Finished P&P Project for Knit the Classics

"Besotted: silly; foolish; infatuated; to muddle or stupefy (amaze; astonish)"

My Besotted Scarf (by helloyarn.com) tells the story of the besotted Bennett family. First there is the 'silly' Mrs. Bennet, who will do anything to marry off her daughters to rich men, the 'foolish' Lydia who runs off with Wickham, and of course Lizzie and Jane's 'infatuation' with Darcy and Bingley. They all made quite an 'amazing muddle' of things and it was 'astonishing' that everything turned out as well as it did.
Like the Bennett family, my scarf is not wealthy. It comes from just two skeins of Paton's Marino Wool. And as I 'muddled' through the X and O pattern, I was often 'stupefied' by C4F and C4B cables going the wrong way. I felt 'silly' when I made a wrong turn and ended up with an hug when there should have been a kiss, and 'foolish' for not being more attentive to my knitting. While I admit that in the beginning I took a dislike to the pattern, in the end, I was as 'infatuated' with my besotted scarf as Lizzie was with Darcy and I found myself in as much of a hurry to finish it (and meet the KTC deadline) as Austen seemed to be to finish the book.. 'Amazingly' both the scarf and the book ended (somewhat) lovingly, with lots of hugs and kisses. I found myself quite 'astonished' that I had PRIDE in my scarf AND no longer harbored any PREJUDICE against cables.
Hugs and Kisses to you all. See you at "Wuthering Heights."

Jane (but not Austin or Bennet)

One Skein Pal

I received a beautiful card from my one skein pal today, telling me to be on the lookout for my first skein - I'm excited! And she is very clever. I thought that when it came time to mail the skeins, the return address on the envelope would give away the identity of my SP. But this is obviously not her first rodeo! She just wrote 'one skein' as the return address. However - she was not able to hide the postmark - hmmm - or is she diabolical enough to have had someone in another state mail it for her! Anyway, thank you for the lovely card - I'll looking forward to receiving my first skein!

To My OneSkein SP

I'm afraid I don't know enough about computers to run a KAL. In fact, I thought I was being very clever and set up an e-mail on Yahoo for my Oneskein SP with a fake name. Well, apparently, Yahoo is smarter than I am, because it knew my real name,(guess is has to do with cookies, or something) and the e-mail I sent her came through with my real name. Oh well - not big deal, like she said, she really doesn't 'know me'.
But your messages have been so much fun because I don't have a clue who you are!
Anyway, James Patterson is one of my favorite authors. I have his new book, Mary, Mary, but haven't started it yet. I'm sure knitting and listening to a James Patterson book make commuting much more enjoyable. I don't know where you live, but here in the ME we have been having so much rain - it is getting really depressing. The only thing that saves me, is that it's great weather for knitting!

Mother's Day Basket

This is the Mother's Day Basket I received from my daughter and grandchildren - it's a relaxation picnic basket, filled with tea, chocolates, wine, candles, A Dean Koontz and a John Saul novel, a World's Greatest Grandma book, and a bottle of Merlot. Am I spoiled or what?!

Knit The Classics Update

I finally finished reading Pride & Prejudice. This book is quite a departure from my regular reading. I'm a mystery junky and my knitting books share my bookshelves with James Patterson, Mary Higgins Clark, Stephen King, Robert Parker, Dean Koontz, even knitting mystery novels, like Knit One, Kill Two, and Died in the Wool (pretty lame, but fun anyway). When I came across the Knit the Classics blog, I thought it was time I tried a little 'classier' reading. I had a hard time getting into P&P, and almost gave up, but then I watched the movie on Pay Per View, really liked it, and decided to finish the book. I was glad that I did. My final project idea is the "Besotted Scarf" (Helloyarn.com) which seems to me a good fit for the book. I'm using Patons Marino Classic Wool in Peacock. The XO cable pattern doesn't show up very well in the picture, but I like the way it is coming out, and it is an easy pattern to knit. I will probably read the June pick for Knit the Classics too, but for now I'm looking forward to a new Robert Parker, "Spenser" novel. Maybe I should start a "Knitting with the mysteries" KAL!

Airy Scarf

Here is my first lace project - the Airy Scarf from "Last Minute Knitted Gifts", made with Knitpicks Alpaca Cloud in Peppermint. I think it is pretty pathetic, but it does have holes and so it must be lace! The vase of roses it is draped around is my Mother's Day gift from my son.

To My One Skein SP

Hi,
Good to hear from you! It sounds like they have done a good job of matching up people in this SP exchange! I am obsessed with felting, but I am trying to branch out a little. I did actually finish a lace piece which I will post. It's pretty pathetic, but I think it qualifies as lace.

Whoduknit Mystery Yarn

Clue #3 - She weighs 3.5 oz. and is 215 yards long

"What's Your Skein" Project

This Lion Brand Micro Spun yarn called to me as I was strolling up and down the yarn isles at A.C.Moore with my 40% off coupon. I loved the soft feel of it, and the great color. From one skein I was able to get two of the small Soft Drawstring Pouches from "Last-Minute Knitted Gifts" and from another skein I knit The Double Eyelet Rib Scarf from the "Little Box of Scarves" to go in the pouch. I think it will make an adorable gift! I also think it might qualify as one of my partners in "The Amazing Lace" since it does have holes in it!

Knit the Classics Project

I think inspiration has finally come to me - aided by a glass of Merlot, for my Knit the Classics project for Pride and Prejudice. At the risk of changing the destiny of the Bennet family, I am going to knit a hooded scarf (moebius) for Jane (I'm a Jane too, get it?) to wear on her horseback ride to visit the Bingleys so that she will not get sick. If I were her mother, I certainly would have insisted that she wear one to protect her from the rain (but of course that would have defeated Mrs. Bennet's whole purpose). I haven't decided on a stitch pattern yet, but I think it will be in a Mohair/wool blend. Then next winter I can play Jane Austen in my hooded scarf when I have playground duty. If I have time, I may even knit her a pair of 'mitts' (fingerless gloves).

What I like About Yarn

First of all I'm not a yarn snob (can't afford to be!) Of course I love wonderful, yummy, expensive yarns, but usually knit with the best I can afford. I love my local LYS, and shop there often, but I also buy yarn at A.C. Moore, and even Walmart. I order on line too, mostly from Knit Picks. I'm a felting addict, and my favorite felting yarns are Lopi, Cascade 220, and Galway. I'm a new sock knitter (magic loop method), and so far have only used Knit Picks Parade, and LB Magic Stripes for making socks. I do like Novelty yarns, ribbons, ladders, all the wonderful textured yarns, etc., but I really have enough fun fur to last me a lifetime! I love variegated and self striping yarns. My favorite self striping is Noro, but there are a lot of others I would love to try. It's so much fun to see the colors change. I would love to be able to knit some of the beautiful lace shawls, etc, I have seen others knit in all of the beautiful lace weight yarns, but I'm afraid I just don't have the patience for lace. I am trying though (see "The Amazing Lace" post below). As for color, I guess I would have to say green - in any shade first, but I like blues, pinks, purples - in fact, I really don't dislike any color.

The Amazing Lace

And one link just keeps leading to another! I couldn't resist this one http://amazinglace.licketyknit.com especially since the Amazing Race is my second favorite show (Survivor being the first). My teammate is going to be the Airy Scarf "Last Minute Knitted Gifts" out of knit-picks Peppermint Alpaca Cloud. I have not had the patience for lace, in fact started this scarf a couple of times and frogged it. But I'm going to try harder this time.

Knit The Classics

And now for my best find of all - www.knittheclassics.com (see the link above). On this site, one classic book is chosen each month (by the members) and each member comes up with their own knitting or crocheting project that has some connection to the book. There is a seperate forum for discussing the book, and another for sharing the projects.
This month's book (May) is Pride and Prejudice. I am just one chapter into the book and haven't decided on a project yet. I'm thinking it should be some kind of lace, since the book takes place during the Victorian Era, so it may be a good time to jump into lace knitting. I've read through the archives and it looks like there are also some book related swaps, and even a prize for the best book related project! I think it's going to be a lot of fun.

What's Your Skein

Well - one link led to another - you know how that is, and I found this KAL - http://skeinalong.blogspot.com/ I couldn't resist this one - You go into your stash, pull out one skein of yarn, and see what you can knit with it.
I'm really excited to see all the great projects made with one skein of yarn. I'm always looking for things to make with that one leftover skein of yarn, and there are lots of new ideas here! My first contribution is made with Moda-Dea Beadnik, color 2933, 'With it White', which caught my eye because of all the tiny beads going through it. This "Knecklace" from the Knitty Archives (winter '05.) took less than half of the 103 yard skein. The pattern gives you a formula for using any yarn and any size needle, so I'm planning to try it with different yarns. It's hard to see the beads in the picture, but they are there!

Felted Striped Tote

I just finished felting my striped tote, and here it is drying. This is not really a one skein project, but the base of the bag is one skein (or less) and the rest is bits and pieces of leftover yarn. My tote has a funny shape! That's because I used so many different yarns in it (cascade 220, galway, patons, brown sheep) that some felted faster than others. But I like it, funny shape and all. And I love that I made it completely with leftover yarn - like getting a great tote bag for free!

One Skein

I ordered the book "OneSkein" a few weeks ago and since then I have been having a lot of fun with it. I joined the OneSkein Knitalong at http://oneskein.blogspot.com/ and the OneSkein Secret Pal Exchange. For the Secret Pal Exchange we will each receive the name of our Secret Pal, and will contact them through an anonymous e-mail account to learn about their interests and get to know them a little bit. Then on the first of June and the first of July we will send our secret pals one skein of yarn. In August, we will send our pals a finished item made with one skein of yarn. It sounds like a lot a fun and a good way to 'meet' other knitters.
This is my first project from One-Skein -My version of "The Clutch You'll Never Give UP". I used leftover Lopi yarn, and knit it together with a strand of Splash for the body of the clutch. I don't know the colorways because the bands were not on. It felted to pretty much the same size as the one in the book.