11 August 2006

fairy tales can come true

so remember that sock i made a while back that just turned out a totally weird size? no? i tried to block it out as well. but one day when the ninja had a bit o' the old moonshine in him and a friend over he decided to start showing off things he'd made. or perhaps i should rephrase...everything he'd ever made. ever. the reasons for this decision remain delightfully ill-defined.
so when rummaging through laundry bags overflowing with gauntily coloured acrylic our ninja came upon the lone sock. and frowned. and said something along the lines of, "i made a sock. but it's a weird size and i'm not sure if it will fit anyone. so i haven't had the heart to make a twin." then ninja's friend tried on the sock. it was like cinderella! but partially synthetic. and self-striping. and far more practical. i mean, could you imagine what horrors might transpire if cinderella put her foot down rather enthusiastically and her shoe broke? i'm sure she's have more than a few words for annie lennox regarding the comparatively saccharine lyrics of a relevant song.
impractical footwear aside, here are the socks.



not so bad, eh?





DIFFICULTY: * *
AWESOMENESS: *

04 August 2006

spring scarf

the ninja is not one to acknowledge seasonality. given his druthers, he in fact would generally prefer to be dressed in jeans and a t-shirt year round. inclement weather rarely intrudes upon this practice, but the heat of the summer can. and this heat is precisely what the ninja was ignoring when he made the following:



a "spring scarf" had been requested by a friend about five years ago. (or five months, but who's counting?) so i finally got around to making one. too bad it was delivered in the middle of the august heat. oops?



this guy was fun to knit, though a little confusing to keep up with. size 7 needles, sock yarn meant for size 3s, width of 40st. this made for a scarf about 5" wide and very lightweight. definitely more of a fashion statement than an item meant to provide warmth. the pattern is a wavy sort of rib, much like the pattern below (v's are knits and -'s are purls):

vv--vv--vv--vv--
v--vv--vv--vv--v
--vv--vv--vv--vv
v--vv--vv--vv--v
vv--vv--vv--vv--

though fun, if you're going to try this pattern, don't use a patterned yarn. or a sock yarn. especially don't use a patterned sock yarn. it was incredibly hard to figure out which row i was on. but the result is rather dashing, no?





DIFFICULTY: * *
AWESOMENESS: * *