Heather Narbit learned to knit from a friend a few years ago when pointy sticks first became cool. Since then, she's delved deeper into the world of knitting and crafts, always ready to share her love of all things handmade.

A Lake Charles native, Heather lives in Houston with her husband.

November already?!?!

Posted November 7, 2009 at 3:04 pm
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The holidays are often stressful for knitters. Who to knit for? What to make? Will I have enough time? I sort of backed into my own method of deciding: I only knit for two people each Christmas. It’s my mom and dad’s turn this year as I realized that they’re the only remaining family members I haven’t knit for! It’s also convenient that my mom saw the Flower Basket Shawl I knit myself and instantly said, “I can have one.” She picked out a brown lace, and it’s already nearing the half-way point.

My dad is a little harder to figure out. He’s the type who just gets whatever he needs or wants and is thus very hard to shop/knit for. Living on the Third Coast (I’m personally trying to get that to become THE term for the Gulf Coast), he doesn’t have much need for winterwear except for business trips where it’s often necessary. He’s not big on accessories, though. My mom’s advocating for felted slippers (like these and these), but I’m not sure they’re the win. I thought about making him a nice scarf for those work trips or even a pair of socks, but mom didn’t think those would go over as well. I’ve already got the yarn for the slippers, so we’ll see how this goes.

In other holiday news, I’ve got a tree skirt I began cross-stitching … oh, I don’t know … like eight years ago that I haven’t touched in six or so years. I should finish that. I’d also like to knit my husband and me our own stockings, but that may wait for next year.

Who are you knitting for? Any holiday knitting traditions out there? Any patterns you want to share?

And because I don’t have any knitting photos: some gratuitous cat photos.

What I did Saturday

Posted October 27, 2009 at 11:02 am
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Ballunar Fest at Johnson Space Center!!!!!

Dyelots are Deceiving

Posted October 18, 2009 at 11:31 am
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I’ve finished the back of my Auburn Camp Shirt! I still had yarn to spare from my first skein of Malabrigo Lace, so I used it to cast on for the right front. I was about halfway through the front when I needed to tie on another ball of yarn. I had two more skeins waiting to be called in, all the same dyelot, all purchased at the same time.

I picked it up and knitted on for two days before I looked down and noticed a clear line where the new yarn started. It’s as if the saturation reversed from below where it was dark with light highlights to being light with dark highlights. It’s not apparent in all lighting, but pretty obvious in full sun and quite stark when you know where to look.

So, now I’m going to rip this out and cast on with the new yarn. I’ll leave the bottom half in tact and frog it for a sleeve or something. This is the last project I want to rip out! Progress has been so slow because of the tiny gauge. Thankfully, though, the front worked up in less than a week because of the fewer stitches. I think this will be done by the end of the year. I hope.

Meanwhile, I was finally able to give my star blanket to its intended recipient! Here are some pictures of the finished project, the first thing I’ve crocheted in years (other than some granny squares)! I had photos of it blocking, but my camera corrupted all of those pix.

Caught in the Knet

Posted October 10, 2009 at 6:37 pm
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IMG_5299

Originally uploaded by knitandwit

I finished the latest sock kit in under a week! I loved this knit from start to finish. Cat Bordhi is a genius. My only complaint is with the toe. She has you bind off as you may with a hat, decreasing evenly around the foot down to six stitches and then running yarn through the live stitches. It doesn’t seem to be as good a fit as most other toes, but the heel is sheer genius! It fits perfectly. The “knetted” pattern she came up with involves yarn forwards and slipped stitches that break up any color pooling that could happen. I think these socks are great!

A Disaster From the Beginning

Posted October 4, 2009 at 10:33 am
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I hated this pattern before I even began knitting it. In the pictures from the pattern, they look ill-fitting. I’ve learned in my knitting experience that if a pattern doesn’t fit the model well, then you should probably just discount that pattern all together. If they can’t make it work well enough for the official photoshoot, then we’re all doomed.

But, this was the July Rockin’ Sock Club shipment, and I promised myself I’d knit them all, so I trudged on ahead. The first problem I had was with the reverse stockinette bands on the top and bottom of the cuff. First of all, I think they look dumb. Second, the pattern calls for you to use a smaller needle for those bands. When I got through the first cuff, I tried to slip them over my heel, and no luck. The bands were just far too tight. I had to rip it all out and start over. I didn’t change needle sizes on these.

The yarn pooled horribly. I hate when one color sticks together so much, like the yellow does in these. The yarn looks beautiful in the skein, and I think the colors are gorgeous. The socks, however, look like clown puke to me.

The 1×1 ribbing on the foot was unimaginative and boring. I really expect a little more from my sock club.

Finally, the pattern tells you to begin the toe decrease with 2″ left (for my size) and that was totally wrong. I finished my first sock to find it fit, but was just tight enough to be annoying. As I just decided to rip out the toes of an earlier pair of socks because of this problem, it really irritated me. I knit the second sock up to an inch to go and it worked out better. I had to rip out the first sock to match.

To make matters worse, I was so ready to be done with the second sock that I kept rushing and misreading/ignoring the pattern. I ended up with too few heel stitches and had to rip; decreased the gusset incorrectly and had too few instep stitches and had to rip; etc. I hated these socks from the beginning.

This is the most negative I’ve ever felt or written about my knitting. I really would not have ever knit these if it weren’t for the club. I would’ve bought the yarn and passed on the pattern.

That being said, September’s shipment arrived last week and while not my favorite, I think it’s pretty. I can’t wait to start!

A contest and free patterns!

Posted September 27, 2009 at 9:29 am
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Hurry, because it ends tomorrow. One of my favorite bloggers posted the link to a publisher’s contest. There are also a number of free knitting, sewing and other craft project instructions they made available for download. Go! Now!

On the other fronts, part of my interim was because I started a new job. Rather, I’m working at the same place but with some new duties. Combine that with the big event we’re planning for Tuesday, and life has been rather hectic. And then the internet really did go out for an entire weekend, my preferred blogging time.

Everything seems on track now. I think I’m getting used to my new routine. I’ve been knitting during my lunch break, and I’ve invited some co-workers to join me. Some already knit or crochet, some have asked to learn. We’ll see if that gets off the ground.

I’m flying through the gussets on the last STR club shipment because September’s already on its way to me. It may be sitting in my mailbox for all I know. (I didn’t check yesterday.) I’ll report back soon with some finished socks and some pictures of the ones to come.

Sorry I’m MIA

Posted September 21, 2009 at 8:18 am
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I’ve been having internet problems at home that should be rectified very soon. So I can’t really share any pictures.

I’ve finished the star blanket at long last, but have yet to give it to the recipient, so that’s pending. I’ve been trying to finish up the July sock club socks as September should be arriving soon. It’s like pulling teeth, though, as I’m really hating the pooling. Auburn Camp Shirt work continues.

Regularly scheduled programming should resume very soon.

Third time is the charm

Posted September 5, 2009 at 10:49 am
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My first attempt at a star-shaped baby blanket was a catastrophic failure. Knitting from the inside out, I wasn’t able to balance my increases and decreases while growing the blanket outward. In short, I got a sombrero-like mess.

On my second attempt, I gave in on the star-shape and instead found a star lace motif. This pattern, however, even with my improvisations needed more yarn than I had on hand, so it also got ripped.

The third attempt is finally on track. I gave up knitting all together and went with crochet, which is much better suited to a star shape in one piece. Voila! In a few more weeks, I should have a baby blanket sized star! Sadly, the intended godson is having his birthday party today, so, well, it’s a bit of a fail.

FYI, what’s going on just out of the camera’s eye:

What I’ve been up to

Posted August 22, 2009 at 10:12 am
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Long time, no post! That’s not like me! I have to update my project pictures before I can give a true accounting of where my time has gone, but in all honesty, I can’t talk about the bulk of it. I’ve been knitting and working on a pattern (my first!) that’s been submitted to a knitting publication. The rule is, you can’t talk about your work until it’s been published or declined. I’m hoping for the first, but I’m prepared for the latter. If it gets rejected, I may submit to one other place, but after that, I’ll just post it here for free. I have no illusions about my talent as a designer; I have none. The pattern is a fun little knit, though, and it’s been very useful for me.

As I haven’t been knitting on much other than my stealth project, I ‘ll have to leave you with some cute cat pictures. This is a knitting blog, after all.

New road stop

Posted August 7, 2009 at 5:09 pm
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Driving to Austin last weekend, I had to read aloud a sign to comprehend: “Yarnorama, 2 blocks.” My husband turned around, and we found the store tucked away just off Highway 290, about 40 miles outside of Austin. I didn’t have a camera, so words will have to suffice.

The first thing I thought of was a barn, but only because of the big spacious room you enter. There’s lots of light coming from above, and the room is lined with spinning fiber and cones of yarn for weaving. In the middle are dozens of looms and spinning wheels, some of them occupied by local crafters. To the left is another room jam-packed full of yarn. Yarn of all kinds, all brands, I was blown away. There were brands I never heard of, brands I heard of but had never seen in person, and a bunch of old favorites. There were also good selections of locally dyed yarn, locally milled yarn and local handspun. Behind the cash register were two English angora bunnies (Coco and Chanel) that the owner spins from.

It’s wonderful to see a store that offers the entire process in one place without overemphasizing any of it. A lot of time knitting/crochet stores try to offer a little for spinners, and I’m sure that’s appreciated. Some spinning/weaving stores throw a little yarn in the back, and that’s nice to pick through sometimes. This store, however, had wonderful offerings for all crafts. There was so much depth to the offerings.

If you’re ever driving by that way, I highly recommend stopping by to say hi! They were incredibly friendly. I even got to see a weaver’s first product: a beautiful table runner.

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