Easy enough, but it’s the colors people are choosing that are making the simple granny square look fantastic. Here are just a few:

I mean, how gorgeous are those colors? A lot of folks are making them from the scraps they have left over from previous projects. Seriously, how amazing is that?

I figured I’d give it a try. I have a few skeins of acrylic in my stash from a mega-sale at Joanns, so I figured they’d work for something like this:

Pretty, bright colors! So much potential!

Here’s the problem: I have no sense of color. None. I have the WORST time putting colors together in multiple color projects, and this granny square afghan was no exception. Want proof?

Here is a big square of “meh.” So much potential, so little reward.

I posted this on Flickr, and Flickr friend Anne mentioned that it might be easier for me to choose a color family to work with, like all blues or blues and purples, rather than the entire color spectrum. This makes sense, but unfortunately I don’t have a large enough stash on hand to make a full lap blanket.

Oh well. It was worth a try. For now I’ll just admire the beauty of the virtual afghans, and plan on another project to work on instead.

Let’s just say, I got ahead of myself and knit a few rounds without realizing that I needed to shift the marker at the start of the row. The result was very, very bad.

The beret is no more. Let us never speak of it again.

I took a few days off from knitting until I could figure out the exact perfect project to start on that I knew would lead me to nothing but success (or at least without feeling too stabby). I decided to pull out some of my most favorite yarn of all time (Dream in Color Classy worsted) and get started on a cardigan for this fall.

Because the yarn comes in hanks, I had to wind it. Hanks of yarn look like this:

(This is not Dream in Color Classy. This is Hazel Knits Artisan Sock. But I like this picture.)

Hanks are large loops of yarn that are twisted back on themselves. For smaller businesses that hand dye their own yarns, this saves a step of having to wind each and every skein after the dyeing process (which in turn probably saves the consumer a  little extra money).

I used to wind my hanks into balls by hand, draping the loop of yarn over my knees and then just winding, winding, winding away. This continued for about a month when I started knitting, and then I decided to spend a little of my yarn budget on a swift and ball winder. It was probably the best money I ever spent.

For the non-knitters reading this, here’s how a swift and ballwinder work. First, you slip the large loop of yarn onto the swift. Mine can be adjusted to keep an even but not-too-tight tension.

Then, finding the end of the yarn (it’s usually knotted and needs to be snipped), bring it over the the ball winder, threading it through the tension guide and affixing it to the top. I usually use tape to make sure the yarn tail doesn’t get sucked into the spinning vortex of the ball winder.

Then, start turning the handle of the ballwinder! The yarn will be pulled directly from the spinning swift onto the ballwinder, creating a perfect yarn cake as seen in the photo below:

From there, it’s time to start knitting!

Which I did. Which I’ll show you next time. Stay tuned!

But after two attempts, this is as far as I got on it:

Big white block to hide the chart in the photo.

Let me be clear – this is an extremely well-designed pattern. Everything about it is clear and concise, and there’s nothing supremely tricky about the process of knitting it. All it takes is patience and concentration, and taking the entire process one stitch at a time.

That being said: If you are a fairly inexperienced lace knitter (like me), I would not recommend knitting this pattern while watching TV. Or talking to your spouse. Or thinking about your grocery list. Or chewing gum.

Seriously. Or you, too, will find yourself in near hysterics when your stitch count is wrong on row 13 yet again. But then again, maybe that’s just me.

(Except for those dirty compacted snow piles that linger in the corners of parking lots – those are still there. I think those will be there until April at this rate.)

(Note: Had I still lived in Chicago or New Hampshire, I would have said “June” instead of “April” in that last parenthetical. Can I say again how glad I am we moved here?)

(Thus ends the paratheticals.)

In the meantime, I have been knitting! I even finished something, which, now that the snow is gone, I probably won’t need:

Pattern: Darkside Cowl by Sarah Fama (Ravelry Link)

Yarn: Dream in Color Classy in Don’t Be Blue, about half of a hank on size #7 circular needle

Started January 19th, completed February 2nd

I’m not usually drawn to knit and purl, rib-type patterns but something about this one called to me. I had this gorgeous yarn, and needed a quick project to use it. The two went together perfectly.

The yarn is very soft and the final product is nice and smooshy. I haven’t washed it yet, which I’m hoping will soften it up even more and (hopefully) loosen up the stitches. It’s just a tad tight, which in a way is good as a snug fit will keep the drafts out. But too snug of a cowl tends to feel a bit strangling and claustrophobic. Therefore, a wash and a block will be necessary before wearing.

Another reason this will need a good soak before wearing:

Everytime I knit with the yarn, it turned my finger blue. It’s hard to see, but I have a stripe of blue right across my pointer finger knuckle.

My fingers were blue a lot, lately because after I finished the cowl, I thought I’d make a hat in the same yarn. A beret, in fact. Who doesn’t love a slouchy beret?

That would be what would become the slouchiest beret, ever. So slouchy that it drooped down over my eyes. This has since been sent to the frog pond. It’s a lovely pattern which I highly recommend (Meret by Woolly Wormhead) but all I can say is – get gauge.

I’ve also gotten the urge to knit… a sweater. No not the sweater that I’ve been working on since last September (good grief, knitting top-down ragland sweaters is a slog) but a cabled sweater. In pieces. That will need to be seamed. I’m living on the edge, people.

I spent New Year’s Eve at home, which was fine with me. In fact, I found a little time to do a sewing project on the new sewing machine. Specifically, a credit card pouch.

My wallet is becoming overwhelmed with extra items that I need to carry with me, but don’t use all of the time. Rewards cards, health insurance cards, frequent shopper punchcards, etc. It was making it difficult to stay organized, so this was something I could make that would be pretty and functional – perfect!

Here’s the finished product:

Above, Empty. Below, Full!

Project: Easy Credit Card Wallet, tutorial at Splityarn

Fabric: I believe it’s Joel Dewberry, from a stack of random fat quarters I puchased from etsy

Modifications: Added a layer of flannel (a la Bend the Rules Sewing) to make it more substantial. Also, I made the pouch a little wider than the tutorial stated, because I knew I had a big stack of cards (over an inch tall) that would need to fit in there, so it needed to have a little extra room.

Doesn’t that second modification make me sound so smart? Like I could tell that the recommended dimensions would work for a few cards, but not a whole handful? That’s because the photos above are of the 2nd pouch I made. Here’s the first:

I’m ashamed to say I couldn’t fold a piece of fabric and sew it up both sides and have it come out even. With pins, it still got all messed up. This first attempt has a twist to it that would just drive me crazy. However, it did allow me the opportunity to see that it would need to be larger in order to hold more cards.

See what I did there? Crafty fails = opportunities to learn! I need to keep that in mind in all aspects of life. A new year’s resolution in the making, perhaps?