FO: January KAL cloth

Pattern: January KAL cloth
Source: Kris Knits
Yarn: Lily Sugar'n Cream Solid - Cornflower (I think)
Needle: Knit Picks fixed circular, size 3
Started: January 7, 2010
Finished: March 3, 2010
Mods: Knit the border in garter stitch instead of seed stitch
Ravel It!

When I saw the idea for a monthly Knit-a-long on Kris' blog, I signed up instantly. I've been following her blogging for quite a while now, and had been itching to knit one of her designs. Since these were going to be free - and I'm a cheapskate - it was a perfect solution.

The catch for this KAL is that it's a mystery. Kris posts 10 lines of the pattern every few days, so we all get to have fun knitting and figuring out what the design will look like. I figured this one out pretty quickly; it helps that they have a theme that relates to the month.

I actually knit the pattern halfway in a different color yarn, some scraps leftover from a grocery bag. When I ran out, I went to the store for more yarn... only I couldn't find a matching dye lot. No matter, just buy more yarn! The first color was a more electric blue, so I think the cornflower works a lot better.

It took me two months to knit this for several reasons. One, Kris was in the middle of moving and was therefore unable to post pattern updates regularly. Two, I went on vacation mid-February and took a different project to knit. Three, when I knew I needed more yarn, I wanted to wait until the February pattern was posted so I could buy yarn for that at the same time. Finally, after the Ravelympics, I vowed to not knit on a deadline for awhile; so I took my time.

I only made one mod with this pattern, and that was to knit the border in garter stitch instead of seed stitch. My seed stitch in cotton yarn looks like crap, plus all the switching between knit and purl wreaks even more havoc on my wrists. And I just like the way garter stitch looks. Consequently, the side border blends right in with the design itself. I'm not sure if those are supposed to be trees or piles of snow on the sides, but oh well, I like how it looks.

At the end of the year I'll have 12 dishcloths knitted up. I think I'll give some as Christmas gifts. Or maybe gift the whole set to my mom. She'd like that.

P.S. I installed a new comments system, Disqus, that will hopefully allow me to respond better to comments. Won't you test it out for me?

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Pattern: The St. Patrick's Day Cloth
Source: Kris Knits
Yarn: Lily Sugar'n Cream Solid - Sage Green
Needle: Knit Picks fixed circular, size 3
Started: March 3, 2010
Finished: March 5, 2010
Ravel It!

I knit this dishcloth for Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, the Yarn Harlot. I gave it to her when she spoke in Detroit this past Saturday.

This is actually the second Kris Knits cloth pattern I have knit, I'll post the first one in a day or so. Kris' patterns are very well written and totally easy to follow. This cloth only took me three days to knit, but I could probably knock one out in a couple hours if I needed to. The only thing holding me back was that knitting with cotton puts a lot more stress on my wrists and forearms than wool does; it's simply not stretchy.

I recycled the yarn from an Everlasting Bag Stopper I had left unfinished since last summer. We've received enough reusable grocery bags lately that I really have no need for a knitted one. Yay for stashbusting! I don't know if it was because the yarn had been previously knitted or because of the color of dye, but the green yarn was relatively soft and easier on my hands with this cloth. I'm knitting another cloth pattern in hot pink (yuck) and the yarn is a lot stiffer. I know red dyes can affect how yarn acts, so maybe that's it.

I really love the four different shamrock designs (five if you knit the smaller cloth) Kris came up with. I tried years ago to design a shamrock pattern for a pair of socks and came up empty. After knitting this pattern, I realize that garter stitch patterns work much better than all reverse stockinette patterns. I'll definitely look to incorporate these shamrocks into a pair of socks for St. Patty's Day next year.