The Chevron Urge

Every so often I get gripped by urges to make certain things. During term this usually translates into baking/cooking a particular item on my weekends off, and lately especially when a knitting urge hits I’m rarely in the position to indulge it. But, unlike many other urges, my need to knit chevrons is a very doable itch to scratch…

I did some swatching for a rainbow chevron cowl I plan to knit in May for the KnitGirllls self-striping knit-a-long using some KP Felici. I haven’t decided yet how crazy the narrow stripes will make me, and if it’s worth using both balls simultaneously (and thus having a lot of ends to deal with) to make the stripes wider. I have a sneaking suspicion it’s going to go down the ‘more work’ way…

The second chevron project I started this weekend. Last fall I citric acid soaked a bunch of cotton (not sure now that it will help as it’s cotton, but the process is long done now!) for a baby blanket for some friends who were expecting at the time. Sadly, we’ll have to wait for heaven to meet that baby, and so I ripped out the blanket, but still wanted to use the yarn. Well, I had been planning to do stripes anyway, so here was the perfect use for the treated yarn. After the long rows in fingering weight yarn on Hitofude, these ones seem to go in a flash! I’m using the free pattern Baby Chevron Blanket pattern; I added a repeat to the body to make up for being a tad short on gauge. Next time I make this (on yes, I don’t think my chevron days are over yet!) I want to use a wool blend and I think I’ll also add a bit of garter to the cast on and bind off edges. However, I’m very pleased with the blanket so far, and might even get it done for Stash Dash. There isn’t a particular baby in mind, but I figure having a baby blanket in progress/reserve can’t hurt!

In order to start the blanket, I had to finish off another project so I could get the needle tips. I’m still not sure about the color combo on this Helix hat, but it is a fun way to use up leftovers! I’m a little afraid that I pulled too tight at the beginnings of the rows when I switched colors, and I also found out that if you’re a boob and use the wrong color it can’t really be fixed except by pulling your work back. I have a feeling I’m going to make more of these, but I might wait until I have a better color palette. I’m sure there is someone somewhere would appreciate this color combo.

One of the big things I worked on last week is a cross stitch project that will, alas, have to be secret for a while, but let’s just say that I now know that if your kit is old enough your floss can develop a distressing tendency to break…a lot. Now I’m tempted to go rummage through my kit stash for another one… While I still have a bit of term break left!

Lastly, today I made hamburger buns for the first time, and I was quite pleased with the result. If nothing else, living out here has sure made it necessary to learn a lot of skills I probably wouldn’t have otherwise. I wasn’t super great at yeast baking when I came out, but my bread almost always turns out well now. Making bagels is fun and easy, and now I have a good bun recipe for when the hamburger urge strikes again. Maybe I should get around to trying crackers like I’ve been saying I would for awhile… Or, maybe I’ll make a Baked Alaska for my birthday cake!

Parting shot: Such an adorable knitting buddy!