Not-So-Epic Fail

Recently, Cassandra entertained you with a the story of a project that was not as successful as she'd hoped. Of course, all failures teach us something and, in this case, Cassandra learned about accurate measuring and the value of knowing someone who is a size or two smaller than you who would really love that handmade "mistake". 

I'm here today to share my not-so-epic failure (of which there have been many but this is the most recent.)

As you may know, I've been knitting a lot of Yoda hats recently. And, because I'm a person who prefers to finish one project before I start another, I waited WAY too long to get going on a scarf for a friend's birthday. So, at his party on Saturday, I showed up with a 1/3 knitted piece and the promise that it would be finished soon. He seemed to like the color (it's his favorite) and, I'm pretty sure he'll be happy with the finished project. 

So... how is this a failure, you may ask?

Well, what happens when you rush is that you really don't think things through all the way. And here's where I failed (and learned stuff):

I didn't have enough yardage in the skein of choice to do the entire scarf so I decided to embellish with some stripes of a coordinating color. However, while I chose a great color in a complementary yarn type - the main part is alpaca and the stripes are merino - I allowed myself to believe that the sport-weight alpaca and the DK weight merino were close enough to "blend".

As I was working on the piece, I started to question the decision of using two different weights. But, as I mentioned, I was in a hurry and I thought, "hell, who's going to notice??"

Also, because I was in a hurry, and I wanted to show it to my friend at his party, I wove in all the ends at the stripes. *facepalm*  I can never take it apart now... 

My dear friend, D, who will always be honest, looked at it and said, "This doesn't look like something you'd knit. It's just not as good as your usual work." Ugh. And, of course, the alpaca is long discontinued so it's not like I can just go out and buy more.

Needless to say, I'm going to finish what I started and hope that my friend sees the love that I knit it with and will graciously overlook the failure in my work.

Keep calm and knit on, friends.

- Alex

Critters for Christmas

Knitting has turned me into "one of THOSE people" - the ones who are planning for Christmas in October. Well, to be honest, I bought the patterns in July but I'm just now casting on.


I miss the days when I didn't think about Christmas until, say, the week of Christmas. It was an awesome thing to realize that I had seven days or so to balance my checkbook and scour the stores in a fast, but satisfying, buying frenzy. There was just something more festive about it.


Planning for Christmas makes it seem like a chore.


On the other hand, I love giving hand-made gifts to my family and friends. Not everyone appreciates them, but I like the process of picking out something I think the person might like and creating it from scratch. I think it has more value than some mass-produced piece of plastic that a gajillion other people are also going to own on December 26th.

This year, for the first time, my niece and nephew are getting hand-made gifts for Christmas. It's tricky with kids. They could be really bummed out with the present (think about Ralphie in the bunny suit) because it's NOT that mass-produced piece of plastic. However, I hedged my bets and had the kids pick out the patterns that they wanted.


Enter my very best resource for knitted items for kids: Morehouse Farm Merino.


Morehouse Farm makes some of the loftiest, loveliest merino yarn you've ever seen. You know it's from the farm because, occasionally, there'll be a bit of hay or something stuck in the fiber. But even better than their yarn are their patterns and kits. Sure, they have the traditional hats, scarves, sweaters, etc. but where the real treasure lies is in their Critter Knits.


Pretty much any animal you can imagine has been made into a Morehouse Critter - dogs, dragons, chicks, and geckos abound. They might be scarves or purses or hats but, however they're knitted up, the one thing they all are is CUTE.


My niece chose the pink poodle scarf and my nephew the gecko. While I love the merino wool, it's not really practical for two little, messy children so they're getting theirs made from lovely, washable acrylic. I picked the loftiest acrylic I could find because I was worried that the pattern would lose it's shape so the gecko is being made with Vanna's Choice and the poodle will be made from Waverly by Bernat.


So far the gecko is coming out beautifully. I'm actually surprised at how well the acrylic is knitting up and how much I like the hand of the finished fabric.  I'm really looking forward to seeing their faces when the open their presents on Christmas day. I'm sure they'll be happier than Ralphie was.(At least I hope so!)

- Alex