Yarn Along: The Knook

Oh my gosh, I'm yarning along. (I just mis-typed that as yearning -- a significant slip, I think.) I have had the urge for a while to do something with yarn. I haven't really done anything since my failed attempts at knitting last summer, but the urge was there. I finally downloaded the pattern to the Babette blanket this month, (it will take me years to finish this at my speed) because I love it so much. But still I did not start.

Then the big kids were crafting at Michael's last weekend. Thomas decided he would rather shop than paint, so he and I meandered around the store with a buggy just looking at things. I threw a skein of black into my cart for the Babette. I am going to start it mostly with my stash and then see where it leads, but I knew I wanted some black. While I was in the store, The Knook caught my eye.

Oh is this an intriguing little tool. The idea is to make knit stitches with a crochet hook. I picked it up along with a skein of Peaches and Cream kitchen cotton (probably the hardest stuff to knit with ever, but the only non-pricey-organic cotton the store had). I came home and did some major research on YouTube, Ravelry and in the blog world to figure this puppy out. I soon discovered that there are a confusing number of techniques available for knit and pearl stitches. I chose the two that felt the most comfortable and gave me even, untwisted stitches and made a few practice swatches. It is amazingly easy and so much more natural to me than knitting.

While poking around Ravelry, I discovered this pattern for an easy garter stitch headband, so I whipped it up for Olivia from some yarn I had lying about. It is very stretchy, so it ended up being a tad big. I plan to try again with a few modifications to make some that are more comfy for her. Maybe some in a cotton blend so they are not so stretchy? You can find the pattern for the crochet flower here. By the way, I just made the flower with the same hook minus the cord. How cool is that?

Next I started that dishcloth, because it was the best way I knew to practice the pearl stitch -- which I figured would turn out ugly in some places. So far I love knooking. I may still go back and try to learn to knit -- maybe I will try wooden kneedles this time, but I am happy to be crafting again.

Knooking and reading are pretty much mutually exclusive activities in my life. If I am doing one, I don't have time to do the other. Mostly I have been on an Austen movie kick, which I can do a the same time. As for reading, I have started The Read-Aloud Handbook. I have never read that classic despite multiple glowing recommendations. It is slow going, though. To continue the Austen theme, I recently read the sample chapter of Death Comes to Pemberley and snagged a digital copy from my library. I am going to have to get jumping on that one as it is only a 14 day checkout.

You can see what others are stitching and reading at Ginny's.

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