Wendy Knits

How did it get to be May already? Yow!

But if it’s May, it must be time to start thinking about gearing up for the Ingeborg knit-along. Official start date for this project is May 15th, and I do really think I’m going to wait til then, or there-abouts to start. Some people have already started Borging and I am showing remarkable restraint by sticking to my original start date, I think.

Besides, I’m having oodles of fun knitting quickie summer projects.

For example, here’s a little bucket hat I whipped up on Saturday, from Trendsetter Taos, a cotton blend yarn.

Also, I finished Haiti on Saturday.

A close up of the bottom border:

And I gotta say: as big a pain as it was to knit, it was an even bigger pain to crochet the edging around the neck and armholes. Still, I’m very happy with the finished product.

I did a bit of work on Tina as well. Here’s the back:

I’ve started on the front. But I want to save that for commuter knitting, so I started another Not-Colinette poncho. Here are the yarns:

Starting at the top left, going clockwise, the yarns are:

Gedifra Distrato, subbing for Isis
Classic Elite LaGran, subbing for Mohair
Crystal Palace Musique, subbing for Prism
Manos, subbing for Skye
Lana Grossa Viale, subbing for Wigwam
Crystal Palace Trio, subbing for Zanziba

And there you have it! I’ll post a pic of the poncho in progress tomorrow.

I would like to point out to you all that my experience with Abby proves that I’m All Grown Up.

In the past, if I started knitting something and didn’t like it, I would shove it in a plastic bag, hide it in a closet, and have a tantrum.

Yesterday, instead of doing that with Abby after I decided she was too big and unflattering, I ripped her out and (gasp) started knitting something else with the yarn.

I’m so proud of myself. I’m such an adult.

One of the worst knitting tantrums I ever threw was when I was in college, over a pair of Scandinavian 2-color mittens. I was making a pair as a gift for a friend, and had painstakingly modified the pattern chart and charted her name above the wrist.

And I knitted two right mittens.

I was so mad I ranted and raved and jumped up and down on the completed mittens (yes, I was childish). Then I went out and bought a gift for my friend.

But the good thing is that I’ve never made that mistake again!

So anyhow, here’s the Tina progress for the day:

I’m in Love!

With this:

This is a 10-drawer plastic storage tower I bought from Staples (the photo is from their website). It is my new knitting needle storage solution.

I have a lot of needles. I’ve had them stuffed in baskets, crammed in file folders, etc. Nothing worked very well, so I’ve been on the hunt for something better. This critter is the answer! It has ten drawers, so the top eight drawers hold all my needles — circs and dpns — from size 0 to 7. The second to last drawer holds sizes 8 and 9, the bottom drawer holds everything larger.

I do have a bunch of dpns smaller than size 0 — I’ll figure out something to do with those.

Here’s the fullest drawer — the size 3 drawer:

Yahoo! I’m in needle nirvana!

Haiti

From my comments, it sounds like I’m not alone in thinking that Kolibri is a b*tch to knit. That makes me feel better. And now that I’m in plain stockinette it’s much easier to knit. Knitting a lace pattern with it was just plain nasty. Kolibri has a tendency to split as it’s made up of a bunch of plies, so you have to be careful not to miss a tiny ply while knitting.

But the resulting sweater is going to be nice, I think, so on I knit.

See? This is another sign of my mature attitude, no? I’m sticking with cotton yarn even though I don’t enjoy it, because I know the results will be worth the effort. Get me.

Fortunately the Lana Grossa Point that I’m using for Tina is a dream to knit. The teeny bit of elastic added to the cotton makes all the difference. I wish it came in a lighter weight — dk or sport!

And thanks to you all who left thoughtful comments about sizing and self-perception yesterday. I see I’m not the only one who has issues with this!

Lucy sez:

I have no issues with self perception. I am perfect. Full stop.

She also wants to know if she can borrow the car tonight.

(You can get a pet driver’s license from ChloeCards.)

I can’t begin to tell you how much fun I had yesterday! Because I had lunch with four very special people.

Em (Everybody Loves Saturday Night), Rachael (My Glass house), Bethany (Rachael’s sister), and Maeve (Knitting Musings) met me downtown for a knitting meet-up. We had such a blast. We sat in Union Station, working on our knitting, then had lunch in a restaurant there, still working on our knitting. I was soooooo tempted to blow off work for the rest of the day and hang out with them til they had to leave for New York, but I was a good girl and went back to the office. After a two and a half hour lunch.

Here we are, knitting in public! Bethany is not pictured because she was acting as photographer.

Rachael brought me a “Knitting is Sexy” bumper sticker. As you can see, I wasted no time putting it on Xena’s bumper.

I think it’s wonderful that I can meet up with four people I’ve never seen before, feel an instant connection and kinship, and have the time of my life. Blogs can be a very good thing indeed!

But golly. I have no FOs to show you today. Am I a slacker or what??!!

But I can show you some progress on my Haiti tank.

The Dale Kolibri I’m using to make this is beautiful yarn — 100% Egyptian cotton with a lovely sheen to it. And I love this color. But it’s not particularly enjoyable to knit. I have my usual cotton complaints. Very unyielding, non-stretchy yarn. I feel like I’m knitting with string. Blurk.

But I think that Haiti is the perfect design for this type of yarn. No ribbing to stretch or sag, and a simple boxy shape. I think it’ll be very cute when done.

The actual color is more forest green than shown here. I took the photo without flash, because the flash made it look too shiny and obscured the pattern.

Oh, and I can show you some progress on Abby, too, as I worked on it during lunch yesterday, as well as on the train. I absolutely love this yarn! It’s so soft and springy and fun to knit. Must . . . buy . . . more . . . Lana . . . Grossa . . . Point . . .

By the way, I posted the particulars of my Not-Colinette Poncho on the Official Poncho page, so anyone who would like to know what yarns I used and how much of each, check it out.

Lucy sez:

Don’t hate me because I am beautiful!