The 30 Day Knitting Challenge – Days 23 & 24

First, I want to back up for just a moment:

Day 22: Have you ever stricken someone off your to-knit-for list because they didn’t appreciate/take care of your last knitted gift to them?

In my Day 22 post, I said I hadn’t really, completely cut anyone off. However, I realized yesterday that isn’t entirely true. There is one person for whom I will never make another handknit: my sil’s ex-boyfriend. Those of you who have read my blog for a bit might remember the Color Dipped Hat I knit:

It was a bear to knit, honestly. I had to rip giant sections out more than once. It took forever and repairing mistakes was all but impossible. However, it turned out awesome. The plan was to give it to said sil’s said ex-boyfriend for Christmas. I chose the pattern and yarn after much discussion with my sil, as the recipient had very specific tastes.

Let me interrupt myself to explain that if it wasn’t for my sil, I never would have knit this hat for that guy. I didn’t really care about him much one way or the other, but I knew my sil (who is eminently knitworthy) would understand and appreciate the work that went into it. So, even though it was for the boyfriend (before he was exed), it was really for her.

Well, this dude completely ghosted on her…a couple of weeks before Christmas. They had been together for two years and he just disappeared. He didn’t stick around long enough to get the hat, thankfully. At Christmas, I gave it to my sil to give to him (it wasn’t clear yet at that point that he wasn’t going to resurface) but she never saw him again. A few days ago, she gave it back to me. So, it’s not likely that I would ever have the opportunity to knit for this d-bag again. If I did, though, I would tell him in no uncertain terms where to stick it.

Day 23: If you had the supplies (and patience) for it, what project would you start today?

Mark this date in your calendars, folks, because I have a single definitive answer for this one! I have plenty of patience for this project, but I don’t have the yarn and I have a knitting to do list the size of a football field to get through first. The pattern is the Japanese Garden Shawl by Jana Huck. Here are some of the pics from the pattern page on ravelry:

All images are copyright janukke on ravelry. I first saw this on the Mason Dixon Knitting blog a few days ago and I was instantly in love. The pattern calls for about 800 yards total in three different colors…of 100% silk worsted weight yarn. That’s not happening any time soon, so I’m contemplating options from my stash.

Day 24: Have you ever made your own pattern or dyed your own yarn? How did it turn out?

I’ll start with the dyeing question. Yes, once. I dyed a skein of white worsted weight wool with Kool-Aid and my microwave. I then knitted a soaker with it. I have no idea where it ended up, but at least I have a picture!

If I remember correctly, I used three different colors but two were so close they just blended together. I tried to get more of the pale green, but ended up with just a little bit. In any case, I think it looks kind of cool! The whole thing was really just an experiment as the wool was really too scratchy to be worn by a babe.

Have I ever made my own pattern? Hopefully in a couple of days, the answer will be yes! I’m in the process of designing and knitting a toy sword. I couldn’t find a pattern that had what I was looking for, so I struck off on my own and started designing. So far I’m very happy with how it’s turning out!

How about you? What are you just itching to get on your needles? Have you had any dyeing or designing exploits?

The 30 Day Knitting Challenge is the creation of Meggiewes who blogs at Knitting in Wonderland.

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