Knitting Pattern-a-Day Week 4 Review!

Here's the Week 4 Review of the Knitting Pattern-a-Day Calendar patterns. I'm a couple of days late, because I wanted to bring the patterns home to scan pictures (I also got sidetracked by going to the Chiller Theatre convention, but that's another story). I hope that it's not illegal for me to do this -- it's only pictures, not the patterns. If it is illegal, someone please let me know and I'll remove the pictures!


Monday, January 23 -- Felted Bag. -- I don't know if I can get enough of felted bags! I experienced a lot of joy in making a pattern three times in three different brands of yarn, and anticipating different results for each one. This is made with wool yarn and mohair, with the option of sparkly, novelty yarn to be added to the mohair. This is one I may try to make as a gift. It is mind-bogglingly (is that a word?) easy, and can probably be knitted in a day. I'm going to put this on my "to make for Xmas for SOMEBODY" list.

Tuesday, January 24 -- Eric's Super-warm Dog Walking Hat. "This hat is knitted flat, then joined into a long tube, and then closed at the ends." This has a couple of things working against it for me. One, I've made four hats -- two were knit flat, and two were knit in the round. The seams on the knit-flat ones look craptastic. The knit in the round ones look great. Two, I like hats that fit close to the head. This one stands up a few inches above the head. I think people look like tools when they wear these hats.

Wednesday, January 25 -- Bavarian Strolling Socks (Spaziergang Socke). This sock uses an eyelet cable rib stitch and two-color twined knitting. I can't even figure out the eyelet cable pattern (what the heck do 811 and P880 mean?), but these are so cool looking (pale grey and dark green), that I may be up to the challenge one of these days. They look really warm too. The twined knitting on the heel (also referred to as a "salt-and-pepper" stitch) is supposed to wear very well, which is good news to me, because I am more brutal on my socks than I am on my shoes!
With the help of my co-worker Eileen (another knitter!), I think I have figured out that these are typos. "811" may be "Sl1" and "P880" may be "Psso", and "88K" may be "SSK". Danielle from the SnB Boston Yahoo Group pointed out to me that there is an errata sheet posted online for these (http://www.accordpublishing.com/knitting/knitcorr06.htm), which showed that Eileen and I were right!!! Whew!

Thursday, January 26 -- Bavarian Strolling Socks (Spaziergang Socke) continued. . .Yes, it intimidates me that this is a two-day pattern. Yes, I still think I want to make them one of these days. Yes, I think I will cuss often while making them. Yes, once they are done I will wear them until they fall off my feet!

Friday, January 27 -- Tommy's Tartan Vest. Meh. It's okay. I'm not a big fan of vests, and I think I have better tartan charts at home. Pass.


Saturday/Sunday, January 28 & 29 -- Easy Elegant Moebius Scarf. I've made moebius strips accidentally while knitting. The picture of this isn't the best; it's hanging on a wooden peg (or something). I trust patterns more when I see them on a real, living person. That's one fault I am seeing in this calendar -- lack of real-people pictures. I have no idea how this would fit. It just looks like a holey rag hanging on a peg right now.


That's it for this week's review! Feel free to leave comments, whether you agree or disagree with me. As long as I'm not told I can't do it, I'm going to post pictures with my reviews going forward. I think a review is more interesting to read with some visuals attached, and I think I can get more feedback that way.