Saturday, February 24, 2007

Random musings and small projects

So now the cashmere sweater is at 11.5 inches, I need to knit 2 inches of rib on the bottom and I was about to cast on for the sleeve when I decided it was time for me to learn something new. The provisional cast on. Now I tend to knit the body and the sleeves and then go back and pick up for the ribbing 'cause I hate ribbing.( Garter stitch done sideways does a better job, but that's a try for a later time.)

So the provisional cast on is basically crocheting around a knitting needle and then knitting off the resulting stitches created. when you're ready to do the stitches for the ribbing you just unzip the crochet chain and pick up the resulting stitches.

I searched the Internet, read several different and confusing directions and finally downloaded a video on how it went. Then I gave it several tries. The first thing I figured was I can't crochet to save my life! The second thing I figured was doing it around a knitting needle was awkward at first but I got the hang of it. I then knitted a row with the real yarn and unzipped the cast on. It worked just fine. I would probably put a life line in those stitches though to make sure they didn't unravel. (Though I've been told that unraveling only happens in the direction you knit. So Maybe I don't have to worry?)

Of course I could just knit the ribbing first. I also explored some top down ideas..again.

This morning I took out my entire commercial yarn stash laid it out on my bed and looked at it. Frankly it was uninspiring. Some fuzzy yarns, some chunky yarns, some variegated ones, some furry ones, and then the standard smooth yarns for showing off stitches.
But a lot of small amounts like 2-3 balls of any color. So I went to the Knit pics site and looked through All of their patterns for ideas.
Hats
Mittens
Scarves
Legwarmers
Headbands
Belts
Socks
Baby items
Toys
Purses
Wash clothes
I pod cases
Dickies/Cowls
Ties
Coffee cozies
Mug rugs
Arm bands
Pillows
Holiday ornaments
Or you could just make an Afghan.

So now I'm off again to look at my stash again with new ideas in mind. Oh and on the sweater...I'm going with garter stitch.

1 Comments:

Blogger dragon knitter said...

it amazes me how many people can't wrap their minds around the concept of crochet (no pun intended, smack me later!). glad to hear you finally got it. are you EVER going to make it back to thursday nights? or will i just have to hope for second saturdays, lol

2/26/2007 11:52 AM  

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