Friday, September 9, 2011

OMG! That Yarn Harlot....


Is anyone else as annoyed as I am over the Yarn Harlot and her never ending bevy of adorable baby knits? Perhaps, *annoyed* is not the correct word I want to use. Envious is definitely more appropriate! She is the reason why my grandbaby has so little in the way of Nana-knitted items. (I hope the Yarn Harlot doesn't mind me using her as my new excuse!) The Yarn Harlot has churned out four baby items in just that many days. As for me.... I've managed to complete 16 rows of my baby bonnet that I started 10 days ago!

Every morning I go on line and see that she has yet another item up for show and tell. And I sit here wondering how the heck does she do it!?! Okay, I know that she's been knitting for a long time and all. And I've only started three years ago. And yes, I have gone on-line and I have seen her actually knitting! And it doesn't seem human to be able to knit THAT fast!) But still! I'm depressed. I'm bummed. I can't seem to *get over it*!

AND to top it off.... I'm also working on a baby quilt for my niece who is about to have a little girl this month. And quilting and trying to knit using silk hankies does not equal easy or smart!
I have this problem where when I quilt, the middle finger on my left hand becomes all prickled. (I think that's a word. I'm too frustrated right now to look it up to make sure.) So then when I go to knit with the silk hanky, my fingers get all tangled up with silk fibers. It was already difficult even before I started quilting. No matter how well moisturized you think your hands are, the silk will tell you how rough your skin really is!

So, this is the quilt which is still needing quite a bit of stitching done to it.



And here is the baby bonnet.



This is a whole new technique of knitting for me. And this idea was taken from reading the Yarn Harlots blog. She made the cutest, most adorable baby bonnet out of silk hankies and I wanted to make the same exact bonnet. Unfortunately, I couldn't figure out what pattern she used, which probably wouldn't have made a bit of difference had she told me because I'm sure that pattern was WAY out of my league anyhow. But, the idea of using silk hankies was so overwhelmingly fascinating to me that I decided to see if there were some Youtube videos out there explaining how to knit straight from the hankies. And sure enough, there were! So, although I don't have the antique-y looking pattern that she used, I did find something that looks like a bonnet and I'm making it. We'll see how cute it turns out. As you can see, the fiber is all wonky. That is because I did not quaddrupple check my hankie strand before I began knitting with it. But, I believe I've gotten the hang of it and it's looking a bit more even now.

But, back to my title...

I think I'll just stop reading the Yarn Harlots blog until I can get a few more knitted baby items of my own completed. Or.... until Jen's baby is born! ;-)

Okay, back to the needles........


3 comments:

chellebelle said...

I have been reading her blog too... what a lot of stuff. I fell so in love with that baby bonnet that I put in a request for the book she named at the library, and I'm waiting to get it. I have to wait until the other two people who saw her post first, and put in the request before me get the book. I've never knit with the silk hankies.. I'm intriged, but my fingers have violin callouses, I think the silk would snag on mine. (LOVE THE QUILT!) I cannot wait to see the quit finished, and the bonnet too. I've started a new sweater myself. I'll try to post tomorrow... just remember, Stephanie gets paid to knit.. she does it for a living, you're doing just fine, thank you very much!

Norma's Nonsense said...

knitting with a silk hankie?
Can't wait to see more...
Stop comparing yourself to 'that person'......look at ALL the other things you do! :)

Corinnea said...

I agree with the other two very smart women who've commented, STOP comparing yourself in a way that makes you seem lacking! Your quilt is lovely and that bonnet has me intrigued! I'd have never thought of trying anything with silk hankies. How hard that must be and good for you for doing it. Now I just want to see it done!