March Madness

I told Aunt P that I thought I would not start any new projects in the month of March. I would just work on the ones that were under construction. Never, never, never put yourself under law. That being said I did finish two projects.

This is my version of Elizabeth Zimmerman's Pi Shawl. I had a lot of fun making it and experimenting with different stitches. The concept for making this was to double the number of stitches on the needle every time you doubled the rows. So after casting on nine stitches and joining in the round I knit for two rows then doubled my stitches by doing yarn overs to 18. Knit for four more rows and doubled my stitches to 36 and so on til I got to 576. I could have gone on to 1000 something - I had enough yarn but I had been working on this long enough. Looking back I kind of wish I had since the finished shawl is a little small.

For the edge you just cast on eight or so stitches and work back and forth catching an edge stitch on the "forth" for 576 stitches. This makes a nice garter stitch band that doesn't pucker - the bane of a lot of bind offs.

One more large project done.

This wallaby was made from Briggs and Little yarn. I was afraid I wouldn't like it as it was very scratchy as I was working on it. Only when I washed and blocked it did it lose its roughness. Nice yarn. I was ready to cast on right away for another wallaby with this yarn in another colorway. But did refrain. Prudence won.

And since I finished two huge projects I gave myself liberty... to experiment.

I thought I would experiment with some yarn that has been bugging me for a long time. Now experimenting is not the same thing as starting a new project. (Do you get the idea that I'm trying to convince myself?) I have tons of this Paton's crayon looking yarn. I've tried cardigan sweaters, pullover sweaters, scarves, shawls, and socks (with minimal success for Chuggy). I've even made a bunny sweater which has probably been the most successful for this yarn. But what to do with 18 other balls?

Every time I decided to make something out of it I would get part way into the project only to decide I didn't like it. Well, I've been looking at shawl patterns lately. Believe it or not I've been enjoying the warmth and coziness of a shawl over my shoulders this winter. Our house is quite drafty, not unlike an old war house that's seen too many damp Vancouver winters. And a shawl is perfect to ward off the chill. This pattern looks great in this yarn so I've now got this on the needles:

This is a version of the popular feather and fan pattern. It's been around so long that you can't go very far surfing the Internet without coming across it. In fact, Bruce's aunt made a baby blanket for LeAnne 25 years ago and used this stitch pattern.

And I think it is going to stay until I finish.

Another experiment I've been working on is dish scrubbies. Someone gave me one and I thought it looked cinch to make. So voila! The first side is cotton and the second side is scratchy acrylic. Perfect for scouring pots and pans. So this experiment turned out to be more like a finished project. Or two. Or three. (They are very quick to make. Say 15 minutes?)

I found one problem with the yarn though. It could be annoying. When the plastic gets wet it smells! Then I read the label. Apparently, you need to wash this "yarn" in a pH balanced soap. Does anyone know a dish soap that is pH balanced? Do I need to give a bottle of it every time I give a scrubbie away? We'll figure it out.

And finally, a note LeAnne left on our kitchen cupboard doors:

"Due to rising energy costs the light at the end of the tunnel has been turned off." (Anonymous...to me)

At least Gypsy agrees!

Cheers!