Knitting a large-scale sculpture?

Something is hatching here (click to embiggen): 

Photo of a page of my journal, black ink on white paper with blue gridlines. Brainstorming a list of features for a very large, weird, knitting project occupying my brain.

Something Knitty: Ear Bud Sweater and Shizuku with Tendrils

Warning: Knitting Content

Makihige

Back in January (during the few weeks it was chilly here in Coastal Texas) I was keen to knit a pretty, stylish something that could do double-duty as a scarf and small shoulder wrap. While trolling that knitter’s opium den (Ravelry) I came across the Shizuku Scarf by Angela Tong (try here for a Shizuku link off the Rav). The original design is striking, with little teardrops forming the fringe on one edge of a triangular shawlette knit in Noro Kureyon, a progressively-dyed yarn. According to the pattern, “Shizuku” means “drops or teardrop shape” in Japanese. I wasn’t sure how I felt about those droplets. They looked fascinating, but would they be fun to make? Further down the rabbit-hole I found a mod that banked on the brilliance of Cat Bordhi (clever knitter extraordinaire). Ms. Bordhi has a You Tube video in which she explains how to make Tendrils—sort of fringy twists—all over a hat, suggestive of cartoonish dreadlocky hair. While the substitution of tendrils for teardrops neutralizes the original name of the pattern, the result is lovely. And those tendrils are FUN to make. I want to put tendrils on everything now. I used a little more than a single skein of Lion Brand Amazing (wool and acrylic blend) in the Glacier Bay color way.

Eglentyne’s Shizuku with Tendrils Scarf (Photo by Sonar X11, Click to embiggen)Ear Bud Sweaters

My ear buds needed a sweater. Less to keep them warm than to make them look cool. Plus, I cannot resist whimsy, and who wants tangled rubbery cords? I covered my cords with South West Trading Company’s Tofutsies yarn (Superwash wool, Soysilk fibers, Cotton, and Chitin). I used US Size 1 (2.25mm) needles to make a four-stitch I-cord over the main wire, then a three-stitch cord after the split up to the ears. I didn’t cover the mic, and stopped short of covering the ear end of the cords because I didn’t want yarn in my ears. Bonnie Pruitt has a video tutorial if you want to try this one. 

Tofutsies Ear Bud Sweater (photo courtesy of Eglentyne and a sunny day. Click to embiggen.)

Something Knitty: Soccer ball and hearts

Watch out, actual knitting content. 

Felted Heart Milagros

Pattern by Mags Kandis. Yarn is Lion Brand Amazing in the Glacier Bay colorway. Not so much felted, but still squishy sweet. If you are a Ravelry member, I highly recommend browsing through the project gallery for this one. People have put together some amazing heart stashes. 

Sonar X9 modeling Felted Heart Milagros 

Futbol

Pattern by Yana Ivey. Yarn is Hobby Lobby’s I Love This Yarn in black and white (for obvious). So that a soccer-loving friend can play ball in the house. Knitting the thirty-two pieces was great. But there was EPIC SEAMING. Next time: I’ll use wool instead of acrylic so that a little bit of light felting will help tighten up and even out any little bulges and puckers.  

Sonar X7 modeling the hand-knit soccer ball

That's It, I'm Breaking UP With My Paintbrush

Tomorrow I will put away the hammer and break up with my paintbrush. Then I’m going to try to remember all the crazy, stupid, sublime shit I thought about writing while I was painting, so I can finally write it down. Painting and home repair and daily showering has been a blast, but I’m ready to go back to being the shoeless, semi-hermit writer who only bathes a couple of times a week.

In the meantime, apropos of nothing, here’s one of my favorite vacation pictures. 

Dani’s stained knee, with knitting and camera bagThis was taken somewhere along I-10W, between San Antonio, Texas and the great big batch of nowhere that reaches out from there. I was NOT driving, as evidenced by the shifter almost visible next to my leg. From left to right (after the shift indicator strip): blueberry yogurt stain, coffee drip, robot knitting, empty camera bag, robot-knitting pattern. On the return trip, I sported a coffee drip on my left boob. Sorry, no gratuitous boob shot of that one.

Don't faint, I have some knitting: Cherry Swiss Cheese Scarf

I’m experiencing a little wobble in the work-life balance this week. Actually if I’m not getting any work done, I suppose there’s no balance to be found. Mostly I’m rolling around enjoying the last week of school with the Sonars. I’ll get back to it. To prepare for summer, Sonar X6 made a sign for my door to make sure people know I’m writing. If the youngest of them can get that I need writing time, there’s hope for me. 

In other news, I finished some knitting. A gift for a special person in our lives.

Cherry Swiss Cheese Scarf in Yarn Bee JubileeApologies for the crappy dark photo on my rumpled bed. My good sunny photography spots have been filled with roofing materials for a couple of days. 

Yarn: Yarn Bee Jubillee

Colorway: Cherry

Pattern: Swiss Cheese Scarf by Winnie Shih

Needles: US11

Finished dimensions: almost five feet by a little more than one foot. There’s a lot of room for stretch in both directions.

Pattern Mods: When I reached the desired length, I did almost one more pattern repeat, omitting the final buttonhole row, then binding off. This made both ends of the scarf symmetrical with one another. Because the yarn is so much thicker than the lace weight called for in the pattern, I knit fewer repeats, but still got a scarf that can do double-duty as a light-weight shawl.

The pattern is acheived by interrupting stretches of garter stitch with giant buttonholes. I love the drama and versatility of this pattern. It looks great with this thick, frizzy yarn, but the eyelash obscures the wave effect that forms around the buttonholes. I’d love to try it again with a smoothly spun yarn. The scarf is long enough that the wearer can put her hands through two holes near the end and make “sleeves.” Or the whole thing can be worn like a keyhole scarf with one end drawn through a center hole. The Sonars also suggested draping it over the front of the face like a ski mask. Sorry, no picture of that one.