Knitcraft Grimoire

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SPORT BRA, NUF SAID!

Okay, off the topic of knitting.

What is with the new style sport bra? 

So, I decided that my new hotness needed more supportive sports bras. Off I went to the local sports store, pick your poison there, and there were plenty to choose from. I happened up on a wrack of really nice looking bras and chose the high-performance. You know, the ones that is supposed to be for running, but in my case is more of a putt. Anyway, I find my size, they even had them portioned out into actual bra size. 

My size is my own business :), but needless to say I needed extra support.

I picked one in black and went to the try it on room. Aside, aside. That room was great! The mirror was tall and narrow and in the corner. The rest of the room was large and you could get naked without having to stare at yourself until you were ready :).

This bra had a bra clasp and I was like “cool” and it was pull over your head as well. With some struggle I got it on and it get “perfectly” I was in love, until I tried to get it off. In my experience sports bras are only to be hard to get off once they have been sweated in, not when you are dry. Needless today, the perfect sports bra was a no go because I could not figure out how to get the damn thing off. I spent five minutes jumping up and down and wiggling my shoulders before I got it over my shoulder blades and angled enough to get it over my head. So, I will be using the old standby bras, which are still okay. 

I looked around at the other bras, and the bra clasp from hell it quite popular in this years sport bra fashion. Sigh.

Why the struggle?

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Knitting Hazards!!!!

When you finished a knit project and find a dropped stitch near the beginning.

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The Inner Struggle of a Sock Addict

Knitting socks is a personal event, not a hobby, but an actual event, like a personal war against those who would drive a knitter insane. I have knitted my own personal set of socks successfully, but many of them are a hard fought win or, mostly, a dismal failure. The single lonely sock sits finished while the second socks sits on the needle as a reminder of my failure as a knitter and against the desire to create. I do not give up though. It is the drive to create that keeps me going back. The inner struggle that only knitters will understand keeps me going back to that frogged pile of yarn. What if I only counted my stitches closer? Could I have stopped the lost traveling stitch if I had put in a life line? What if the pattern is wrong? It will not defeat me! The idea of losing a stitch drives fear into the heart of any stalwart knitter, even the master knitters. Sock knitting is its own environment completely, even the yarn stash is separate from the main stash. Hats, scarves, shawls, they all have their own pile of yarn, but the sock stash is special. The needles are much slimmer; the yarn can be tiny. There are so many style of knitting for socks the mind of the knitter can be confounded by the vast variety available. I will admit though, beginning a sock is an adventure the I look forward to with inner glee. It seems so simple. Do I make a stockinet stitch leg or should I switch it up with a bit of lace edging? What about cables? Ohhh, cables. Once I get started everything is happiness and rainbows until the heal. There are so many variables involved. How many heal stitches to do, count the number of stitches you begin with and divide by two, making sure that your row count is correct for the rows the will be picked up. Then, then, try not to drop a stitch because that will make me have to start over, or throw it across the room and staunchly ignore it until it stares at me and I feel guilty. There I said it. It has a mind of its own and it knows it. But, once that first sock is finished it is a happy day, until you realize that you have to create the second one. No! the heinous second sock. That particular evil has a specific name that is dreaded through out the knitter world: Second Sock Syndrome. What is that you may ask? It is the knowledge that the boring sock that you just finished has to be replicated, exactly. The apocalypse would be easier to handle than Second Sock Syndrome. What if I make a mistake? What if I am off on my stitches? What if, gasp!, I mess up completely and never finish the second sock? Which is a very real possibility. Socks have a life of their own. They rule over the inner mind of the knitter until both socks are complete or you go screaming into the kitchen and set fire to the second sock. Which ever appeals to you, the better. Sock knitting is a deeply personal and interwoven experience with the natural world of the knitter. What if I can’t find the fifth double pointed needle I need for this particular yarn or what if I don’t have enough to finish? Sock knitting is a passion that many people do not master and I for one am still struggling up the hill of proficiency. The Second Sock Syndrome looms every time I pick up a set of knitting needles with the intent of making something cozy for my feet or, heaven forbid, my family. It is easily the best time had, next to a cozy hat, that I have ever accomplished, and also the most frustrating. But I would never give it up. Happy knitting.

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Lace Knitting is AWESOME!

I love lace knitting. I’ve said it before and I will probably say it many times over, but lace knitting is awesome. So many different types of lace and with just a few ssk and k2 stitches, and can’t forget the yo, you have a wonderful shawl or hat or scarf. The possibilities are ENDLESS. Sigh. 

Do you have a favorite lace project you want to do or have done? Sharing is caring :)

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The Treasure Hunt for the Disappearing Stitch Markers

What is it about stitch markers? I can see some of them being attached to currently moldering projects. Those that you find down in the dark, dank depths of project bags of christmas past. Those that you pick out of a bag like the proverbial rabbit. Ah Ha! I knew this was somewhere. Damn, I’m going to have to frog it. Why you may ask? Because you don’t remember where the instructions are or even worse you know perfectly well where they are, but you have no idea where you left off. Sigh

I had to have bought hundreds, ok maybe not hundreds, of stitch markers over the years and this is all I could find. I went through every bag and sleeve that I had, except the boxes, we don’t talk about the boxes. 

Side Note: I love going through my bags O stuff. It is like walking through a new yarn store for the first time. All those pretty colors and textures to fondle and gawk at. It is like that going through my own project bags. How many of you have found a fantastic, beautiful skein of yarn and get that rush of discovery and wonder that you feel in the yarn store? It is something special. I have my own store in my stash, tears of joy and frustration run down my face. :)

Anyway, stitch markers. They live within a realm of their own and laugh at our attempts to control their travel across our plane of existence. 

They do seem to have a mind of their own. You can never find any stitch markers when you need them and if you do, you can never find enough for a project. It is so frustrating. Here you are all ready with a skein of wound yarn, the correct size needles you need, and all you need to find are stitch markers. That is when you get creative. I’ve used safety pins or paper clips before. They all work, but DAMN IT!, that was not what I got them for! I am supposed to be able to use the stitch markers that I buy every time I go to a yarn shop. 

Sometimes as I walk down the aisle of the yarn store I stop and stare at all the pretty different ones on display. It is not my intention to by any at that time and it is hard not too, but I think to myself that I have plenty at home. Only to discover when I do get home that they have all taken a vacation in my closet and are laughing at me as they sit on the beach and drink Mai Tais. Damn stitch markers. grump.

So, there I am in the yarn store aisle and drooling over stitch markers like they are the most precious of diamonds. It is a weird phenomenon and only crafters will understand. They are the holy grail. The path of enlightenment in a world of dark corners and pockets of time. They call to me, but I resist, much to my detriment. So many different types and colors. What to do? What to do? 

When you do find a stitch marker somewhere in your stash of bags it is like a golden sun has gone of in your soul. YES! you think as you hold it up to the light and relish its splendid color and shape. The visions of new projects dance through your head and you get giddy with anticipation of slipping it on to the needle, then reality sets in and you realize that you need 10 more. ugh.

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Counting Stitches: Therapeutic or Mind-numbing?

When I first started out knitting counting stitches was something that was necessary so that my scarf, yes scarves, the bastion of the beginner knitter, would come out somewhat even. Over the years though it has morphed into its own type of wooly animal. I still go into conniptions when I start a project, and the stitch counting can mean the beginning of something wander out, or tears and a pile of squiggly yarn. sigh.

I tried for years to conquer lace knitting and it wasn’t until a grouchy woman at a knitting group years ago, who’s passion was lace, told me to count. Now, I had thought that was what I was doing, but like anything in life when told by someone not a family member, it magically happened. What you ask? The numbers started to work.

I still to this day cannot explain it. All of a sudden the lace I was knitting started to work. You cannot imagine, or maybe you can, the relief and happiness that bloomed within my soul. I was a lace knitter at last. 

It also spoiled making regular knitting for me for the rest of my life. What is this? Well, because if I wasn’t doing lace or counting I was bored. Scarves, hats, shawls, etc. started to become worlds unto themselves and making anything that didn’t require me to count took FOREVER. 

I would even catch myself counting when I it was’t necessary. I eventually stopped automatically counting when knitting socks or normal hats, but most of my knitting involves some type of lace, or cables, nasty cables, but that is another tale. 

Happy knitting.

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The Inner Struggle of a Sock Addict

Knitting socks is a personal event, not a hobby, but an actual event, like a personal war against those who would drive a knitter insane. I have knitted my own personal set of socks successfully, but many of them are a hard fought win or, mostly, a dismal failure. The single lonely sock sits finished while the second socks sits on the needle as a reminder of my failure as a knitter and against the desire to create. I do not give up though. It is the drive to create that keeps me going back. The inner struggle that only knitters will understand keeps me going back to that frogged pile of yarn. What if I only counted my stitches closer? Could I have stopped the lost traveling stitch if I had put in a life line? What if the pattern is wrong? It will not defeat me! The idea of losing a stitch drives fear into the heart of any stalwart knitter, even the master knitters. Sock knitting is its own environment completely, even the yarn stash is separate from the main stash. Hats, scarves, shawls, they all have their own pile of yarn, but the sock stash is special. The needles are much slimmer; the yarn can be tiny. There are so many style of knitting for socks the mind of the knitter can be confounded by the vast variety available. I will admit though, beginning a sock is an adventure the I look forward to with inner glee. It seems so simple. Do I make a stockinet stitch leg or should I switch it up with a bit of lace edging? What about cables? Ohhh, cables. Once I get started everything is happiness and rainbows until the heal. There are so many variables involved. How many heal stitches to do, count the number of stitches you begin with and divide by two, making sure that your row count is correct for the rows the will be picked up. Then, then, try not to drop a stitch because that will make me have to start over, or throw it across the room and staunchly ignore it until it stares at me and I feel guilty. There I said it. It has a mind of its own and it knows it. But, once that first sock is finished it is a happy day, until you realize that you have to create the second one. No! the heinous second sock. That particular evil has a specific name that is dreaded through out the knitter world: Second Sock Syndrome. What is that you may ask? It is the knowledge that the boring sock that you just finished has to be replicated, exactly. The apocalypse would be easier to handle than Second Sock Syndrome. What if I make a mistake? What if I am off on my stitches? What if, gasp!, I mess up completely and never finish the second sock? Which is a very real possibility. Socks have a life of their own. They rule over the inner mind of the knitter until both socks are complete or you go screaming into the kitchen and set fire to the second sock. Which ever appeals to you, the better. Sock knitting is a deeply personal and interwoven experience with the natural world of the knitter. What if I can’t find the fifth double pointed needle I need for this particular yarn or what if I don’t have enough to finish? Sock knitting is a passion that many people do not master and I for one am still struggling up the hill of proficiency. The Second Sock Syndrome looms every time I pick up a set of knitting needles with the intent of making something cozy for my feet or, heaven forbid, my family. It is easily the best time had, next to a cozy hat, that I have ever accomplished, and also the most frustrating. But I would never give it up. Happy knitting.