In Praise of the Lowly Garter Stitch!

I found myself today at the doctor's office. We won't dwell on the utter pain in the nether regions it is to drive down to Hartford, find a spot in the hospital ramp garage, and then sit around for ages, waiting for my doctor. He's an absolutely wonderful neurologist, but today he was running woefully behind schedule...

Anyway, I had brought (yet another) Special Olympics scarf to work on (thank heavens, as I definitely had the TIME). I decided to use up the last remaining yarn by doubling it and making my infamous "Scarf from He**" which can be found at:

http://wildknitter.blogspot.com/2011/04/scarf-from-he-finally-done-pattern.html

I have to say, it looks really nice in red and blue--I figure I'm going to trim it in the red.

ANYWAY, I was happily knitting away when a woman came into the doctor's office and remarked favorably on my scarf. Immediately, instead of simply thanking her, I had to launch into a lengthy dissertation to defend my choice of garter stitch. "Really," I declared, "I'm really capable of much more complicated work! I can cable and everything! I make socks, too! I'm just doing this because I knew it would be a quick knit..." I went on and on.

Afterwards, I had to stop and consider. WHY am I defending my great love of garter stitch??? I know it's the stitch of grade-school children, but it's also the basis for Sally Melville's The Knitting Experience Book 1: The Knit Stitch, Inspiration & Instruction. I think we can all agree that she turns out a mean pattern. I just love the soft, bouncy, squishiness of garter stitch. Blankets, scarves, and casual sweaters made from it are just so cozy. I love to make scarves where I stripe garter stitch vertically, which makes a nice effect. I'd love to try a log cabin afghan someday, as that's more garter stitching!

So, what is your favorite knitting stitch, and why?

P.S. I was mortified to find that if you Google "Scarf from he**" and "WildKnitter" my pattern comes right up...


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Hectic Holidays

I find, every year, that this is a season of hustle and bustle—that has NOTHING to do with the usual holiday preparations people make.

Never mind the tree-trimming, wrapping, cooking, baking, etc. If you are a crafter of any kind, this is the time of year where stringent deadlines MUST be met. Knitted and crocheted items must be finished, washed, blocked, and, in some cases, shipped to other parts of the country. I have three things I’m frantically trying to complete for this year.

1) I have a baby blanket and baby sweater I made for a coworker that needs to be washed and dried. I have to find some sort of box for this, wrap it, and then find out if we are doing a shower for my coworker or if I should just give this to her.  If this is the case, I need to find out her maternity leave date—unless I want to ship the entire thing to India.

2) I have an afghan knitted in washable wool that I need to toss into the machine and PRAY that it is indeed as washable as the label claims. It’s enormous, so I have to figure out somewhere to dry it, too. Then I have to find a suitable box, bring it to the post office, and hope it’s not too much money to ship to my niece.

3) I’m also engaged in selfish crafting. I’m finishing up a crocheted jacket that I’m hoping to have ready for the holidays. I’m still struggling to get the collar and button band crocheted correctly. You can’t tell from the picture (the model has long hair that is obscuring the collar), but it appears I’m supposed to be making a shawl collar. The pattern is a little fuzzy on how to go about this, so I’m actually winging it.

Next year, I plan to start this process in JANUARY…