Tag: bulky

Not again…welcome to 2021! Ya know, the second half.

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All right, fine. My bad. Oddly enough, during a 1+ year pandemic adventure (everyone is healthy, vaccinated, and relatively sane, or as sane as they were before, give or take), I knitted a ton but didn’t post anything about it. Now that we’re (fingers crossed) emerging from this national nightmare (unfortunately the rest of the world is not), I’m ready to start talking about these projects again!

I’ve still been buying yarns and kits from We Are Knitters, Purl Soho, Lion Brand and other faves, and have added Wool and the Gang to my ever-growing yarn stash. Per usual, I’ve got several projects on needles at the moment. In the winter, I was in a heavy blanket phase, heavy in terms of both the yarn and frequency of projects. I gave a few away for holiday gifts or baby shower gifts, but one I kept was this one, mostly for my dog Bruce:

The yarn was repurposed from a different WAK project that was frankly too similar to the other blanket projects I completed from them. I nosed around Ravelry and found this pattern, Buttercream, from Cali Chick Baby (as you might imagine, a baby blanket, although they have another version that’s a big one). I paid for it, and you can contact them for the pattern either via Ravelry or sales@calichickbaby.com. The baby version they show is in a lovely off-white color – Buttercream, natch – in Alpaca, but the author indicated you can use any super bulky or bulky so away I went!

The pattern is one of those that are easy to understand and knit, and switches between a very straightforward garter stitch and what I’ve always heard called “drunken rib”, a 1×1 rib for 2 rows that alternates on the following 2, giving it a cool, *almost* basketweave look. In any case, fun and easy to do if you’re watching a movie (or on a Zoom call if you dare!). In any case, it’s now Bruce’s blanket, so I’m continually taking a lint roller to it to remove dog hair, but the unintended benefit is that it keeps the fuzzies at bay as well. The Fuzzies, of course, constantly doing battle everyday with the Dust Bunnies in my house. Hardwood floors! [shakes fist at sky].

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Lacey Throws, Exotic Dancer

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My husband used to joke about a guy I used to work with, whose name, when said aloud, seemed to command the title, “Male Prostitute.” I never knew what the reference was, and I imagine he’s probably forgot it anyway. But one always seems to stumble upon great names that requires another great employment title. Trapper John, MD, is a good example. My best friend grew up in Orange County and knew a “Thomas Thomas”, or Tom Tom, and the inimitable Becky Doubledee, who was also lucky enough to have a giant DD sized set of cans.

In the same fashion, my husband often applies those sorts of titles to the knitting projects I’m working on at any given time. This particular project began with a visit to Seaport Yarns in the financial district, where I used to work and would often spend a quick 20 minutes or so during a slightly slow afternoon, whenever that happened. Seaport Yarns is a great store – lots of selection, and the lady who runs it is incredibly knowledgeable about yarn and gauge and all that crap. For example, I was looking for a Tahki Stacey Charles, and she suggested an alternative yarn, which has since become a favorite with me: Plymouth Yarns. The Baby Alpaca Grand, which is, of course, a chunky yarn, is so soft and delightful and much easier and less essspensive than the TSC, it was an easy choice. Plus, she had lots of nice colors at Seaport, and I selected a pretty dark heather gray, color 403, to make my Lacey Throws. The pattern was found easily and for free on Ravelry as the Happy Birthday Throw, by Emily Ivey, using Lion Brands Thick & Quick…to be continued in the next post.

But for now I give you the Happy Birthday, Lacey Throws, you naughty thing, you’re soft and comfy, and while you do tend to leave some lint on the couch, I like you anyway. You were fast and fun.

The Year of Living Dangerously Super Bulky – 2011 in Review

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Emma, 1996 Gwyneth Paltrow“Badly done, Emma!” I have been a poor blogger these many months, but since it is the end of the year, and the last time I updated this blog was roughly a year ago, it seems good to recap the knittings etc.

A new job, with global responsibilities (and thus long plane flights – so far no one has restricted knitting needles, even the Ukraine) has taken a bite out of knitting, but oddly enough, not as much as the last job. If I could find a one-word theme for knitting in 2011, it was “chunky”. Pretty much goes for me too, but mostly on the yarn side.

Why do I like this yarn? It’s intensely satisfying to knit up – so fast, so easy, I actually don’t mind knitting with big needles (all the way up to 19). It’s usually on the softer side, it’s cozy, and I don’t see it as being more expensive per gram or hank or anything (although I don’t do much math when it comes to purchasing). The downside: everything I knit sucks as a finished product, exceptions being scarves, some kinds of hats, and blankets. I would like to graduate beyond that, but if I had a second theme for 2011, it would be the unraveling of finished projects that never went anywhere, that is, projects I either never wore myself or didn’t think worthy to gift to another person. Even now, looking at the posts from 2010 here, I have been in love with super bulky yarn for a long time. First was buying Twinkle‘s books and then her yarn, and I did graduate a bit to bulk/super bulky in Lion Brand Yarn after they opened a cool NYC showroom. I highly recommend shopping there, by the by.

My 2012 knitting resolution: divorce yourself from super bulky! Be not tempted by the quick and easy path! To the dark side! Sorry, it’s Christmastime and my darling husband is out, so I’m watching Star Wars while knitting and drinking.  And, as Jane Austen said, “I am afraid that the pleasantness of an employment does not always evince its propriety.”

In no particular order, the next couple of posts will feature highlights of my Chunky year. And thus, my path to learning finished objects that are *not* chunky begins…you must unlearn what you have learned: