Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Gansey woes

On October 12, I started a gansey for my dad. He loves fishing, especially ice fishing, and his mother had made him an aran sweater that he loved (it's currently in my possession). I used that sweater as a schematic for mine.

On October 14, I was merrily knitting along, very impressed with the look of the seed stitch initials I had knit into the bottom of the sweater. I stopped to admire my handiwork, and I realized that I had knit the WRONG INITIALS. It's my dad, for goodness sake! It's only three letters! So, I ripped that part down and crochet hooked it back up - it took an hour and a half. I guess I shouldn't knit while watching cheesy movies.

On October 17, I was into the patterning. DP went to bed early, so I stayed up watching less cheesy movies. After about 6 inches, I again stopped to admire my handiwork. It was looking a bit small, so I measured it. 5" less in circumference than it should be. The cables didn't draw in that much...then I discovered that instead of working over 242 stitches, I had been working over 224 stitches. I may not currently be a math genius, but I got a 5 on the calculus AP test, and I took advanced math courses in college. The fact that I created motifs specifically to fit over 224 stitches when I had written on the first page of my notes "Over 242 stitches" blows my mind. I ripped again, increased inside the definition ridge and started the pattern again.

What will I do next?

I'm trying to get DP to take me to the yarn store that's NOT on the bus line...I want to pick up some cascade 220 for bed socks. I've also been wondering how 220 works steeked...how much reinforcement (if any) it needs. But, I don't want to waste any of my yarn on a practice swatch :)

I've been spinning this fiber from Squoosh on Etsy. It's quite pleasant to spin with a bit of drafting. I'm using the fractal method that I read about in Spin Off. I've spun up the bobbin with the most changes, and I need to start the one with the longer color repeats.

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Dear me

I participated in my first swap, and it looks like I screwed it up. Sigh. She got the package and liked it - hooray!

That accursed swatch still hasn't dried yet, and my sister in law will be over in a forty-five minutes. Not everyone likes the smell of wet wool, least of all someone 6 months pregnant!

I'm also working on a mini Retrofit, with sleeves each of a different green. DP was having trouble choosing a color.

Viva, regina

Well, I've been working on the swatch for Juno, and I'm at an impasse. The gauge is taken over 2x2 ribbing, and my ribbing on various needles all seems to scrunch up to the same gauge. I just washed the swatch and it's drying now, so maybe there will be a change. I'm dying to make this sweater, but I don't want to make something that won't fit.

I finally got a picture of the slippers I made for DP:

slippers2

He insisted on having that movie in the pic.

I also finished my sock for the October swap:

wee pumpkin sock side

And from the front:

wee pumpkin sock

The toe is a little pointy, but I'm proud of the design :) I was going for a jack o'lantern face and an indian corn type toe. The orange is some stash yarn I had left over from a consignment project, and the reddish black is STR Lenore. Strangely, only the orange bled when I washed this sock - people had been complaining about the Lenore bleeding all over the place, but no dye loss at all.

This is what I was up to last night:

table cup picture

Sitting on the couch, drinking vin santo, and reading a Knit Picks catalog. Nerdly? Why yes!

Monday, October 6, 2008

CLB attack

When we went on our honeymoon, we went camping for the first night. When we woke up in the morning, our tent was covered in asian lady beetles, or (as I called them) CLBs. Now, it seems that they are invading my house. ARGH!

In other news, here's the hat and mittens that I finished a few days ago:

Thumbless mittens (with interior pocket):

football mittens

mitten pocket

Squash Blossom hat:

squash hat

I bought the yarn for the hat because it looked like Green Bay Packer colors, and my sister is a huge sports fan. She loves the smooshy feeling of the hat, and my BIL loves his thumbless mittens :)

I also finished a pair of slippers for DP, though I don't have the pic up yet, and I'm working on his scarf. It's simple brioche stitch, over 18 stitches, on US 11s. This is the scarf I've tried to make for him for 2 years. It's my fourth try; there's always something I don't like about the scarf and I rip it out. The yarn is lovely: Louisa Harding Grace in black.

Sunday, October 5, 2008