In the Knitting News

I've had another reading binge, so it wasn't until this last week or so that I've picked up my needles. I finished another couple of charity hats tht had been OTN for a while as well as my Woodland scarf. And, in an attack of startitis, I cast on for another few projects. I joined the Fashionably Late KAL of smoke rings and found a pattern that was a really fun and fast knit, so I finished it in a week. The brown hat is Needle Beetle's Seaman's Cap in James C Brett's Marble acrylic yarn; it's lovely stuff to knit with. The pastel hat is from some old (2004) Encore Colorspun, just a simple roll-brim pattern.

Last weekend I decided to have a Lord of the Rings video marathon. Since I didn't have any truly mindless projects going, I started a simple V-neck vest for the A4A youth project. I got to nearly the point of dividing for the armscye while watching the extended versions of Fellowship of the Rings and The Two Towers; I'll continue with it today while watching The Return of the King. This is the first time I've watched these on our big 42in TV (Christmas present). I am again in awe of the wonderful work that Peter Jackson, his cast and crew did in making these epic films.


The Woodland scarf is my 'Elves' project for the 'One Shawl to Rule Them All' KAL at Ravelry. It was supposed to be a stole, but I found that the 2nd skein was so much different in color that I had to frog the entire thing and re-knit as a scarf with just one skein. The yarn is Dream in Color Smooshy in the 'Beach Fog' colorway; it made me think immediately of Galadriel and Lothlorien. Unblocked it's 6.5in by 54in.

The Smoke Ring is the Wavy Feathers Wimple, knitted with 1.5 skeins of Jojoland Melody, a superwash fingering weight yarn. Although the 2 skeins had the same dyelot and were bought at the same time, the 2nd skein is lighter, but I think in this case the slow transition is acceptable. Unblocked it's 15in long by 16in around.

Both of these patterns are easy and fun, well-suited for light TV watching or SnB knitting. The Wimple, in particular, is a doddle; with the purl stitch every 11st stitch, it's easy to catch any mistakes fast. I did find that using a row counter - in my case, a row-counter bracelet I bought at Hide & Sheep - helped to keep me on the correct alternating row of the 28-row repeat.

And for a bit of cat-love, here's a shot of Midnight lounging in front of our big TV, which radiates a lot of heat; she's not really a Stargate SG-1 fan, but we are, lol!