I Got Class...

Yesterday I taught the "Leafy Lace Scarf" class at knit one one. It was a full house, and super fun. As usual it was a great mix of people; school teachers, tax specialists, swim coaches, structural engineers for the Bay Bridge, new moms, retired moms... And as you can tell from the photo above, we had some gorgeous Leafy Lace Scarves... Joan used an amazing variegated green bamboo that is going to make a breath taking light weight spring time scarf. And Kimberly used my all time fave fiber... yup, she used a sport weight alpaca in a lovely mauve-y color. They were all gorgeous, and I was very proud of every one's progress. Learning how to do yo's, psso's, k3togs, SK2P's and all that good stuff amongst a large group of chatty people... not the easiest task.

Next Class... Felted Slippers!! Let me correct that... The BEST Felted Slippers ever! Knit extra giant and then felted down to fit, these slippers are heaven for your hoofs! They are knit with two separate soles for double the cushiony goodness. I have worn the same pair every single day for two years!! When they start getting a little ratty or stretched out... just pop them back into the washer, and they are good as new!
The beauty of this class is that you will get two fabulous instructors for the price of one. The lovely and super talented Carrie will be by my side to demystify the mysteries of short row shaping, three needle binding off... and quite certainly more.


And then the next class after that is Ooooh La La... Berets. Just look at that bevy of beautiful berets! Keep an eye out on the knit one one class schedule for the beret class. The dates are February 16th and 23rd, two Saturdays, at 1 P.M. Save the dates!


And now I will present one finished Purple Tweed Tudora! The pattern was super easy, and super quick. Cabling without a cable needle was fun. But I must say that I was not pleased with the fit. I don't think that I have a short stubby neck, but it is just too tall and curls inward at the back of my neck. Also, the bind off edge is a little too tight. It was fun to make... I will make another and experiment with the sizing and bind off looser.

Cable Me

Out of pure necessity... okay! okay! It was out of pure laziness combined with impatience I finally performed the ridiculously easy task of cabling without a cable needle. I had always "known" or understood the concept of the deed, but for some reason I had just never tried it out. I am a tschotze gal, I live for my accoutrements, my tools, my thingy-ma-bobbers, and so on. So why on earth would i not want to lug that big bulky cable needle around with me while I am working on a project with cables?!
Last night at work I started working on Tudora and after casting on 112 stitches I realized that I did not have a cable needle with me. So rather than just working on one of the other three projects I had with me & waiting 45 minutes until I was home to begin cabling... I said "Flip it all anyway! I am going to just cable sans cable needle". And I did. And it was super easy. Many people say that it is much faster to cable without using a cable needle.... I don't know if that is the case for me. Sure, it is nano seconds faster than shuffling that cable needle around from between my pinky and ring finger, but I never really felt that a cable needle was slowing me down.

But anyway.... what about Tudora? I am excited about this simple little project. I love having a cozy scarf wrapped around my neck! I have had some serious problems with my neck in the past and find that keeping it warm makes a huge difference in my general comfort. So even when it's not terribly cold outside... I tend to have at least a little something wrapped around my neck. (same as my wrists... and my super cute cuffs).



The pattern says that it will be approx 17 inches long... mine is 19 inches. And there is still a button band to be added. I am using the yarn which she recommends as the substitute yarn; Debbie Bliss Aran Tweed. I just happened to have a ton of it laying around that I have had no plans for. I made a beret out of this same yarn. I must say.... I am not a fan of this yarn after working with it twice now. It is a little scratchy, which for the beret was not a big issue, I lined the brim with squishy soft malabrigo. But for this neck warmer, don't know what was thinking. The other issue with this yarn is that it is somewhat brittle. It is super thin in some areas and when cabling.... comes dangerously close to breaking.

Speaking of berets... it's my new pastime.

Last month I made three of Kents Moss Stitch Beret. This hat is soooo popular! I had never made a beret before, I really wanted one to wear, I really wanted to make one, and I DO love me some moss stitch. So I made one for myself, figured that if I liked it, it would make great gifts for a few special folks in my life. I had so much fun knitting it. There where a couple of wonky instructions in the pattern. I emailed Kent to verify that what I had thought he meant was actually what he did mean... he was so sweet and replied to me toot suite!

The decrease section is where it is a bit wonky. my interpretation of it (confirmed by Kent) is as follows:
divide into 8 sections (17 stitches in each section) & place markers the beginning of each section. Every other round you will decrease the first four stitches after each marker as follows; {slpw, K1, psso} then {K1, slkw, psso}. Ok... so that second decrease is the wacky one. you will need to {K1, slip one knitwise, then slip BOTH stitches back onto the left needle, now you can pass the second stitch over the first, and then pass the knitted stitch back onto the right needle}.

I made two more, a red tweed one for Sile, and an olive green malabrigo one for Kate. They are such a hit! And you are in luck because I will be teaching it (with Kent's blessing) for knit one one in February.