Thursday, October 25, 2007
Monday, October 22, 2007
From UFO to FO in 60 seconds
Sometimes it's quick and easy to finish a piece of knitting. For example, when moving my stash around the other day -- so I could get to a couple of extra dining room chairs that usually reside under a portion of the stash -- I found a stole I knitted last year at this time. The only thing that still needed to be done was to weave in the ends. So in about three minutes, it went from aging UFO to brilliant FO. I wore it to work at the store that same day, and received many compliments.
This is my version of the "take and bake" pizza, only it's the "weave and wear" knitted object. It's satisfying to have a few mostly-finished things lying around. Then, when you need a pick-me-up, you can just weave in those ends and have a beautiful new thing to wear or to give as a last-minute gift. (Don't try this with Fair Isle sweaters or intarsia pieces or your last-minute gift will be a next-year gift.)
Now, some cynics might say that I am just rationalizing my can't-bother-to-finish-itis. And they'd be right. Well, the cynics have to be right some of the time, don't they? Just like that other political party, statistically speaking, is bound to come up with some good policies some of the time. Anyway, whether it's a mark of my slothfulness, or a creative solution, weave-and-wear works for me.
For the record, the stole in question is a rectangular one made out of Schaefer Yarns' Sandra in the Margaret Mead colorway. It's from one of the store's proprietary patterns, called the Sandra Stole. Sandra is a beautiful bulky cotton wrapped in a rayon strand. The rayon plays against the rich colors, adding light and shimmer. I think the Margaret Mead colorway looks especially luminous with the rayon.
That's all the wit and wisdom I can muster for the moment. I've just finished writing a 5-page supplement to a two-page pattern, which I'll be using for my Top Down Socks on Two Circulars class tonight at the store. And now I'm off to teach!
This is my version of the "take and bake" pizza, only it's the "weave and wear" knitted object. It's satisfying to have a few mostly-finished things lying around. Then, when you need a pick-me-up, you can just weave in those ends and have a beautiful new thing to wear or to give as a last-minute gift. (Don't try this with Fair Isle sweaters or intarsia pieces or your last-minute gift will be a next-year gift.)
Now, some cynics might say that I am just rationalizing my can't-bother-to-finish-itis. And they'd be right. Well, the cynics have to be right some of the time, don't they? Just like that other political party, statistically speaking, is bound to come up with some good policies some of the time. Anyway, whether it's a mark of my slothfulness, or a creative solution, weave-and-wear works for me.
For the record, the stole in question is a rectangular one made out of Schaefer Yarns' Sandra in the Margaret Mead colorway. It's from one of the store's proprietary patterns, called the Sandra Stole. Sandra is a beautiful bulky cotton wrapped in a rayon strand. The rayon plays against the rich colors, adding light and shimmer. I think the Margaret Mead colorway looks especially luminous with the rayon.
That's all the wit and wisdom I can muster for the moment. I've just finished writing a 5-page supplement to a two-page pattern, which I'll be using for my Top Down Socks on Two Circulars class tonight at the store. And now I'm off to teach!
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