Frankly, Scarlett...

Even as a little girl, I remember saying that my favorite color was red and yet, I have no recollection of any red clothes or red toys and certainly, no red shoes Nowadays, it's very different. I have all sorts of red clothes, a red car and yes, many red shoes but indulging my passion for the fiery hue in the sphere of knitting has not been all that easy. I'm very picky about which shade of red I want--it has to be clear and blue-based, without any undertones of orange or brown. So, if I'm able to find red yarn at all, it's usually the wrong red. (I know I drive yarn shop owners crazy but, goshdarnit, I'm old, so I get to be picky.)

Lately, I've been very lucky. I wandered into my favorite shop, Frivolous Fibers, last month and found exactly the right shade of red in Cascade 220. I'd been thinking about making a beret to match my favorite coat and eureka! There it was! Then, while I was about to leave, a skein of Blue Heron Metallic Rayon, also the right red, called out my name. Then it whispered, "Clapotis." Oh, I wanted to cast on for both projects before I left the parking lot but I do a lot better at driving if I don't try to knit at the same time.

At home, I took some time to check out the projects on Ravelry. The Ravelry folks have done so much to bring the knitting community closer together. I'm still learning my way around the site, (where I'm, "Pittepat" ) but it's become an invaluable tool 'in my knitting bag.' Sometimes I just wander, looking at what others have knit. As such, it can be an incredible black hole--time just gets sucked away. When I search for patterns that I'm fantasizing about, however, it really keeps me from having to reknit the wheel. Some members just post photos of their projects with specific details, which wool they used, the size they chose, etc, and even the most minimal information can be helpful. I looked for photos of a pattern called, "Gretel." I found that the hats that I liked the best were in Cascade 220 and I knew that I'd purchased enough yarn to complete the project. Others write a little note about their experiences and that's when you've hit paydirt. Among the Gretel knitters, there seemed to be a consensus that the slouchy version was a bit too much. Others mentioned that the band, as per the directions, came out too big. So, right there, I was ahead of the game. I decided to knit the regular version and I opted not to cast on using the specified tubular cast on, because I wanted less stretch in the band. In the end, I ended up casting on in the size needles stated in the pattern but I knit the band in one size smaller. After blocking the hat, I realized that the band is still a tiny bit too loose, but it's still very wearable.




Here's the finished hat. I used Ysolda Teague's pattern, Gretel. I loved this pattern the minute I saw it. The intertwining cables give it a Celtic look. While I find the act of knitting cables undaunting, I think that designing complex patterns, like this one, is an amazing feat.






As for the Clapotis , I saw the pattern when it was first published in Knitty but it didn't push any of my buttons. Suddenly, it seemed that everywhere I went, people were talking about this fantastic pattern. So, I reconsidered. Willie, at the yarn store knew the pattern and said the Rayon Metallic would be perfect so I went for it. I must say that now I love the scarf but knitting it was hell, primarily because I only had metallic needles. The rayon doesn't have any memory at all and, besides creating a looser fabric than I wanted, the stitches slid right off the needles. I didn't want to go back to the store for wooden needles, so I wound up working with my Denise needles. They proved to be a fair solution to both problems. The other reason the project was so difficult was that it's knit on the bias and almost every row has a different stitch count. The problem was compounded by the need for oh, so many stitch markers. I kept losing track of my place and ripping the whole thing out. I think I started over at least 15 times, if not more. Part of me wanted to throw the thing across the room but the other, fiercely stubborn part of me said I couldn't give up. Again, the Internet came to the rescue. I googled for the pattern and found a knitalong. I discovered that I wasn't alone in my struggle with the stitch counts and that someone had created a spreadsheet with stitch counts for each row. Others suggested that, instead of using stitch markers, a purl stitch served the same purpose. After that, it was just me and my knitting.

How did I ever finish anything before I found the Internet?