Tuesday, December 12, 2006

getting back in the knit of things

It's been a while since I have really worked on knitting anything... Oh, and I still haven't got a picture of Joelle's stocking! But finally over the weekend I pulled out a work-in-progress and got back to work. I wanted something...relaxing. Something...not too complicated. But something...that wasn't boring. I picked out the brioche bodice.

I started this project...who knows when, with the intent of using it more as a vest than a tank. It's a recycling project - I ripped up an old acrylic/wool sweater that really just didn't suit me save for the color, and now I'm reknitting it into something that does. I was introduced to the brioche stitch a while back in Interweave Knits, and I made my first brioche thing last year - a scarf for a friend (which I found out was recently regifted to one of the children she nannies for, who really loved the pink and purple stripes). I enjoy it because while it really only uses the knit stitch, the yarn still moves around purlwise, so my wrist doesn't get hurt from the repetitive motion as easily. And...it looks really neat! It's a wonderful alternative to ribbing. Progress has been slow, even with the rather big yarn (I think it's something like 3-4 stitches per inch in stockinette - for someone who's been all about socks and worsted weight yarn for a long time, that's quite big).

And speaking of socks, I also dragged out the Retro Rib Sock #2 and am looking at it and contemplating putting more work into it. I am so reluctant to do this because I lost my copy of the pattern, which has all the markings for the adjustments I had made since I'm knitting at a different gauge than the original pattern called for. Continuing this sock will require much Thinking, and I'm not totally up for that yet. I believe a thorough cleaning of the apartment might aid me in finding the lost pattern, so I'm motivated to wait until I do that...which might be a long, long time. Nevertheless, I'm wanting more and more to wear the socks, and wearing only one and a half instead of the complete pair isn't really going to cut it.

...Hm. I was just setting up the socks and vest to take pictures and discovered that my camera has no juice in the batteries. Being the forward-thinking person that I am, I had put an extra set of batteries in my camera case. However, in my infinite brilliance, I apparently put in a set of decharged batteries, because they're not working either. ...Yeah...

Well, instead of viewing pictures, might I ask you to think and give some suggestions for a project I'd like to start? For the past four years I have had a World Vision sponsor child named Minteha who lives in Ethiopia. We're supposed to be able to send letters and flat gifts (e.g. bookmarks, coloring books, etc.), and I've never done so. But I was thinking about Minty last night over dinner and thought it would be nice to knit her something to make up for the many years of "neglect." ...What should I make? She's about 12 years old and lives in a rural village where she goes to school and lives with her parents and younger siblings. Any great ideas?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

You could knit some socks or a hat. It will have to be something quite small if it has to be "flat".