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Thursday, December 29, 2016

Crystal Star and some knitting

As the weather gets colder I've been spending some time knitting leg warmers to combat the drafts around the apartment. I also managed to do a bit of tatting and made Joëlle Paulson's Crystal Star. I've tatted a few of her patterns before, and they are always quick and easy to make.


As for the knitting, I'm a perpetual beginner! It just doesn't hold my interest in the same way that tatting does. Every couple of years I buy some cheap yarn and knitting needles and watch a few YouTube videos so I can re-learn how to knit and purl. The good news is that it seems to be easier each time I revisit it. The bad news is that knitting only holds my attention for a few weeks before I'm back to tatting. Who knows? Maybe I'll develop an interest in knitting someday!
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10 comments:

  1. God's KidDecember 29, 2016 at 6:32 PM

    Your Crystal Star looks awesome!!! :)
    And I love the colors of your leg warmers!! :)

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  2. Lace-lovin' Librarian ~ DianeDecember 29, 2016 at 10:13 PM

    I've been thinking of knitting some leg warmers also. I love the color of your yarn! My Spinning Wheel glass mat challenge is coming to an end, and I'm looking forward to tatting up designs I've been collecting for the past year!

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  3. Jane McLellanDecember 30, 2016 at 1:16 AM

    :-) perhaps what you need is more complicated knitting? Lace knitting for instance is still knit and purl, but requires more attention.

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  4. Margarets designer cardsDecember 30, 2016 at 10:03 AM

    Lovely snowflake.
    Have you thought of lace knitting, it's really knit and purl and wool fwds, You could try a small mat to start with before you get onto the tablecloths, I think there's a couple on my blog somewhere my largest starts with eight stitches and end with 2,000 stitches.

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  5. Robin PerfettiDecember 30, 2016 at 11:31 AM

    Thanks everyone! Jane and Margaret, great suggestions. Maybe once I get my tension a little better I will feel comfortable moving onto more complicated patterns.

    There's still something special about tatting though...the way the shapes come together to form larger geometrical images. For some reason I'm particularly drawn to that, and I don't know why!

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  6. JennDecember 30, 2016 at 7:13 PM

    Both are gorgeous! I'm a knitter too but mainly only do that in winter when it's cold. It's currently too hot to knit here in Brisbane.

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  7. muskaanDecember 30, 2016 at 9:15 PM

    I was going to suggest the very same thing as Jane & Margaret. I avoid stockinette and garter stitch as much as possible and Always try out a patterned stitch. Even for ribbed borders, I change the k,p count to 2,1 or 2,2 just to keep monotony away.
    k,p combos can also create excellent textures and designs till you feel you can move to other stitches (although I can't see any tension issues in your lovely legging !).
    Beautiful tatting And knitting :-)

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    Replies
    1. Robin PerfettiJanuary 2, 2017 at 10:44 PM

      I have a book of knitting and crochet stitches buried somewhere around here. I should dig it out and see if anything catches my fancy :)

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    2. muskaanJanuary 5, 2017 at 8:49 PM

      My go-to book this century has been The New Knitting Stitch Library by Lesley Stanfield . She has a categorised range of almost 250 stitch patterns, all charted.
      Diane had shared a knit-purl-only book (I still haven't found it on Amazon :-( - Sequence Knitting by Cecilia Campochiaro.
      Enjoy :-))

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    3. Robin PerfettiJanuary 7, 2017 at 11:28 AM

      Thanks for the book recommendations!

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