hookin'

Oh, yes, you know it's true: I'm a hooker! Half the reason any fiber fanatic should learn to crochet is so that she or he can make lame jokes about being a hooker. The other half of the reason is that being handy with the hookin' helps with all sorts of patterns that masquerade as "knitting" patterns. How many knitters have gotten jazzed over a pretty sweater only to find that the delicate edging is crocheted... and have then dismissed the pattern altogether?

Some knitters may be aware that I had severe sweater-lust for a Dale of Norway pattern featuring a long A-line cardigan with a lace edging at the bottom and at the cuffs, and a crocheted shell edging doubling as the buttonband. The yarn was Tiur, which is scandalously soft for something not made of cashmere, and after gazing at the pattern photo in the Patternworks catalog for DECADES (slight exaggeration), I ordered both the pattern and the yarn and set it aside for a time when I could properly concentrate on the glory of my Most Lusted After Sweater. I realise now that this is an overly long paragraph that pretty much just needs to say that I learned crochet because my dream sweater required it, and then I only knit about two inches of the dream sweater before realising that the pattern was MegaWonky and have since recycled the yarn into the Argyle Vest which is also a minor disaster.... never mind. On with the show.

I splurged today at LYS on some crochet hooks, not really knowing what size I would need considering I am not using the yarn called for in the pattern, and not the needle size either, and there is no hook size that corresponds exactly to the needle size... anyway, all of this information led to a considerable amount of dithering this afternoon at LYS. Did I mention that Interlocking Rings calls for two *different* sizes of hooks, one for the rings and one for the edging? Oh, rats! So now I have 300% more hooks than I did yesterday. Such an increase in hook population here is proof that I am now a hooker.

I happily knitted away on the second side of the bodice at knitting group tonight, only to discover that I knit about two inches too far, and had to rip it all out. Boo! I have since reknit all the rip-out and am "caught up" although I am mildly resentful of the waste of time. How uptight is that? I think I spent more time measuring and remeasuring the mistake to see if I could measure it into correctness than I did actually reknitting the ripped yarn. It's fun to be stubborn! Anyway, once the second side of the bodice is done (the front and back are the same so I'm not sure which is which yet) I think I will put off the sleeve-knitting (all four square inches of it) to work on some Interlocking Rings rings. Wanna see a finished version of this sweater I love to type about? This chickadee has me very impressed with her version; I had not considered a monochromatic version since this pattern has screamed "RED!" at me since day one.

KnitterG also impressed me tonight with her blue Orangina, pattern by Ms. Glampyre. This is what I love about watching friends knit up patterns I've seen on the internets: a pattern that seems ho-hum or "not me" on the screen becomes an object of knit-desire when seen in person. I must admit, though, that I had a slight crush on Orangina after randomly coming across this blog post about a finished version in BLACK!! Hott stuff! The knitter in question solved the obvious puzzle of what in the world I would want to do with a lace top: throw on a nude-colored bra (preferably push-up) and glam it up! I don't need yet another pattern on my To-Knit list, and more yarn to sit around and ask me to knit it, but I might have to make an exception to the "no more yarn purchases until..." rule.

And yes, I ordered yarn for the Clover Lace Wrap (in PINK!!!!) and feel like after that purchase I should take it easy on the "stash enhancement" for a little while. I think the only way to succeed is to swear off knitblogs for a few months. If anything, I'll get a lot more knitting done... but then I'd miss out on all the great stuff going on in bloggyland. The thing is, some knitblogs are so well written that I honestly believe that their audience could, or already does, include non-knitters. I'd do that linky thing where each word of the previous sentence is a link to a different blog, but I'm lazy, and you can see the blogroll right over there. You know whom I love. *mwah!*

ETA: I debuted Ms. Clapotis today! She was very happy to come out and get some fresh air (and appreciation from my knitter-friends) but I must add that Clappy did exactly what the pattern-story said it would: it kept me warm without being a jacket or sweater. Having something around my neck in the air-conditioning (it was in the 80s today!) kept my cold-natured self from turning blue. Yay for knitting satisfaction!