Here is the Ajune Toddler Pullover up to the armholes. I thought it was so pretty! However, there were a few problems with it. Number One-the yarn worked up too thinly. I have come to admire a certain squishiness in yarn. Not wet sort of squishy, but thick and fluffy kind of squishy. These two yarns were making a very lightweight, cheap looking fabric. Second, I doubted this would actually fit a 12-month old who wears 18-month clothes. So, this version was frogged.....

Oops! That's not right! I didn't frog it....I threw it out! Yes, I committed the ultimate yarn workers travesty and threw out some precious fiber. Don't get me wrong; I wrestled with the moral implications for about a week. Afterall, none of the other fiber bloggers ever admit to throwing out a frogged project. I weighed the implications of storing this cheap looking stuff until I could find another use for it. Well, why would I ever want to make anything else with it? Is it ok to dislike something so much that you actually throw it out? My answer was "yes" and after this post, I'm not going to even think about it again.

In the meantime, I completed another pullover based on the Ajune pattern. Wait til you see it....next time.

What has The Stitch Sleuth been looking for this week?

Hmmmmmm...while poking about on Ravelry I came across this free pattern from Lion Brand: Scallop Crochet Scarf http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/80985AD.html?r=1
It's construction is similar to the Luna Scarf published on Ravelry. There is a long chain and one half of the scarf is worked into it. Then a mirror image of the first half is worked on the back of the chain.

I really like that this scarf is a perfect mirror image. The Luna Scarf isn't. But I have made three Lunas because we love the Harry Potter movies and there is a beauty in that scarf my daughters and I really like.

Since I have a lot of Vanna in my stash, I can see this scarf being made a few times in the future.

The Stitch Sleuth is always looking for scarf patterns to try, both knit and crochet. This scarf could be made in an evening or two with just two balls of yarn. It's sure to become one of my go to gift ideas.

That Darn Cat!

Oh, dear! Kitty is in the napkin basket again!

Good thing daddy is at work! He doesn't like to see Kitty on the dining room table!

Please view a Sweet Little Nothing that was dragged around the house by the innocent looking cat in the basket! It's supposed to be a shrug for my oldest daughter and was progressing nicely. It's a very easy top down raglan. I made it more challenging to knit by buying a $15 ball of Metallic FX by Berrocco to add a little bling. What you can't see is the tangled knotted useless mess the Metallic FX is right now. It's too depressing to show you. Sigh. The one day I leave the door of my yarn room open, the kitty cat seizes the opportunity to grab the daintily threaded sequin ball and drag it 50 feet out into the living room! Needless to say I have no hope of restoring this project or ever finishing it.

When I told my friends at work about the kitty sequin yarn disaster they suggested I just buy another $15 ball of sequin yarn and keep going. Don't they know about dye lots! Much less the psychological trauma of being foiled by a cat!

" Mmmmm....I love eating yarn." That Darn Cat!

I am a poor purler and a cheater

I admit it: I am a poor purler! Here is my rendition of the superb pattern by Jackie of JL Yarnworks: Hermione's Cable & Eyelet Hat. It took me over a year to screw up the courage to try this hat. Why? Because I was a poor purler. Yes, you read it right: poor purler. Why so poor a purler? Well, let's go back about 35 years to 4-H, where I learned to knit. I had a lovely teacher who was an accomplished knitter. I do not blame her for my weird purling habit. First of all, I never gained the dexterity needed to hold both needles up at the same time. Well, what do you do with the other needle? You stick it between your thighs! Weird, huh? Yep, I let my thighs hold the left hand needle while I knit or purled the stitches off holding the right needle. So, a year ago when I decided to start knitting again, I knew it was time to grow up and hold the needles correctly. It took several garter stitch projects to get the hang of it, but I did it! Then I made some projects requiring purling. Although my stitches looked ok, I could feel that I wasn't purling effectively and quickly. So I looked up purling on You Tube. I am a continental style knitter, German style, if you will. I love it. It's efficient and fast. So, the Hermione Hat is my first knitting project where I knit and purled correctly the whole project. It turned out better than I expected.





Now, I also confess that I am a cheater! I have a lot of knitting hangups to get over and using double pointed needles is one of them. So....when this project decreased to the point of needing dpns I used a 9" circular! Bet you didn't know they even make these little babies! Well, unfortunately for me, 9" is still too big to go all the way down to 5 little stitches. So I cheated. I ended early. There it is. I feel so much better for telling you! I ran the yarn around and back twice when there were still 10 stitches left! You can't even tell, can you?






So, this project was a real milestone for me. Here's my list of brave deeds for this project: purling correctly; yarnovers; and cables. I guess making this project made me braver for whatever is to come next. I'm not afraid of endless stockinette stitch now and maybe instead of calling it cheating, I'll call my compromising efforts innovative coping strategies.

One Hour Scarf--Yes, Really!

What can you do when you forget your friend's birthday on Tuesday but want to give a beautiful gift one day late? You make the Ruffle Cravat from Leigh Radford's wonderful book, One Skein. I bought this book because I thought I could make inexpensive presents out of it and since it's mostly knitting, I would start knitting again. Well, it's very inspirational and all, but I'm still a better crocheter than knitter, so I've made the Cravat twice now, both to rave reviews!

Since this is only my third post, I hope you'll forgive my lack of expertise is placing photos! The top photo is the completed scarf. It is very soft and lovely with dark blue as the prominent color, with accents of brown and white. The middle photo shows my time at 1 hour 8 minutes. It took me over an hour because I was watching a hilarious 1980's British comedy, The Vicar of Dibley, for the first time. Because of the accents and the 80's time warp, I had to pay a bit more attention to the episodes. One Hour and Eight Minutes isn't bad though. Not bad at all.

I would use Deborah Norville Chunky again. Inexpensive and soft, soft, soft. Don't you just love being able to take some string and turn it into something fabulous!

ksl.com - Experts: Sitting too much could be deadly

ksl.com - Experts: Sitting too much could be deadly

The above article is a must read for any crafty who has ever been immobilized for hours under a hefty blanket or shawl. How about all that time we spend looking at patterns on Ravelry?????

Take heed crafters everywhere! Get up and move or death awaits you!!!!!

It's a Toddler Sweater, for cryin' out loud

The Ajune Toddler Pullover http://www.naturallycaron.com/projects/ajune/ajune_1.html

I went stash diving for this one. DK weight. Hmmmm. Well I have two skeins of Berocco Comfort DK. Only 175 yards each, though. Well, that 3/4 skein of Sirdar Snuggly will go with it and I'll hold my breath to see if I have enough. Feeling pretty edgy on the yardage situation, so back to the stash for some white Fore-'n-Aft Sport that is so old it only cost $2.15 brand new. And that's $2.15 for 175 yards of 100% orlon acrylic! That's plenty of yarn for a size 18 months. Whew! Here are my yarn comments: Love the color of the Comfort and it's plenty soft. Cheap, too. Don't like that it snags easily and feels thin worked up. Sirdar Snuggly is so soft and pretty, but this DK is not the same weight as the Comfort--Don't worry, I'll work that out later. The Fore-'n-Aft: who knows--never used it before. I have had it in the stash for at least 20 years! lol. pics, tradgedies and triumphs coming up soon!