Mindless Knitting or Boring Knitting?

Sometimes you need a mindless knitting project, one you can knit while waiting in a busy place or while talking to people or at a meeting or training session. Something small and therefore portable. Like a scarf. Now, I need to make 5 gifts for friends who hosted a big luncheon for my DD#1 and her new husband. Gift #1, for the person who gave her house as well as provided a lot of the food (and kept the in-laws over the weekend) is Swallowtail (not mindless but we're coming to that, never fear).
Final thoughts on Spindrift yarn for lace: I'd use it again for 2 reasons. One, it's economical (it took only 4 skeins to make Swallowtail, and the cost was less than $20; can't really beat that); and two, the color range is fantastic. All those heathery shades! If you don't want to spend the bucks on a hand-painted or hand-dyed designer yarn, one of Jamieson's heathers can fill the bill without breaking your bank. And I love the way it softened after a soak in Eucalan, followed by blocking.

Gift #2 for a friend who helped host and shares other interests with us is Frothy, since it's her colors:

Frothy is garter stitch, once called by the great Elizabeth Zimmermann, "nothing but soothing knitting." Boring on it own, but whip it up in this hand-painted bouclé and it has a life of its own. The only attention I have to pay to it is to be sure I pick up both strands since I'm using the yarn doubled, and to be sure to knit into the main filament and not a bouclé loop. Mindless knitting at its best.

Now we have gift #3:

That's Sue Pandorf's Lime pattern, done in Fiesta Yarn's Kokopelli in Cilantro, a wool/mohair blend (really silky). It's basically purl a few rows, then do some YOs/K2tog rows alternating with purl rows. Almost mindless, but not quite. Pretty portable. So why do I find this pattern boring but not Frothy? Wish I knew. Fortunately, I have 36" done on Lime, so even if it's boring, it will be done soon. Do any of you find that mindless knitting is boring knitting? Do you always need a challenging knit?

Gifts #4 and 5 are undecided. For one friend I'd like to do another shawl, perhaps Calais, out of either Dream in Color Starry or Yarn Chef Mulligatawny. For the other, perhaps one of Elizabeth Lovick's scarves in some lovely cream Aran wool.

Stash Diving for Gifts

OK, so it's not bulky mohair; anyway look what I found waaaay at the bottom of the cedar chest:



Cherry Tree Hill Baby Loop Mohair in Gypsy Rose (top), and CTH Baby Loop Mohair dyed by Danette Taylor. Knew those new Addi needles would come in handy. Gauge for these bouclé yarns is 5 sts/in on a size 6. I started this scarf (surprise gift for a good friend) using the CTH yarn doubled on the new Addis.

Over 36" knitted in less than a knitting day (you know, the time alloted to knitting during the course of one's usual day). Pattern is same as I used for the Tahiti scarf:
CO 3 sts, knit a row, inc 1 sts every other row up to 19 sts while working in garter sts. Cont in garter sts until you are sick of knitting, about to run out of yarn (but not quite), or whathaveyou, then dec each end every other row down to 3 sts, bind off. I'll make tassels for the ends 'cause they are so much fun to make. The great thing about yarn like this is that you can knit with it mindlessly, in garter st or similar, and it looks great from the texture and the dying.

Swallowtail is almost done. It too will be a gift. I'll have to make 3 more gifts for friends who hosted a big post-wedding luncheon for DD#1 and new SiL back in March. Think I'll use the Danette Taylor for one of them, but I'll have to find something different to make with it. Scarves/shawls are good because I don't need measurements, so I can truly surprise the recipients. Also, everyone in NJ wears them and needs several to get through the winters. Also, they can be made relatively quickly. What else shall I use from stash? I have 6.5 oz (maybe 400 yds) of some lovely creamy Aran-weight wool that I think will be perfect for this scarf by Elizabeth Lovick. And the Yarn Chef Mulligatawny I bought; I have 2 skeins of that. One for a gift and one for socks for me, perhaps? Sound good to you?

Under the Wire

Happy New Year! DH and I went to First Night revelry last night. We enjoyed flamenco dancing and singing and guitar (great stuff), zydeco (a treat for us, especially since we were in New Orleans in early November and heard live zydeco there), and a ventiloquist act (I'm a sucker for those things). The Tahiti scarf came with us and at 11:32 pm, just under the wire, it was finished. I made it with no one in mind; someone will get a surprise gift from me.

Rummaging through the cedar closet again (it's cold and turning colder), I found a sweater I made for DD#1 when she was in high school in upstate NY; she had forgotten it and thought she lost it (imagine my thoughts on that score). Here it is: Well DD#2 took one glance at it and claimed it. She plans to wear it as often as she can in fact. It's made of Brunswick La Laine (washable Merino wool in DK weight with great yardage and an easy price), and the pattern is Suzann Thompson's Diagonal Diamonds from the February 1993 issue of McCall's Needlework and Crafts.

DD#1 isn't the only one guilty of forgetting what's I've made that gets stored in the cedar closet. DH forgot about this Tahki Donegal tweed vest: DH is happy I was thoughtful enough to bring it upstairs for him so he can now wear it.With 2 vests out of commission, and Rugged not finished (I started the front! I'm already on the second pattern repeat!), he needs his vests.

And I have to plead mea culpa as well. I found this sweater I made for myself: The pattern is Classic Elite #369 by Norah Gaughan and the yarn is Classic Elite Willough. That was a silk and cotton blend, DK-weight, and very nice to work with. Classic Elite didn't offer it very long (my LYS couldn't get it for me in ecru to knit a DKNY top featured in the Spring 1994 issue of Vogue Knitting) that required it. Guess waxing nostalgic for great yarns that are no longer is part of a New Year's theme: should auld yarns be forgot and all that.

Lost and Found Department, I

Among my missing knitting things as I mentioned is my favorite Bernat pattern book for vests, Small Change #240. The women's vests don't thrill me much, but the men's vests are great classics. See if you don't agree:The way DH is with vests, I really need this book. I just bought 2 copies, one on eBay, and one from Vintage Knits, for about $2 each plus $2 shipping. Figured about $10 is definitely worth it to have 2 copies of a books I use constantly. Now watch: my old copy will turn up as soon as one of the new ones arrives.

Last night after my MRI (must have been the Xanax still working), I had one of those inspired moments, where I could "see" where some of my lost knitting supplies went. And in following my inspiration, I found nearly all of my Addi Turbos. Wow, I'd forgotten I had so many (and they are so clearly marked if they are out of their bags). Progress of sorts, I call that. To celebrate, well, really, because I couldn't think too much from the Xanax (the only way I can do a closed MRI, and this one took 2 hours- 2 entire hours in an enclosed rattling metal tube!), I started this little lovely:The yarn is Danette Taylor's handpainted loopy mohair in Tahiti; somehow I wound up with 2 cakes of it. To start, I casted on 5 sts using the usual long-tail cast-on on size 9s. Knitted one row, then inc 1 st at each end by knitting into the front and backs of those sts. Continued in garter st and inc every other row until 27 sts were reached. Knitted another inch or so, then changed to size 10 1/2 needes to open up the boucle. Why did I start on the smaller needle? I recall some sage advice from the great Elizabeth Zimmerman about the ends of scarves getting so much wear they get bedraggled over time. She liked to knit toes for her scarves. I didn't think toes would work with loopy mohair, so I thought a firmer gauge would help. What will I put on the ends? Probably shortish fluffy tassels. Have any ideas? I'd love the hear them.

Do I need another scarf? No. When did that ever stop a knitter? I have another cake of this loopy mohair to ponder over.

I once made a hat and scarf set of this yarn years ago, in the Azalea colorway:
Gifted it to a good friend. This set was done in brioche stitch. Seeing it makes me wonder whatever happened to Danette Taylor? Her colors were amazing.

I will get back to finishing the Rogue cardi; that hood was killing me. I was only too glad to set it aside for a (long) while. And it seems that Jenna isn't doing her blog anymore (as if I should complain). Wonder if she still takes questions. I should set a deadline for Rogue for DD#1's wedding. Yes, one of the good things that happened this year is that DD#1 got engaged. Maybe with the holiday break, I'll finish it. I like a challenging knit as much as the next knitter, but I have to admit, Rogue is beyond challenging (and I found Enchanted Forest quite easy).