Annushka

08.12.04 | 11:07 am
Pictures!

Things are getting exciting over here!

I made this scarf in Russia. I though I was buying a booklet of knitting patterns, but it turned out to be crochet. That is what you get when "knitting" and "crochet" are the same word in another language. It had this really cool shawl that was a large and multicolored version of this. I didn't know how to crochet, but had a hook that I use for rescuing knitting and some mohair (must be pronounced moe-XAR or they don't understand) that was nice and cheap, and some disgusting acrylic to learn on. So I taught myself, in Russian, how to crochet, and made a really cool scarf. I didn't have the patience to make more flowers, but Olya said it looked just like something she saw in Benetton. She kept an eye on fashion, so when she said it was stylish, I knew I had finally, by chance, knit someting that was actually fashionable.

It was easy to take the mohair and hook in my bag and crochet between classes, over lunch, on my hour and a half ride to and from school. And it got lots of compliments, which always rocks.

This is the first sock that I have ever made. I had some grey Harrisville Shetland that I dyed with grape Kool-Aid. It turned out to be this very cool grey/lavender/purple space-dyed stuff. And it smells like grape. The pattern is from Stasia's Sock Page.

It is a great site for patterns for a toe up sock that can use any gauge and fit any size. I think I would do better to start with a few more stitches on the toe and make it less pointy, and tighter around the foot, and to make the heel less pointy.

I started this sweater a long, long time ago, I think at the beginning of summer after my first year of college. I found it in a Vogue pattern book of vintage sweaters. I thought it looked so neat, and I had accomplished a bulky sweater without much difficulty, so I jumped right into all-over cables, in mohair. It wasn't that complicated of a pattern, just remembering if cables came forward or backwards. but it took a really long time, and wasn't finished for a year and a half.

It turned out to be very thick and the cables make it even deeper, and the mohair fluffs out, so I feel absolutely huge in it. But I like it anyway.