That's a word that means "someone who will love and appreciate the time you took to create this gift and will actually use it as intended." People who are knit-worthy are those who will put the cushy socks on their feet on cold mornings, or proudly boast about the hat you designed (even if you think it is one of the worst projects you ever made). People who are not knit-worthy are those who turn the throw you made them as a housewarming gift into a dog blanket, or who think the sweater you made is too pretty to wear so it gets stuck in a drawer for 10 years.
I find that most of my family is pretty knit-worthy. My brother, of all people, even routinely requests for new knitted Pokémon to add to his collection (which now totals two!). It's one of my main reasons to knit presents for birthdays and holidays ... though occasionally I like to surprise my immediate family members with something extra-special that did not take six weeks to create. Lately, my knitting evenings are devoted to the Dotted Rays Shawl, a pattern by the insanely vivacious and color-conscious designer Stephen West. One of the women in my knitting guild, Claudia (she owns Yarn Rhapsody in Gainesville), brought her completed Dotted Rays Shawl to a meeting several months ago and I about drooled. Normally I like to make up my own patterns, but since shawl design is not my jam, I knew this was one I could do! |
As you can see, Claudia used a Trendsetter Transitions yarn that went from gray to hot pink to black. Transitions yarn is absolutely fascinating! The yarn is made up of four plys (these are the "threads" of a yarn). After a certain amount of yardage, one ply becomes a darker color, and so on, so the yarn literally transitions as you knit it up. How cool, right?! Nanny gave me cash for Christmas, and I knew I wanted to spend part of it on something magical to make for her. This shawl spoke to me! The |
I'm just about finished with the shawl, and I am in love. The pattern is achieved using yarn overs and short rows (which means you don't knit all the stitches in a row before switching needles). There is a built-in i-cord edging, which to me perfectly frames the sunset inside. Casting on was not the easiest, because I tried after a glass of wine to do a provisional cast-on for the first time (casting on two colors of yarn, but you only knit one ... can you see my tipsy confusion?!), but once I got the hang of it, it's simple. Dotted Rays comes in a small and large size. |
Tune in next week for a Knitbook Blog lesson on how to block shawls ... then you'll see the finished project!