Dima vs Knitting, Round 3

Yes, knitting is back. What happened to it the last time you wonder? It got shoved to the side. I was knitting for a time, getting familiar with the different stitches. But I found, after a time, that I wasn't enjoying myself and would rather be stitching. That was back in December and I haven't touched it since. I didn't really get far, just enough to see the pattern.


On Saturday, I finally convinced my dad to take a trip to Kingston. My mom and I have been wanting to go for years, but my dad kept saying it's too far (it's a three hour drive one way). I mainly wanted to go because of a shop called Gwin Gryffon. Yes, I am willing to drive three hours to visit a shop I've never been to before on the off chance I might find something there lol. The shop mainly specializes in needlepoint canvases and knitting wool. I've been wanting to try needlepoint and quickly found a nice cushion kit.

While I was talking to the shop owner, my family was looking around the shop. My younger sister pointed out a shop model to me saying she really likes it (She's the quiet one among us and rarely asks for anything, so when she speaks out we try to listen). It was a knitted cowl and the thread was so soft, a merino and camel blend. The best part, the thread is chunky so it would be fast to knit.

One thing led to the other and I ended up buying a lot more than I was planning. I think I beat Carla in breaking this month's budget :o

The three camel skeins are going to become three cowls, one for each of us girls. My mom saw a shawl in the shop that she really liked (priced at 400$!!!). The owner said she has the pattern and the wool, but not in the color my mom wanted. I bought the pattern book and some wool for it, as well as a thinner wool that really scares me, but that she really liked. When I saw the total, I was shocked, but figured oh well. I just have to make sure that this third attempt to knit sticks.

I think it will, because all Saturday night I was itching to start on one of the cowls. The very next morning, I took everything out and quickly realized, that I couldn't just start. I needed to turn the skein into a ball.

Thank God for Google. I quickly found this link and started. Here is my ball:

The next stumbling block was how do I use circular knitting needles, and on it went until I got this at the end of the day:

I had to relearn all the stitches I learned in December, it will take some time for my hands to remember them, it's a good thing I had pinned a few useful videos on my Pinterest board.

On Tuesday, I took up my needles again and quickly finished it (sorry for the lighting, it was taken at night). It came out really nice and I haven't noticed any errors. I was worried about size, but it's really stretchy. For those interested, the pattern can be found at this link on Ravelry.

On a side not, I LOVE circular needles. Just the fact the that you don't need to keep switching needles around and then remember to purl instead of knit in certain rounds is amazing. And now that I know how to knit with them, I can finally make those leg and arm warmers I've been eyeing jealously on Ravelry (there aren't enough nice crochet patterns, most are knitting patterns).