Project notes

Yup, I did end up frogging the Tanbark towel, and now I'm halfway through the second version, making my selvedge stitches 3 knit stitches (first stitch slipped as if to purl, then yarn back) . The side doesn't curl so much now...


Also done: two headbands for my friend Gay, though I'm not happy how they turned out... might make another one.

Yesterday I gave to my fave gay pal, Cyrus, a lime-green and purple scarf I knit last year. Will make him a matching hat soon. Comes in handy since he works in a call center. He was happy with it and wore it right away to work after our kaffeklatsch. I'll also knit a hat and scarf for another friend who's due to work again in a call center soon.

Towels update

Uh-oh... much as I'm 50 percent into the Tanbark towel, I don't like how one side is curling up. I can't decide if I should just rip the whole thing apart and start all over again with some slight changes to the selvedge. I'll take my time with it... the fabric in itself is lovely, it's just one side that's really troublesome.

Here's a pic of my curling problem:




Also, I've decided that I'll use up the remaining 2 skeins of Pakucho for a bigger towel, I suppose it would be a hand towel this time. Probably similar to Wavy pattern if i can't solve the Tanbark curl.

Latest dreams on the needles

These days I have more energy for my knitting projects in general than for my bread-and-butter telecommute job. In fact, I've sort of set aside the purple square I was knitting, for charity, but I'm gonna get back to it when the Tanbark towel's done.

But will also finish my purple square for the Many Colors knit-along at knittinghelp.com, and knit another square, maybe also in Tanbark.

Done!

Since I have 4 skeins of Pakucho organic cotton from Peru (via elann.com), I can make four face towels, since one skein is good enough for an 8 x 10 inch towel.

Face towel no. 1 is patterned after the Chinese Waves dishcloth pattern but I renamed it "Wavy Pakucho Towel" since I think the waves in China are not really little (the reason for the name).

Here are some pics I took today of the finished object (FO), right after bind off, hiding the ends that I still need to weave in, and in some of its "poses", placing the FO on top of the next skein of Pakucho that I'm using for Towel no. 2 (Barbara Walker's Tanbark pattern. Can you believe it, Ravelry's asked me to submit a pic of my knitting for this pattern... I feel honored... I'm such a knitting geek...)


Rolled up











Folded








Half-folded

I'm now officially a Knitting Amy!

Just got my approval tonight that my blog is part of the webring of Knitting Amys worldwide!

Here in the Philippines, my name is pronounced as Ah-mee. But when I'm talking with Americans and Westerners in general, my name becomes pronounced as Ey-mee. Either way, it can't be denied that I am definitely an Amy who knits.

Sorry, I just realized that there's no mention anywhere in this blog that I'm an Amy. But links in my other blogs, at soulsearch.multiply.com and amycavosora.blogspot.com will all vouch for my nickname...

Detail shot, 13th Rib Pattern version 2

Photo-0106
Originally uploaded by Dreaming Knitter

In Version 2, double moss stitch, the striping effect of the 13th single-rib stitch is a bit less noticeable but still there to break the monotony.

Detail shot, 13th Rib Pattern version 1

Photo-0105
Originally uploaded by Dreaming Knitter

Notice striping effect of the 13th single rib stitch, after knitting 12 rows of seed stitch/British Moss (k1 p1 one row, and p1, k1 next row, even number).

13th Rib Scarf

Basically, much as I love moss stitch, I wanted something to break the monotony.

And so, I decided to do something different with the 13th row. To explain the pattern name, it means the 13th row is a rib stitch, where the previous row's knit stitches are purled, and the purls are knitted.

Cast on an even number of stitches.



Version 1, British Moss Stitch (aka Seed Stitch):

Row 1: Knit 1, Purl 1
Row 2: Purl 1, Knit 1

Repeat Rows 1 and 2 for Rows 3 to 12:
Rows 3, 5, 7, 9 and 11 -- as Row 1
Rows 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12-- as Row 2

Row 13: Purl 1, Knit 1

Repeats Rows 1 to 13 until desired length:

Rows 14, 16, 18, 20, 22 and 24 -- as Row 1
Rows 15, 17, 19, 21, 23 and 25 -- as Row 2
Row 26: As Row 13

And so on

Sorry, for now this is my only available pic of a 13th rib scarf pattern, using Filati FF Sailor cotton yarn, Po River colorway. Notice the slight stripe effect of the 13th row.

I'll take more and better pics of the other scarves in this pattern.






Version 2, American Moss Stitch (aka Double Moss Stitch):

Rows 1 and 2: Knit 1, Purl 1
Rows 3 and 4: Purl 1, Knit 1
Rows 5 and 6: Knit 1, Purl 1
Rows 7 and 8: Purl 1, Knit 1
Rows 9 and 10: Knit 1, Purl 1
Rows 11 and 12: Purl 1, Knit 1

Row 13: Purl 1, Knit 1

Repeat Rows 1 to 13 until desired length.

Version 2's striping is subtle too and this pattern works best with solid yarns... I think. Haven't tried it with variegated yarns.


Here's a link about the 2 types of Moss Stitch.

Dreams to knit in 2008

1. Knit-along: Many Colors squares--at least 2
First square: Light Purple Square, Vertical Zigzag moss stitch
2nd square: ???? Scrap yarn square? Peach-pink-lavender?

Target: to send to US by March, thru Ate Sonia? (or June, when she comes back and forth)

2. Zahir scarf for Beng-- dropped stitch pattern--finish by May!

3. Brown headband for Gay--ASAP--find pattern first

4. Caps for Au and Matt-- finish my March/June--send via Ate Sonia

5. Tencel scarf for Pat--try to finish by July for her birthday


This is an incomplete list... because I'd like to knit a few wool hats for Dulaan again and another sleeping cap for Mama... well, what I've listed above are my priority dreams.

Busy dreaming at

As DreamingKnitter

Ravelry.com isn't public yet...but I love it so much!

Now, if only I can figure out how to add this darned badge to my blogger page... I'd love it even more!

The Year of My Stash

At first, it was pretty overwhelming trying out the wonderful features of Ravelry, which is THE social network for knitters and crocheters.

The very first feature I tried out was My Notebook, which lets me record my knitting projects, yarn stash and other knitting supplies, etc. It's a cool feature because the site links you to other members who have the same yarn or pattern.. well, so far that's what I know. Plus it can automatically add up the yardage of one's yarn stash, e.g. if you have 3 balls of a yarn that's 120 yards long per ball, the total of 360 yards shows up, making it easy to calculate if one has enough yarn or not.

Anyway, I felt like I was just invited to a fabulous buffet with lots to offer. I've only dipped into it, barely. I've been so busy with my non-knitting but equally essential parts of my life, so haven't had time to go deeper into Ravelry, although today I signed up for two groups.

My Ravelry membership came at the right time for me, since it will help me with my own Year of the Stash aims.

All I want this year is to use up my current yarn stash by knitting more hats, scarves and squares. Well, maybe some hand towels too... I also owe someone special a blanket :-)

I won't add to my yarn stash unless I use up around 30%, and only when I know there's someone coming in from the US to bring the stuff to me. Besides, I have enough yarn to keep me busy for about two to three years. I could probably wait until 2009, when my siblings come over from the US for my mom's 80th birthday.

Aside from using up my stash, I'd also like to organize them and store them properly.