Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Tried and True

A knitter recently apologized to me for making changes to one of my designs. This is something no one should ever need to do. Knitting is a creative activity and NOTHING is written in stone. The number of patterns I've knitted without mods is very, very small. There are only a handful that I make over and over because they're so perfect as is. One is Robin Melanson's "Strata" gloves, which I'm just finishing up for Isabel (4th pair). Another is Jared Flood's "Turn a Square" hat. I've just woven in the few ends on this,

and now it's blocking. And speaking of tried and true, the yarn I used, Cascade 220 Heathers, has to be in the same category. This is a last-minute gift for James, to go with the striped scarf I made out of the same colours two years ago (see sidebar). When you're throwing stuff together with only a week until Christmas, you can't take chances.I took Jared's advice and employed Meg Swansen's method for jogless stripes. Worth the effort.
I'm almost at the end of my gift knitting, with time to spare. Sorry, but no peeking. Now it's time to contemplate the stash and think about what comes next.


I'm thinking perhaps about some heavy boot socks with the same horseshoe cables and seed stitch as in Isabel's Murray Jacket...