Monday, April 19, 2010

Secret Projects & Cardigans

I've definitely been more into my knitting lately - kind of hit a bump in the road there. It wasn't that I didn't want to knit; I was overwhelmed by the scope and number of projects I had to finish up. Some of them, though past their due date, are now back into the realm of winter knitting. I hope to work on them during the summer and have them finished and ready to go for the start of autumn, but I have allowed myself to let go of the pressure. Once you begin forgiving yourself for all the UFOs in your knitting basket, the stress associated with them dissolves, and it's easier to jumpstart the creative spark. It also helps to switch to incredibly low-pressure projects! I am working on one such project now - it's a secret, but I promise that all will be revealed in due time... but a small taste can be seen to your left!

As for cardigans, I've decided it's high time that I learn the art of top-down construction. I've read that it's incredibly easy, relatively speaking, and that the best part is that there's no seams, and you can try on garments as you go. SOLD! I mean, I do an ok mattress stitch now, but for me piecing an item together and sewing seams is a definite mental hurdle that can make the difference between having a cardigan a month or two from now, or five months. (I am, of course, basing this on the ONE [1] cardigan I've made, haha.) Right now I'd like to make a cropped cardigan - a little shrug-like something I can pop on over a sleeveless top while I'm knitting at night, or over a dress to ward off a chill, and the beauty of top-down construction is that you can stop it wherever you'd like: cropped, short, mid-length, hip-length, longer than that... I suppose you could even make a full-on duster if you're so inclined!

As far as patterns go, I am seriously considering Margot by Linden Heflin as a fall knit. Though I do prefer cardigans to pullovers, this one is just so pretty! For right now, I am going to trust in the brilliant Laura Chau and start out with her Easy Top-Down Raglan. I have a couple of big ol' skeins of yarn leftover from Rachel's cardigan, so I've got a place to start. Updates will, of course, be forthcoming when I begin the project! Stay tuned!

Monday, April 5, 2010

Happy 100th Blog Post To Me!

And with that milestone, a bit of knitterly fluff courtesy of Bust magazine (the best mag on the "women's interest" rack, ever): This Just In, Truckers Take Up Knitting/Quilting. What a cool trend :)

Another recent fluffy fave is this clip, titled "Knitting's a Privilege", featuring comedian/journalist Mo Rocca being schooled in how cool knitting really is. I actually set my DVR for that one - thanks to a heads-up from Bust. Again!

I'll be back to post about my own knitting soon - I'm going through a knitting funk right now. It's kind of got me down. I'm still enjoying yarn and even knit a few swatches on my birthday last Saturday (we went to Tulsa mostly just to go to JoAnn's Fabric and buy some Debbie Stoller Stitch Nation yarn - and it's really good, review coming soon!), but there's this disconnect between me and my craft. I don't like it. I'm trying to conquer it... I'll let y'all know how it goes.

Goodnight internets!