Change of Plans

Out: Soft boucle poncho
In: Satin poncho

After much struggle to determine the origin of phantom stitches and not being able to see my stitches clearly, I ditched the soft boucle poncho and started on a new one, with yarn that's easier to work with because, you know, it resembles "normal" yarn.

So, I found a pattern for another poncho, the Satin Poncho It has a kind of lacy look and includes basic lace knitting techniques to create holes in the fabric, such as yarnovers and the slip, knit, pass over decrease. I'm using Bernat Satin yarn in the Teal color and size 8 (5mm) circular needles. I have about 4 inches of it done so far and it looks really pretty. This one, of course, is for my aunt, but I may end up liking it so much I want to make one for myself.

As for the soft boucle, I'll keep the yarn in my stash and maybe try working with it again when I'm more experienced.

Ay Friggin' Caramba!

Oh crap! I'm knitting a poncho that is done as a long rectangle and then seamed after bind-off and I just discovered, about 6 or 7-odd rows late, that I have 2 extra stitches. As a result of said extra stitches, one side of my rectangle slants off in a direction that makes the rows after the slant begins slightly longer. It ain't pretty. Being as this is only my third project and I've been knitting for only about 6 weeks, I can't for the life of me figure out where the stitches were added. I've ripped back about three rows while the work is still on the needles and it's taking me forever to do so. The idea of taking the piece OFF the needles and ripping back that way gives me the heebie-jeebies because I can see myself starting and not being able to stop until the whole dang thing is frogged. Not. What. I. Want. To. Do. This yarn is a nubby boucle yarn and it's not always easy to see when and where I screw up.

Now I'm usually able to fix my mistakes pretty easily with my handy little crochet hook, but this one's a doozy. Right now, I have three options:

a) Keep on ripping back on the needles, despite the painful tedium of the process and not knowing exactly where the phantom stitches came from.
b) Seek help from a higher authority (read: just about anybody at Needles in the Haymarket)
c) Frog it all. Find a cat. Throw him two skeins of soft boucle yarn to chase around. Make shawl or poncho out of something else, more closely resembling normal yarn.

I'm most inclined to choose option b because, despite the difficulty I'm having with it, I like how the soft boucle looks knitted up (when it's done right!). So, it's to the yarn shop I go, once I kick this cold. No pix with this post, but I hope you got a kick out of reading the comedy of my errors.

A Shrug is Born

Second knitting project: complete! The shrug was a good second project because it was easy to knit, yet it introduced me to the all-important knitting techniques of increasing and decreasing. The first 7 1/2 inches and the last 7 1/2 inches were knit two, purl two (K2 P2) ribbing. The middle 16 inches were K1 P1, resulting in an hourglass shape before seaming. Seaming is exactly what it sounds like: creating seams in the garment by using yarn to sew two edges together. For this project, I folded the hourglass-shaped fabric in half and sewed up the sides until I got to where the ribbing changed to K1 P1 from K2 P2. As I was knitting this project and looking at the seaming instructions on the pattern, I was initially confused as to how folding it in half and sewing partway up the sides was going to result in this shrug (or shrudge, as my dad, being completely unfamiliar with the concept of a shrug, called it. "How's your shrudge coming?") After both Mom and Dad looked at the pattern and were confused themselves as to how this would not turn out to be a large, ridiculous hat with two holes on the sides, Dad finally came to the correct conclusion that you put your arms through the holes and pull the top section of ribbing over your head. Seeing that visual/spatial reasoning is not my strong suit, it took another pair of eyes to figure that out for me!


Increasing and decreasing were an adventure. The decreasing came first and for that I had to knit two stitches together as if they were one stitch. Pretty self-explanatory, right? I didn't realize how hard it would be to get that second stitch on the needle! Increasing, or adding those stitches lost in the decreasing process, involved knitting both in the front and back of the stitch. That felt really awkward to do for the first 20 or so stitches, then it got a little easier.

The picture on the top left was taken by my knitting friend Marlyss at Needles in the Haymarket. What's with the TP in the background, you might ask. The answer: It was too dang bright outside and the shop has windows both in front and in the back. The glare from the sunlight made it hard to take a picture anywhere but the bathroom, so there I am, modeling my new shrug, which was in loud contrast to my purple and white shirt.

Next up, a poncho for my aunt's belated birthday present. I'm using Bernat Soft Boucle yarn in teal twist. The yarn is nubby and can be tricky to work with since it's harder to see and fix mistakes. However, I'm determined to learn how to knit with all different kinds of yarn and I think it will look really pretty when I'm finished.