block 'n tackle knitting

It's hard to pick up in a photo, but this simple stitch makes my sea silk yarn absolutely lustrous.  Here's how to do linen stitch, which is not only lovely, but has the added charm of not curling, yay! Work linen stitch on an even number of stitches. Row 1: K1, slip 1 with yarn in front, and repeat this to the end of the row. Row 2: *P1, slip 1 with yarn in back, and repeat this to the end of the row. (Note: when slipping your stitches, always slip as if to purl.) That's it! Only two rows to repeat, and so pretty. 

Cotton worsted yarn in light blues and grey knit up in a day for a summer cap! For pattern, see my Simple Christmas Beret.

Yes, it's spring (see the hydrangeas?) and yes, I'm knitting a black sweater, with stripes of fuzz. What of it? I'm a rebel.

I thought I'd post a pic of another project currently on the go. This one is a blanket I'm crocheting, freeform, to match some of the greys in our new living space. I'm interspersing the neutral, sportweight, grey yarn with strands of fun, somewhat sparkly black, blue and purple eyelash yarn -- all acrylic, because that works well for blankets. It's going to take awhile, but I'm liking the results of the puff stitch and single crochet stripes.

My latest socks have rainbow sprinkles.

These turned out pretty well! I like how bright they are on my table, next to the flowers. Happy spring!

I dislike paper napkins, and I'm not much for sewing, so I thought: why not knit some? I have a bunch of light, sport weight cotton in various colours, and with my skinniest needles (I admit, they're two slightly different sizes, 3.25 and 3.5 mm) I started a plain, stockinette square. I used 50-65 long-tail CO stitches (the number doesn't matter too much; I used different initial cast-ons because some of my yarn was thinner, some thicker) with a 4-knit-stitch border all-round to discourage curling. For example: CO 50 st. K first 4 rows in knit stitch. Switch to stockinette: K one RS rows, P WS rows, but K first 4 st of each row and K last 4 st of each row on WS to form a knit border. Do this until napkin is more or less a square, then K four more rows in knit stitch and BO. Next, I'll look for a linen blend (and maybe matching-sized needles!) to make another batch.