Thursday, January 28, 2010

Keeping the devil at bay...

...by keeping the hands...not idle. Or something like that.

New knitting strategy. (I typed in "stragedy" at first, and realized that's a good word for "when one's knitting game plan goes horribly wrong." It's a stragedy.)

Or a knit-mare.

Or a castastrophe.

Or a calamknitty.

In order to stop wanton yarn wastage of my good stuff like the chunky baby alpaca (which is only shorn from the baby alpaca once, hence the rather steep price. After that, it's shorn from the tired mangy old mama alpaca who isn't as soft and bouncy as she was in her early years, which is hardly her fault owing to the copious amount of child-rearing she had to do. But I digress...) I am experimenting with teensy cotton squares that I can then put to practical purpose.

I decided to try a simple cotton dishcloth. This would allow me to practice and work on technique. And I like having something to do when watching TV. So I popped in to this funky little yarn shop called ARIADNE after my dental appointment yesterday and bought a bright little Granny Apple Green ball of cotton yarn, just to try it.


One relaxed evening of garter stitches later and mission accomplished. Never has one been so proud of a simple knit square.

Squarish... But now I think it's so pretty, I don't want to use it to wipe up goop from the kitchen counter, thus defeating its purpose. Gah.

You have my permission to hang me with my own scarf should I progress to acrylic Kleenex box covers.

5 comments:

Lottery Girl said...

LOVE these squares! Love the color, love the quality of the knitting, etc.

I have the same issue as you do with using these as dishcloths, etc. I hear that people use them as washcloths instead in the bathroom, but have no idea what that would be like on your skin.

Carry on!

nightsmusic said...

When I was a kid, my grandmother taught me how to crochet, knit, tat, embroider...most of the "proper" handwork well bred English ladies would do. I had to practice the knitting and crocheting by making dishcloths.

I enjoyed it. At first. About the 30th square, I swore, if I ever had to make another one, I'd quit doing handcrafts. Period.

I haven't made a little square since.

Yours are lovely and I hope you don't grow as bored with them as I did.

BB said...

Sweet - I too have a pile of unused kitchen cloths. Less because I am admiring them and more because I am avoiding wiping things.
:-)
BB
PS Word Ver is "stizing" which may be a technical knitting term for adding a stitch as you fall asleep?

Debby said...

I really have to say, I am envious of your skills. I can't knit. I'd like to. Someday I will head to Canada for knitting lessons. You're not all that far from me, you know.

A Novel Woman said...

Debby I would love the visit, but if you want to learn some mad knitting skills, I ain't your gal.

NM, I'm at three dishcloths and counting. I can knock 'em off at one an hour now, which I do in the evenings while watching TV or chatting with my husband.

BB, I did use one for wiping the counter. It works like a...well, I was going to say charm but come on, it works like a cloth.

LG, the cotton I use is baby soft and would work well as a washcloth.

Gosh, I'm a sad, sad woman....