Knitting tips

Have been busy working on Christmas presents; was only making a pair of socks for my cousin and for my brother and his wife, who spent Christmas down here, a market bag (class I was taking from Cat and Crow) and two hats (was thinking it would be good for cold days at farmers market).

Completed one of Linda's socks when it became obvious that I could complete her socks and have nothing for Donny and M or put the sock aside and work on their presents, which is what I choose to do.

Finished the market bag Christmas Eve and then cast on first of the two hats for them. Gave them the bag, started hat (now known as Hat 1.0) and ball of yarn ear tagged for Hat 2.0. I was very confident that I could finish the hats before they headed back home. Have the impression that they were not surprised that their gift wasn't done and didn't seem all that receptive to any of their gifts.

It is now December 26th and so far I have made two hats but one only slightly wearable. Due to a nasty thing called gauge, Hat 1.0 was incredibly tight. This was ripped out Christmas day and redone on larger needles but Hat 1.2 was only slightly wearable. By slightly wearable, this means you can't have a big noggin' like my brother and I have. As the hat fit my sister-in-law's daughter, she is now the proud owner of a brown cabled alpaca hat. Hat 1.3 (formally the yarn for Hat 2.0) is cast on with a two-tone yarn that really does nothing for the cables so I'm thinking of ripping this out and redoing this in a plain ribbing. Will have to go through stash and see if I have a yarn that will compliment it to make Hat 2.0.

Once Hat 1.3 and 2.0 are done, they will be mailed up to Donny and M along with a game Mom Gave to them. Mom had purchased the game at a local store but the deck was all messed up by the manufacturer. Completing the hats and getting them mailed out soon is a matter of principle even though I'm pretty sure they could care less about receiving them.

Here are my Christmas knitting tips (most of these you have probably heard):
1. The deadline should not be a surprise (but somehow it always is). Plan early and get the projects done well in advance. Umm this one will happen for me only in some alternate reality.
2. Gauge is important. I hate to do this and I'm constantly amazed that this is such a shock when things don't work out!
3. No surprises. Ask people what they would like made, but do not be afraid to give limits (do you want to make something ultra complicated that you detest?).
4. Make sure the recipient is either knit worthy or knit worthy for what you are making. There are some knitter's who will not make gifts for people as they know recipients do not appreciate the hard work that was put into their gift.

Have a general knitting tip that for me is a major breakthrough. Always hate that I can't look at my knitting and tell which row of a repeat I'm on. My "discovery" is stitch markers!

At the begining of row 1 of repeat (for instance on a hat), do the first stitch of row 1 and place a stitch marker (for me any color except green as that is my knitting on one circular beginning of the round color); complete row. If working in the round, on row 2, do 1st stitch, remove marker, do the next stitch and place marker. There are now 2 stitches to the right of the marker. Keep moving the stitch marker in this manner at the beginning of the round. When on last repeat, do not place the marker (so its handy for row 1). Now if I put the knitting down (or if I'm having a strawberry blond moment and can't remember what row I'm on midway through the round) I can tell at a glance what row I'm on.

Haven't quite figured out what I'll do if knitting something flat but my thought is to have the marker at the beginning of the row on the right side. Can easily tell the right from wrong side, usually. If I can't, I place a stitch marker that can be clipped onto the right side. I use clip on markers to indicate how many repeats have been done. On the Every Way Wrap, there are a series of markers climbing up the right side showing my progress.