Works in Progress

I've been busy crafting in between all the travel, cooking, working and enjoying the season. First, a success. I got this awesome slow striping yarn as a graduation gift from my grandmother, it has a tight twist and a nice drape. (It had better, it was $24 a ball!)

I wanted to make the most of each ball so I found a free Ravelry Pattern with a simple lace motif. Of course, the pattern had been charted with some bizarre symbol system, so first I had to use a free web app to make a legible chart.

The finished piece is long enough to wrap twice, and has a nice subtle pattern for interest. I expect I'll use the other ball (which is a blue and purple colorway) in a similar way.

 Next, a little less success. I tried to knit an elf hat based on an Elizabeth Zimmerman pattern. It came out quite a bit too small. And odd-looking, and might just get felted down to baby size, or made into a bowl.

 Then I tried to make a baby hat. It's a bit bigger then intended. It's to match this baby sweater that the kid has grown in to. I think mama-baby matchy matchy time might be the solution!

Remember kids, do your gauge swatch! Don't knit blind! And don't assume that measuring on the needles will get you anywhere...

Which leads to the next "Now-I-Know" moment, guidelines. I worked on this embroidery piece for an entire year. And with each new flower I had to redraw the borderlines that had been rubbed off. So naturally, when it came time to add the flower names along the edge, the circle was a bit off center.

I saw this suggested somewhere and decided that late is better than never, before starting the words I ran single thread basting stitch around the piece to make clear circles. No matter the stretching of the hoop, I know where the letters should be to make them straight! I'll be framing this soon and mounting on the wall.

All said, some good crafting has happened in the last month. Someday I may even learn my lesson on the gauge swatch issue...

What have you been making? What have you been screwing up?