Incoherent Scribblings

While I got some stitching done on Vash’s robin today, I spent part of my afternoon in the gynecologist’s waiting room and since knitting appears to be a bit more portable than cross stitch, I took the knitting with me to pass the time.

As I mentioned yesterday, this scarf consists of two knit stitches followed by a purl stitch repeated over and over again. The part of the scarf that consists of the first skein of yarn is kind of chaotic because I kept losing track if I was at a knit or purl stitch. In order to keep track, I started saying (either out loud or silently) “knit, knit, purl” and now those three words are stuck in my head like a song that you hear on the radio and then sing for the next four days. I even noticed as I was walking home from the train station that my foot steps seemed to be in time with the spoken rhythm of “knit, knit, purl!” However, my little chant seems to be working because I have noticed that my scarf is slowly starting to form a pattern.

I started out by buying four skeins of yarn but after knitting one and one third skeins, I decided that I might end up with an awfully short scarf. Therefore I bought two more skeins today while I was out and about. At the current gauge, I think the scarf should end up about 48″ long. If so, I think that should be long enough to wrap around my neck a couple of times!

On Thursday I didn’t stitch because I bought some more yarn and started knitting my first scarf. I found a really easy “pattern” that calls for me to cast on 50 stitches and then knit, knit, purl until I have reached the desired length for my scarf and then bind off. It is coming along quite nicely… I think I like this knitting stuff!

On Friday I knitted a little bit, but I mostly stitched. I worked on my “Summer Arches” for Nicki’s robin, but realized that I didn’t have any of the color that is needed for the arches! I completed the middle of the first arch and then I put the piece away until I can run to my LNS for some 840.

After I set Nicki’s robin aside, I started my Garden Exchange piece for the SBEBB and stitched on it for the rest of the day. I am about 60% finished with it (it isn’t very big), but won’t be able to share a picture of it for a while. However, I can tell you that it is looking good so far!
Yesterday I didn’t stitch at all. I knitted until I finished my first skein of yarn and realized that I needed to learn how to attach the next skein onto what I have already knitted. However, because I was tired I decided that I would tackle it later. I then napped for the rest of the afternoon.

After I woke up from my nap, Hubby and I walked over to the video store and rented a couple of movies that I hadn’t seen before, so instead of listening to them while I stitched, I actually left the stitching alone and watched the movies from start to finish! We saw a new version of Frankenstein (It sucked! Don’t rent it!) and Constantine with Keanu Reeves and Rachel Weisz. Contantine wasn’t too bad, but I don’t think I will be adding it to the DVD collection anytime soon.

That brings us to today: I stitched all afternoon while watching/listening to Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and The Chamber of Secrets. We are planning to see The Goblet of Fire sometime this week so I decided to take this afternoon and get psyched! Anyway, while enjoying Harry Potter I worked on “The Cat in the Big Pink Hat” for Vash’s robin.

I must admit that I have had a bit of trouble finding my mojo for this piece. I really like the cat and all, but the pattern is a bit hard to read and so it took me a good uninterrupted stitching session to really get comfortable with it. I feel like I am on a roll now though so I am going to try and concentrate on getting it done this week.

I haven’t cross stitched since Thursday because on Friday I went downtown and saw that my local department store was having a sale on knitting items. A sale on knitting stuff? What better excuse that to learn to knit?! So I bought some needles and some yarn and since Friday afternoon I have been teaching myself to knit!

The result of all of this is… a square! Actually, it is technically called a “beginner knit block.”

I must say I had great fun doing this and I am pretty proud of the way it turned out. It took me a while (read: quite a few hours) to get the whole casting on (*) thing down, but once I did the knit stitch seemed to fall into place. After my block was approximately as wide as it was long I was able to bind it off and I didn’t find that too hard either. I have not yet done a purl stitch, but I will tackle it soon.

After learning to cast on, my biggest challenges were finding a comfortable position to hold the needles and the yarn and consistent tension. At first my stitches were too loose, but after I got the hang of the knit stitch I think they were a little too tight. Of course, the yarn I bought probably wasn’t the best yarn for a beginner to work with (the diameter of the yarn varied throughout the skein – it was supposed to) so that may have made consistent tension more difficult that it would have been otherwise.

I have tried more times than I can count to crochet, but I never seem to be able to get past a chain, so I was quite surprised at how quickly I seemed to get the hang of this whole knitting thing. I can’t wait to practice some more! I would love to make myself a scarf before the end of the winter.

However, today it is back to cross stitching for me.
* - Please forgive me if I don’t yet have a proper handle on knitting terminology. I am sure as I practice I will learn it better!

OK, I did it. I experimentally dyed some fabric today. I did a large (36″ x 20″) piece of 27 count 100% Cotton White Linda Evenweave, a medium-sized (16″ x 14″) piece of 14 count off-white Aida cloth, and a small (12″ x 9″) piece of 14 count white Aida cloth. They were all dyed using a lavender dye in the same “bath” according to the dyeing directions on the box. The color on all three pieces turned out quite nicely and is a medium to light shade of lilac.

Of the three pieces, I think the medium-sized piece of off-white Aida turned out the nicest. Because I used off-white fabric as the base for this piece it turned out a shade darker than the other two pieces of fabric, but I expected that. However, what I really like about this piece is the resulting marble effect. I am not sure if you can see it in the scan, but trust me it is there and looks really neat! I can’t wait to use this piece, though as of yet I have no clue what I will stitch on it!

I also like the way the Evenweave turned out, though the color is much more uniform than that of the off-white Aida. There is barley any marbling at all and there are a couple of lighter “spots” on the fabric. Currently I am thinking about using this fabric for my Stitching Bloggers’ RR, but I will have to wait for my patterns to get here before I make a decision.

Finally, there is the small piece that used white Aida cloth as a base. It is a smidge darker than the Evenweave, but also has a pretty uniform color to it. I am sure I will make something out of it as well, but don’t know what yet!

I also thought about adding a small piece of 32 count cream Belfast Linen, but since it was my first time dyeing fabric and I was slightly worried about ruining the fabric, I decided not to. However, since the dyeing process was pretty straight forward, I would like to try dyeing some linen soon. I will probably try another color when I do it though because I don’t think I really need FOUR pieces of lilac fabric!
Anyway… I keep wondering why the piece that used the off-white Aida ended up with so much more of a pronounced marble effect that the other two. I question this because the marble effect is really the effect that I was hoping to achieve with this hand-dyeing experiment. The only difference between the pieces was the base color, as all pieces were soaked in the same bucket at the same time.

I don’t really know anything about chemistry, but I wonder if maybe cream, off-white, or ivory takes the dye better because it hasn’t been so heavily bleached and the fibers are better able to soak up the color… just a thought.

The last couple of days I haven’t been stitching because my wrist was hurting again, but it seems better today, so hopefully I can get some more work done on “Passing Admirers” this weekend!

Not much stitching news to report. I started a sewing project over the weekend and hubby has been off work this week, so I haven’t had much chance to stitch until today. I started the half stitches on “Girl’s Time Out.” They are going a little slower than expected, but they are coming along.

I can’t believe it is Wednesday already! When I started the SBQ I made no promises and in fact said it would be irregular, but I have found that I have been able to keep up a steady stream of questions and can post once a week. Somewhere along the way I decided Wednesday was a good day for this, so since that is today, it is time for another round of the Stitching Blogger’s Question. Today’s question was suggested by Jenn L. when she left me a comment after viewing my first Hardanger piece.

What is your next specialty stitch?

As for me, I am not sure what specialty stitch I would like to try next. I’m having lots fun with Hardanger right now and I think that I would like to practice the stitches one can do with it some more before moving on to something else.

The best online site I found for Hardanger is the Nordic Needle’s Hardanger Hints. Hardanger 101 takes you through satin stitches, cutting, weaving and webs (or dove’s eyes). Hardanger 201 demonstrates picots, lacy wrapping, spokes, and cable stitching. Finally, Hardanger 301 shows buttonhole edges, eyelets, stars, and ships. I have made my way through 101 and learned the eyelets from 301, but I still have quite a way to go before I make it through all the Hardanger techniques, so I think I will be busy for a while.

However, I must also admit that I have been looking at some white and blackwork the last few days and might try to give it a whirl in the near future!