The Next Prayer Shawl

I had a flurry of knitting dishcloths leading up to the church fair on November 20. Didn't sell all of them. I think a large assortment would be more effective, that is, if we had, say, a hundred of them to choose from then we would sell more. I hope to make many in the next 11 3/4 months!

Christmas is coming but I am not planning to knit any gifts. I suspect that I will want to make an American Girl Doll sweater soon. That should ebe quick, though. Knit Picks Palette would be great fun to use for a colorful AGD sweater and hat.

Returning to the Prayer Shawl Ministry, I received a request from the group organizer to knit a scarf for our (UUCSB) organist. He is a well-groomed man who wears a black suit, white shirt, and black tie on Sunday morning. What could I knit that he would like and would not be devastatingly boring? I settled on Knit Picks Gloss at 220 yards on 50 grams in two colors: Black and Porcini. Porcini is a flavor of taupe. How to knit the two colors? Double knit! One side is black with taupe pin stripes and the other size is taupe with black pin stripes. It is 49 stitches wide, or about 6.5 inches. I am using 3.0 mm needles made of a beautiful black wood. Connie gave me the needles a few years ago. The needles are an excellent tool but I must admit that knitting black yarn on black needles is not ideal.

I used the tubular cast on, starting with one side's worth of stitches. In other words, I cast on 49 stitches with waste yarn, made a few rows in stocking stitch, then started the black yarn. I knit 5 rows of stocking stitch with the black. On the purl side of the black, I made the tube and added the second side of the double knit fabric by picking up and knitting the end of the first row of black with the taupe. Then I purled the first stitch on the left needle with black. And so on. Knitting Daily has an excellent video about the tubular cast on. I can't find any videos or instructions about this, so maybe it is my invention. Please watch the tubular cast on video to get the idea. Here are my directions:

1. With waste yarn, cast on the number of stitches for one side of the double-knit fabric
2. With waste yarn, Knit 4 rows of st st
3. With Color 1, knit stocking stitch for 5 rows ending with a right-side row

In the next row, the tube is formed and the second side of the double knit fabric is started.

1. With Color 2, pick up and knit the last stitch of the first row of Color 1; move both yarns (Color 1 and Color 2) to purling position
2. With Color 1, purl stitch on left needle; move both yarns to knitting position
3. With Color 2, pick up and knit strand between last and next-to-last stitch of first row of Color 1 (The video is very helpful when identifying what to pick up.); move both yarns to purling position
4. With Color 1, purl stitch on left needle

Continue to process one picked up stitch and then one stitch on needle (Steps 3 and 4), alternately. End with purling the last stitch on the left needle with Color 1.

I am pleased with the results of this starting methods. I have used other cast on methods and double-knitting beginnings. I experienced tight stitches and thus difficulty which this method avoids. For my pin striped scarf, I worked the tube-forming row in pattern.

So really the Next Prayer Shawl referred to in the title of this post is a scarf.

Dishcloths for the Church Fair

The UUCSB Prayer Shawl Ministry is providing hand-made items for the 2010 Holiday Fest. All of the money received will benefit the church.

A member of the UUCSB Prayer Shawl Ministry makes scrubbies for washing dishes from tulle. She cuts the tulle into strips and then crochets little tuffets. Another member found inexpensive kitchen towels and wooden spoons at Reny's. My job is to make dishcloths that coordinate with the scrubbies and the towels.

Deb Andriulli shared two delightful dishcloths on her blog: the Waffle Dishcloth and the Aunt May Dishcloth. The results are lovely. In both cases I cast on more stitches than the pattern because I tend to knit tightly.

The waffle dishcloth has a three-stitch pattern repeat. I cast on fifty stitches instead of thirty-eight. I used a #5 needle and three strands of cotton. I think it is 2/8 cotton but the labels are lost in the mists of time. My version on Ravelry is here.

For the Aunt May dishcloth, which has a ten-stitch pattern repeat, I cast on forty-seven stitches instead of thirty-seven. I am using #7 needles and Tahki Yarns Cotton Classic II. I know, very fancy yarn for a dishcloth but I've had it in my stash for more than ten years. The stitch pattern is exactly reversible, a very desirable quality in a dishcloth, scarf, or shawl. I love the result.

I also used Waffle Dishcloth by Katherine Vaughan. Like Andriulli's waffle dishcloth, the stitch pattern repeats every four rows but instead of two purl and two knit rows in each waffle square, there are three knit rows and one purl. The results are less depth in the texture and a less appealing "wrong side." My result is here in Ravelry. Consequently I prefer Andriulli's pattern. This pattern, too, I modified by casting on more stitches.

While considering dishcloth patterns, I ran across many knit-purl picture designs. That is, dishcloths with an embossed image such as a leaf or a duck or a skull-and-cross-bones. These are way too precious for me. I much prefer an all-over stitch pattern which looks great on both sides.
Search Amazon.com Books for Dishcloth

Prayer Shawls Given and Received

	I recently finished my first shawl for the PSM at UUCSB. I wrote about blocking it in a previous post. I made it in two weeks and I am looking forward to my next prayer shawl, after dishcloth season wraps up on November 20. That's the date of the Holiday Fest at UUCSB.
From My Legacy

I made my first prayer shawl, pictured, for the prayer shawl stockpile. I like the idea of stocking up, as if we are canning kindness and prayers, putting it up for leaner times.

When I was being treated for breast cancer, in 2009, I was given two prayer shawls. One came from Ferry Beacher Connie Dunn. She made it on very large needles, holding four yarns together. One of the strands is eyelash yarn. The shawl has very long fringe and many bright colors. Before giving it to me, the people of RE Week at Ferry Beach each put it on and filled it with love and healing energy. The second shawl came from the PSM at the UU Society of Bangor. It is made of variegated purple yarn, no fringe, and blessed by the congregation.

The two shawls and the other gifts I received showed me the love and support that exists in my community for me. I am blessed.

The shawl I made will carry blessings, love, and support to a member of my community. I hope that person will draw strength from my handiwork.

Knitting during worship

Several years ago, while still attending the Unitarian Church of Marlborough and Hudson (UCMH), I began to make a habit of knitting during worship service.

I enjoy the meditative qualities of the knitting during worship and I am pleased to have spent my time productively. When I work on a prayer shawl I also get the satisfaction of contributing to the community while I am with the community.

But sometimes I am using the knitting to buffer myself from the intense emotions that can arise during worship and that is disappointing. My attempts to "be here now" are undermined. This habit started when I was overwhelmed with responsibility at UCMH. I wanted to protect myself.

I wonder what would happen now if I didn't knit during the service? Would I be bored? I will try it soon at UUCBS. Funny, I feel some anxiety about it.

Hats and Hair

I had chemotherapy in 2009 to treat breast cancer. Naturally enough my hair fell out. My hair loss started at the top and worked its way down. I wore a wig in the summer because I interact with so many people and I did not want to attract attention for being bald. Once the summer people left (day after Labor Day) I stopped wearing the wig. From then on I wore a lot of hats. My hat love grew. I discovered security and comfort in my hats.

Now I have hair again, I get it cut regularly, but I've kept it very short and the cold weather is coming on. I am wearing hats again, sometimes all day. I feel safe and warm.

This was my favorite. The pattern is Bloody Stupid Johnson by Sarah Lilly and published by Knitty.com. I still love it but the color reminds me of when my hair started to grow back. It came in white, then very gray. I didn't much like my hair that way. But the hat: it was fun to make. The crazy cable was knitted around the head, the ribbing picked up and knit down, the crown picked up and knit up. (Mine is made with Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece.)

From My Legacy

I highly recommend checking out "Maslow's Hierarchy Of Hats" by Jessica Hagy.
Where your head is. My BSJ was in that very lowest level, physiological needs, where it played the role of hair. When I wear a hat now, I am working on some higher Maslowian level.

Dishcloths and Marriage

When DD3's teacher invited us to her wedding I was just beginning to experience dishcloth fever. I decided to knit a dozen to give as a wedding gift. "Lizard Ridge Dishcloth" by Laura Aylor was in my Ravelry queue and I cast on. (I think you have to have a Ravelry account to see those pages.) I worked with five colors, combining them every which way.

From My Legacy

The short rows in lizard ridge are engaging: knit to the where the wide place should be, then back and forth a few times, then a long stretch to the next wide place. One dishcloth is made with only one color. One dishcloth has the ridge of two of the stripes one color and the filling, if you will, another color. The remaining dishcloths are striped, with the ridge and the filling the same color. Project details are available on this public Ravelry page: Colorful Dishcloths!

I gave the first two to Maureen for her birthday, so I really made fourteen.

Tonight at the School Around Us (SAU) 40th Anniversary party, the brides told me how the dishcloths have eliminated one of those little rubs that makes co-habitation so challenging. It seems that one doesn't like to squeeze the sponge and the other doesn't like to encounter the unsqueezed sponge. So they have cast aside the sponge and taken up the dishcloth. May they live happily ever after!

Blocking Acrylic Yarns

I love blocking knitted objects. The lumps and irregularities smooth down, the texture pops up, colors mesh and define, the fit of the garment comes true. All the attention to detail (every single stitch was made just so) bears fruit.

Blocking teaches the fibers, the stitches, and the shaping how to express itself. Wool's memory is directed with water. I add starch to cotton and linen to make the lesson stick. Acrylic, I recently learned is best blocked with steam. I knit a lace shawl called "Kimono Shawl" by Cheryl Oberle for our PSM at UUCSB with Vanna's Choice. In my ignorance, I wet blocked it. As I pulled out the pins the shawl sprung right back to its unblocked state. For about a day I pretended that it was blocked. Then I cast off my delusions, read my reference books, and Googled. I found this forthright and useful article: You Can Block Acrylic. I followed Beadknitter's advice and my shawl is beautifully and permanently blocked. At least, she says it is permanent.