Two Challenging Knits in a Row

 If you are a knitter, you know that not all patterns deliver the same experience.

After more than 60 years of knitting, I thought I had seen it all. Colour work, lace, duplicate stitch, complex cables - I have tried them all. Or so I thought.

I have noticed in the past few years, that there are many "architectural" knits. Complex, beautiful, but a little too dimensional for my knitting acumen. Until this beauty came along.

"Oblique" is a lovely sweater, with a very "unique" construction. Here is a link to the pattern and you can see how strong the lines are in the designer's two colour version. You knit the body and then you create the bib-like front (and back) to the neckline and then you pick up all the stitches for the sleeves. It is an incredibly clever way to create this sweater. 

It was only when I saw Tanis Fiber Art's version that I was truly smitten. I loved the playful colour palette she chose, and knew I had to make one very similar to hers. I chose a "kermit the frog green" instead of her rusty gold, and I had to move a couple of other colours around. I ordered the yarn from her, and it is lovely.  It is Grassland Sport and has some very fun colours

Here is a picture of my version, apologies for the horrid selfie. (This picture does demonstrate how overly-large it is, with the sleeves much looser on my arms than on Tanis' version.) I actually am pretty happy with it, especially about how great it will look with my equally-as-green runners.

I have a feeling I could have done a size smaller, but I am happy to have it loose and flowy, so that it is a good transitional sweater for spring and even cool summer days/nights. Plus room for a long-sleeved tee underneath for the colder months.

Now on to the second project, which is equally as "unusual" in its construction. It is actually a sock pattern, for which I have only knit one so far. The pattern is called "Over Easy Socks." A long-time friend who knits introduced me to the pattern the last time I saw her, and I book marked it since it is the perfect pattern for odd amounts of sock yarn. And look how delicious the combos are on the ravelry page.

I have to confess that, to me, the pattern was anything but easy, and I did a lot of frogging and re-knitting different parts. The toe and heel were both a puzzle to me. I am pretty sure that the second sock will be easier, once I become more familiar with the designer's "shadow stitch".

Not only did I keep getting lost in where I was, the shadow knitting involves "twin stitches" and "triplet stitches" - both called TS - and despite a very good visual tutorial, it was not second nature to me. Much tougher than German Short Rows. 

When I read the remarks on ravelry, it would appear that I am not the first person to struggle with this. A few others who are members of the "single sock" club, and some who just gave up and frogged it. But just as many, if not more, others LOVE it and have made multiple pairs. I have decided it comes down to whether you are a knitter who has a very big logic sphere in your brain. I apparently do not.

Here is my first sock. (I confess to thinking that amputation might be a better option to knitting the mate). When I reached out to the friend who showed me the pattern, she confessed that she too had struggled and her first sock would NEVER have a mate. It is currently hidden in a dresser drawer.

Perhaps we can put them together in an incredibly un-matching pair. This is mine.

And here is hers. 

I have not given up completely, as I am convinced that the second time around will be easier, and I have made notes on the pattern where there was no stitch count.  I will challenge myself at least one more time. 

Are you deadline oriented?

I have always been most productive when faced with a deadline. In my working life, everything had a deadline, so I was very productive.

That same trait rules my "making" life as well. If I have a hard stop for a project, it will get done. Birthdays, Christmas, baby gifts. All delivered on time. But give me an open timeline, and it will linger - and linger longer.

Lately, there have been lots of deadlines, and so far, I have met them all.

The OHCG Annual is this coming Saturday in Cobourg. A new model, with just one single day. The costs of the weekend affairs were just getting higher and higher, so this is a new test to see if it satisfies the love without blowing up the wallet.

The theme of this annual is Peace, Love, Rug & Roll, and it relies heavily on all our fondest memories of the 60s and 70s. Our icon for the annual is a Hippie Van, which became the star for our first ever hook-along. We hosted this event on Zoom, and we had a ton of folks signed up to attend. Everyone hooked the same pattern and the results, as you can imagine, are as individual as the makers.

Here's a link to a dedicated blog https://2025annual.blogspot.com/ where you can find lots of groovy images of the van and other "wardrobe suggestions" for the day.

This is how my version of the van turned out. Still debating on whether or not it should be a pillow, since it has button hubcaps and other scratchy stuff. 

And look in the background of this photo - that's right, a granny square vest that I made just for the occasion.  I had to relearn the granny square, but it was worth it - and all from stash yarn. 

Another project that had a hard deadline was this little mat for International Punch Hooking Day. Life got in the way, and I didn't get to attend much of the Zoom get-together, but I did get to see Amy Oxford (the queen of punch needle) gush about how far this form has come since she started many years ago.

Again, everyone did the same pattern, called "The Ripple Effect", designed by Robin Whitfield. And there were lots of interpretations.  I am still a relative newbie at punch, but I enjoyed doing this little mat.

One other little project that had no other deadline that a 7-year old's impatience, is Evvie's first quilt. It is for her dolls and stuffies. She picked her fabrics and hand stitched a few of the squares together. Grandma did the rest. It is not perfect, but I didn't change a thing. I hope her love for quilting lasts for years and years.

The projects without deadlines are all waiting patiently for attention. I am working on three sweaters. I am poking away at them, and hope to have one finished in the next few weeks. Not many weeks of sweater weather left, so I am tempted to let them sit until fall.

A Farewell to Edith.

Back in 2009, I bought a UFO (unfinished object, in case you don't know) from an older rug hooker in Toronto. She was well into her 80s and knew that she would never finish it. The price I paid was embarrassingly low, for the pattern (which she had started) and all the wool to hook it. She just wanted someone to finish it. I promised I would. Here is a picture from 2009 when I began. 

Over all these years, I have worked on it in fits and starts, making very slow progress. I realized that I was not emotionally attached to it, and guilt was not a great motivator. I was struggling to get anywhere close to the 40 x 60 size, so I made the decision to cut down the pattern. Then I could sort of fulfill my promise. I reduced it to 24 x 36, a doable mat size versus a full size room rug.

The ends that I cut off will eventually be hooked into pillows, in colours that are more my palette. 

Here is the rug, which I nicknamed "Edith" after the woman who sold it to me, all finished and ready to be part of a fundraiser on Monday. 

Our local rug hooking group is having our second "Estate and Stash-Buster Sale", where people bring things from their stash - or things we have been give by people who are giving up rug hooking. I decided that in addition to many other supplies I don't need - hoops, hooks, an extra gripper frame, and a cutter, I will bring a few finished rugs and see if people are interested.

All proceeds of this endeavour go to our local Kawartha Food Share. Last time we raised over $900 dollars. We hope to do the same again. 

Last Monday I took Edith to our usual session and was whipping the edges. One of the women there (part of the Scandinavian embroidery group who share our space) was drawn to the piece and asked what I was going to price it at. I thought $100 as a minimum bid would be good. People could go higher if they wanted. So she made a "reserved bid" on it, saying that I should take a higher bid, but that might prompt higher bids. I have no idea what to think, but I have a guaranteed $100, which I know is too low, but it is for a very worthwhile cause. 

I am very relieved that "Tribal Kilim" aka Edith will go to a good home. And that I "sort of" fulfilled my end of this bargain. 

A Busy Beginning to a Brand New Year.

 I knew it had been a while since my last post, but I can't believe it's been this long.

Amid a myriad of physical mishaps: a pinched nerve in my neck, followed by a "trip on air" fall, left me out of commission for a big chunk of the end of the year.

However, I was still able to do a limited amount of hooking and knitting. And a lot of reading!!

Two new hats for the grandkids. A ponytail hat for Everleigh - who didn't know they existed - and was crazy about hers. Until she cut her hair into a short bob!!! This is a picture from the Ravelry pattern called "Holey Hat"..

Of course, Jackson wanted one as well, and he picked the Poke Ball hat, which I had already knit for him. He said he "broke" it. I didn't know how you can break a hat but apparently, it got caught in a tree and when he tried to pull it down with a stick 'it broke".

And continuing in the spirit of red hats, my sister Beth asked me to knit her one, and I thought the Anemone hat would be fun for her. I was right, she loves it!! (This is me with it on, not her.) This is me, I might add, a week into a horrid chest cold that I am now on day 16 of - mostly gone.

On the hooking front, I have been busy getting ready for two upcoming Workshop Week workshops. The topic is "Creating a Values-Based Portrait from a Photograph". I have 12 students in each Zoom workshop, and they are very excited, sending photos of loved ones, human and furry, that will be rendered into hooked likenesses.

Although I had some values-based samples to share, I decided to hook a portrait of my mom from a photo when she was about 30. I have had this photo tucked away for many, many years. And this was the impetus to hook her likeness.

Here's the photo

And here is the latest progress shot. Just some background to finish. What a cathartic experience is was to spent this time with her. She passed away when I was 25.

From the sublime to the ridiculous, I am spending my other hooking hours working on the polar extreme of this project. I am hooking a 60's van in bright neons and alternative fibres. This is being done in the first-ever "OHCG Hook-along".  The van is the visual "icon" for the 2025 Annual in the spring in Cobourg, Ontario. And 73 people signed up to participate in this event. We get together on Zoom every other Thursday night, until February 27 - so only a couple of sessions left. So much fun is being had!

Here's the latest progress on this silly, smile-inducing project.

So, there's a bit of a catch up. Good to have so many things to share. Thanks for reading.