cable shmable

I know...I know...I know...It's August...not the Day after Thanksgiving...but...if I am going to knit my friends and family things for Christmas presents, I had better get right on it. Usually I make photo albums for them. This year, however, I fell of the photography bandwagon. So...they'll get something I knit as the personal touch.

This brings me to today's post - cabling!

Oh boy. Found exactly what I want to make for a certain member of my family. It's a cable-stitch pattern hat. Perfect. I can alter the pattern to make a matching scarf and mittens. Easy-peasy!

While I am at the store, I have the brilliant idea to knit the cable one color and the background of the hat another color. Did you know this is virtually impossible? Yup...it is.

First, I knit the cable one color and the background the other pulling the strands of the unused color behind the one in use. This didn' work b/c the hat lost its elasticity.

Next, I cut strands of color so I could knit the cable by itself and the background by itself. Unfortunately this meant that while the appropriate parts were the appropriate colors, they were not connected.

I called my mother for advice. While she is not the world's greatest knitter, she is very clever and crafty. Perhaps, she would pull through. Her words of wisdom, "I don't think you can do that."

Thanks, mom. So, the hat is now one color. When I learn how to post images, I'll put one up of the hat. It'll be great when it's done, even if a single color.

Once Upon a Purl

Here goes nothing...my first real entry. One day this will seem normal, sharing (what's basically a diary) with whoever cares to read it on the Web. If you had told me ten years ago, when I got my first email account, that I would be doing this...I would have thought you were crazy. Back then all I wanted to do with the Web was find information on the Dukes of Hazzard and the Beastie Boys.

Today...I'm writing whatever comes to mind for strangers to read and comment on. ::nodding head, rolling eyes::

I picked up crocheting, first, actually. My grandmother taught me when I was really little, but it never stuck. Then, when I was just entering college (about the time of that first email account), I said to my mother, "I want to learn to knit."

She tried to show me how to cast-on. That sort of took. Then she showed me continental knitting (and purling); I made a scarf, ofc. Unfortunately, the visit ended before I was finished with the scarf, so I never learned to bind-off. That scarf sat in my closet, unfinished for at least eight years.

As my fear of flying increased, my doctor said, "Try doing something active; don't just read on the plane." Out came the unfinished scarf...now I knit almost daily, whether I'm flying (on a plane) or not.

Of course, I haven't quite managed to knit anything besides hats and scarves successfully. Soon you'll see pictures of my first complete set of mittens...The first mitten was so poorly sized my roommates took to calling it the penis glove. The thumb was that big (er, disproportionate)! Fortunately, or unfortunately, I unraveled it and started over. However, the second mitten hardly turned out the same size as the first.

Then there was my sweater. I haven't sewn the sides together, but it could fit bigfoot! When it's finished I'll put up a picture of it, too. Maybe even on me, just so you can see how OFF my gauge is!

Day One

Hey All,
I really just need to get something up so I can see how this works, get used to the buttons, and...well...you know.
Once I get the hang of this, I promise to have more to say!