Rainbow Blanket

There are people who knit for the product, and there are people who knit for the process. Then there are people like me. Depending on the day, I fall into one group or the other. But whether it's a process or product day, there is one thing that I am always doing while I knit: relieving stress.

Knitting is how I calm down, how I make time to reflect, and how I keep my fingers busy while I am listening to an episode of This American Life or binge watching TV shows (one more season of Buffy to go!). 

When I am in a stress-relieving product-knitting mode, the sweet nothings are perfect. 

When I am in a stress-relieving process-knitting mode, I need a blanket to work on. 

I discovered this fact my junior year of college. It was a busy, busy year, my craziest yet. I had no time to drag along a pattern book or consult a chart. I also had a ton of medium-sized balls of yarn leftover from previous projects, and my favorite circular needle free. So, I started knitting a shawl with the nearest ball of yarn I had at hand. When it ran out, I grabbed another, and another.

Pretty soon, I had a project that needed to be carried around in its own bag. Even when I was only halfway through, it was a little lap blanket as I worked on it, and raised quite a few eyebrows. But it was exactly what I needed--a no pressure project that I could continue for as long or as short as I wanted--and I could always put it down with no fear of losing my place if I picked it up a day or a month later.

It was fantastic, and I spent the whole school year bouncing between little, more intricate projects and the blanket before I decided it was time to cast off. This is the end result.

I have gotten a lot of use out of it; when I did research last summer, the place I worked was very chilly. I began to bring a sweater everyday, despite the 85-95 degree temperature outside. When the sweater didn't help, I threw my blanket in the bag as well. It did the trick--and it was fun to have all the vestiges from different projects keep me company as I worked.

I don't have a project like that presently, but I can feel a big process-knitting mode coming on; we'll see where it takes me! 

Sweet Nothings

I love a fast project. There's something magical about sitting down on the couch with nothing but sticks, string and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and getting up two episodes later with a new item.
I had leftover bits from various projects, and decided to get some use out of them by making tiny stuffed things. They really have no function, other than providing that rush of accomplishment in a way that only knitting tiny useless stuffed things can. The finished project really just takes up space--albeit in a rather adorable way.

The heart was adapted from this pattern, using much thinner needles and yarn than the pattern called for, giving the heart a more delicate touch. The pattern just creates a 2-D heart; I made two and sewed them together to create the plush heart here. The yarn is cashmere/silk handspun, which was such a treat to spin and knit. I also stuffed it til the stitches stretched, an effect I rather like.

These two lovebirds are made from this pattern. They are knit in the round, and although gauge technically doesn't matter, I would rather use a thicker (i.e. narrow worsted) than a thinner (sock, fingering weight) yarn. The thinner you get, the more you risk the stuffing poking through. The darker grey bird (handspun, although I don't recall the fiber content--feels wooly) didn't have this trouble, but the lighter grey bird (made from the same yarn as the heart) did--I needed to do a little embroidery work to hide the most egregious holes.

Both of these projects were quick and easy ways to add a little bit of whimsy to my day, and I plan on adding to my army of cute little creatures very soon.

The Tale of the Knitted Dinosaur

Norberta has come in and out of my life on several occasions over my knitting lifetime, but the moment wasn't right until this summer.

I first met her in high school. I was going through patterns on knitty.com when the dragon caught my eye. Unfortunately, at the time I didn't have any yarn that screamed "Make me into a dinosaur, now!" Also, I didn't have any stuffing, and all my tapestry needles were AWOL, so I was severely limited my cute-stuffed-animal-making abilities. So, I bookmarked the pattern and promptly forgot about it.

I went to college, I made new friends, I found more patterns. I also switched computers, losing all my bookmarks, and the Norberta along with them.

Then, I came to class early one day and found two knitterly friends in the classroom. When they turned around, there was Norberta, looking up at me. The friend had found the pattern and made her own version. She was cute and colorful and everything I imagined she would be. I held her and realized that I really wanted one of my own. However, even though I knew where my tapestry needle was, I still didn't have the yarn, and still didn't have the stuffing.

Another year or two passed. Projects came and went. I found myself sitting with nothing to do, and I decided I needed a new knitting project. I dug through my knitting stash and lo and behold, found a rainbow ball of yarn. I had no memory of buying it, no recollection of where it came from. But I could tell that it really, really wanted to be made into a dinosaur.

I had lost the tapestry needles, and I didn't have enough yarn to replicate the pattern exactly, but I did have stuffing, and the yarn was a Norberta clone waiting to happen. I used a knitting needle to seam the pieces together with a bind-off edge, and altered the pattern for the limbs to adapt for the dearth of yarn.

I used some scrap handspun for the spines, and skipped the wings. She still needs eyes, nostrils and maybe fangs, but she's already pretty cute as is. She turned out pretty well!