Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Check!

That 3rd Knitting Resolution for 2008 has been completed!
Color Work...check!
I don't think I did it exactly right. Of course, I had to choose a project "in the round" that didn't have color going all the way 'round. From what I read about working with color, that would have been a little bit easier. Anyway, last night I got to this point:


Today I finished it:

And gave it to my favorite Giants fan:

(Since David has a few days off, he's been experimenting with decorative facial hair. I like him better regular.)
Oh, this hat...Well, the hat that I took apart to make this one was a bit too small, so I hoped that this one would turn out bigger. It's too big! So frustrating! I asked David why his head is so weird. Next time I will need to make sure I do more than the recommended amount of ribbing so that it can be folded over better if it is too big. David folded the ribbing up, but I think it looks kind of weird because the front can't be turned up as much because it will hide the Giants logo. And that would be bad because it took me forever to figure out how to do it! I didn't make the chart myself...someone on Ravelry did... I don't think I'm ready for that sort of thing yet!

In other knitting news, today was the debut performance of one of my Christmas presents:

A yarn swift & ball-winder. I LOVE it! It does in 6 minutes or less what I was spending hours on...winding hanks of yarn into center-pull balls. They aren't even balls...they are squarey balls and they are not lopsided like the ones I do by hand. Also, if you crank the ball-winder fast enough, the umbrella swift makes a nice breeze which could be handy on a hot day. Maybe I will wind a skein of yarn after all of my runs to cool-down.
As I was reading the directions for the ball-winder, the wording seemed strangely familiar. Phrases like:
"Thrust [the yarn guide] in over a boss positioned at the reverse side of the base until clicking."
and
"Fit bobbin in bobbin holder in a right position."
and
"Keeping bobbin holder by hand, turn bobbin to left by another hand as far as it goes"
I glanced down at the ball-winder and sure enough, there plain as day it said "Made in Japan". I knew it! I would recognize the translation of those directions anywhere. Last night I did some Japanese shopping and on the back of one pack of cute food picks it says, "There is an error drinking danger. Please do not give to the infant no matter what."

4 comments:

onescrappychick said...

YARN CAKES! That's what the ball winder makes.. yarn cakes. I love mine. I recieved both those same gifts over the past two prior Christmases and I love them also. And you kick arse at the color work.. I've never done ANY! YAY

Anonymous said...

Hmmm......yarn cakes. Love 'em. It took me a while to realize that slippery yarns have to be pulled from the outside of the cake, not the center har har.

Cool hat!
My first colorwork was a hat with fair isle all around. To me, doing a single design in the project sems hard, but I'll have to give it a try someday.

Great work!!

Cyndi said...

I don't know anything about Yarn Cakes. But I do know that, that's one KICK A** Hat! You go girl. And it looks good on too. Love yah! And Happy New Year!!

Dogeared said...

OK you and a Cambridge friend of mine seem to have so much knitting in common - I'm sure she'd love that winder! I'll have to ask her if she minds me giving you her Blog address, because I think you two crazy knitters would have a lot to swap in terms of projects and tips! I'm sure she could tell you where the best yarn shops are too.

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