MG: Karenina sleeves

hello there. i ran away on a little trip--traveling meant airplane knitting, which meant a less tedious journey and this:


it's one of the dishcloths for hubby's mom. made out of KnitPicks Shine; 60% cotton and 40% modal; color of butter; soft soft soft and squishy like marshmallows; simple eyelets in garter background. hubby's mom is a quilter, so i thought she would enjoy a geometric pattern.

there is another ball in the color sky waiting to be a dishcloth. plans were for twin cloths in different colors, but after seeing Kitty Kitty's beautiful stitchwork, i'm discontent. now i'm thinking something different, maybe a fancy stitch pattern i've not tried before.

Karenina--the little cardigan of my own construction--is progressing enjoyably. design, knit, design, knit, rip, redesign, knit. structually, it's working out not a little like the celebrated One Skein Wonder, which is lovely because i love the OSW. procedurally, it's quite different; i hope it works out well. first pass at the sleeves (a free-floating arm!):


three-quarter length, straight tube (no decreases) on minicircs, and eight rows of 2-by-2 ribbing at the cuff. it looks unfinished and loosey-goosey to me.


i've ripped back to add decreases for a slight taper and a picked-up, ribbed edging for some shape.

MG: very little knitting

i feel like i spend a good deal of time on my knitting--reading, learning, planning; even moving those needles quite often--but i seem to have very little to show for it. hmm... maybe it's because i'm a slow knitter. maybe it's because i frog a lot. maybe it's because i don't like to follow patterns. maybe i'm just not very brave and spend way to much time plotting perfect projects--knitting in my head. in any case...

hubby's mom attended a retreat where someone brought a handknit dishcloth for every person present (another example of knitterly generosity). the said dishcloth thoroughly impressed hubby's mom. her store-bought kitchen towels paled in comparison, so she ordered some more from the knitter in her life, i.e. me.


this is a test scrubby using KnitPicks Shine. Kitty Kitty looked up modal a while back; it's beechwood cellulose and extremely absorbent. she suggested the yarn for this project, and i'm glad she did. the photo above was taken after a week of dishwashing duty. the little scrubby is wearing well. it wrings out nicely, dries quickly, and holds a good amount of soapy water. i think the garter-texture gives enough scrubbing power for most kitchen tasks.

i've been crawling along on a sheer, laceweight scarf using KnitPicks Alpaca Cloud in sunlight. this yarn is so so soft; i love it. it's 136 stitches wide and will take some time.


the scarf is extremely crinkly at the moment, as laceweight fabrics tend to be during knitting. i like that word--crinkly--like cafeteria french fries, like candy wrappers, like the eyes of someone smiling and glad to see you. i was nervous about the crinkliness, so i spritzed a corner with water.


much better... but... um, i may start over. i had trouble with this scarf on my clover bamboo circulars, which are usually my favorite needles. there was a lot of wrestling and tugging with the laceweight. serendipitously, Wendy Knits recently blogged about finding the perfect lace needles. i happen to have some inherited Boye circulars--no tugging with the alpaca cloud and not overly slippery.

however, my Boye is 29 inches long, and the scarf is only a bit wider than that. knitting in the round still involves scrunching stiches around. i'm not having much fun. i may start over on different needles... maybe change to a less subtle eyelet pattern too.

the August Eat Local Challenge is long over, but all the reasons for eating locally are perennially valid. also, my farmer's market goodies make me happy, so i think i'll keep showing them to you. here are some photos from august i never managed to post.


fresh, yummy eggs from free-range chickens who live in Santa Rosa; asian pear; pepper; avocado; shitake and crimini mushrooms; sage; basil; and an asian leafy green (hollow stems, crunchy, often called ong tsai or some variation thereof).


those shitakes and criminis went into spring roll wrappers along with dried tree-ear mushrooms, cellophane noodles, silken tofu, and sesame oil. oh, and a little sliver of sage.