Famous last words

I should have known better when I said yesterday it would be hard to make mistakes without realizing it on the column's scarf. I got some work done in it yesterday and somehow managed to trip into one of the ways that you CAN screw it up. I'm not entirely sure what I did, but the stitches that make the columns got veeeeery twisted, and I didn't realize it for a couple of rows until I looked and said "Hey...that's not what it ususally looks like." Since I couldn't really figure out what I did I just frogged a couple of rows and picked it up again. I got the stitches untwisted and sorted out and it looks back to normal now.

I've got a little over two inches of scarf, which kind of has me worried that I won't finish in time, but I'll try not to think about it until next week at least. Then I can evaluate where I am and decide whether I can finish in time, or if I am actually going to have to buy a gift.

Unfortunately, I also really need to spend the next couple of weeks getting ready for my mother's visit. The guest room is not yet unpacked and put to rights from the move, there's painting that needs to be finished and a million other things I would like to do to make the house look acceptable before she comes. This could cut into the knitting time that I really need to get this done.

Echo (echo, echo, echo)

Coming to this blog to post is like walking into a huge empty room with really echoy floors. Freaky. I guess I'll get used to it eventually.

I started work on the Columns scarf last night, and it...didn't go well the first time. I cast on and got through two rows, and ended up with five or six more stitches than I was supposed to have. I thought about it, decided where the problem was, ripped out those two rows, and started again. It went much better this time.

The pictures on the pattern are really not high res enough to show much detail so I really wasn't sure how the stitch pattern would come out. One might ask, if there were anyone here to wonder, why I decided to do it if I didn't know how it would turn out. I don't really know - the picture looked kind of cool and it was more interesting than doing a plain rib scarf or a garter stitch scarf.

I had some trouble when I had to skip one stitch, knit into the second stitch, and then knit into the first stitch and slip both off. I think part of the reason I picked up extra stitches on my first attempt was that I wasn't slipping the both stitches off.

The second round I made sure that wasn't a problem, but it is still a little difficult to get the needle under all the plies of the yarn without spearing through it. The rest of the pattern is fairly easy, though, and the really good thing about it is that it is difficult to make a mistake and not catch it right away, because it is immediately obvious if the stitches don't line up vertically the way they are supposed to.

I'm concerned that the scarf isn't wide enough, and also that I may not finish in time, but I'm trying not to fret. Sbodd thinks it is plenty wide.

I think this pattern would make a really great edging on a plain garter scarf or other garment, so I'm definately not throwing it away once this is finished

So it begins

Welcome to my brand spankin' new craft journal. I've created this little beauty to save my friends from long rambling posts about craft projects they don't understand or don't care about. I have awesome friends but most do not share my hobbies and I imagine that reading about knitting is about as interesting to a non-knitter as watching paint dry.

Initially I toyed with the idea of creating a knitting blog only as knitting has taken over my life since I learned to knit about two months ago, but I thought, why not include it all. However, I think I can safely say that knitting will be the subject of the majority of my posts. If nothing else, I finish more knitting than any other type of craft.

I feel like I am shouting "Welcome!" to an empty room, but hopefully it won't be empty forever. So here goes, and we'll see what happens!

Edit: I am posting and backdating all the knitting-related posts I made in my personal journal since I learned to knit.

Delivery!

Woo hoo, my yarn has departed the Warehouse of Sitting Around for Three Days, which means it should be delivered this afternoon. Phew!! This yarn is for a scarf for BG's birthday so I was really anxious for it to get here. I SHOULD have plenty of time to get it done (his birthday is on the 23rd), but every little bit helps when you're on a deadline.

It's this scarf in Swish DK, nutmeg and moss.

I wish their picture was a little better (though the expression on the model's face is kind of hysterical) so I could see how the colors go, but the two colors they used are so similar that it's hard to tell. I hope it will look okay with yarns that use more of a contrast.

Hail the conquering hero

I find it amusing that this week's KnitPicks podcast is all about finishing issues, and here I am gloating about my finished projects. Anyway, on Saturday I finished the third candy wrapper sachet, and what a relief that was. Sunday I finished the first love-heart slipper. Both of them still need the final assembly but the knitting itself is done.

Unfortunately, the slipper looks like it is going to be about two sizes too large. :oP I'm frustrated. I'll just give them away, but I really am vexed about this. And I'm afraid I'm going to have a hard time knitting slipper #2 knowing that they won't fit me. Also, I will have to buy another ball of yarn; I thought I could get through two slippers with just the one, but I was clearly deluded as there is nowhere near enough yarn left over.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do about this project. I may have to put it away for a while until the ARGH I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN feeling fades enough for me to take on slipper #2. :oP I'll have to find the Cinderella that fits this slipper - once I have a recipient in mind I'll probably be able to get up the motivation.

Anyway, so I'm now back to only two projects on the needles - Karen's hat and what I am now calling the No-Think Shawl.

Actually, that's not true - yesterday I decided that Sundays would, from now on, be my day for charity knitting, so I started a hat made from a skein of Lion Brand Wool-Ease I had bought in my flurry of excitement over learning to knit. I have, I think, two more skeins of that stuff in a couple different colors. After knitting with the nicer yarns I have been using, that stuff is torture to work with. -_- I got about an inch and a half into the hat before I gave in to temptation and picked up the slippers instead. So much for that resolution! :oP But I will finish that hat and I hope to keep knitting charity pieces regularly.

So, technically, that is three items on the needles with a fourth project scheduled to go on as soon as the yarn arrives. What can I say - it's a temporary victory. :oP

I ordered yarn for another project yesterday. We have D&D tonight so I expect to make a lot of progress on my shawl. Since I switched from bamboo straight needles to the nickle-plated circulars it has been much easier. I don't know why it didn't occur to me to do that before. I was using 13" straight needles and they were driving me crazy, especially because the end of the right needle would get caught in the yarn feeding up from the ball, and I would keep having to stop and untangle it. Also, as I knitted the right needle would get heavier and heavier as I was moving the entire weight of the shawl every time I got toward the end. It has been much easier knitting on the 24" circular (for nonknitters who struggle through these ramblings, a) I love you b) a circular needle is made up of a cable with two short needles at either end). Now as I knit most of the weight moves off the needle and onto the cable, so that it is supported by both hands and not just the right one. Also, the cable allows it to hang lower, so some of the weight can actually rest in my lap. Finally, it is easier to stop in the middle of the row on the cable needle if I need to, because I can just pull the needles themselves up until all the stitches are resting on the cable, rather than trying to cap both ends of the long needles and get the whole mess in my bag. Even more finally, the circular needles fit in my GoKnit pouch, while the 13" straights don't really.

I've gotten used to the metal needles so the drag that I used to love so much on the bamboo is actually kind of irritating to me now. The yarn I'm using for my shawl (Patons SWS in Natural Navy) is very slick so I have had problems a couple of times with jerking stitches off the end of the needle on accident, but again, I've gotten used to the metal ones so now that happens mostly when I am fidgeting and not when I am actually knitting. The stitches slide up and down the needles much easier which more than makes up for it, as I kept having to stop and push to get them up and down the bamboo needles (have I mentioned that I knit really tightly?). The Knit Picks Options set has been a very good purchase and I'm glad I got it.

Made decent progress on my slipper last night, though I had to stop and pull out a bunch of rows because I am an idiot and can't follow directions. Repeat rows 3-4 7 times =/= repeat rows 1-4 7 times. I am a little affraid I'm going to be tired of working on it after getting one done, but I'll just have to grind through it anyway. I do want to get some things finished and off the needles, just to make me feel better. I always get antsy when I have too many things in progress.

I think I am going to make one more sachet for a total of three and then call that finished. I feel a little lame about it, but there are so many more interesting projects I want to do, so I decided I will finish off the one that's on there now and pick those up again some day when I want something little and quick. Fall's coming up so I really want to do my cape and my photography gloves, plus some gifts for other people. Amy is dying for something made of alpaca so I got some Ambrosia in Horizon (light blue) to make a Dimple Shale Scarf. This will serve as my first lace project. I try to be mindful of how these things have to be cared for so I don't give anybody something that's a pain to clean, but Amy is so meticulous anyway that I don't think she will mind handwashing the scarf. Amy is just one of those people where giving them gifts is absolutely addictive because she is just so darn grateful. Anyway, I'm hoping I will get it done by Christmas and it can be her Christmas present. Five months - that's low-pressure enough, right?

I really ought to finish K's hat. That one is beating me right now. A couple of good weekend days ought to go a long way toward finishing it. I hope.

My nightstand has become my holder for all of my in-process projects, except my shawl, which has pretty consistently stayed in my GoKnit pouch. The second drawer in my nightstand has become my stash area for everything else. When we curl up for the evening to watch TV or whatever, I just reach over and dig out whatever project I feel like working on. I'm also keeping the pattern books in there for whatever I'm working on, plus my knitting journal and the binder for my Options set. When I'm ready to go to bed, I just toss my work and pattern back in the drawer.

I have enjoyed keeping the knitting journal. It's not as detailed as it was when I first started doing it, where I was trying to keep track of how many hours I was spending on a particular project, but it does give me a place to write down all the things I WANT to knit, keep track of yarn costs and other things so I can see how much a particular project cost in the end, and I can write down where I stopped at any particular time so I don't get lost in the pattern. I admit I actually bought a special journal for the purpose instead of just using a spiral notebook. My excuse, which I just made up on the spot right now, is that the spiral on this book is covered so I can keep it in the same drawer as my projects without the spiral catching on the yarn. It also has a bunch of reference informaton and a needle guage in the back which is kind of handy.

I have over time built up a little accessory kit that I carry with me in my knitting bag or in my knitting drawer. I used a little pink mesh zipper bag from a previous MK preferred customer gift, and I put in a small pair of scissors, a couple of plastic embroidery needles, my packet of ring stitch markers, my packet of locking markers, needle point protectors and two sizes of crochet hook, one for thick yarns and one for thin yarns. The packet seems to get bigger with every project. The latest additon was a clicky row counter which I get way too much joy out of. It just makes such a delightful noise when you click it. It makes my little knitting packet a little too big though, and I am only using it for my slippers at the moment, so I took it out of the bag and just put it with the slippers by itself.

I do feel like I need a packet for my drawer and a packet for my goknit pouch. The one for my pouch wouldn't need as much in it, but it would definately need a crochet hook big enough for whatever my 'travel' project is at the moment, a couple of each type of stitch marker, and a pair of scissors. It is extremely frustrating to be caught away from home without a crochet hook as that guarantees you will drop a stitch and not be able to fish it out with the needle alone.

Love-heart Slippers

These are the slippers I'm working on: Love Heart Slippers

I didn't realize KnitPicks had a sample knit up (or that they were even selling the book the pattern comes from). It's odd though - the book says sport weight yarn, and they are pairing it with their fingering weight yarns. Wierd.

Also, the hot pink is not really the prettiest choice. The ones in the book are knitted in a much sweeter pale pink. The ones I'm working on are a lovely soft grey.

I finished the first half of the first slipper and started work on the second, so I'm encouraged. I just hope, hope, hope they fit. I am equally afraid of them ending up too big or too small. If they end up either it will be my guage at fault because the measurements in the book all work for my foot.

If they are too small, I will give them to my mom, but I have no idea what I will do if they are too big!