FORE!

Golf club covers, people! One of the secret gifts I've been working on recently.


I first had the notion to make these last year, when I stumbled across some patterns on Ravelry, but somehow never got around to actually wrapping the yarn around the needle. That is, until last week, when panic struck. They're a birthday present for a dear friend, and although her birthday isn't for another 4 weeks, I started to feel the pressure of time (as in not enough to do all I plan) bearing down on me. I stress out A LOT about things like gifts and packing, so I decided that unless I favored sleepless nights in my future, I'd better get in gear and start working on a present.

Since I'd had the club covers in my mind for a while, the main issue was picking colors. This sporty friend is rather preppy and owns more than one Lily Pulitzer garment, so I decided to go with uber-preppy country club colors: pink, green and bright blue. I had the pink and blue already, so only had to buy the green and white. Then, I decided on a couple of patterns, and we were off, as it were.

Details:
Pattern: Striped Golf Club Cover, by Lauren Nell Roy
Holey Hexagon Golf Club Covers, by Sarah Wilson
Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver Solids (pink)
Caron Simply Soft Brites (blue and green)
Lion Brand Vanna's Choice Baby (white)
Needles: US7s/4.5mm
Started: September 9
Finished: September 16

I knit the pink cover in the round with bamboo DPNs, and that was a mistake. The Red Heart yarn is sticky and the saddle joint of my thumb was really sore by the time I'd bound off, so despite my ambivalence towards seaming, I knit the other two covers flat. For those, I used my Denise interchangeable needles, which are plastic and glide much more smoothly through the yarn. Also, the Vanna's Choice and Caron are both much softer yarns, and so were easier on my hands. Knitting the second two covers was such a breeze, I didn't mind seaming them a bit. In fact, it was kind of fun. What I did mind, however, was the duplicate stitch I used to faux-argyle the green cover. It came out kind of messy and amateurish, but there really wasn't much I could do. Lesson learned: duplicate stitch = not for me.

These covers are kind of a continuation on a birthday theme for this friend; several years I needlepointed a case for her golf tees. I'm nothing if not consistent.

Side note: Michael Kors and some other designers showed a lot of neon bright accent pieces in their Fall '09 collections (see this, and this and this), and I'm thinking that Caron Brites might be the perfect yarn out of which to craft a cozy and shocking cowl (yarn held doubled or tripled, of course).