Three repeats left on the baby blanket. It was really, really tempting to stay up until I was done last night, but I finished repeat number 10 just as Top Chef was ending at 11 p.m., and I still had to get the pups pottied and corralled into bed, and I hadn't changed or washed my face or brushed my teeth or any of the normal pre-bed routine, so in an uncharacteristic show of good sense, I folded the blanket up, put it out of any possible puppy reach (just in case) and went to bed.
I expect to have a lot of yarn left over - one whole skein and most of a second, so I am planning to do the bunny buddy blanket and possibly a second hat, larger than the first one, for when the baby gets a little older. We'll see how sick I am of the yarn (not that it isn't great, but how long can you knit in brown and white without weeping for a change?)...I may go ahead and wash all the items and see how much the initial baby hat shrinks before I decide to go for another one. It seems really teeny to me already but I am told newborns are very small and it will be fine. I continue to be paranoid that this particular newborn will have a very large head and the hat will inexplicably not fit.
I am thinking about washing the hat but not putting it in the dryer, which should prevent it from shrinking...but I am also paranoid that Andrea will wash it and then it will shrink and then I would feel bad. It only took one evening to knit the thing, so I really should just suck it up and let it shrink and redo it if it is going to be too small.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
The end is in sight
It looks huge, but it's not that big. I mean, it's still bigger than it is supposed to be. I did decide to go ahead and knit the extra extra stripe repeat just to be safe. Now I am kind of hoping it DOES shrink a lot because...it's definately big.
I think I am going to have a skein left over, so I am thinking about using it to knit a pattern from the Lion Brand website for a bunny blanket buddy (I am too lazy to look it up). Someone on Ravelry did one with one skein of Pakucho.
When that is done...
I am planning to use this to knit Odessa. I had a small heart attack when MagKnits went down yesterday, but thankfully I had already printed out a copy of the pattern. The color in that photo is not quite right - it is a little bluer - in fact that color actually looks more like what I THOUGHT I would get. It's definately more of a powder blue. But the photo is pretty, so I will forgive it the innacurate color.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Indecision
I've passed what originally would have been the halfway point of the baby blanket for Andrea, but of course I am adding some reapeats to account for the yarn shrinking in the wash. I am balancing my paranoia regarding the shrinking against my paranoia that I will run out of yarn and my boredom with the project. It is going pretty quickly, but it is getting kind of old.
The original pattern calls for 13 repeats of the main color, one of the contrast, four more of the main, one more of the contrast, and then 13 repeats of the main color. I'm adding in another repeat of the stripe section, which adds 5 rows. I finished most of that section last night before I just got worn out and had to quit. I'm trying to decide whether I should add another stripe sequence or go with what I've got. I calculate that based on the length it is now, it will be about 24" long when finished. It's currently between 18 and 19 inches wide.
My issue is that I know it will shrink more lengthwise than widthwise and I am afraid of ending up with a square. :oP If it shrinks the 10% the ball band warns about and which my swatch supports, it'll end up being a little under 22 inches long. It won't shrink as much widthwise based on my swatch - my swatch was 4 inches wide before washing and 3.75 after, and it was 4.5 inches long before washing and 4 inches after. So if it shrinks a quarter inch per four inches of width then it'll end up being between 17 and 18 inches wide, so it won't be TOO square, will it?
I think I have plenty of yarn - I have 3 skeins left and I've done 21 pattern repeats with the first 3 skeins, and I'm not done with the 3rd skein, so I should have plenty left to do 17 more, right?
So then it becomes a question of whether the relative squareness of the blanket and the fear that it will shrink more than expected bothers me more than the idea of prolonging this project by 5 more repeats. 5 is not that many (the repeats are only 4 rows, only one of which takes any brainpower whatsoever) and I still have at least a month before the shower, which they haven't given us a date for yet...
It is entirely possible that I worry too much. I probably should just go ahead and do the extra 5 and that way the only thing that can go wrong is I run out of yarn.
Since I know someone is probably thinking it, no, it wouldn't be the end of the world if the blanket were square, but a) it isn't what I set out to do and that always bothers me 2) I fear it would look like a giant washcloth.
I took a break from it last night and turned the heel on the second starry night sock. Woo hoo! The end is in sight! But my least favorite part lies ahead - picking up stitches.
There is just something about picking up stitches that I have never really gotten. I'm not sure what it is. Also? No matter how many stitches I pick up I always have a gap at the gusset - but only on one side. On the side where I start picking up at the heel and work toward the instep, I'm okay. On the side where I start at the instep and work towards the heel - I have a gap. EVERY. STINKIN'. TIME. I cannot convey the depth to which this VEXES ME.
So I quit once I had the heel turned since it was late at night anyway and picking up stitches at that point would only have been asking for trouble. Now I am stuck between working on the baby blanket or picking up stitches. On the one hand, the blanket is a) cotton and b) the same thing over and over and over again for five more miles. On the other, I hate picking up stitches.
You know that laceweight shawl I was working on at Christmas is still sitting in my drawer...
I'm actually thinking about...making a second blanket. One of the ladies in my church was thrilled to welcome her first grandson into the world the week before Easter. The poor little guy is now destined to be in the hospital for a month with a staph infection. Tell me he doesn't need a blankie.
You know, I did get the yarn for this blanket before I knew whether Andrea was having a boy or a girl so it would be just fine for a boy...Maybe I am meant to give something else to her little one. I'll have to ponder this.
The original pattern calls for 13 repeats of the main color, one of the contrast, four more of the main, one more of the contrast, and then 13 repeats of the main color. I'm adding in another repeat of the stripe section, which adds 5 rows. I finished most of that section last night before I just got worn out and had to quit. I'm trying to decide whether I should add another stripe sequence or go with what I've got. I calculate that based on the length it is now, it will be about 24" long when finished. It's currently between 18 and 19 inches wide.
My issue is that I know it will shrink more lengthwise than widthwise and I am afraid of ending up with a square. :oP If it shrinks the 10% the ball band warns about and which my swatch supports, it'll end up being a little under 22 inches long. It won't shrink as much widthwise based on my swatch - my swatch was 4 inches wide before washing and 3.75 after, and it was 4.5 inches long before washing and 4 inches after. So if it shrinks a quarter inch per four inches of width then it'll end up being between 17 and 18 inches wide, so it won't be TOO square, will it?
I think I have plenty of yarn - I have 3 skeins left and I've done 21 pattern repeats with the first 3 skeins, and I'm not done with the 3rd skein, so I should have plenty left to do 17 more, right?
So then it becomes a question of whether the relative squareness of the blanket and the fear that it will shrink more than expected bothers me more than the idea of prolonging this project by 5 more repeats. 5 is not that many (the repeats are only 4 rows, only one of which takes any brainpower whatsoever) and I still have at least a month before the shower, which they haven't given us a date for yet...
It is entirely possible that I worry too much. I probably should just go ahead and do the extra 5 and that way the only thing that can go wrong is I run out of yarn.
Since I know someone is probably thinking it, no, it wouldn't be the end of the world if the blanket were square, but a) it isn't what I set out to do and that always bothers me 2) I fear it would look like a giant washcloth.
I took a break from it last night and turned the heel on the second starry night sock. Woo hoo! The end is in sight! But my least favorite part lies ahead - picking up stitches.
There is just something about picking up stitches that I have never really gotten. I'm not sure what it is. Also? No matter how many stitches I pick up I always have a gap at the gusset - but only on one side. On the side where I start picking up at the heel and work toward the instep, I'm okay. On the side where I start at the instep and work towards the heel - I have a gap. EVERY. STINKIN'. TIME. I cannot convey the depth to which this VEXES ME.
So I quit once I had the heel turned since it was late at night anyway and picking up stitches at that point would only have been asking for trouble. Now I am stuck between working on the baby blanket or picking up stitches. On the one hand, the blanket is a) cotton and b) the same thing over and over and over again for five more miles. On the other, I hate picking up stitches.
You know that laceweight shawl I was working on at Christmas is still sitting in my drawer...
I'm actually thinking about...making a second blanket. One of the ladies in my church was thrilled to welcome her first grandson into the world the week before Easter. The poor little guy is now destined to be in the hospital for a month with a staph infection. Tell me he doesn't need a blankie.
You know, I did get the yarn for this blanket before I knew whether Andrea was having a boy or a girl so it would be just fine for a boy...Maybe I am meant to give something else to her little one. I'll have to ponder this.
Friday, March 28, 2008
What happened?
I am ready to turn the heel on the second starry night sock. I'm...not sure how that happened. I haven't been knitting nearly long enough to be at the heel. Huh?
In attempting to puzzle it out I have come up with the following possible explanations:
--Anything seems to go quickly after you have knit 12" of plain 2x2 rib in black fingering yarn.
--It has been kind of a long time since I knit the first one and I am a faster, better knitter now.
--I have been knitting on it longer than I think I have, but it doesn't seem as long because I have had other projects.
--I have knit on it in larger intervals than I did the first time, so even though I have knit just as many hours, it doesn't seem as long because there was less stopping and starting.
The last one seems least plausible, honestly. I'm hoping for number 2.
Also, the socks really aren't long enough. I don't know whether it is impatience or what but I have yet to knit what I would consider a 'full length' sock (other than the above-mentioned SFS sock). Both pairs I have made for myself are short. Now that I have experienced the socks sliding off my feet do to the shortness, I will be knitting longer socks. I may also adjust my cast-on down to the next smaller size, but I'm not sure whether that is a good idea or not.
Next up on the sock knitting path - I haven't decided. I have a skein of hand maiden casbah in peacock that I want to use to make Pink Lemon Twist's Caledonian Mist pattern, but I also have another couple of skeins of Lorna's Laces in the Snowscapes colorway from Yarn Market, and I am thinking about making just a plain pair of stockinette socks from them. I am aware that the colors may pool without a pattern to break them up, but I don't really care. The idea of simple stockinette simplicity is very appealing.
In attempting to puzzle it out I have come up with the following possible explanations:
--Anything seems to go quickly after you have knit 12" of plain 2x2 rib in black fingering yarn.
--It has been kind of a long time since I knit the first one and I am a faster, better knitter now.
--I have been knitting on it longer than I think I have, but it doesn't seem as long because I have had other projects.
--I have knit on it in larger intervals than I did the first time, so even though I have knit just as many hours, it doesn't seem as long because there was less stopping and starting.
The last one seems least plausible, honestly. I'm hoping for number 2.
Also, the socks really aren't long enough. I don't know whether it is impatience or what but I have yet to knit what I would consider a 'full length' sock (other than the above-mentioned SFS sock). Both pairs I have made for myself are short. Now that I have experienced the socks sliding off my feet do to the shortness, I will be knitting longer socks. I may also adjust my cast-on down to the next smaller size, but I'm not sure whether that is a good idea or not.
Next up on the sock knitting path - I haven't decided. I have a skein of hand maiden casbah in peacock that I want to use to make Pink Lemon Twist's Caledonian Mist pattern, but I also have another couple of skeins of Lorna's Laces in the Snowscapes colorway from Yarn Market, and I am thinking about making just a plain pair of stockinette socks from them. I am aware that the colors may pool without a pattern to break them up, but I don't really care. The idea of simple stockinette simplicity is very appealing.
Monday, March 24, 2008
So awesome
Remember this?
Now it looks like this:
Knitting is the coolest thing ever. This is my first completed shawl, the Bigfoot Shawl from wrapped in comfort. I finished it just in time to give it to the recipient on Easter, even though her mission trip was long over. I'm glad I did it anyway.
Now I have started on the Organic Baby Wrapper and Hat set. I actually have finished the hat except for the crochet border (I didn't have the right size hook). I am 4 repeats into the blanket. I added another repeat on the width and I plan to add a couple to the length as well, because my swatch shrank in both directions when washed and dried. I don't want to put a blanket in the wash and then pull out a washcloth!! I am a little concerned about the hat - I compensated for the shrinkage in length but I didn't change the width, so...we'll see how it comes out. I'm a little nervous on that one. I am trying to tell myself that it won't shrink as much in the width because the pattern stitch will not act the way stockinnette did. I feel kind of stupid for not knitting any pattern repeats into my swatch, but the guage is given in stockinnette, so that's what I did! I am still new at this. Next time I will be somewhat less impatient, and I will knit two swatches. But, honestly, it's a baby hat. It's not much bigger than a generous swatch anyway. I have decided not to worry about it. It took me two evenings to do - I can always have a do-over. Although, I probably should weigh it and see how much yarn it took before I do that. I do still have to do the contrasting stripes in the wrapper.
Anyway. I'm still at 4 total active projects, now, with the two pairs of socks, the laceweight shawl I haven't touched since I broke my needle, and the baby wrapper.
Plus, you know, the hibernating stuff - the witterings hat and the waffle scarf and the garter stitch shawl of just-kill-me-now. Although, honestly, I have probably imporved at knitting enough since I started knit that shawl that I might could motor through the rest of it if I just put my mind to it. I am certainly educated enough now to say that I should have used much larger needles. Le sigh...
I suppose I could always felt the thing into a placemat or something. Mwa ha.
Now it looks like this:
Knitting is the coolest thing ever. This is my first completed shawl, the Bigfoot Shawl from wrapped in comfort. I finished it just in time to give it to the recipient on Easter, even though her mission trip was long over. I'm glad I did it anyway.
Now I have started on the Organic Baby Wrapper and Hat set. I actually have finished the hat except for the crochet border (I didn't have the right size hook). I am 4 repeats into the blanket. I added another repeat on the width and I plan to add a couple to the length as well, because my swatch shrank in both directions when washed and dried. I don't want to put a blanket in the wash and then pull out a washcloth!! I am a little concerned about the hat - I compensated for the shrinkage in length but I didn't change the width, so...we'll see how it comes out. I'm a little nervous on that one. I am trying to tell myself that it won't shrink as much in the width because the pattern stitch will not act the way stockinnette did. I feel kind of stupid for not knitting any pattern repeats into my swatch, but the guage is given in stockinnette, so that's what I did! I am still new at this. Next time I will be somewhat less impatient, and I will knit two swatches. But, honestly, it's a baby hat. It's not much bigger than a generous swatch anyway. I have decided not to worry about it. It took me two evenings to do - I can always have a do-over. Although, I probably should weigh it and see how much yarn it took before I do that. I do still have to do the contrasting stripes in the wrapper.
Anyway. I'm still at 4 total active projects, now, with the two pairs of socks, the laceweight shawl I haven't touched since I broke my needle, and the baby wrapper.
Plus, you know, the hibernating stuff - the witterings hat and the waffle scarf and the garter stitch shawl of just-kill-me-now. Although, honestly, I have probably imporved at knitting enough since I started knit that shawl that I might could motor through the rest of it if I just put my mind to it. I am certainly educated enough now to say that I should have used much larger needles. Le sigh...
I suppose I could always felt the thing into a placemat or something. Mwa ha.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Temptation
The baby is a girl...I should have waited just one more week! That's okay - I still like the pretty natural colors I have. However, I found that out just as Knit Picks posted their new Felici colors and I had a momentary war to keep myself from buying yarn for a Baby Surprise jacket. I really like both Mixed Berries and Dakota. I convinced myself to wait until I have the blanket knit. If I still feel the urge then, maybe I will go for it.
I really need to cut back on the yarn buying though...it is too easy to really get in deep no matter how cheap you are buying and I have more than enough to keep me knitting for a while. I must be strong!!
It is not easy though. Not easy at all.
I really need to cut back on the yarn buying though...it is too easy to really get in deep no matter how cheap you are buying and I have more than enough to keep me knitting for a while. I must be strong!!
It is not easy though. Not easy at all.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Finishings
I managed to get 2 things off my progress in process list this weekend:
1) Shedir
Look very pretty...but it is very big. The brim comes down over my eyes. I'm not sure what I am going to do with it yet.
2) Snug Harbor
It has become Lulu's bed when she sleeps on the bed. She also slept in it on the floor for a little while on Saturday, but there are many cushier beds around the house. I had planned to knit the bottom with both colors held double, but I miscalculated (rather spectacularly) where the bottom actually started so...yeah.
But they're done! This means I have 4 active WIPs (and two hibernating ones, but we will not discuss this). One is the beginner's triangle, one is the Bigfoot Shawl, one is the starry night socks, and the last is the BBS.
Yesterday I worked on the shawl some, even though I really should have finished the toes on the first BBS so that I could get started on the second. The pups and I are house-and-dog-sitting for a friend this week so there will be lots of knitting time (I hope).
I also selected, ordered, and received this in the past week:
Elann.com Pakucho Organic Cotton in Natural and I think Cafe (I can't remember off the top of my head). This is for an Organic Baby Wrapper for a friend who is having a baby in August. We don't know the sex of the baby yet and I didn't want to wait, so I just went with neutrals. The dark will be the main color and the light will make the contrast and, hopefully, the hat.
1) Shedir
Look very pretty...but it is very big. The brim comes down over my eyes. I'm not sure what I am going to do with it yet.
2) Snug Harbor
It has become Lulu's bed when she sleeps on the bed. She also slept in it on the floor for a little while on Saturday, but there are many cushier beds around the house. I had planned to knit the bottom with both colors held double, but I miscalculated (rather spectacularly) where the bottom actually started so...yeah.
But they're done! This means I have 4 active WIPs (and two hibernating ones, but we will not discuss this). One is the beginner's triangle, one is the Bigfoot Shawl, one is the starry night socks, and the last is the BBS.
Yesterday I worked on the shawl some, even though I really should have finished the toes on the first BBS so that I could get started on the second. The pups and I are house-and-dog-sitting for a friend this week so there will be lots of knitting time (I hope).
I also selected, ordered, and received this in the past week:
Elann.com Pakucho Organic Cotton in Natural and I think Cafe (I can't remember off the top of my head). This is for an Organic Baby Wrapper for a friend who is having a baby in August. We don't know the sex of the baby yet and I didn't want to wait, so I just went with neutrals. The dark will be the main color and the light will make the contrast and, hopefully, the hat.
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