Make it stop!!!

I really thought I was going to finish the Urban Necessity gloves this weekend...but I was wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong. I finished the second glove and started the mitten cap...and then restarted...and then started the decreases and realized it was too short, pulled that chunk out, knitted it again, discovered it was still too short and reknitted it AGAIN, and the whole time I was trying to make sense of the directions for the decreases and failing (I am reasonably sure that I am just stupid and it is not the fault of the pattern. Finally I just followed the first set of decrease instructions until the decreases had nearly met at the top, and then I knit two together around, and then I grafted the top as if it were the toe of a sock. It looks okay I think. I hope.

Having made every mistake I could possibly make on the first one, the second one is going much faster, so I hope that, God willing, I will finish the things tonight, photograph them, and then pack them off in a box to the recipient and never have to look at them again.

The good news is that the second glove went really, really quickly, which means that the pair of fingerless gloves that I promised to make for a friend at my D&D group should go very quickly as well. This is good, since I would really, really like to work on some stuff for me. I'm dying to start a Wrapped in Comfort shawl (I keep changing my mind on which one) and the Merino Style I ordered to swatch for Eris showed up, so I'd like to get my fingers in that, and a million other things that I would like to do. But I am determined to get all the stuff I promised other people out of the way first because I feel guilty. Guilty, guilty, guilty.

So! Order of operations:

1) fingerless gloves
2) Imperial Armwarmers
3) Dimple Shale Scarf
4) Pedicure socks

My life is complicated somewhat because I have one friend who asks for everything she sees me make and has actually offered my knitting to others.

Friend 1: "I like that sock."
Friend 2: "You want a sock like that? She'll make you a sock like that!"
Me: "Umm..."

I have now learned the lesson that I think all knitters learn eventually...from now on my answer will be "No, but I will teach you how to do it yourself."

Said Friend 2 actually does know how to knit garter stitch and just needs some direction, I think. I bought her copies of Stitch n' Bitch and Knitting Rules and am just waiting for the opportunity to deliver them.

Foiled

I have been looking hard at Eris. I have not had much of an urge to make sweaters up until now but I really like that one. I was thinking of knitting it in Knit Picks Wool of the Andes, so I ordered a couple of skeins in Lake Ice Heather, thinking I would use it to knit Shedir and that would give me a good idea of whether I liked it or not..

When it arrived and I picked it up I knew I would not be using it. Perhaps I am just spoiled with all of the super-soft fibers I have been knitting with lately. At any rate, the yarn definitely had a rough feel to it that I did not like...so no Wool of the Andes for me.

Ravelry to the rescue - I went and looked at the people who have knit Eris to see what yarns they were using. A lot of people were using Elann Peruvian Wool but I am worried about that having the same problem of Wool of the Andes since it is the same type of wool. One person was using Knit Picks Merino Style, which is listed on their website as a DK weight yarn (Eris recommends worsted or aran). However, the listed gauge matches the gauge required for Eris. I have ordered a couple skeins to try it out. We will see if I like this one better. I ordered Storm and Dusk. I am leaning towards Storm, but we will see how it looks in person. I am a little concerned because I have seen some reviews that it pills badly, but I will wait and see for myself. I did consider using Swish Superwash, which I have been using for other projects and like very much for softness, but it doesn't generally look all that crisp knitted up, especially once it has been washed. I really plan to take my time on this project and think it through before I start, because I know I would be so disappointed if it didn't work out.

Anticipation goeth before a misstitch

I really thought I had a chance at finishing my cape this weekend. I finally remembered that I had tucked it in its ziplock under the bed, thinking that I would stick in-progress projects under there because I have too many in progress now to fit them all in my knitting bag. Then I promptly forgot.

Anyway, on Friday I was kind of in a hurry so I shoved my Starry Night Socks and the cape in my knitting bag. I would have worked on the socks all evening but it turns out I had left my pattern (I decided to use the elongated corded rib from SKS) in the car, which would have been a rather chilly walk around the block from my friend's house. Therefore, I worked on the cape instead. I made pretty darn good progress on it.

Saturday morning I had to get my oil changed, so I knitted on the cape for about an hour while I waited for the car to be ready. Then I went home and knit some more. I made huge progress and I began to think I might be able to finish it, if not that evening, then surely on Sunday.

Alas, it was not to be. No sooner had this gleeful hope entered my head than I discovered mistakes, and had to drop stitches and do the ladder dance to fix them. I am not very good at the ladder dance so this took way longer than it should have, and I ended up having to do it two or three times before the stitches were finally, finally right (stupid stitches). This trend continued on to Sunday. I'm sure I could have finished the darn think if I had been making forward progress the whole time (a common cry in the knitting world, I know). But, I am still nearly done. If I don't have any more issues I might be able to finish it tonight, depending on what time I get home and how long it takes me to make dinner. Also, I don't really feel very well at all today, so there is no guarantee I will feel well enough to knit.

In any case, I am looking forward to having this done. However, I am a little perplexed about what to do with it once I am finished. This yarn sheds HORRIBLY and I will never be able to wear the cape at this rate. I hope that washing it a couple of times will fix this, but I don't know. Also, it clearly needs to be blocked, and I am a total blocking novice. What to do, what to do!

I am anxious to get this one done and off my needles. I am combating a fierce case of startitis, but I am determined to cross off all the requests I have before I start the things I really want to work on. They should all be fairly quick knits (famous last words, right?) so I am hoping that if I can just motor through them, I will be able to knit for myself guilt-free. No more requests for me - I will offer to teach people to knit but I am so not putting myself in this position again!!

Finishings

I finished the garter rib socks, and I finished the main part of the first Urban Necessity glove! I still have to knit the mitten cap, but I am just pleased to have the hand part completed at this point.

It is not perfect. There were some pretty decent-sized gaps between the fingers despite my best efforts. I used the ends to try to sew them closed and weave through any areas that might have holes. I'm not sure how well it worked. Also, I think if I were making them for me I would leave off the increases just before the fingers. it makes the fabric too wide for my hands and it bunches a bit. I am hoping it will be okay on my friend. Her hands are a little bit larger than mine, though not much. I hope I made the thumb long enough, and that the finger gussets are not too long. They are a little bit longer than I personally would like them. I would do them a bit shorter if it was for me but again, her hands are a little bigger. I am tempted to send this glove to her once the mitten cap is knitted so that I can make sure it is going to fit at least reasonably well before I make her the other one. However, that presents its own problems...if it doesn't fit then I have to knit it over, and if it does fit then how do I knit the second one to match without having the first one for reference? So I think I will just struggle on and hope. If they don't fit, then it was just a learning experience. They do feel really nice on the hands, though, the Swish Superwash is really soft and has a nice luster.

Almost immediately after I finished the garter rib socks I cast on another pair of socks with the Starry Night yarn I posted before. I just can't wait to see how it turns out. I've only knitted about a quarter inch of rib but I'm loving it so far. I plan to use the Elongated Corded Rib pattern. I saw some pictures of it in ravelry and I think the eyelets will appropriately compliment the Starry Night theme.

I did go ahead and buy More Sensational Knitted Socks. I am weak.

UnRavelled

I spent Saturday obsessively checking my e-mail for a Ravelry invite (while knitting on my sock, of course). It finally showed up at around 2 and now I am ON as Craftninja!

First, knitting progress:

--I had a fight with the urban necessity glove, pulled back some stuff, and generally got frustrated. I have not touched it in several days, which I feel very guilty about since one concentrated session could probably finish it. Well, maybe two. :oP
--I have turned the heel and completed the gusset increase on my second garter rib sock. I feel accomplished, even though the foot stretches before me. Fortunately, my feet are small.
--I can't figure out what I did with the cape I was knitting. It is not in my project bag and I could not find it in the stash. I am a little puzzled. Needless to say, I have not worked on it.
--No progress on the Patons Shawl or the Witterings Hat. I have listed these in ravelry as "hibernating."
--Chocolate Waffle Scarf is cruising along. This has become my designated 'around town' project that I can knit when my eyes and mind must be busy with something else. It's about a foot long at this point - not lightening progress, but not bad.

I feel pressured to get some of these things off the needles because there are so many other things I want to work on. Being on Ravelry is definately inspiring - I wouldn't have given this
a second look if I had not seen pictures of it on Ravelry (actualy, I saw pictures for the Rogue design, but this seems like something I am much more likely to actually wear and it has the pretty cables that I loved so much on Rogue). I'm thinking about doing it in KnitPicks Wool of the Andes in Lake Ice Heather. I can see from the Ravelry pictures that the cables show up much better in lighter colors. I would like to look at and feel the yarn first, though, so I may order a ball and see if I like it. The only thing I worry a little bit about is what pants I could wear with that color; I'm sure it would look fine with jeans, and I guess that would be okay as it would likely be too warm to wear in the office.

I ordered a bunch of single balls of Swish Superwash a while back thinking I would use them for charity projects. I don't know what I was thinking as one ball is not really enough to make much of anything! However, I did find a pattern on Ravelry (is there nothing this site can not do?) that I think will work swimmingly - the Hand/Wrist Warmers from Last-Minute Knitted Gifts. And I already have that book! On the page for a particular yarn you can click to see what people are knitting with that yarn, and I clicked through pages and pages of projects for ideas. I think these will be great for hospital patients. It is always freezing in hospitals. One of the ladies in my church is a nurse (well, many of the ladies in my church are nurses) and she provides items to patients in the cancer wards, so I think this would be really great. I will also make some hats for variety.

I was also able to see finished versions of the patterns in Sensational Knitted Socks, which is really great because everything looks different on a foot than it does in a little square picture in a book. I have favorited a number of patterns that I tripped over while browsing. I am favoriting anything I like enough to think I will want to knit it at some time, but only adding things to my queue that I have definate plans for. I'm having so much fun.

I am a Sock Knitter!

I have finished my first real sock out of real sock yarn! I have not photographed it as I finished it at 1 a.m., but here is the yarn:



Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in the Yarnmarket exclusive colorway Irises (based, supposedly, on this painting).

It looks beautiful on the skein, doesn't it? You would never know it knits up like something your kid threw up the day after the circus. Yes, I am afraid I do not like the finished product at all colorwise...but it's my first sock! And it fits! No baggy heels or droopy leg...no guage problems...it looks great! I did the Garter Rib from Sensational Knitted Socks. In retrospect, I should have stopped and chosen another pattern when I saw that I did not like how this one was knitting up, since the stockinette portions of the sock do not look all that bad.

Out of the three Lorna's Laces colorways I purchased (all from Yarnmarket's Impressionist Collection because I am a sucker for the word "exclusive" and also maybe a little bit for being able to say that my socks are based on art), this was the one I liked the least even on the skein, so I figured if I screwed up I would not be to heartbroken. I'm sure if I had used the ones I really liked I would have made a mess in a hurry.

What I'm really looking forward to...is this one:



Based on Van Goph's Starry Night (do I even have to link that one? I didn't think so). The yellow has a bit of greenish that worries me a tad, but the deep blue is so pretty...I hope it will knit up nicely. I'm seriously considering doing that sock in plain stockinette just so I can enjoy the colors. We'll see how it looks when I get started.

And then, on the calmer end of the spectrum, there is this:



Snowscapes. I will have to link the picture in a bit; a quick search did not find it for me and I can't remember the name of the artist. I hope that I will like this one; I love the Artyarns version of this colorway but the LL has more actual color in it. We will see. Either way, I am excited to see what I can make from these.

And they are for me, all for me, AHAHAHA!

Seriously, I owe myself some knitted stuff and I am so busy knitting for other people that I have finished basicallly nothing for myself other than the baggy pedicure socks and my one clown-barf sock. I do have some KnitPicks Essential sock yarn that I will use to make socks for other people, but these three? These three are MINE.

Edit: I forgot to gloat...I had a little falling down and purchased two colors of Fleece Artist Suri Blue, Ruby and Stone. I am hoping I can use this to make some of the shawls from Wrapped in Comfort. Swatches will tell I suppose!