Sunday, October 24, 2004

Knitting Is Magic - a Fairy Tale In One Part

Once upon a time in a land close to here, there lived a beautiful, young, intelligent knitter named Mrs. R. (Hey, its my fairy tale … I can lie if I want to, lie if I want to... you would lie too, if this happened to you!)

Mrs. R's mother, the Empress S., had taught all her sons and daughters to knit when they were children, but Mrs. R. had only learned to cast on, knit, purl, and bind off. K2tog and YO were also mastered, but that is as far as she got.

In August Mrs. R. took up the needles again. Our heroine quickly accumulated a stash and merrily started many, many projects.

With the help of wizards like Lucy Neatby and Sheryl, the owner of Tangled Skeins, along with spells engraved in books like Weekend Knitting, Mrs. R. quickly learned 4 new techniques.

First, the making of icords was revealed. Mrs. R. marveled at how knitting at the opposite end from the yarn supply could result in a tube shape. The fairies themselves must have invented this clever technique.



This is Sophie the Second, modeling her icord handles.
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Next, Mrs. R. was introduced to the fabulous art of the Kitchener Stitch. Joining separate ends of knitting without leaving a noticeable join line using just two knitting needles of live stitches held parallel and a darning needle is, quite simply, MAGIC!



The next technique was somewhat intimidating to Mrs. R. Short rows. The concept baffled our heroine, but she needed to make fingerless mitts for when she walks the puppies (er, I mean, when she flys with the Watch Dragons) and the spell in the book called Weekend Knitting used short rows to shape the mitts over the hand. So, the fearless Mrs. R. cast on and, muttering the special 4 letter words (er, I mean, the incantations) she short rowed away. In the end, our heroine had this to say: "SHORT ROWS ROCK!!"




Finally, the spell for fingerless mitts called for a 3 needle bind off. Here, our heroine's nerve failed her. Gremlins whispered in her ear. For this task she had already learned short rows, and how to cast on over a gap in the fabric (for the thumb). Wasn't that enough? Why was she being pushed so hard? What evil lurked here? Angels wafted into earshot and counter-attacked. "To whom can you turn for support and courage?" they asked her. Ah, Earl Gray to the rescue, with a dash of Captain Morgan on the side. Once fortified, Mrs. R. defeated the confidence-destroying gremlins and bound off successfully.

And everyone lived happily ever after.

- The End -



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4 comments:

  1. WOW!!
    You've had busy needles!
    Those mitts look great; just the thing for flying with watch dragons.
    What yarn did you use for them?

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  2. i love your fairy tale! and your sophie is adorable, i love the stripe. i still feel challenged by using two or more strands of yarn in the same piece of knitting... your tale and your bag are inspiring me to take on a new challenge!

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  3. What a lovely fairy tale...and it had a very happy ending! I love the colors you used for your sophie bag...they look very Gryffindor! And the fingerless mittens/wrist warmers look great too. I've got a pair in mind...I just have to make time to do them.
    Anyways, I hope the weekend was good and that you got all of your weeding/quilting done too.

    YSP

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  4. OOO! I love your fairy tale. And I sure wish I had the magic spell you used to create those mitts. I've been making my own rendition as Christmas gifts, but they are not as nice as yours. I first noticed fingerless mitts on ETERNAL SUMMER OF A SPOTLESS MIND. I'd love to make a pair like those Kate Winslett wore in that movie.

    Hazel

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