Stitch Markers and Kewl Tip…
One of the gals at knitting tea saw some of the beaded stitch markers I made a month or so ago and wanted to order some for her to give as a gift to a gal she has taught to knit who is moving to Guatamala. She didn’t tell me numbers of colors. She just said she wanted an assortment. So, I just went to town with whatever beads I had on hand and the above are the results. We had a new hot water heater installed this morning so I couldn’t make it to knitting tea so I went to her house to visit her yesterday afternoon and she bought the whole lot of 18 (14 stitch markers and 4 row counters). And, she would like me to teach her how to make them! Most of the beads were from HobLob assortment tubes. Some of them I absolutely love and I am hoping I can locate more of the similar beads. I love the top assortment the best and then I like any of them that use the long, skinny beads and the ones with the triangular beads at the bottom. I need some for myself, LOL! I wasn’t expecting her to want the whole lot of them. I guess I should have marked them up a bit more, LOL!
The Great Tip
So, last week I posted to the ample knitters list asking for suggestions of books with sock patterns that are texture or lace-based instead of all the intarsia or faire isle work I see dominating most of the books. I got some rather snotty comments asking why I needed a book for that. My reasoning was that I like to support people in the businesses that support my habit. Plus, since socks are my “on the road” project there are times when I have to be able to just grab and go and when I’m riding in the car, or sitting in a waiting room etc. I don’t find it easy to convert stitch patterns to circular knitting etc. So, I wanted a book that I knew I could grab and know with confidence there was a pattern in there that I could use with any yarn I happen to grab as I’m running out the door.
Well, besides a few rude comments I got a wonderful tip from Joyce. She scans in her most loved stitch patterns that work for her number of cast on stitches, sizes them down to 4 X 6 inches and carries them around in a dollar store photo album that holds 48 photos! So, I’ve been drooling over my copy of The New Knitting Stitch Library and 365 Knitting Stitches a Year Perpetual Calendar. At first I had chosen way too many patterns. This included some rather intricate cable patterns that I liked (but I haven’t done cabling yet) and some fun laces or lace panels. But, then I got to thinking that by the time I wear socks I probably don’t want too many holes in them because it’s pretty cold outside. If it’s remotely warm I’m pretty much in sandals. So, I narrowed them down. To save some time I used my digital camera instead of my scanner. But I have a great macro mode on it and it turns out quite nice. The ones from the library will be easy to convert to circular knitting because they have charts for them. The ones from the calender will require a bit more work to convert. But it sure will be fun to have a book to grab quickly for making socks. I’m also going to include DH and my measurements and I’m going to sort the patterns by the number of stitches in the pattern so once I know the gauge for the given yarn I know how many sts to cast-on and can look through only those sections that are a factor of the total number.
I’m so excited by this I’m not doing the work I should be doing, LOL! But between fumes from the plumbing to put in the new hot water heater and the lack of heat we’ve had I think I wouldn’t have had the motivation to work whether or not I had the distraction of this project, LOL!
