Drowning in Garter

It's been two weeks since I've felt motivated to write. Mostly because my knitting has not been inspiring me. I'm all about the meh these days. The last two times I went to knit-night I did no knitting, and fell asleep in my chair with neither yarn nor needles in my hands.

Something had to be done.

Something was.

I started a new project, that even though is all garter stitch, has me counting stitches, making yarn overs and it's coming along splendidly! You know, sometimes even garter stitch can rock! The other night I cast on the four stitches of Spiral Staircase Shawl (corrected), by LizAnn Petch, and am loving every stitch. I think it should have been called The Sea Serpent's Back, or Dragon Ridges, or some such. But then I probably read too much fantasy as a youth (The Voyage of the Dawn Treader was my favourite book as a kid, and I loved the chapter about their encounter with the sea-serpent).

You can see the ridges taking shape, and while I get the staircase name, I still prefer the sea-serpent reference.

The yarn is Madeline Tosh Vintage, the colourway is Purple Basil. I love this colour!

I am also making a garter stitch baby blanket, in Cascade Superwash 128.

When I've finished each strip, I'll sew them together. I might rearrange the order, and I might make a couple more strips. I got two skeins of each colour, and will be able to make a few more. I've got about a double dozen rows to go and I'll be done with these. But I have to admit, it's boring!

The final garter stitch project currently on the needles is this cowl.

Made with Lamb's Pride and an unremembered yarn, it was supposed to be a garter scarf, two rows of the Lamb's Pride, two rows of the other, making a stripey scarf. But the friend I am making this for, wanted a cowl, so I am doing 206 stitches of knit, followed by 206 stitches of purl. It's coming out well, it looks good, and I think it will wear well when done, but like the project above, it is boring! I find myself going brain dead while knitting it. I wonder what I can do to make it less mind-numbingly tedious? I thought that it would be a good project to bring to knit-night, but I hate to drag it out because it bores me so. Well, the sooner I get it done, the sooner I don't have to knit it anymore. I'll get on it, right after I finish my sea-serpent!

Here's Looking at You

I have finally finished the eyeball scarf I've been working on since January. It's ready to go home to William, its new owner. Now we just have to coőrdinate our schedules to do this. 

On Friday night, I glued little black glass beads to the felted irises, and I threaded a very sharp needle with Regia sock yarn and proceeded to stack the eyeballs on this yarn. 

Since I'd forgotten my needles, and didn't want to buy a new set (because, really, who needs to pairs of US 35 / 20 mm needles?), I cast-on the scarf on Sunday. The original pattern calls for a total of five stitches, but I chose to cast-on nine. Holding the two yarns together, I began to knit them up, and every now and then I'd slide an eyeball down and knit it into the scarf. Placement of the eyeballs was somewhat haphazard, but there were enough for a three-foot-plus-a-bit scarf.

The eyeballs that are on the dropped yarn-overs kind of dangle. They're creepy.

While this wasn't a difficult project, if I ever do it again, there are some things I'd do differently.

1. I would make more eyeballs. Fifteen just isn't quite enough, I think I'd aim for 20.
2. I would needle-felt the irises as a flat sheet, on a sponge or something, rather than felting them right onto the eyeball.
3. While making the eyeball, I'd attach the felted iris and start rolling it along toward the end of the eyeball making process, so I wouldn't have to needle-felt it onto the eyeball.
4. I think I would glue or somehow tie the eyes to the yarn (I used Malabrigo Rasta for this project, in colourway Porrinho), rather than trying to thread them onto a sock yarn thread.
5. I'd cast-on fewer stitches. Five didn't seem to be enough, but I think nine was too many. Maybe seven would do the trick.
6. I think I will call my version of this yarn, Here's Looking At You.

N is for Neville

I have hit a snag. A small snag. I'm bored with my knitting. Not bored with knitting, but bored with my knitting. Right now I have several projects on the needles, and they're all about garter stitch, no stockinette. Cue Megan Trainor.

I'm working on a garter stitch baby blanket. I'm knitting blocks in various colours that will be stitched together when done. Garter. Stitch. Blocks. I must have been perfectly evil in a past life to deserve this. I'm working on a cowl that is supposed to be an all garter stitch scarf, but my friend wanted a cowl, so I'm knitting 206 stitches of garter and then 206 stitches of purl, so it looks like garter.

And I am so terrifically bored with these two projects that I'm not knitting when I have the chance at home.  I know I have to finish them, but would it be wicked of me to work on them just a little bit and then work on something just a bit more, oh, I don't know, a bit more fabulous? A double knit scarf? Or maybe I should learn to make the stuffed bears, snowmen, and platypus toys that are so charming? Or a kick-ass shawl? Or some lace?

Oh, and the Blue Water Cowl?
I hit a snag on the Blue Water Cowl and I don't want to talk about it.
I have to tink back an entire row.
I said I don't want to talk about it.

I think I'm going to think about corgis instead.

N is for Neville is from the Gashleycrumb Tinies, by Edward Gorey, 1963