Penelope the Unnecessary

I decided to convert Penelope the scarf into a hat, knitted in-the-round.  It's the same hat as usual with a neat bobble design, which happens to match my Penelope scarf.  It was a small project, and the grey lining was already knit (for a hat I started 2 years ago, although I didn't get much further than the lining).  This hat knit up in under three days, just in time for nothing, as I don't anticipate needing a hat for quite a while.

-吴碧芙

A Little Knitting Trick

Of course, I've ripped back 4 times on this piece, and countless times on other projects before having this little strike of genius.  Considering I ribbed back 2 more times on this scarf, a little scrap yarn saved me a few minutes and, most importantly, the headache of picking up loose stitches.

This scarf is my personal creation using the Austrian Rib pattern, along with my own made up pattern that is supposed to be like bobbles on strings.  It's my own pattern that usually causes the problem while I'm working out the kinks and figuring out how to keep the fabric from curling.  I'm used to pulling out my work up to 10 or more times until I'm happy with the results.

So here is my tip: Once you have finished a portion of a project that you are pretty sure you will not need to rip out, grab a piece of scrap yarn and a tapestry needle.  Leave the knitting needle in the work, and follow the knitting needle, as you string the scrap yarn along the knitting needle and through each stitch with the tapestry needle.  Then, continue knitting as normal, leaving the scrap yarn in that row.  Avoid hooking the scrap yarn when you are knitting through each stitch.  The scrap yarn should stay at the bottom of the stitches.

Now, if you don't like what you have knit, you can rip back to that scrap yarn row.  The scrap yarn holds the stitches, so you can't rip back too far.  The scrap yarn holds the stitches in the right order and just as they would be on the needle, so there is no risk of twisting stitches or messing up cabled stitches when you pick up the stitches.  Just insert the knitting needle along the scrap yarn and you are ready to knit again.  You can even leave the scrap yarn in, just in case you need to rip back to that spot yet again.

When the piece is finished, or when you know you won't want to rip back anymore, pull one side of the string, it should pull right out, as it is basically holding the place of a straight knitting needle.  You could add a piece of scrap yarn every few inches, just in case you make a mistake in the following few inches.


-吴碧芙

M1: A Knitting Mini-Tutorial

These are probably some fabulous uninventions (noun. something that one created without outside references, although it is entirely possible that someone else has also created the same thing).

m1: A Knitting Mini-Tutorial (for Continental Knitting)

m1: Note the working yarn must cross behind itself

First, the m1 (knitting abbr. "make one stitch").  I saw a picture that showed Barbara Walker's m1 stitch, which is somewhat unique.  I've seen many ways to m1, but this one is my favorite because, if you pull the yarn tight enough, the possibility of inadvertently creating a hole below the m1 is greatly reduced.

Hand position for regular knit stitch

Here's the thing, this m1 is kind of a backwards loop.  When I first started using it, I would drop the yarn, make a loop, just turn the loop until it looked right, and then slip it onto the right needle.  This method was confusing, slow, and inefficient.

Then I realized that, as a Continental knitter (one who holds the yarn in the left hand and "picks" with the right working needle), my finger was already in position for creating the m1 backwards loop.

Hand position for m1 stitch

The method is wicked easy.  Leave everything in the same position as when knitting.  Bring your "guide" finger forward, curling around the front piece of yarn.  Pick up the yarn from the back of the guide finger, from the bottom, as shown.  Remove your finger, and you will have a perfect backwards loop: one stitch made!

-吴碧芙

Felted Potholder Pattern

Follow this link  for my first knitting pattern.

-吴碧芙

Don't buy...DIY

Just bake...

 While I can't take credit for execution of any of these misleadingly simple recipes, I can take part credit for choosing a husband who makes amazing food and tries new recipes and techniques.

Today he said, "I'm going to make Cheez-Its." 

"Really?  Is that even going to work?"

"Oh yeah, I found a recipe on the Internet.  It only has 4 ingredients.  The reviews say, 'Yeah, they taste exactly like Cheez-Its.'"  

...and serve.

And indeed they do taste exactly like Cheez-Its.  If you have a pasta wheel, you can make the edges look nicer.  A skewer creates a hole in the center to make the experience more pleasant.


The birds like them too.


-吴碧芙

Knitting Block

Rick Rack right side

After suffering from "knitting block" for over two weeks, I finally settled on a pattern for this yarn that I ordered with a specific person in mind.  I like the colors so much that I wish I had ordered more than one scarf's worth.  And now the colorway, Knit Picks "Nevermore," is discontinued.

The cast-on edge of the yarn is fuzzy because I probably cast on over 20 times, in different patterns, including, at first, the Rick Rack design.  I did want to make this Rick Rack scarf from the very beginning, but the first time I started it, the stitches were too tight and hard to knit in the pattern.  I foresaw myself doing this very tedious knitting for months, so I decided to abandon the idea.  I couldn't find anything else to knit, although I did try a number of patterns.  I even paid for one of them, but still decided not to go with it.  

Rick Rack wrong side

I thought I had settled on a "cross stitch" pattern, but it was kind of annoying.  The Rick Rack pattern appealed to me again because it has the look of the "cross stitch" pattern, but it's broken by knit stitches, providing a break if the pattern is too tight or hard to knit.  Furthermore, the "wrong side" is not objectionable.  In fact, it looks pretty normal, like 1x1 ribbing with slightly wide stitches.


Even in this pattern, I cast on 7 times with 3 different sizes of needles and 4 different stitch counts, settling on #7 needles and 42 stitches.

-吴碧芙

3 Does a Collection Make

When I'm around on the weekend, I like to meet up with my Chinese exchange partner.  She's a doctor at one of the main hospitals in town.  I originally started meeting with her a year ago, but now my Chinese is in steady decline.

We spent the last few weekends with each other's  parents.  I mean, my parents came to visit and then we went to Sioux City the next weekend.  ("Each other's" sounds like we switched places, right?)  

The following weekend we had a nice weekend in Omaha.  Omaha is my Hong Kong.  In the vast wasteland of people and food traditions I don't understand, Omaha is a breath of fresh air.  Contrarily, while Hong Kong is where we would go to get rare American foods and experiences, Mexican food, pizza, and tortillas to take back to Shantou, Omaha is where we go to get better ethnic foods, including Chinese baozi, something we haven't been able to buy at home, ever.

Folksy Owl

So last weekend was our first weekend home in a long time, and my first weekend to practice Chinese in a few weeks as well.  As I turned to leave, I saw the Folksy Owl all alone with a few little owl appetizer plates on a little table in the cafe.  It's quite a unique looking owl cookie jar, and a happy addition to my little collection.  

Imagine that previously I was looking in vain for an owl cookie jar, and now I have found 3 unexpectedly.

-吴碧芙