Good Day, Everyone

Hello, again. It's been a while. I have been facing a major knitter's block for the longest time and have not accomplished much the past two years. I am hoping to find inspiration again.

Unknown Cardigan

The design process is a pretty tough one. It's all well and good when I have several ideas in my head but the execution is rather overwhelming. At this moment, I only know how to cast-on and knit in my size. This comes from experience and feels a little more intuitive. However, when I try to figure out how to write for other sizes, my brain goes a little dead. I have looked through The Knitter's Handy Book of Sweater Patterns and the Designers' forum on Ravelry, and good-golly-gee, the most basic pattern offers at least 5 different sizes?

So, I thought before I even think about going to different sizing, let me just get this one size right.



I'm calling this "Unknown" for now because I do not know what name to give it. I used to laugh at Vogue Knitting and their naming conventions, eg. Basic Sweater with Buttons, because I thought they were so uncreative but I now find myself wanting to call my pattern Basic Cardigan with Buttons.

Which brings me to another issue... at least 50% of the yarn in my stash are discontinued. I got them at really good discounts and they were cheap(er) for a reason. I guess I can recommend yarn substitutions and since this is a free pattern (of which I'm not sure if I'm brave enough to share), it shouldn't p*ss too many knitters off :-)

Yep, this is just great... my first pattern will be for one size only using a discontinued yarn.

No Knit Today

More than half a year has gone by and I have not finished a single project.

Crap.

another year gone by

Happy 2010! Time really flies! It was not a very productive year knit-wise but I am glad I managed to finish a few projects before the year ended.

1. Georgia, 2. Montego Bay Scarf, 3. Pleated Wrap, 4. Vine Lace Vest

The Georgia sweater should not really count because I started it back in 2007 and finally got around to seaming up all the pieces in 2009. But I had left the project aside for too long and actually knitted the various pieces in different sizes and needles. So the fit was a little strange on me. Mum who is shorter wore it better so I gave it away to her.

I really liked the pattern for the Montego Bay Scarf. It was repetitive and brainless enough for me to just chug along without having to concentrate too much on it. I intended to wear the scarf for my trip to China but the weather there was warmer than I'd thought and it pretty much sat in my suitcase the whole time.

The Debbie Bliss Pleated Wrap was a really nice knit. Some people may find all that garter stitch boring but I liked it because it was another mindless project. I gave it away to my boss because the colour was wonderful on her. I do plan to make a wider version for myself. Well, I will get around to it one day.

The final project for 2009 was the vest knitted for lil' sis. I think I may have spent the least amount of time knitting this because the chunkier yarn made the whole thing zip by faster. The lace pattern is very easy and the yarn is so smooshy (gotta love Rowan's All Seasons Cotton).

I don't know if I should set a knitting goal for myself this year. Ideally, I would love to complete ten for 2010.

In the spirit of stash-busting, I casted on for Wandering the Moor, a lovely shawlette pattern. I am using RYC Cashsoft 4 Ply in a shade called Weather. I just love the muted grey tone and the softness of the yarn. I guess this is a good start to the new year :-)

starting again

I think the last time I posted on this poor neglected knitting blog was back in February 2008. I wanted a clean slate and deleted everything (yes, everything) from my archives. I have not been knitting regularly for a long time. I have completed only two miserable projects this year but one of them was a leftover from three years ago and I don't think it should count. So, it's only been one finished object for now.

I am hoping that by knit blogging again, it will inspire me to knit more. I am working on one project but it's something I should have completed a while ago.

This was the beginning of Debbie Bliss' Pleated Wrap from her Spring/Summer '09 magazine. I have already knitted five balls of DB Cathay and have one more ball to go. This project has been tossed aside for a few months and I have not picked up anything new since. But I think I'll start knitting again tonight.

I have been quite useless. I can't seem to handle complicated patterns at the moment. Also, stupid little things like yarn-overs on a purl side just make me cringe. I have no idea what's with my brain but it kind of short circuits when I come across a pattern with such instructions or charts.

Anyway, I really do hope the revival of this blog will rekindle my knitting mojo. I must admit that it does feel nice to start again.

ps - merged my food blog with this because it's easier to just manage one blog.