moments

There are always moments. You know. Moments. Moments when you know you have crossed from one state of being to another. Like when I started on Backyard Leaves, I became a Knitter. But there are also smaller moments, moments that move towards the Moment. My big pre-Moment moment, must have been when I became besotted with Entrelac. I had to know how to do it. I had just bought my first Vogue Knitting magazine, no small investment in Israel. I believe it cost 70 NIS or approximately $15. It was the Fall 06 issue and featured a tutorial in Entrelac.

So there I was, knitting for only a few months, and I managed to work my way through. I don't think it was the best written tutorial, and I had to start over a few times. But when I got it, I got it. The thing that helped the most: I changed colors every diamond and every triangle. This let me see more clearly what was going on. Here's a picture of that first swatch:



Anyway, I have been looking for the right pattern ever since. I tried Danica, but it just wasn't working for me. Don't get me wrong, I still think it's a fab pattern. Now that I am a wiser Knitter, I am sure it was because I wasn't using the greatest of materials so I didn't like the how the scarf was flowing. I am sure I will revisit the pattern one day. If you don't know the pattern, check it out. And visit Jesse's blog. His was the first blog I visited and eventually subscribed to. I wish Yarn Boy was updated more often, but he is working on his book, so though I miss his posts I wish him much success.

Another Entrelac pattern that caught my eye, and was forever in my queue, was the Entrelac Jacket by John Brinegar, VK Holiday 2006. There are many reasons why I haven't yet cast on, among them that magazine is MIA (remember that all my things from Israel seemed to have arrived to CA EXCEPT my knitting books, etc...) but it remains a goal.

So here we are. Winter '08. I haven't had a hair cut since I left Jerusalem. But it's curly again, which somehow makes this ok. Still, it's just not looking its best. And since I have yet to purchase a shower cap (can you tell I'm still in a bit of limbo land?) it picks up a bit more frizz each morning from the shower. I needed a head band and I needed one stat. Thus I remembered Quant by Star Athena, from the newest crop of Knitty patterns. A nice wide headband, Entrelac, who could ask for anything more. (For more of my Quant project details, here is the link to my Ravelry project page.)

Knit up in bright self striping yarn, this is a super fast, super easy little project that gave me the Entrelac project I had been craving and cute headband to cover a myriad of hair sins. From the stash, I used Lang's Mille Colori and was quite pleased with the results.

from the front

and from the back

on the head

from the right

and from the left

Can I take just a moment to say how proud I am of these pictures? You see, I took them myself! Using the bathroom mirror to guide me, I actually got focused, close up shots OF MYSELF!

While I am quite pleased with the results, this headband is a bit wide. So I decided to use up that Artyarns I've been talking about and make another Quant. A more subtle Quant. An Ele-quant. I cast on with smaller needles and fewer stitches. Tomorrow we'll see how that's coming along and look at some pics I took showing some of the Entrelac process.