Bigger isn't always better

I’m knitting, I hope, a toy for two of the cutest little girls you’ll ever lay your eyes on. This will eventually be a stuffed caterpillar. Until this past Sunday, it was barely more than a knot that was giving me a headache.

Sunday, I went to Knit Happens in Alexandria to see if one, they could show me once and for all how to knit into the front and back of a stitch, and two, tell me a better way to knit in the round in such a very tiny, tiny circle.

I have pretty big hands for a woman, but my fine motor skills are second to none. I knit more with my fingers than my hands, so the 7″ double-pointed needles were really getting in my way. I couldn’t keep the needles or the yarn out of my way.

The nice ladies at Knit Happens showed me these double pointed needles — only 3.5″ long, and my troubles went away. With the smaller needles I can knit on four instead of three which keeps my stitches more even and makes the transition as I go around smoother.

Bigger isn’t always better. Lesson learned. Now, if only I’d counted my stitches correctly!

Oops, I knit it again ...

(I titled this post in honor of my dear friend Felicia who has a thing for Britney Spears and who is responsible for this hat and scarf idea. Love you, Felicia.)

We recently went to see our aunt and uncle in New Bern, NC. Aunt Sis has been crocheting for years, and she started knitting more recently. She has a favorite yarn store in downtown New Bern and took me there.

It was amazing. I really only get to shop at large craft stores like AC Moore and Michael's, and when I'm lucky, Hobby Lobby. This place in New Bern was like heaven. Take a look.

Rows and rows of the most beautiful yarns!

I won't say how much money I spent in here, but my prizes are magnificent. I would have bought more if I weren't allergic to so many types of wools. I also prefer heavier weight yarns, so I admire the fingering weight and take the chunky home. Like everything else with me, I get carried away with color and texture in all its forms.

Anyway, I just finished a hat and scarf set from a skein of the yarn I bought in NC. The yarn itself is Plymouth Yarn brand. it's a bulky weight acrylic/wool blend that was made in Turkey. This is a variegated strand of blues, greens and purples. It's more subtle than the colors I usually choose, but I felt it soothing.

I went with two very simple designs. The hat is not my own pattern, but since it had no other name, I call it the 2-hour hat for the time it's supposed to take to make it. It took me more like 3, but I get distracted easily. It's straight stockinette stitch, thus the rolled edge. For once, I managed to make it the size for a normal human's head! The scarf is a simple knit one, purl one. The first two and last two rows are 26 stitches each. All of the middle rows are 13 stitches each. It's one of those fashionable skinny ones. The resulting pattern from the variegation looks kinda scaly to me. Cool.

I knit outside the lines.

I finished my first hat and scarf for Warm heads. Warm hearts. I showed my hat earlier, and from the pic below, it's obvious I need a new model for the other 11!

I don't knit from a pattern. I've tried. It just doesn't work out well for me. I have to make 3 of anything to get 2 that match. I get thoroughly bored if I work with the same yarn/color/needles for too long. Besides, I like to make things up as I go along.

This hat is based on a double-rib pattern. I put the colored squares in out of curiosity about how to knit different colors together. The flower on the top was from another pattern and added for accent. All three yarns are wool. They're each a different weight for texture. The light yarn has flecks that has some nice blues and purples, too.

I used all three colors in the scarf, repeating the double-rib pattern and the flower motif. There's no real rhyme or reason to the stripes. I tend to look for asymmetry in things I create. As long as things balance to my eye, I'm happy. Now, whether it looks like balance to anyone else is another situation entirely!

I find perfect symmetry (and even numbers) disturbing. What in all of this wondrous, natural world is perfectly even? The hand of man intervenes in nature to produce the "perfect." Think of a diamond. They're beautiful, but it's not until an expert jeweler intervenes that you find one perfectly cut. He cuts away the flaws and colored areas to craft the brilliant stars nestled in precious metals.

I have a perfect diamond. The cut, clarity and color are all flawless. It's beautiful. It sparkles an dances in the light. I can't help but love it if for no other reason than because of the intricate search my husband undertook to find it. He'd have had nothing less than perfect.

That perfect ring perhaps helps balance the very imperfect me. I'm more of a diamond in the rough -- OK, how about a piece of colored glass? I have my own way of doing things that sometimes only make sense to me. My eye finds beauty and balance in places where others don't look, and I create art that others don't always recognize. It's imperfect, like me. This hat and scarf are no different. They are more than created by me. They are a part of me. A small part that I knit together to give to someone else. They are not perfect, but I hope someone finds them precious.

12 hats. 12 scarves. 12 months.

I love yarn. I love the colors and the textures. I buy yarn sometimes with no idea what I'll actually make out of it. I just love how it feels and know I have to do something from it. I went to art school, and some times the urge to create something is so overwhelming I can hardly stand it. I learned to knit, hoping it would satisfy that urge (and be much less messy than pastels or paint!). I now have quite the collection of yarn, and I've learned to make all sorts of stitches. I can make my own patterns for scarves and hats. I even made a dog sweater, which my dog quickly tried to eat. It's become my new creative outlet. Leave it to my friend Felicia to give purpose to something that started out as a frivolous hobby.

I'm continually inspired by Felicia's generosity and the spirit of giving she's instilled in her daughter. She isn't of excessive means, but her compassion for her fellow humans is endless. In the face of illness or misfortune, she will inevitably find a way to give. Now, she's laid down the gauntlet for me and anyone else willing to follow. Felicia's challenge is simple. Make one hat and one scarf every month. Use good yarn, and treat it as if it's a gift. Then, give it away to a stranger who needs it.

I'll wonder later why I didn't think of that. Regardless, I accept. I hope more people will, too. If you don't knit (or crochet), what's stopping you from learning? (If you live in the DC area, heck, we can even teach you.) Find others who know how and ask them to tech you and join the cause. The goal is warm heads and warm hearts. The more the merrier. Go to her blog to find out more!