16 May 2013

Whence all this pink in my knitting and crocheting bag?

I've never been really fond of pink, so was surprised to realize that I have three projects going on that all contain pink.  First, after getting all those sweaters knit and mailed, what do you think turned up as my "idiot" or when-I-don't-want-to-pay-attention knitting?
 Yup.  Another Steppe Sweater, this one about 26" around so approximately size 8.  I may send it to Afghans for Afghanistan, which is doing a campaign to get 500 wool sweaters for girls by sometime this summer.  The yarn is Bernat Felting (a discontinued yarn) so 100% wool roving.  Or I'll keep it for the Mittens for Akkol fall campaign, which is mostly socks but also other clothing items for the smaller children.

When I went to visit my grandmother last weekend, I wanted something easy that she (one of the people who taught me to knit) would appreciate.  I had been thinking for some time that this yarn - Gedifra Fashion Trend Fino Stripe, also discontinued - would make a nice baby blanket:
It's the 10-Stitch Blanket pattern worked on fifteen stitches and with a longer starting strip so it comes out as more of a rectangle.  That is only the second ball, so with each strip being about 3.5" wide this could end up fairly large, or have a matching sweater or something.  We'll see what happens by ball four, since of course the rows just get longer so the balls don't go as far the more I knit.

Then I made the collar of a tunic that will go over the torso I am decorating for a breast cancer awareness event.  I photographed it over a black T-shirt so the pattern is more visible:
It's going to be a whole tunic and luckily those are the only hearts involved.  I really had to pay attention to get them to work properly!

Before you worry about me knitting only for others, or only in pink, I'll show you this:
The color is slightly more blue than it appears in the photo, and it's a handdyed yarn (wool and maybe silk) I've had for a long time.  At the bottom is my first test piece, using US#13 needles.  I didn't like it - drapey enough, but the stitches were too big to make me happy.  So I switched to US#10, and after a couple false starts, it's moving along.  The original pattern is called the Flying Geese Shawl, but of course I am doing it my way.  I am alternating garter and stockinette in each "V", and I plan to do an applied I-cord border.  One of the false starts was trying to figure out an integrated I-cord and it looked too weird, so I am leaving it for after.  I do have a WIP with integrated I-cord borders, but couldn't remember how it worked so decided I'll just add it later.

Thanks to some long meetings, the shawl is growing nicely.  I have to focus on the tunic to get it done by the end of this month, because the decorated torsos are due by June 1st.  So that is my quiet at-home project, when I can focus on the pattern.  I'll post more pictures when these get bigger.

1 comment:

Alison said...

I have a very pretty shawlette because it was that deep rosy color... I think of you with great fondness every time I see it. Thank you!

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