A blog about my life, knitting, and other stuff.

January 31, 2004

Full of Felty Goodness

Today's post is full of felted knits. First we have the mitered-square tote. Shown here inverted on a box of Crunchy Corn Bran (which my son insists on calling Crunchy Corn Meal. Why does this annoy me? Oh right! The bag.)


Moving on we have a Bucket-O-Chic. Boy did I go around and around on the brim. First I knit it with a double strand picking up 110 stitches and knitting in stockinette for 5 rows, then purled for 2 then bound off purlwise. After reading many sad stories about ruined hats with wavy brims I ripped it out. I then started many times to reknit the brim, each time making one dopey mistake after another. I put it aside to finish my tote. Last night I picked it up, picked up 110 stitches and knit 5 rows st st and 2 purl and bound off purlwise with a single strand. The brim looks great. No curling, no waves. The top, however, looks a tad mushroomy. Sigh... See for yourself.



Last we have a swatch I just made for Elle.



This will be my very first fair isle project. Half-way into making the swatch I measured it just for kicks and saw that my gauge was too tight. I thought I needed a bigger needle which, of course, I don't own. And there are no knitting stores open at 10pm on a Saturday night. The nerve. Then I realized that I am a big stupid-head because I was knitting my (fair isle!) swatch flat. This project is knit in the round. I need to swatch in the round. Duh! Now I need to go into the attic and try to dig out some size 6 dpns. Wish me luck.

Unpacking progress is slow but steady. I am gradually feeling like I live in this place and that it's not just some really nice B+B with an inattentive staff.

My sons seem to have absorbed just how obsessed with knitting I have become. The first example was when my 5 year old walked by me watching "Martha Stewart Living." It's very, very unusual for me to watch tv when my kids are up. He looked at Martha baking some fabulous tart or something and said, "You shouldn't be watching this because you never bake. You should watch a knitting show." Ouch.

Then, yesterday morning, both of my sons (3 and the aforementioned 5 year old) got into bed with me to snuggle in the morning. My younger son is very cuddly and affectionate. He was giving me little kisses and rubbing noses with me. I was utterly charmed. Not to be outdone, my 5 year old kissed me on the arm.
"I love you, Mom," he told me.
"I love you too, honey."
"I love you more than anything. Do you love me more than anything?"
I tried to be diplomatic and pointed out that I loved them both more than anything.
He thought for a moment and asked, "More than knitting?!"

January 30, 2004

Hey Ya!

My husband found a really cute download today if you like Outkast and/or Charlie Brown. It starts a little slow but gets better as it goes along.

I just finished my felted tote. I need to find the right size box to block it on before I pop in the washer. I'm also picking up those brim stitches again on my BOC and will hopefully felt it at the same time as the tote. Then I'm going to start Elle!

January 29, 2004

This Can't Be Good...


House Beautiful

I'm moved and back online!
There are boxes everywhere. It will honestly take months, if not years, to get everything unpacked and stowed somewhere. I've got pictures of the house from the night before we moved in. It's empty except for some props that the contractor brought over for a photo shoot of his own. There were a lot of boring photos of empty rooms so I'm just going to show you what you really want to see--the kitchen and bathrooms.

Here is my ridiculously large kitchen.


Here is my lovely new bathroom.


There is an alternate view here.

Here's the den.


Here's the boy's bathroom.


In the midst of all this, I've got a terrible cold and have completely lost my voice. I've only been able to produce a horrible, raspy whisper for the last few days. I told DH I was the hoarse whisperer. He nodded and smiled. As I said before, he's a good sport.

Very little knitting to report. I've gotten a little further up one side of my mitered-square tote.

Also a woman who works at the grocery store stopped me tonight to ask about my Booga Bag. I talked to her about it a little bit. She said she hasn't knit since she was a little girl but that my bag was so cute she was going to pick it up again.

January 27, 2004

Errata-ca

I'm still really busy with packing and moving. I took a ton of pictures of the house tonight but won't have time to post them for a few days.

I'll just share this link with you. Errata for Stitch 'N Bitch.

Also Chicknits has a new Bottoms-Up Bucket-O-Chic. I had a moment the night before last when I gasped so loud my husband asked what was wrong. I excitedly explained that now that there was a bottom-up version of the BOC I could make one in Kureyon with the stripes all running in the same direction. He nodded sagely. I believe what he heard was, "blah blah blah blah hat blah blah blah knit blah blah." He was a good sport about it anyway. (I read this bit back to him and he pointed out, "I don't think I heard the word 'hat" either.")

Good night and happy knitting!

January 26, 2004

Knitters Are Still Nice

I got another lovely package today from a fellow knitter. Mariko of Super Eggplant sent me this.



I saw on her blog that she was reading The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri. I read Interpreter of Maladies last year and was absolutely enthralled with Lahiri's writing. Mariko remembered that I wanted to read it and sent it to me. I am so touched by this gift.

Here's a progress picture of my felted tote, as promised.



And a picture of my packing progress.



I'll take photos of the house tomorrow night once the workmen are out of there. It will probably be the last time the house is really truly clean.

I finally ripped out the brim of my BOC. I had to make three trips to the other house before I remembered to get my needles for the project out of the attic. Then I got the wrong ones. Then I started knitting the brim inside out! Oy vey. I will wait another day on that one.

Packing, Packing and More Packing

The movers are coming on Wednesday. We're just finishing a major remodel. We've been out of our house for seven months. Fortunately, we're living on the other side of our block so the move is short and easy. Unfortunately, we haven't been preparing for it like we should have. So today the kids (who are off from school again!) are at a friend's house and I'm doing more packing, talking to the contractor, making phone calls, locating errant lighting fixtures, etc.

I'm just past the half-way mark on my felted tote. It's such fun, easy knitting. I have a Stitch 'N Bitch tonight so I should be able to get a lot done. I'll try to snap a picture of my progress later.

Now off to pack...

January 25, 2004

Banff in Business!

I got my Manos today! I just placed the order on Wednesday and I got it today. Fortunately I was borrowing a swift and ball winder from my neighbor. So I wound it into a ball right away and started finishing the second sleeve. We're in the process of moving so I would pack for an hour then sit down and knit a few rows. Then tonight I finished it in front of the tv.

Sadly, I won't be able to block it until later this week after we move in on Wednesday.

January 24, 2004

Bucket-O-Indecision

I still haven't felted my BOC. I can't decide if I should rip the brim and reknit it. I was combining the original and newer versions. I made my brim with a double strand of yarn in stockinette with two rows of purling and cast off purlwise. It doesn't roll. I've blocked it a bit and it's nice and flat and looks good. I'm worried about the waviness problem a lot of other bloggers have dealt with. I did a Google search under "bucket chic wavy brim" and got a slew of hits. I think I should rip it and reknit it with a single strand and use the same stitch pattern but you know how much I like to rip... I'm working on building enthusiasm for the project.

The felted tote is coming along nicely. I've completed the bottom and the front. I just started the back last night.

I don't think I'll be getting too much knitting in over the next few days. We move back in to our house on Wednesday.

January 22, 2004

Knitters Are the Nicest People

I can't believe what came today.



Greta from Lifelong Knitter sent my husband and me all these wonderful gifts as a thank you for the Danger Girl graphic. I'm stunned and shocked and just so thrilled. There's Rowan #34 and two skeins of Rowanspun DK (my first Rowan ever!) for me. And a DVD of Run, Lola, Run for Wes. Wow. Wow, wow, wow.

In less dramatic news, I bought a tupperware container to block my BOC on. I will felt it in a few days when I finish my mitered-square tote. The tote is cruising along nicely. It attracted a lot of curious on-lookers on the playground after school today. I think the shape on the needles makes it look pretty unusual.

After reading Claudia's blog this morning I ran to swatch the Cotton Top that I had dyed. I only did one skein as a test.

So I tried to wing a hand-painted deal on it. It's 50% cotton so the colors are pretty soft.



Here's my swatch.



I can't decide if it's cool or if it should be a baby blanket from the 80s. I want to use it to make bpt. I'm tempted to just go for it. If I hate the results I can always overdye the entire sweater. What do you all think?

January 21, 2004

Holy (Bucket-o) Chic!


Here is what I did all day while stuck at home with two sick boys.

There's not much to say except, "That is one big ass hat."

This was loads of fun to knit. It was fast, fast, fast. I really wanted to make the original stockinette brim version. After knitting it and seeing that it just rolled up tighter than a Cuban cigar I decided that trying to flatten it would be an exercise in masochism. Instead I did a modified version that I found on Emma's blog. I purled the last two rows of the brim and bound off purlwise. Then I steamed the heck out of it. The photo is pre-steaming. I will felt it in a few days when I get my mitered-square tote ready. I got the rest of my Kureyon today and am just casting on.

January 20, 2004

Talk to the Hand

Today I took all my I-can't-finish-Banff-until-I-get-more-Manos angst and turned it toward a project that has been pretty neglected since I began my sweater-making frenzy. I completed this.



It's my first glove. I managed to snug up the gaps between the fingers fairly well. I also followed Lisa's advice and picked up four stitches instead of one for the thumb. No hole at all. All in all , it's not a quality piece of workmanship. My gauge is all crazy on the cuff. I switched needles and the rest is fine but a better knitter would have ripped it out and started again.

Gloves are so easy. They look so intimidating but it's really just knitting a little tube with five other little tubes. Very little shaping, no rows to count. Just knit til it fits. Fun.

My BOC is also coming along nicely. I will finish the band tonight.

Jenna, the creator of the lovely Banff pattern, confirmed for me that there is a mistake in the sleeve instructions. Later today she wrote to me,
... and now, those two errant numbers have been corrected in the sleeve directions in Banff. When you view the pattern on the Knitty site, they're pink.
So what do you know. I'm not crazy! All you Banff-along-ers go and get yourself the updated sleeve instructions.

Man O Manos

Thanks everyone. I'm a little calmer today. I can wait a week or so to finish my sweater. I will survive.

To answer a few questions about Banff:

Heidi asked how many skeins I bought and what size sweater I am making. I am making the smaller size and I got 6 skeins of yarn. Obviously there was some flaw in my calculations or it was just wishful thinking.

Larissa asked about the sleeve length. I knit the pattern as written. This appears to give me a sleeve that will come about half-way down my hand like in the standing photo shown with the pattern.

January 19, 2004

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!

I'm starting the decreases on my second sleeve of Banff and I ran out of yarn. I called all the LYSs and no one has Manos #53. Wahhhhhh!!!!! I'm sending an email to Threadbear right now. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

I'm casting on for my Bucket-o-Chic to console myself.

No School Today

Ugh. The kids are home from school. Again. Between winter break, snow days and MLK day, I feel like these kids have not left me alone for a minute in the last month.

I'm still chugging away on Banff. I took this photo on Friday of the front and back when the sun peeked out. I took another photo today of the back, front and 1 1/3 sleeves. It's horribly blurry and the lighting is appalling. But it does show you how absolutely humongous the sleeves are on this sweater. I got scared when I was working on the first one because it was so large. But the measurement on the pattern is 18" across. In other words, HUGE. I'm running out of yarn so I need to get to the store tonight as soon as my husband gets home from work.

There is definitely something wrong with the sleeve for this pattern. I struggled through it the first time and forgot to write down exactly what I did. I think I did something slightly different on the second sleeve. The pattern says,

"On next RS row, k2, [p1, k2, m1p, p1, k2] 3 times; work to last 23 sts; [k2, p1, m1p, k2, p1] 3 times, k2. Work 7 more rows evenly in this modified ribbing patt across these 60 sts.

On next RS row, k2, [m1p, p1, k2, p2, k2] 3 times; work to last 26 sts; [k2, p2, k2, p1, m1p] 3 times, k2. Work 1 more row evenly across these 66 sts."

Now when she says work to last 23 sts, she really means work to last 20 (and you'll be making another 3). I think. Ditto for work to last 26 sts. You need to work to last 23 and then you make 3 stitches while you work your way to end of the row. Right? Am I just terribly confused? On the first sleeve I knit and ripped those last 23 stitches over and over and couldn't get it to come out right. I should be able to finish the second sleeve tonight at my stitch 'n bitch. I just need to concentrate on those decreases. Don't want any to go missing like last time.

I got my yarn order from January 2nd today. Hooray. It's yarn for the Go-Everywhere-Go-With-Everything Cardigan from Stitch 'N Bitch. I think I might do a knit-along for it. We shall see...

January 18, 2004

Oh, The Irony

I spent most of the afternoon yesterday with a group of knitters discussing how much I hate to rip. When I got home I saw that I had spent entirely too much time talking and not enough paying attention to my knitting. I skipped 8 raglan decreases on my sleeve! Grrrrr... I had to rip back pretty much to the beginning of the shaping. In other words, everything I did yesterday. I was able to redo it all last night and cast on for the second sleeve but I doubt I'll be finishing Banff today.

Today we are working on packing and moving boxes back to our house (we're at the end of a long remodel). And we're off to Ikea for a little meatballs and shopping.

January 17, 2004

No Fair!

After reading about the many Midwest bloggers (Passionkint , Step Into My Thimble, et al) who have made the pilgrimage to Threadbear I am ready for a pout. After consulting Yahoo! Maps I see I am a mere 36 hour drive away. Road trip? I think not. Actually I did drive from Chicago to Seattle when I moved here but that was eight years ago and I know better now.

I did have a "field trip" to a LYS today with some folks from a new Stitch 'n Bitch group. We shopped a bit and then went across the street for some tea and knitting. I'm almost done with the first sleeve of Banff. Just a few more rows. In fact, what am I doing on the computer. I need to go knit!

January 16, 2004

Flying to Banff

Today I finished the front of Banff and I've got 7 inches of one sleeve. This puppy is just flying! I'll snap some photos in good light tomorrow.

I went to a preschool meeting tonight and out of about 20 parents sitting in a circle, there were about four or five of us knitting away.

My husband continues to be a genius. I got an email yesterday from Greta of Lifelong Knitter. She wondered if Wes could make a Danger Girl drawing for her blog. At first he balked, saying he could only draw vegetables. I told him to just spend five minutes on it and see if he could come up with something he liked. Well, I don't know how long he worked on it but he came up with a pretty cool Danger Girl.

January 14, 2004

Rainy Wednesday

I'm still plugging along on Banff. I just started the decreases on the front so it looks pretty much like this photo I took of the back a few days ago.

I got an order today from Elann that I placed on Sunday. The other store that will remain nameless sent me a shipping notification for the yarn I ordered on the 2nd. I should be receiving it by the 19th! What? I would also like to say that the order from Elann was packed beautifully as was my order from Yarnware. Big thumbs up to both places.

So this will be Elle. And this will be a striped top-down raglan from Glampyre.

I met with the Stitch 'n Bitch Seattle group tonight. We met at a new funky, kitschy cafe and collectibles shop. They don't have their license for food sales yet so for dinner I ate a miniature pecan pie from a vending machine. Megan from not martha was there too. She has just launched her new business site: the organized knitter. She makes beautiful needle cases in very cool fabrics. Check them out.

Okay, back to Banff.

January 13, 2004

Banffy Got Back

Come on. Sing it with me!

I like big sweaters and I can not lie, you other knitters can't deny...


As you can see Banff is still moving along nicely. I have about 7-8 inches of the front done now too.



I'm also playing around a little bit with overdyeing some other yarn. I got nine skeins of Brown Sheep Cotton Top. It's 50% wool, 50% cotton. I don't think they make it anymore. I have been reading about how cotton won't take dyes like Kool Aid or Wilton dyes and that a blended yarn could end up with a striated effect. I did a little test. I tried out yellow and green and was able to get nice strong colors. The next step will be to try to do a whole skein. I think I would like to do a rainbow-hand painted kind of thing and use it to make Bpt.

My Husband, The Vegetable Genius

Some of you may already be aware that my husband is a snowflake genius. But he is also a vegetable genius. When I started to read Mariko's blog he seemed a bit disappointed that there was no actual Super Eggplant at Super Eggplant. So he made one for her. Pretty cute, eh?

January 12, 2004

A Warm Thank You

I wanted to take a moment to give a warm and sincere thank you to everyone who stops by to check out my blog. I love getting your comments and being a part of this virtual "community." Thanks to you all.

Banff is progressing nicely. I just finished the back a few minutes ago. I just cast on and knit the first row for the front. I'll try to snap a few shots of it tomorrow if the sun peeks out.

I got an order today from Yarnware. I have to admit that I had never heard of them before and found them doing a Google search on "yarn knit discount." But they are having a year end sale and I got 6 skeins of Lamb's Pride Worsted for $4.88 each. And they only charged me $6.95 for shipping. They shipped it by Priority Mail and there actual shipping cost was almost $2 more than what they charged me. So the cheapskate in me thinks they are aces. On top of that, they called me to confirm that it was okay that one of the skeins was from a different dyelot. I don't know if other retailers would have been so courteous to someone making a little bargain bin purchase. I placed my order on the 6th. I placed another order at a bigger, better known site on the 2nd and it just shipped today! Yarnware still has a lot of nice stuff on sale so check them out.

Banffing Along

Here's the progress on Banff from yesterday.



It's moving at a good clip. I only worked on it for a little while today.

I spent most of the day at our film screening. The series we direct is a year-long membership. We do a screening once a month of a documentary, independent or foreign film that has never been shown in Seattle. Members come and have a little continental breakfast. The hitch is we don't tell anyone what the film is. You don't know until the credits roll. It's a lot of fun but really, really stressful for us. Today we screened Bomb the System. It's a drama about graffiti artists in NYC. The writer/director came out for Q&A after the screening. Now we need to get a film for next month!

January 11, 2004

Booga Clinic

For the second time a friend who is a beginner knitter asked me to help her pick up stitches for her Booga Bag and for the second time my friend turned out to be a continental knitter. The first friend learned to pick at a LYS that seems to be on a mission to convert the world to pickers. They teach all their beginners to pick. They offer a class called "Picking for Throwers." I don't really care that much one way or the other. I learned to throw and so that's what's natural to me. My second friend, who I saw today, was just given a very quick first knitting lesson over the holidays by her French mother. She didn't even know there was any other way to knit. Well, we chatted and knit for a while. I fixed yesterday's freakish long middle finger on my glove. I had better luck picking up stitches for the index finger but still have slight holes. I think I can finesse it a bit to be not too terrible. Later while knitting and talking to my husband I knit the index finger to an even freakier length.

Memo to Me: In the future all glove fingers will be knit when alone with a ruler close by.

Tomorrow morning we have a screening for the film series my husband and I direct. I will also post pictures of my Banff progress. I just started the raglan decreases on the back. I will only photograph this sweater in natural light or it resembles grape soda.

January 10, 2004

Manos from Heaven

I am in love. There it is. My true love.



We had a brief sun break and I was able to get a picture that better captures the great color of this yarn. It is soft, fluffy and light as a cloud.

There were a few questions in yesterday's comments. I bought the yarn at my LYS. There are two in the area that have a fairly good selection. I'm using size 10 needles and got 14 sts/in for on my gauge swatch. I've just finished the ribbed portion of the back. At this rate I'll be done in the next week or so.

A helpful hint: Don't knit gloves while you're distracted. I tried to knit a bit while my kids played on the playground after school. When I looked down at my work I saw that I had knit a freakishly long middle finger. I'll be ripping that back a bit tomorrow.

January 9, 2004

Banff Baby!



After spending two whole days sifting through every yarn store on the internet looking for a good, economical choice for Banff, I lost my mind and bought Manos del Uruguay instead. I couldn't help it. It's so beautiful and soft. Plus they had my favorite color. It's called Mulberry. I can't get a decent picture of it right now. I'll have to wait for some natural light. Maybe some time in March (given the Seattle climate). I swatched this afternoon and started knitting during ER tonight. I've done about 4-5 inches of the back. This one's gonna go quick.

I did a little surfing and think I've figured out my gaping holes between the fingers problem with my gloves. I only worked on them for a few minutes today while I waited in the car outside my son's preschool. I'm still knitting the middle finger. I guess I should just cut and rip the ring and middle finger until I can pick up the stitches at the base of the fingers without leaving a hole.

January 8, 2004

Lay Off the Kureyon!

In the last few days I've read blog after blog and post after post of people complaining about Kureyon.
"It's too scratchy."
"Too many knots."
"Too thick and thin."
If I could only knit with Kureyon for the rest of my life I would get bored but I'd still have a lot of fun. I've made two Booga bags, a kid's hat and a sweater so far. I just bought some more to make the Felted Mitered-Square Tote. So everyone can just send all their Kureyon to me because I love the stuff.

Also I would like to include a little public service message. Everywhere I go people pronounce the name of this yarn as "Curry-on." It's "koo-rey-yon." It's Japanese for "crayon." It's just a transliteration.

Say it with me. Kureyon. Isn't that better?

I made a lots of progress on my glove today. I can't whip out a pair a day like Lisa at Blogdogblog. A search of her blog will turn up the most stunning array of gloves, one after the other! Amazing. My glove is an inelegant creature with uneven tension and gaping holes between the fingers. It's my first so I'm still pleased as punch with my progress. I've been picking up two stitches between the fingers as written in the pattern but I'm getting huge holes. I think for the index finger I will try picking up four stitches then decreasing in the next row. Any good glove pointers (no pun intended) out there? I glanced at the Interweaves article but since my glove pattern is from an Interweaves publication the instructions are pretty much identical.

Zasu checks up on the latest at Super Eggplant.

January 6, 2004

Overdyeing

I got lots of Lamb's Pride Worsted as a gift from a friend who is a lapsed knitter. It's kind of an 80s salmon pink color. I made my first attempt at overdyeing using Wilton cake decorating colors and the microwave and this is the result.


It's not a radical transformation but it changed the yarn from salmon, which I hate, to mauve, which I love, so I'm pleased. I'm going to use this for my first Bucket-O-Chic. I seem to be the only knitter in blogland who doesn't have a closet full of these hats. It's time to get with the program!

I also made a teeny-weeny bit of progress on my first glove today.


I'd like to join the Banff-along. I've spent quite a bit of time online today looking for a suitable yarn that doesn't break the bank. I've just made several big yarn purchases so I need something a little more humble for Banff. The best I came up with so far is Paton's Upcountry. The colors aren't terribly inspiring. I need to get to my LYS. I wanted to go today but we had so much snow. It's a rare, rare thing in Seattle and the hills are absolutely treacherous with snow and ice. It was basically a snow day for the whole city.

January 5, 2004

Another One and a Half Done

I finally got around to seaming that last bit of my Debbie Bliss Reversible Purse. I don't love it. In fact, I don't really like it. The yarn I used was too bulky so it's a lumpy, bumpy purse that I can barely fit anything in.



Mouse over the picture to see the reverse side of the bag.

I'm thinking of adding a knit flower pin to make it a little snappier. I don't know.

I also finished my first beaded cuff. It looks cute and man, oh man, does it ever make me feel warm and cozy. It's crazy but it's true. Warm wrists=warm knitter.

I've placed a few small yarn orders so I will be able to start a new project soon. I found some Lamb's Pride Worsted on clearance online tonight and will be doing some felting projects.

I have also been experimenting with overdyeing some ugly yarn. More on that tomorrow.


The Day I Actually Had

Today I was supposed to drop the kids off with some friends and go see Mystic River with my husband. We were going to indulge in the supreme luxury of having brunch by ourselves after the movie. Then I was going to meet a friend and help her with her Booga Bag.

What actually happened was the my husband came down with a migraine. I went to see Peter Pan alone (sitting next to a very large, very peculiar man). Then I met up with my husband for brunch (he was feeling better) and found out that my friend couldn't make it today. I still took the opportunity to go to a LYS before hitting the insanely crowded grocery store.

The last few times I've gone to a yarn store I always have a mental list of all the things I want to check. Patterns to look at, yarn to fondle, needles to buy. Then I walk across the threshold and my mind goes blank. I can't even remember the patterns I'm yarn-shopping for. I did take a little time today to look at some Rowan pattern books and to scan the Debbie Bliss Tweed Collection pattern book. The Tweed Collection has the Biker Jacket pattern for which Kerstin is doing a knitalong. They had a sample of the Biker Jacket knit up in the shop. It's cute but it's just not me.

I picked up my Vegan Fox again today and decided that I hated what I had done so far. I frogged it and started over. Now I think I'll finish it in a few days. I just wasn't enthused by it before because it looked more like a knit beaver tail. Now it looks a little more foxy.

I'm happily wearing my Rosedale sweater today. We are having a very bad cold snap by Seattle standards. It's currently 20º. Brrrr. But this sweater is keeping me toasty warm. Almost a little too warm. After two mugs of coffee at brunch I had to take it off for a while. But still I'm thrilled with it and my five year old keeps saying, "Mommy, you look beauuuuuuuuuuuuuuuutiful in your sweater."

January 3, 2004

Done, Done and Done

It's official. I have just completed my first ever sweater. It fits and everything.
After muscling my way past problem spots, seaming, weaving and grafting all the little bits together I ended up with a really cool sweater.


Looking Pretty Darn Sleepy


I hope the seaming police don't come sniffing around here because what I did to close up the underarm gaps is highly suspect. Not to mention the neckline. Ah well. It is done and to me that's the most important part.

I should take this giddy feeling and apply it to my Debbie Bliss Purse. It may be a serious candidate for Alison's Rip-Along but I should complete it and check it out to be sure. I think I might knit a flower to pin on it to jazz it up a bit. Boy, does it ever need jazzing.

I've also started a very plain and simple pair of gloves (another first). I'm using the pattern from The Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns. I've done about one inch of ribbing so far.

I'm toying with making Kyoto from Knitty. I really want to make one of the three felted bags on my list on the right of "Stuff I'm Itching to Make" but that would require a yarn purchase and I'm pretty strapped right now. I have some Cotton Classic lying around that I have no plans for so I think it's going to Kyoto. I did place an order the other night for some wool to make the Go-Everywhere, Go-With-Everything Cardigan from Stitch 'N Bitch. I've been dying to make it since I got the book a few months ago but was scared I'd screw it up. Now that I've completed Rosedale I feel much more confident.

At Last

After struggling and suffering until 3:30 am last night I finally gave in just two rows short of finishing Rosedale. I never quite figured out the pattern around the neckline as written. So I fudged it. When I woke up (at noon!) I finished the last two rows. I tried on the sweater and couldn't get it over my head. So I ripped out the neck some and did it over. Success. I need to sew up the front seams, graft the underarms and weave in my ends. I'll post pictures later. I need to get these kids out of the house.

January 2, 2004

Rosedale Roadblock!

AGhhhhhhh!!!!!!!
I'm sooo close to finishing Rosedale. I stopped. I counted my stitches. Everything was in order. I made some dopey mistake. I frogged and reknit a few rows. I continued knitting. I stopped. I counted stitches. Where the hell did these 5 extra stitches come from??

On top of my stitch count weirdness, I'm really confused by the pattern at this point. I'm supposed to start binding off stitches for the neck but it's off center so I'm not really clear how this works. Sigh... So damned close.

Holy Crap! It's January!

How in the world did 2003 just whoosh by me like that? I'm in shock.

Rosedale is still chugging along. I spent a lot of time on it today. I'd post a picture but it looks like it did yesterday--only longer and with a narrower neck. It will still be at least another day or two until I have it all wrapped up.

Thanks to everyone for checking in on my blog and leaving comments and messages for me. It's nice to know that people are actually out there looking at it.

January 1, 2004

Happy New Year!

I'm happy to report that I'm cranking on Rosedale (by my standards, anyway). I'm about 16 inches into the body, sleeves have been added, second intarsia block begun. The end is almost in sight. With the holiday tomorrow, who knows? I'm was a little confused and apprehensive about attaching the sleeves. I hoped that when I got to that point in the pattern it would make sense to me. And it did. Pretty much. Now I'm just decreasing away. I had my husband wind some balls of yarn for me while I was working on the sweater. I pointed out that with my own ball winder and swift he wouldn't need to help me with that. Hint, hint.

I hope everyone had (or is still having) a happy new year. We took the kids to a local brew pub for an early dinner and then spent the evening watching Antiques Roadshow and Monster House. Do we know how to party or what?!