As always, I forgive Knit Picks their slow shipping because I am always happy when the package finally arrives. Along with my replacement needles, I got Harmony needles in 3 other sizes (so now I have a pair each in 7, 8, 9, and 10...plus a spare 7 from the broken set), as well as two pairs of nickel 3's and a pair of nickel 1's to aid my sock knitting efforts. I got the 3's for the cast on and first few rows and the 1's for the heels, since I use 2's for socks.
I am loving the chart keeper. It made working on Shedir much easier last night. The place holder magnet kept me from having to search all over the chart for the row I was working on, and the keeper sat nicely over the arm of my sofa and, later, on my bed. Very nice. I did knock it off the sofa once at which point all the magnets kind of went flying, but no big. I put them all back and I knew what row I was on, so I was fine. I finished the repeat I was on and got halfway through the second repeat. The pattern is visible now and it looks very nice, though I do lament using such a dark color. The color is beautiful, though, and the texture is nice, so I am not too fussed.
I could really use a hat and gloves for myself, but I refuse to go buy what I would rather knit, and yet I don't know when I will get around to knitting them! I can keep Shedir if I think it will be too big for Leslie's sister so at least I will have a hat. I have the chenille scarf I made ages ago. I just need something for my hands. Time to plot!
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
No News
My Big Black Socks are up to 9 inches now, so yay for that. I have made no progress on Shedir because I lost the pattern, which I had enlarged so that I could read the chart better, and had to print it out and enlarge it again. I finally had it again yesterday plus the leisure time to work on it...but the SO was sick and comforting him became my priority. This comfort mostly consisted of holding him while he lounged on me, which prevented me from also holding my needles (don't think I didn't consider it, but it was immediately obvious that it wouldn't work).
The yarn for Odessa has arrived, and I expect my KnitPicks order to arrive today. I love Knit Picks, I really do. I love their yarns and I love their prices.
I HATE their shipping. It is the only complaint I have with them. The yarn leaves their distribution center in OH, gets to WV in a day...and sits there for exactly 3 days. Almost every time. On the third day, it leaves WV and usually gets delivered the next day. So, I really ought to get it in two days...but instead, I get it in no less than 5. I think I'd be happier if they had a tracking system that didn't tell me where the stuff was. I would much rather believe that it takes 5 days to transport yarn from OH to VA rather than knowing it only takes two to three days and that the additional time is entirely designed to DRIVE ME CRAZY.
I think it is a scheme on the FedEx end to make sure that our stuff does not get to us so fast that we have no reason to get expedited shipping. FedEx is evil.
The yarn for Odessa has arrived, and I expect my KnitPicks order to arrive today. I love Knit Picks, I really do. I love their yarns and I love their prices.
I HATE their shipping. It is the only complaint I have with them. The yarn leaves their distribution center in OH, gets to WV in a day...and sits there for exactly 3 days. Almost every time. On the third day, it leaves WV and usually gets delivered the next day. So, I really ought to get it in two days...but instead, I get it in no less than 5. I think I'd be happier if they had a tracking system that didn't tell me where the stuff was. I would much rather believe that it takes 5 days to transport yarn from OH to VA rather than knowing it only takes two to three days and that the additional time is entirely designed to DRIVE ME CRAZY.
I think it is a scheme on the FedEx end to make sure that our stuff does not get to us so fast that we have no reason to get expedited shipping. FedEx is evil.
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Picture Time
Ends:
Wristwarmers from Last-Minute Knitted Gifts in Knit Picks Swish Superwash, Indigo Heather.
And Beginnings:
Shedir in Knit Picks Merino Style Dusk.
Big Black Socks for Socks for Soldiers, in Regia Black. This yarn is bleeding all over my hands and it is not even wet yet. I am going to have to be careful when I wash it. When I have been working on these socks for a while, I get a black line across the base of my middle three fingers and another at the top of my index finger, from the way I wind the yarn around my hand. Oh well - there are worse things in life than striped fingers!
Wristwarmers from Last-Minute Knitted Gifts in Knit Picks Swish Superwash, Indigo Heather.
And Beginnings:
Shedir in Knit Picks Merino Style Dusk.
Big Black Socks for Socks for Soldiers, in Regia Black. This yarn is bleeding all over my hands and it is not even wet yet. I am going to have to be careful when I wash it. When I have been working on these socks for a while, I get a black line across the base of my middle three fingers and another at the top of my index finger, from the way I wind the yarn around my hand. Oh well - there are worse things in life than striped fingers!
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Shedir Style
I started Shedir last night with Knit Picks Merino Style, the yarn I am considering for Eris. I like the yarn, it makes a soft fabric and does not split. I find that Swish is a little splitty and tends to snag if I am not careful. It seems like the plies untwist a little. I am not having that problem at all with Merino Style.
The hat is coming out a little bigger than I expected. Once I had finished casting on, the stitches fit comfortably around my 24 inch circular (My options needles do not have cables shorter than 24" so I usually use 2 circs for all my hats). The pattern calls for a 16 inch and says that the circumference of the fitted hat should be 17 inches. I'm not sure quite what to make of that. I am using needles a size larger than those recommended, but I always default to at least one size larger because I am quite a tight knitter.
I have decided not to worry about it. It is obvious to me that it will still fit my head at the size it currently is. I did kind of want to give it away to a friend of mine at church for her sister who has cancer. This friend had told me that her sister has trouble finding hats that fit because her head is kind of small, and I was hoping that the stretch in this hat would accommodate it. Oh well - I will finish it and then decide whether it is too big or not. I have also ordered supplies to knit Odessa, and I think that one will definitely fit her.
I wanted to knit Shedir both as a trial run on the yarn and for cable practice. I can see that the color I'm knitting with, Dusk, is far too dark for this kind of cable work. It is a beautiful color, but it will make for rather subtle cables. I have another color, Storm, that is more of a blue-green and somewhat lighter than the dusk. I will have to give that a try and see what I think.
Last night I got a few rows past the brim, so not bad for an evening's work. I plan to continue working on it tonight, and to also go ahead and cast on for my first pair of Big Black Socks for Socks for Soldiers, so that I have a pair ready to work on at choir practice tomorrow.
I ordered two balls of Cashsoft for the Odessa hat, figuring that that way I wouldn't risk running out. If I don't use the second skein, I can just make two! I ordered three different colors of beads since I wasn't entirely sure of the color of the yarn. You never can tell on the web. It was all I could do to hold back on buying yarn for scarves for two of my guy friends, but I really shouldn't spend any more money this month - I have already kind of gone overboard.
The hat is coming out a little bigger than I expected. Once I had finished casting on, the stitches fit comfortably around my 24 inch circular (My options needles do not have cables shorter than 24" so I usually use 2 circs for all my hats). The pattern calls for a 16 inch and says that the circumference of the fitted hat should be 17 inches. I'm not sure quite what to make of that. I am using needles a size larger than those recommended, but I always default to at least one size larger because I am quite a tight knitter.
I have decided not to worry about it. It is obvious to me that it will still fit my head at the size it currently is. I did kind of want to give it away to a friend of mine at church for her sister who has cancer. This friend had told me that her sister has trouble finding hats that fit because her head is kind of small, and I was hoping that the stretch in this hat would accommodate it. Oh well - I will finish it and then decide whether it is too big or not. I have also ordered supplies to knit Odessa, and I think that one will definitely fit her.
I wanted to knit Shedir both as a trial run on the yarn and for cable practice. I can see that the color I'm knitting with, Dusk, is far too dark for this kind of cable work. It is a beautiful color, but it will make for rather subtle cables. I have another color, Storm, that is more of a blue-green and somewhat lighter than the dusk. I will have to give that a try and see what I think.
Last night I got a few rows past the brim, so not bad for an evening's work. I plan to continue working on it tonight, and to also go ahead and cast on for my first pair of Big Black Socks for Socks for Soldiers, so that I have a pair ready to work on at choir practice tomorrow.
I ordered two balls of Cashsoft for the Odessa hat, figuring that that way I wouldn't risk running out. If I don't use the second skein, I can just make two! I ordered three different colors of beads since I wasn't entirely sure of the color of the yarn. You never can tell on the web. It was all I could do to hold back on buying yarn for scarves for two of my guy friends, but I really shouldn't spend any more money this month - I have already kind of gone overboard.
Monday, January 7, 2008
Successes & Setbacks
Look how cute it turned out with all the finishing touches!!
I'm very pleased. The recipient liked it very much.
Here is the hat that went with the gloves I posted previously, finally photographed:
The imperial armwarmers are finished and gifted. That means I am done with all the things I promised to do for other people! I feel very relieved - I will be careful not to promise so much in the future. I will still give stuff away regularly and make notes of things people say they would like to have, but I won't tell them until it's done.
I am currently working on the Beginner's Triangle from a Gathering of Lace, but I don't have a picture of it yet. It's working well, but I discovered after several pattern repeats that I have been doing yarnovers wrong this whole time. Once I started doing them right my lace looked much more open, and I had a much easier time overall. The way I was doing them before caused the yarnovers to be backwards, and made the next row a real pain to knit because of the way they pulled the stitches. I had to start over twice after one or two pattern repeats because I just kept getting confused and losing count and a million other things. Now that I am doing yarnovers correctly and using stitch counters and a lifeline, things are going much more smoothly. The yarn is Fleece Artist Suri Blue, and it is very sticky, so unknitting can be a bit of a challenge - and I am doing a lot of unknitting. It seems like I can't make it more than a row or two without getting messed up and having to back up and redo it. The thing would be twice as large if I did not keep having to stop and backup. But, this is part of the process of learning, and I am trying to take it in good humor. At least now I am able to recognize mistakes sooner and figure out what I probably did, and back up and fix it, rather than just wailing and weeping and ripping. I think I will improve with practice, and I am still really enjoying the piece despite the frustrations. However, last night when I crawled onto the bed I landed my knee right on my Knit Picks Harmony needle and snapped it in two. I've ordered a replacement pair, but work is stalled until it comes.
I had a mishap with the second skein of Starry Night yarn for my socks. I did something really stupid and ended up with a horrible tangled mess that took me a couple of hours to fix. I did eventually fix it, and rewound the skein, but the yarn is looking a little worse for wear.
This weekend I knitted a pair of wristwarmers which are intended for hospital patients that one of my church friends serves. That was a quick, easy project from Last-Minute Knitted Gifts, and it only took one skein of KnitPicks Swish Superwash.
I have also joined Socks for Soldiers, and my sock kit came in the mail this week, so starting those Big Black Socks is on my radar.
I can't decide what else to start on - the lace is great for a big complicated project, the socks (both black and otherwise) are great portable knitting, but I need a project sort of in between those levels of difficulty. Time to browse my ravelry queue!
I'm very pleased. The recipient liked it very much.
Here is the hat that went with the gloves I posted previously, finally photographed:
The imperial armwarmers are finished and gifted. That means I am done with all the things I promised to do for other people! I feel very relieved - I will be careful not to promise so much in the future. I will still give stuff away regularly and make notes of things people say they would like to have, but I won't tell them until it's done.
I am currently working on the Beginner's Triangle from a Gathering of Lace, but I don't have a picture of it yet. It's working well, but I discovered after several pattern repeats that I have been doing yarnovers wrong this whole time. Once I started doing them right my lace looked much more open, and I had a much easier time overall. The way I was doing them before caused the yarnovers to be backwards, and made the next row a real pain to knit because of the way they pulled the stitches. I had to start over twice after one or two pattern repeats because I just kept getting confused and losing count and a million other things. Now that I am doing yarnovers correctly and using stitch counters and a lifeline, things are going much more smoothly. The yarn is Fleece Artist Suri Blue, and it is very sticky, so unknitting can be a bit of a challenge - and I am doing a lot of unknitting. It seems like I can't make it more than a row or two without getting messed up and having to back up and redo it. The thing would be twice as large if I did not keep having to stop and backup. But, this is part of the process of learning, and I am trying to take it in good humor. At least now I am able to recognize mistakes sooner and figure out what I probably did, and back up and fix it, rather than just wailing and weeping and ripping. I think I will improve with practice, and I am still really enjoying the piece despite the frustrations. However, last night when I crawled onto the bed I landed my knee right on my Knit Picks Harmony needle and snapped it in two. I've ordered a replacement pair, but work is stalled until it comes.
I had a mishap with the second skein of Starry Night yarn for my socks. I did something really stupid and ended up with a horrible tangled mess that took me a couple of hours to fix. I did eventually fix it, and rewound the skein, but the yarn is looking a little worse for wear.
This weekend I knitted a pair of wristwarmers which are intended for hospital patients that one of my church friends serves. That was a quick, easy project from Last-Minute Knitted Gifts, and it only took one skein of KnitPicks Swish Superwash.
I have also joined Socks for Soldiers, and my sock kit came in the mail this week, so starting those Big Black Socks is on my radar.
I can't decide what else to start on - the lace is great for a big complicated project, the socks (both black and otherwise) are great portable knitting, but I need a project sort of in between those levels of difficulty. Time to browse my ravelry queue!
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Naughty Knit-blogger
I confess...I have not been keeping up my knitting blog.
So what have I been up to? Christmas knitting! Which is to say, this:
And this:
And these:
Not too shabby, right? The top is the Knit Picks Dimple Shale Scarf in Knit Picks Ambrosia, Horizon Colorway. The middle is a pair of Urban Necessity gloves, size XL, knitted without the mitten cap, that will go to my boyfriend's bro for Christmas. On the bottom, a pair of Knitty pedicure socks that I gave my church choir director in Artyarns Supermerino (I forget the colorway - that is what they get for using numbers instead of names).
But wait, there is one more item!
One completed Imperial Armwarmer - covered in pug hair because I knitted it while dogsitting. I still need to do the other one, but it got put on hold while the Christmas knitting was going on.
I also actually got another pair of Urban Necessity gloves done (without the mitten cap again) for a friend that wanted a pair. They look just like the pair above, only all black and slightly smaller.
One final project which I have finished and photographed but dare not post just yet because the recipient is on flickr and might notice it - a panda hat for my boyfriend's mom, who is a zoo volunteer. I used a Lion Brand free pattern for a bear baby hat, but I knitted an adult-sized roll-brim hat for the base. I used Karabella Aurora for that one, I think, in black and white (obviously). I still need to sew some buttons on the eyes, and embroider a mouth, but it is really darn cute. I will post it after the holidays.
My poor starry night socks have languished...
But now that the Christmas knitting is finished, I can go back to them. I did have a little trouble figuring out where I left off last night, but I was able to work it out and managed to get a fair amount done on the gusset decreases. It feels good to get that one going again.
I just ordered a skein of Hand Maiden Casbah sock yarn as a little Christmas present to myself (to be paid for with the money my grandma sent me). Excited about that. I like the Lorna's Laces colorways but the yarn just doesn't seem that soft to me. So, we'll see how the fancy stuff looks.
Next up on the needles is the Beginner's Triangle from A Gathering of Lace. I plan to work on this on the plane to Texas to visit my family for the holidays. It will be done in Fleece Artist Suri Blue in the 'Stone' colorway. I wound the skein last night and the ball looks so pretty! I'm excited.
So what have I been up to? Christmas knitting! Which is to say, this:
And this:
And these:
Not too shabby, right? The top is the Knit Picks Dimple Shale Scarf in Knit Picks Ambrosia, Horizon Colorway. The middle is a pair of Urban Necessity gloves, size XL, knitted without the mitten cap, that will go to my boyfriend's bro for Christmas. On the bottom, a pair of Knitty pedicure socks that I gave my church choir director in Artyarns Supermerino (I forget the colorway - that is what they get for using numbers instead of names).
But wait, there is one more item!
One completed Imperial Armwarmer - covered in pug hair because I knitted it while dogsitting. I still need to do the other one, but it got put on hold while the Christmas knitting was going on.
I also actually got another pair of Urban Necessity gloves done (without the mitten cap again) for a friend that wanted a pair. They look just like the pair above, only all black and slightly smaller.
One final project which I have finished and photographed but dare not post just yet because the recipient is on flickr and might notice it - a panda hat for my boyfriend's mom, who is a zoo volunteer. I used a Lion Brand free pattern for a bear baby hat, but I knitted an adult-sized roll-brim hat for the base. I used Karabella Aurora for that one, I think, in black and white (obviously). I still need to sew some buttons on the eyes, and embroider a mouth, but it is really darn cute. I will post it after the holidays.
My poor starry night socks have languished...
But now that the Christmas knitting is finished, I can go back to them. I did have a little trouble figuring out where I left off last night, but I was able to work it out and managed to get a fair amount done on the gusset decreases. It feels good to get that one going again.
I just ordered a skein of Hand Maiden Casbah sock yarn as a little Christmas present to myself (to be paid for with the money my grandma sent me). Excited about that. I like the Lorna's Laces colorways but the yarn just doesn't seem that soft to me. So, we'll see how the fancy stuff looks.
Next up on the needles is the Beginner's Triangle from A Gathering of Lace. I plan to work on this on the plane to Texas to visit my family for the holidays. It will be done in Fleece Artist Suri Blue in the 'Stone' colorway. I wound the skein last night and the ball looks so pretty! I'm excited.
Friday, November 2, 2007
ARGH!!!
I know why the heels on my Paris Rain pedicure socks are baggy and ugly.
The reason is I AM A COMPLETE FREAKING MORON WHO CANNOT FOLLOW SIMPLE FRICKIN' DIRECTIONS AAAUUUUGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!! ::sob::
The directions say to do this:
Row 1 [WS]: Sl1, p to end.
Row 2 [RS]: [Sl1, k1] to end.
This means:
Row 1: Slip one stitch, and purl the rest of the stitches
Row 2: Slip one stitch, knit one stitch, slip one stitch, knit one stitch, etc. till the end of the row
What I actually did:
Row 1 [WS]: Sl1, p to end.
Row 2 [RS]: Sl1, k to end.
This means:
Row 1: Slip one stitch, and purl the rest of the stitches
Row 2: Slip one stitch, and knit the rest of the stitches
AUGH. AUGH AUGH AUGH.
The slipped stitches cause the fabric to pull in tighter so that your heels are not BAGGY AND UGLY AUGH!!
I was so mad that I seriously considered throwing the completed socks away and buying 2 new skeins of yarn so that I could do them over and GET IT RIGHT OMG. I'm still considering it. :oP
In theory, I might be able to unravel the socks and fix them, but they have already been washed and I'm afraid I would run out of yarn before the end. I could knit them a little shorter I guess. I don't know. Just--AUGH. ::headdesk::
You know what really astounds me? I did the same thing on both socks. Which means I read the directions wrong not once, but twice.
I am shamed.
I discovered this last night as I worked on another pair of pedicure socks for a friend. I was knitting while doing some computer maintenance. I got through the whole leg of the sock and started a couple of rows on the heel turn, and that was when I noticed that things were different than on the sock I had worked on before.
It was some small consolation that I got through that section of sock so quickly, though, and it is a huge relief that I am not risking a gift to my friend of baggy socks. I'm so relieved and I take back anything mean I said or thought about that pattern!
The reason is I AM A COMPLETE FREAKING MORON WHO CANNOT FOLLOW SIMPLE FRICKIN' DIRECTIONS AAAUUUUGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!! ::sob::
The directions say to do this:
Row 1 [WS]: Sl1, p to end.
Row 2 [RS]: [Sl1, k1] to end.
This means:
Row 1: Slip one stitch, and purl the rest of the stitches
Row 2: Slip one stitch, knit one stitch, slip one stitch, knit one stitch, etc. till the end of the row
What I actually did:
Row 1 [WS]: Sl1, p to end.
Row 2 [RS]: Sl1, k to end.
This means:
Row 1: Slip one stitch, and purl the rest of the stitches
Row 2: Slip one stitch, and knit the rest of the stitches
AUGH. AUGH AUGH AUGH.
The slipped stitches cause the fabric to pull in tighter so that your heels are not BAGGY AND UGLY AUGH!!
I was so mad that I seriously considered throwing the completed socks away and buying 2 new skeins of yarn so that I could do them over and GET IT RIGHT OMG. I'm still considering it. :oP
In theory, I might be able to unravel the socks and fix them, but they have already been washed and I'm afraid I would run out of yarn before the end. I could knit them a little shorter I guess. I don't know. Just--AUGH. ::headdesk::
You know what really astounds me? I did the same thing on both socks. Which means I read the directions wrong not once, but twice.
I am shamed.
I discovered this last night as I worked on another pair of pedicure socks for a friend. I was knitting while doing some computer maintenance. I got through the whole leg of the sock and started a couple of rows on the heel turn, and that was when I noticed that things were different than on the sock I had worked on before.
It was some small consolation that I got through that section of sock so quickly, though, and it is a huge relief that I am not risking a gift to my friend of baggy socks. I'm so relieved and I take back anything mean I said or thought about that pattern!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
