Brian Knits blog has moved!

I am really excited because I have purchased my domain and now own BrianKnits.com!

I have also moved my blog to Wordpress and gave it a facelift - all you have to do now is visit BrianKnits.com!

You'll find all of my posts, photos and musings on my love affair with yarn by simply visiting BrianKnits.com!

Please visit me there...this wonderful journey continues and I really want you to be a part of it!

BrianKnits.com

Creative Quandary

This morning, I found myself in a creative quandary.

I am currently working on a sampler scarf (as seen in my previous posting here) that involves four different stitch patterns on a rotation. In the pattern, the different stitch patterns are separated from the general pattern of the scarf. As a result, this morning I realized there was supposed to be 4 rows of garter stitch between each stitch pattern. So now...it doesn't look like the pattern!

I am about 10" into this project, and have finished the first complete rotation of all four patterns. I have made no technical errors (that I can see) and the stitches are turning out quite nicely. They include basket weave, mesh, seed, and sugar cubes.

My quandary is this: Do I rip back to the conclusion of the first stitch pattern so that I can add the rows of garter stitch between that section and the next (thus aligning with the pattern) or do I carry on as I am now and evolve the pattern to my own liking (albeit by accident)? What would you do?

I am choosing to carry on. I like how each stitch section fades into the next, and in the natural cotswold wool I'm using, it's looking nice. I've also realized I've made each section a bit larger than on the original as well. So, since it appears technically sound and my only crime is leaving out a few rows of garter stitch, I will carry on as rebel fiber artist and not succumb to my initial reaction of having to "make it exactly like the pattern tells me." Who says? Who makes that rule?

Now, don't get me wrong - if this were a sweater and proper fit was of utmost importance, I would certainly rethink this. However, this is a scarf, so my sense is that it will still fit comfortably around someone's neck. But it took the day, as well as an inspiring conversation with my partner, to get to a place of accepting that it is OK to veer from the pattern and make this design my own.

Have you been on a similar journey before? I'd love to hear about it!

Reunited

This has been a tough week for my knitting needles. The daily attention they had grown accustomed to was almost a memory. They sat on my side table, one hinged to the early stitches of a sampler scarf in cotswold wool, one laying alone, nearby.

I was attending a conference all week with a schedule beginning early in the morning and running late into the night. By the time I got home at night, I was not able to think of doing anything but getting to bed.

But after the dust settled, and I had a little time at home once the festivities (and a U2 concert on Friday night after the conference) finished, I was able to return to my needles and my work-in-progress, and felt that familiar comfort of having needles in hand and yarn flowing over fingers.

I realized then that, as the needles missed me, I, too, missed my needles...as they sang to me, "Baby Come Back," I replied with "Reunited, and it feels so good."

First Shawl Completed!

I am very excited because today I completed my first shawl. A few weeks ago, I would see a pattern like this and assume it complicated. Then, after a recent class on Increasing & Decreasing taught by the talented and inspiring Barbara Pfister Fusi at Sip & Knit, I realized that making something like this is really quite simple!

After learning the Yarn Over (yo) technique, I came across a free pattern on the Lion Brand Yarn site for an Easy Triangle Shawl. This pattern was incredibly simple - and after a few rows of repetition, I no longer needed the pattern in front of me, simply remembering to k1 and then yo, k1 at the beginning of every row.

I'm sure this could be knit in other bulkier weight, textured yarns. I had previously purchased 3 skeins of Lion Brand Yarn Homespun in "Prairie" (but it is available in a myriad of beautiful color combinations), so I used what I had in the stash and am very pleased with the results. Despite it being an acrylic/polyester blend, it's very soft and is machine washable and dryable.

This was also my first time making fringe and again, after doing it a few times, I found it to be quite easy with pre-measured strips of yarn and a crochet hook. There are a number of sites with comprehensive instructions on how to make fringe for your finished knitted and crocheted objects.

Let me know your thoughts and suggestions - I'd love to hear from you!