Forest Sunrise

Jojoland Fatasia yarn has an interesting colorway called "Forest Sunrise."  Even though it's hot outside now, I really wanted to make a scarf and hat with this beautiful (superwash wool) yarn.


This basic hat pattern is a quick knit, and the yarn does all of the color work on its own.


There is little continuity between skeins, so the scarf is not likely to match and the pieces not likely to look like a "set."


This one was finished a few weeks ago.  I'm on to other things now.


- 吴碧芙

Vint-a-hoot

My friend from grad school in Vermillion, who now lives in Rapid City, was in town and stayed with us last night.  Today we woke up, hung around talking, and went out to lunch.  We went to a little local Italian place, and then we looked around in some of the boutiques and shops near the restaurant.


We drove by Pier 1 and decided to stop by.  Neither of us had been there in a long time.  Luckily, they had recently added this little retro repro owl jar, in two sizes.  I got the small size, which is still a nice size for a cookie jar.  Five jars on the counter now...


-吴碧芙

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