As I sit down to write something about the juggling act I call “my knitting projects”, I am at a loss for which part to talk about. Should it be the new technique books I recently bought? The joy and beauty of polygonal knits? The multitude of new babies for whom I feel compelled to design? An opportunity to submit a dog sweater to a non-profit raffle? All I can think about, though, is how I could possibly have this many projects in the air at one time.

Maybe a few of you will feel me on this one. I am a classic victim of “I can do it!” syndrome. Seriously. I have way more confidence in my abilities to quickly roll out complicated projects than I have a legitimate right to have. Call it an artifact of late 20th century “you’re the best at everything ever and can do anything” parenting. (Thanks, mom and dad! No, really. Thank you for that.) But, in cheezburger language: The syndrome. I has it.

My secondary malady is the “It must be difficult” fever. Why not roll out a nice raglan T with some cabling down the side seams and call it a day? Oh no. That will not do. Right now I’m trying to make gloves look like wood grain. Yeah. You heard that right. It is a single, 100+ row chart with zero repetition. The added bonus is you get that overwhelming feeling that you might die before you actually get to the end. So there’s that.

Currently, I’m trying to submit ideas to magazines and Knitty and Twist Collective, etc. and they don’t want you talking about or showing pictures of projects that might be published by them. I understand that and will need to focus my blog on other things. So, that leaves the wood grain gloves out of the running, haha. I also need to plan my projects accordingly and realize that people won’t want to knit things that make me crazy designing, or that I write out poorly because I didn’t give myself the time to do it really well.

My prescription, then, will be to chill about all of this and take it one project (maaaaaybe two) at a time, and leave all the others to wait until their day has come. I can do it!

I may be on hiatus from designing knitwear while finishing up wedding details, but I still need my brainless go-to project! A friend of mine had requested a black scarf about 3 years ago so I thought it was a good time to get that going. Creating a scarf, especially for a male, can be maddening because you are fraught with limitations. It has to be reversible, the fabric needs to lay flat, it can’t be too girly or stylish, it shouldn’t be too bulky or too thin, etc. We knitters oftentimes default to doing a ribbed or seed stitch scarf for guys and that’s that. Snooze…

I thought this would be a really good opportunity, therefore, to try double knitting. This technique is used to create a double-sided fabric, with both sides being worked simultaneously. I decided not to push it too far and do simple stockinette for my first attempt, one color each side. The joy of double knitting is that you can also choose to alternate your stitch colors, like you would normally work a 2-color motif. This creates a design that shows up on both sides, but with the colors in reverse on the opposite side. Very cool!

But what yarn to choose? Choosing a thicker yarn will make it go quickly but can be bulky, while a thinner yarn will make it go slowly and end up wimpier. What to do? Mix ‘em up! I took a chance on a lace weight gray and a worsted weight black to see how it worked itself out. Turns out, it works great! As Alice says, it’s very “squishy” and feels nice. I am also very pleased that, by the nature of double knitting, they have the same gauge (magic!!). The only caveat I have is that the dominant (i.e. thicker) yarn still tends to force some rolling and the opposing, thinner fabric on the back is only able to hold it back a little bit. I think, however, that it will behave better after I finish and it is blocked.

Basic technique: Mechanically speaking, your hands are doing a 1×1 rib motion so it’s not that difficult. You do need to remember to twist your yarns when beginning a row or you will end up with two separate scarves. Also, it is easier to hold your yarn with the “right side” yarn in front of your finger and the “wrong side” yarn in back. Here, let me show you. Please pardon the video quality and abruptness, as I haven’t yet set up my multimedia capabilities! I did attempt to make up for that, though, by getting Buddy into the shot. hahaha

I love Project Runway, mostly because I love the idea of designing something based on outrageous inspirations and materials. On the show, a designer must work within the creative parameters of the various challenges, like a place or a random object like…let’s see…a butter knife, and either repurpose it into their fashions or use some aesthetic qualities as loose jumping off points for their designs. Now, I don’t think Project Runway has ever used cutlery as inspiration, but I wouldn’t put it past them. Let’s take a look at my own quick “butter knife” designs. Don’t laugh. 

Now bear with me as we ride this train of thought to the next station: our perceived failures in knitting when the project doesn’t meet our standards or aesthetics. A sub-par result is not an automatic failure. A half-finished sweater that ended up too small doesn’t have to live out the rest of its days as an article of clothing that lost its way, just as a butter knife can be viewed as something beyond just a tool you use with your meals. It is a beautifully cabled piece of fabric that you can fold and sew into a new shape, pick up stitches and strategically add to, and maybe even mix yarns and textures by working a lace detail on an edge or two. The whole endeavor may be a bit of a rabbit hole but it is a really fun way to expand your mind. No hallucinogens required (unless you have some on you).

Case in point: Alice, my knitting buddy and good friend, is a relatively new knitter, but talented and adventurous! She just finished a cowl and it’s lovely. She feels, however, that it is both too thin and too long. It has no volume. Personally, I like the idea of folding it over at the neck and putting a brooch or shawl pin through it. Just this once, I want to have a reason to buy a shawl pin!! But I feel her pain. My own little basket of rejects is sad. It reminds me of that Simpsons episode where Homer finds his old half-finished robot in the garage. He throws it into the street and the poor thing calls out to Homer, “Father, give me legs!” Homer rejects it and the robot is last seen slowly dragging its torso down the street in apparent agony….yeesh, that just got depressing. Sadly, so is a collection of unloved knitted fabric!

Whatever Alice chooses to do with her cowl, it will be fun to observe. I’m hoping she wants to throw caution to the wind and try something brand new. Disposing of the very idea that it’s just a cowl, she could use it as the base portion of a clutch, a child’s dress hem, the central band of a pillow/cushion, or even a circular needle holder. Whatever! I can’t wait to see what she comes up with! Perhaps I will be inspired to pick through my own “basket of fail” and give a few pieces new life.

I love my Wednesday mornings because I get to meet up with some lovely ladies! My friend, Alice, set up a MeetUp for local knitters our age and I’ve met some really wonderful women through the group. We do our best to represent the new generation of knitters and even recruited another coffee shop customer to join us next time! The girl was a bit baffled that we were there and seemed to be really excited to find us!

Seeing as how I’m putting all design work and blogging on hold until I’ve caught up on wedding plans, I thought I’d post a pic of a few of my new friends. We have about 6-8 regulars who rotate in and out every week, depending on schedules, but here are 4 of them. I’m amazed by their intelligence, humor, insight, and talents and I am very grateful to see them every week!

The year was 2008. I was in Las Vegas, going door-to-door on campaign duty. Technically, we were informing Nevada residents about their voting options, but we were also doing so on behalf of democratic candidates. I liked this method because there was no convincing or preaching necessary. We simply gave them the information about how to vote early, if they so chose, and/or how to learn more about voting specific to their household.  It was a great experience.

One exception to this assessment of greatness was the weather. Leave it to a group of young San Diegans to misread the Nevada fall weather and bring only t-shirts for our outdoor trek. It was so cold!! We stuck it out through the orientation (as my friend, Sara, bravely demonstrates in the photo), but as soon as we were given our handouts and maps, we headed straight to Target for some emergency gear. I picked out a lovely red peacoat, contrary to the party’s preference for blue, but whatever. It’s a free country.

Clearly, the political gods were angry by this and the coat proceeded to dye everything it touched. Skin, clothing, car interiors, walls, and my precious Bella, an ivory faux leather dream by Jordana Paige. How DARE you, sir. I loved that bag so much, I took it everywhere. Knitting or not. And as a nonprofit employee, I certainly couldn’t afford to spend the money on a new one.

I was unable to return to Target until we arrived back in San Diego. The customer service woman listened to my tale of woe with a skeptical eyebrow. The purse in front of her, she admitted, was clearly damaged but it couldn’t have been from their coat. She then took the offending item to the back room and returned to the desk, only to be horrified by her own bright red hands and arms. HA! Sweet vindication! They gave me cash on the spot, not only for the red coat but also for my Bella! It was more than I was expecting, I’ll tell you that much. Thank you, Target!

In the grand tradition of flying by the seat of one’s pants, which is how I operate, here’s a sneak peek at a new design that I’m working on.

There are several changes that need to be made and some research that needs to be done on a related academic topic, but the prototype didn’t turn out half bad! I decided to do this a couple of days ago for my super Democrat friend’s birthday (which is today) so I dropped everything else to finish it. It’s just not ready for gifting, I’m sad to say.

Onto the next version! That one should be super duper and ready just in time for door-to-door campaigns in your district! Not to mention cheap…I tried to find colors and quantities I liked/needed and came up empty at my various LYS’s. After much hand wringing, I bit the bullet and went with Caron Simply Soft, a ubiquitous acrylic found in pretty much any Michael’s or JoAnn’s. I swore I’d never go back to 100% acrylic, but it cost me all of $10-15 to make this puppy, so I guess you could consider it “fiscally responsible.” If politicians can get away with a few flip-flops, I think I should, too.

So, this isn’t exactly knitting related, but it is part of my mornings now. We have a lovely nest of mourning doves for the second year in a row on our patio. I got lazy with the flower boxes and the birds took them over. The first time this happened, I didn’t even realize we had a nest until Buddy jumped up on the railing (he’s a fat, arthritic old man, so this was alarming). Turns out, two baby birds were hatching and he attacked! I grabbed him and out of his mouth pops an unfortunate egg onto the ground. The second bird had fallen, as well, but was still alive. THAT bird eventually made it. Phew!

We wondered how we had the honor of a second nest, since we probably got very low marks on Bird Yelp. A 50% infant mortality rate is not a 5-star situation. We were, however, that lucky; and now that I know we have a nest, I don’t let Buddy go out there. We probably have another week or two before the birds leave again and I’ve really enjoyed watching the whole process! It is quite something to wake up, go downstairs, and be immediately greeted with a rock-star view of two baby birds being fed by their mama. So amazing! Please enjoy the latest pics of these precious little fuzz heads.

Check out this adorable video of our little visitors!!

Quick! You’re running out the door, but your day could go in any direction. What do you put in your purse?

• Wallet. I hope I put my license back. No time to check!
• Phone. Ugh, it’s all banged up. Whatever.
• Chapstick. My preeeecious.
• Something to keep me occupied during unanticipated waiting periods. Shoot…phone battery dying. No Angry Birds. Knitting! Oh god, I have to pack it up now…No time. NO TIME!

I have these days frequently. In fact, I am running late at this very moment to blog about it. The good news is that I will be out of the house 5 minutes from now after putting on my makeup, filling my purse with the above essentials, and grabbing my perfect, tiny, run-out-the-door project: Sess. I posted it last night and did not anticipate that I would blog about it. It was, after all, a quick side project for a friend and not an official project for the site until I wrote it up.

What is Sess? Sess is a cell phone cover. It fits most models, has a super cute lace pattern on the front, seed stitch back and top flap, and holes through which you can thread a belt. I loved my original sample so much, I’m on my second one. It’s small and easily memorizable. Plus, you don’t need a bunch of extra tools. Just your dpns, and potentially your scissors/needle/button if you happen to finish while out. But thats no biggie.

At 99 cents, it won’t break the bank, but it will provide an outlet for your productive energy during the various, unexpected, and stolen moments of your day. Enjoy!