Tuesday, December 25, 2007

More Swatching To Do

Well, I didn't get as much of my swatch done as I wanted. I'm still working on it. I needed to check with my mother on a few stitches. It is turning out better now. I'm knitting a bit more loosely, and the "lacieness" is coming through a bit more now. I should have a picture in a couple more days.

On a side note, this nice yarn for knitting. The strands aren't too tight together or too loose. It has a nice feel between my fingers as I knit. I would use this yarn or another like it in the future.

Saturday, December 22, 2007

Started the SotS-II Swatch Today

I started my swatch today. My wife and I went to the higher end LYS and found some Alpaca fingering weight that looks good. I explained to the owner what I was doing and she suggested it since the only other lace weight yarn she has was mohair and VERY fuzzy. i'm using Addi Turbo Lace circular needles Size 6.

I'm up to row 5 on the swatch and can now see the holes. Well half of the holes. *grin*

I'll post a picture later after the battery charges for my digital camera. I seem to have missed some of the slip stitches, yarn overs, or something. But, that I got half of the holes means that I did eventually figure it out. The toughest stich is the s1k1psso (Slip 1, Knit 1, Pass Slipped Stitch Over). I find it hard to find the slipped stitch sometimes and that may be what happened. I'm going to do two more rows (up to and including row 7) and see what happens..

I think I'm glad that I ended up choosing this weight yarn and size of needles for my first lace project. The yarn is very easy to handle, doesn't snag on my rough guy hands, and these needles are... (don't hit me for using this phrase) ... a dream to knit with. The points are sharp enough to find the holes, but not too sharp to split the stitches. The body of the needles seem to not be as slippery as my other metal needles. The yarn seems to stay put and not slide to much. This is good since my left hand usually gets a little sore after knitting on metal needles.

All in all, this project is going to be very enjoyable. Pictures coming later. I'll just add them to the post so come back Sunday afternoon (PST).

Friday, December 14, 2007

Blog Name Change - A Guy Who Knits

Since I seem to be the only guy around the news groups I frequent who knits, I decided for a name change. This will be the final change to the name, but I am still working on the template. So the new website address (URL) is:

http://aguywhoknits.blogspot.com

Take care.

Monday, December 10, 2007

Guys Who Knit?

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Hi all,

I am a Guy Who Knits. My mother reminded me a while ago that she taught me when I was young. When my daughter went through a plastic surgery revision a couple of summers ago, my mother taught/retaught us all: my daughter, my wife, and myself. I knitted a couple of scarves, a couple of pot holders, and I am in the midst of a shawl for my wife (which I started Dec. 06, and it is STILL not done yet).

I'm starting this blog to find other Guys Who Knit. It *is* a relaxing hobby. It can be a bit expensive, but I get much more satisfaction out of seeing how people love and appreciate the knitted gifts than I care about how much the yarn or needles cost.

I also joined a KAL (Knit-A-Long) called Secret of the Stole II. Portions of the stole (a shawl for us guys) are given out in little clues and you knit them as you go. This KAL starts on 01-01-08, so if you want to try it out (it is beginner to intermediate in complexity) then join the Yahoo Group.

As I complete projects I'll post pictures of them here so everyone can see how a Guy Who Knits actually does.

Take care all.