Tada!!

I am done with the Big Bad Baby Blanket for my friend at work!! I finished it last night finally. Got up this morning and put it in the washer and then layed flat to dry. I am so happy that I am finally done with a fairly large project (at least for me.) Hopefully she loves it. I will post photos of the completed BBBB when I get a chance.

Ok, I have to address the reasoning behind my blog being named Twisted Stitches. No, I am not a huge Dee Snider or Twisted Sister fan for the record. I was a my second or third Stitch n' Bitch meeting and I was chatting with Emy and I mentioned that the way she does her knit stitches looks different than me. She asked me to demonstrate and of course when someone asks you to do something while they are watching like typing you do it ever so slow and wrong any way! So I showed her how I was doing the knit stitches and then she said purl and knit a few rows and let me look at them. I completed my tiny swatch and she immediately said, "You twist your stitches." Utterly confused, I said that it looks like stocking knit and she then showed me her stocking knit, and sure enough, I see the twisting! I have to justify my twisting, I learned from a book and it was not as clear as I thought apparently on how to knit. It seemed to feel ok when I was doing it twisted but I had no real frame of reference to the "correct" method. So then when I "knitted" the correct way, WOW how much faster I can go! She did explain to me that there are patterns that call for the twisted stitch and that it is not necessarily a wrong way to knit, it is just not the standard. Well I have since done away with the "wrong" way of knitting with the exception of one whole row of the BBBB. I had a brain fart 2/3 of the way in to the blanket and k tbl for an entire row!!! I did not realize it until I had completed about 5 more rows correctly. I was on a deadline and made an executive decision, it is my first blanket I was bound to make errors and I just said MOVE ON!! So there is one row that is twisted in my BBBB, I am going to tell the recipient that just like any artist puts their signature on their piece of work, the twisted row is my signature (that is my story and I am sticking to it!)

So I started a project for myself now. I have yet to knit anything for me yet, which is fine, but I want something now and I have chosen the Clapotis. I know what you are thinking, but I love it and I will not learn anything if I don't just jump right in the deep end! So I bought my yarn off Ebay at this great store Ewe-Phoria Yarns. It is a mixture of black, dark purple and some rosey browns 50% merino wool and 50% silk. I thought it was beautiful and with a yarn name like "Queen of the Night" how can it not be! It does not stripe like the yarn that Katie Gilbert used in her pattern, but I think that this will do fine! I had a hard time starting this project because I am a new knitter and have not learned increases until yesterday while I was at the Stitch n' Bitch group meeting. My newly appointed knitting mentor, she does not know it yet, Laura helped me start out and explained the pattern to me and I perfectly understand it now. So at the point I am on section 2 and the first repeat of 12. I know that when I finish this piece my family and co-workers will be asking where is their Clapotis?? My response will be "At the yarn store!" Maybe if I make them go and buy the yarn they will see that it is not cheap to knit nice things!! By boyfriend is finding out how not cheap it is too. I have another hank of yarn that I just bought on Ebay that I don't have a clue yet what to do with. I purchased it because 1. it was a good price and 2. it has my favorite color RED. I just love red and I am always looking for a good deal on red yarn. This one is 100% merino wool with red, black and grey. I bought it to learn how to make socks, but the dpn's still intimidate me so now I am not sure what it will turn into.

I have made my Christmas projects list and need to start right away if I want to complete every thing on the list. Not everyone will be getting knitting from me this year, I just can't do it all. So I am going to spread it out. Ok, have to run, I have work to be done!

Knit you later...