Thursday, January 29, 2009

It's another language...

...those crochet terms. Ach! Every time I encounter them, I am flummoxed. If a knit pattern calls for some element of crochet beyond the basic chain stitch, I either try to fake it or simply find a way to ignore it. Neither is a good option, because really? A bit of crochet in the finishing of a garment can really make all the difference!

Thus it was with my Scarf on a Whim. The official pattern name is Ribbed Scarf with a Crochet Edging. So, yeah, you'd think I'd have been prepared for the crochet part, right? Uh huh. I finished knitting the scarf last night and attempted the crochet edge. It was so wrong. I was using the wrong size hook for one thing, and I was too tired to go downstairs and dig around for the correct one. So I ripped out the errant edging and called it a night. My final thought was, "Maybe it really doesn't need the crocheted edge! It looks nice with just the eyelets!"

This morning dawned with a hint of sun in the sky and I looked at the scarf again. Yes, it looked ok without the edging, but I was sure it would look much better with it. So I dug around for the right hook, sat down and tried again. This time, however, I was baffled by the terms...double crochet, triple crochet...eh? Seriously? My crochet is limited to chain stitches and granny squares, the latter I can do only because I have the process memorized but have no idea what the stitches are called.

Finally, after buggering this edging up a couple times, I did what I should have done from the get-go and dug out my crochet stitch dictionary. Aha! Pictures and explanation! What a novel idea! In no time, I had that edging done, and darned if it didn't finish the scarf off beautifully. LOL


It's a little on the short side, as I like my scarf lengths to be, but it is pretty...elegant, even. And I just love the Rowan Felted Tweed! I've wanted to make something from it for so long (in fact, I have a couple sweater lots of it stashed away). It really is a fabulous yarn.

So, another FO! That brings the WIP count down to EIGHT! And there are still a little more than two days left in January! You know what that means, right? It means I have time to try and finish one more project. I'm leaning towards the Socktoberfest socks...I think they'll go quickest, even though they are a cable pattern. The February Lady Sweater is my other possibility, but I've got so much bad karma knit into those freakin' sleeves already that I just don't want to tempt the knittig fates into messing up my finishing run here in the last leg. So...socks. I think that will be my final finishing goal this month. Then it will be February and I can cast on something new! LOL (I'm so sick, I know...but I make no apologies.)

Honestly, in order for me to ever get any good pictures of me modeling my own knitwear, I have GOT to get someone in this family to learn how to use my digital SLR! I tried to give the girlie a crash course today, and this exasperated expression on my face is the result of how that went. :::sigh::: Who knew it was so much to ask to have the entire knitted garment in the picture, as well as my whole head, and to have it in focus? Gah.

1 comment:

pdxknitterati/MicheleLB said...

Congratulations on the lovely scarf, conquering the crochet, and getting the WIP count down another one!

You know, you can always google or go to youtube for knit or crochet instructions, and sometimes it's easier than finding the book...