the ruffle at the top. Really cute.

Huzzah for getting the lace pattern worked out. It does look much better with the correct number of petals. Can't wait to see the progression. :-) Although I'm kind of bummed that you ditched the watermelon colored yarn.

Scott T. said...

I just realized there is more to the horror. Look past the "color" "pattern" and you'll note that the left "sleeve" is significantly shorter than the right "sleeve" or cover or whatever it is (for god's sake, don't stare directly at it for too long trying to figure this out; we will not be held liable for the inevitable physical and emotional damages).

And yes, Kippi has unveiled my secret. I doth protest too much. I find it ultra hot. I have all kinds of naughty fantasies about it. So much hotter than the latest offering from Victoria's Secret. It's better than Cats; I'd see it again and again.

fleegle said...

Your socks are totally adorable and very Spring-esque.

We are in total agreement on that sweater. There actually was an interesting pattern in the mag--crown stitch or something like that--that I have never seen before. I wonder how that snuck in there. The sweater that used it was hideous, but part of that was the colors they chose.

Love your doily, too!