Knitting some sunshine

I have embarked on a creative journey last evening. ..Two knitting projects with the potential to delight both of us– me the knitter and they the wearer. Both of them are small items (in keeping with my new resolution to knit out yarn from the stash), and both of them are a source of delightful anticipation to my knitting fingers and waiting eyes.

Techniques rule the roost this week. I want to master the art of calculating the correct number of stitches which can encircle my head without cutting off the blood supply to the scalp, or without cutting off the scenery in front of me. This has to be amalgamated to a slip stitch pattern which will create a firm and flat fabric. So therefore, a hat will be knitted in hot pink and black, with a slip stitch pattern, which will fit my head perfectly. After completion, it will be given to someone with an identical sized head

Slip stitch patterns have been devised to knit ornate and visually complicated knits with total ease. No annoying trails of yarn, no twisted and tangled wool clumps and by the time one reaches the end of the chart, Viola, the final pattern gleams brightly. These patterns are all about following the chart with the designated color for each line, knitting the stitches in one color and slipping the others. Two rows are knitted for one line of the chart, and then its time to switch colors and move to the next line and row. There is very little scope for error, as long as one has started from the beginning and has knit and slipped till the end of the chart.

The other project is a baby jacket with cables galore. The challenge here is about selecting the right cables to fit into the limited number of stitches which make up a baby garment. Honestly, babies are so small!! 120 stitches are enough to encircle the girth of a “healthy baby”, 5 inches of knitting are enough to reach armhole shaping times, and the sleeves– 6 inches of knitting complete one arm!! Compare that to the 250 stitches needed to cover my waist, 20 plus inches to the armholes, and let us not even talk about the despairing dreary process of knitting up two sleeves for an adult sweater!

The cables have been put in place and I am enjoying this process of knitting up sunshine yellow with the yarn moving smoothly through my fingers, a smile playing on my lips and satisfaction flowing through my soul. I promise, my dear readers, to complete these two projects by the weekend and post the FO pictures by Monday.

Now that I have made this promise, I watch myself entering the work-horse-knitter-mode. Even if I have to watch 3 or more thrillers, back to back; even if I have to burn the midnight oil/electricity; even if I have to just glance at the newspaper instead of devouring it…these projects will just have to reach the finish line in four days ( and nights).