UFO Knitting - 1 Week, Every Month

Recently, my friend Linda lent me her copy of Crewel World by Monica Ferris

Being a mystery set around a needlework shop, it was right up my alley. It's fairly light and a quick, enjoyable read. It was published in 1999 and is the first in a series that's now up to 16 books. Yep, I'm a little slow getting to this series.

So, what does any of this have to do with Knitting UFOs (UnFinished Objects)? Well, early on in Crewel World, Margot (sister of main character, Betsy), mentions that the last week of every month is UFO Week.

Bernat Panama -- Working From My Stash

My mom knew all kinds of needlework techniques and, amazingly, she was good at all of them - sewing, knitting, crocheting, quilting, counted cross stitch ... even tatting.

She happily passed her knowledge along to her six daughters and before she died, she also passed along her stash and UFOs. Among the sisters, different ones gravitated toward different techniques. Several of us knit, but I'm the enthusiast and so her stash of Bernat Panama Yarn is now part of my stash.

10 skeins of white, 7 skeins of misty blue and 2 each of petal pink and corn flower blue.

Summer tank

Back about, oh, 7 or 8 years ago, I was shopping with Cherie and she talked me into buying this simple, little tank. I have a tendency to be a bit ... um, shall we say "thrifty" (some might say, "cheap") and this was one of those things that cost a little more than I would normally spend.

Well, it turned out to be a big, huge value. Thank you, Cherie!!

I wore this tank to pieces. OK, not quite to pieces, literally, but all the way to stains and frays.

After multiple attempts to get rid of the stains (that'd be the "thrifty" side of me), I've finally decided that it is time to let go of this wonderful tank.

However ... perhaps, I could knit a simple, little tank that I like equally well. So, before putting it in the stack for Take It or Leave It at the Lopez Dump (aka "Neil's mall"), I took a bunch of measurements and - by posting them here - I'll have them at the ready when I sit down and start working on my knitted tank.

Brioche Stitch

I've been signed up for the Knitting Daily email for a while now. At first, I found the daily emails frequently had great tips/info. More recently, though, they seem to be primarily about selling stuff with an occasional interesting tip - usually tied to selling something. That was the case again today.

This morning's email is titled "Learn Something New: The Brioche Stitch". I've been curious about this stitch and the email (web version here) does have very basic how-to instructions. However, as is the norm, to really learn anything, you need to buy something.

Being innately cheap, I googled "2-color brioche stitch" ... and found a fantastic site called "The Brioche Stitch" by Nancy Marchant with all kinds of great information. Her "Brioche Stitch In Color" page starts with a 2-color brioche stitch ...

2-color Plain Brioche - Right side

Then covers ...

Sweater for Bill - ideas

I've been thinking and talking about knitting a sweater for Bill ... well, ever since it would no longer be a "Boyfriend Sweater". We got married in 2007, so that's a while now.

I've learned that Bill has specific ideas about what he likes and does not like in a sweater. I've also learned that if I'm going to take the time to knit a sweater for him, I need to pay attention to his ideas. So, from time to time, I'll hold up an image and say, "what do you think of this?"

Recently, he said, "I saw something in the catalog we got the other day ...." Well, I ripped that page out immediately and set it in the "save" stack.

However, during my latest, go-through-the-paperwork effort, I decide to scan it, post about it and then toss that page right into the recycle bin. So, here's the scanned image ...

And now, I've "filed" it to my blog, so I'll always be able to find it.

When I finally knit that sweater, it will be interesting to compare it to the various "ideas" that came before it.

Getting started

My husband Bill and my niece Catie have both suggested that I should start blogging and since they both know that I always do what I'm told  ...

Given that Catie was a main catalyst for this endeavor, it seems appropriate that she's part of my first post. Plus, I have pictures of her wearing a pair of fingerless mitts that I knit last fall when she was staying with us on Lopez. (I did recently knit a pair of gloves for Bill, but I don't have any pictures yet.) So, Catie it is!