Thursday, October 26, 2006

Houston, we have progress.

I've been forcing myself to concentrate on this *&^^% blue cardi., lest I take so long to finish that the little bug grows out of it before it's done.

Amazing how much faster the knitting is when you don't pick up something new every half hour.

Here's where things stood Monday evening:


And this morning:


Sleeves cast off, washed, and blocked.


While I was waiting for the sleeves to dry, I picked up the stitches around the top, knit the 4 row neckband (and remembered the buttonhole!!), and cast on the extra stitches for the hood.  Only about 8 bazillion stitches to go.  Maybe not, but 133 stitches for 28 cm, at a gauge of 26 sts x 34 rows = 10 cm, certainly seems like waaay too many. 

Next time you hear the words "100% cotton", and "size 3" in reference to anything larger than baby socks, restrain me.  Seriously.  Ack.

Also, I went back to the website to look at the picture for clarification on a couple things and noticed something odd:

What do you see on that button band?  Edging.  That's what I see.  Some sort of finishing was done to the edge of that garter stitch.  But what? and why, why, did they feel no need to tell me about this in the pattern? It looks so much better.  Much more, well, finished.

The DROPS designs are fabulous to look at, but the patterns require quite a bit of reading between the lines.  I don't know if that's the writer's style, or due to the translation process.

In other WIP news, I somehow lost the working version of the pattern for the orange multi pants.  You know, the one with all the measurements and gauge written on it.  Aaaaargh!  I'm hoping it fell out of my bag in the car, and will turn up somewhere in the detritus covering the front passenger floor.

Friday, October 13, 2006

Startitis

It's a disease, I tell you.  As if the 5 (five!) WIPs (OK, five currently being worked on) weren't enough, I decided to spend a couple hours Wednesday making these:


 



In the interest of full disclosure, here's a quarter for scale:

 
I'm not loving the sweater, but I stopped myself from ripping it back.  The dolly doesn't need clothes that badly.

Some of those previously mentioned WIPs:
The babe's blue cardigan.  I blocked the body, and did a three-needle bind off on the shoulders.  I originally thought I would seam the sides, pick up stitches and work the sleeves in the round top-down, but decided I  wasn't in the mood for tinkering with the pattern. 

So, the sleeves (I'm working two at a time) are about 1/3 complete, then I need to seam, and knit the hood.  Oh, and pick buttons of course.  Maybe some nice wooden ones.

 

Perfection Pants, in Zitron Loft.  The color repeats are incredibly long.  I pulled out about 20 yards of the second ball, in a futile attempt to get the legs to match.  Ah, well.

 

Falling Leaves socks, with my STR.  I don't think this pattern is going to work.  I really wish designers would include gauge in stockinette in addition to the pattern gauge.  I think the yarn is too heavy, and these are probably going to be too big.  Not sure what pattern to try next.  Maybe I'll give in and go with RPM.  I really wanted to find a pattern that was both toe-up, and lacy.  I may go back through my print magazines.

 

Monday, October 02, 2006

OFFF goodies

I  was so good.  Too good.  I really am wishing I'd bought more roving.  Especially since I just signed up for theTwisted Knitters Dye-Spin-Knit Along.

Here's my haul:


Cascade Eco (for $9 !!), Breed variety pack roving, BMFA Socks That Rock
, medium-weight, in Nodding Violet (damn! I'm such a follower.)  And two back issues of IK.  These are great issues, especially the article on grafting, and the hooded sweater.  But the line was ridiculously slow, which ruined my plan to make one more trip through, and they were full cover price.  Oh well.