I've just finished repeat six of Citron. This project has been on the back burner for a bit while I've been making baby things and finishing other projects - a scarf for my sister, and Emmaline. Well, Emmaline's not quite finished, or rather it is, but I might have to undo a bit and add in some increases, and use a different bind off. My friend Linda suggested an elastic, stretchy bind off in a recent comment that I think I'll try out on this, because aren't garments meant to be comfortable and not cut off your circulation from the hips down? I don't like the idea just straightaway ripping out rows until I think I've reached the right point, then making sure all the stitches are caught and aimed the right way. I think it's time for a lifeline! This will be the first time I've threaded one through stitches that aren't on the needle. I'm not sure how this works, so I had to look it up.
Anyway, back to Citron.
Showing posts with label knitting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label knitting. Show all posts
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Monday, April 11, 2011
Breathing Life into Emmaline
I started Emmaline, a lovely empire waist short sleeve top knit in bulky organic cotton, last April hoping to wear it in summer and have my very first adult sized finished garment. I've blogged about this a few times, and Emmaline slipped into the pile of unfinished projects due to size confusion. I didn't really want to make a garment in my current size, knowing that I was changing. It looks like I put it down some time in the fall. I know I've tried to pick it up a few times and been nervous about where I had left off. I have completed the top raglan portion and knit and bound off both sleeves, tried on, and gone back and modified the bind off so my arms won't turn blue from circulation issues.
Now, I've lost over 20 pounds since starting this project. You would think the arms would be loose by now, right? No such luck. They do fit properly though, and that makes me think that they were still too tight before. I had planned to modify the torso area and put in some ease to account for my stomach, but I've changed my mind. I'm going to knit as written and try it on in stages. I'm sure the finished garment will loosen up during the wearing of it, and I'd rather have things a little snug than baggy. A first for me!
In the past week I've made quite a bit of progress. I fixed my confusing stitch count, moved past the one purl stitch row, and started the more fitted torso section. I also took care of all the ends under the arms to make sure I was measuring properly - there were some loose stitches there that needed sewing up.
Taking a peek at my Ravelry project page, I started this project April 17, 2010. Let's see if I can finish knitting this and have a FINISH for the 17th...
Now, I've lost over 20 pounds since starting this project. You would think the arms would be loose by now, right? No such luck. They do fit properly though, and that makes me think that they were still too tight before. I had planned to modify the torso area and put in some ease to account for my stomach, but I've changed my mind. I'm going to knit as written and try it on in stages. I'm sure the finished garment will loosen up during the wearing of it, and I'd rather have things a little snug than baggy. A first for me!
In the past week I've made quite a bit of progress. I fixed my confusing stitch count, moved past the one purl stitch row, and started the more fitted torso section. I also took care of all the ends under the arms to make sure I was measuring properly - there were some loose stitches there that needed sewing up.
Taking a peek at my Ravelry project page, I started this project April 17, 2010. Let's see if I can finish knitting this and have a FINISH for the 17th...
Thursday, April 7, 2011
FO: Cabled Chapeau
Knitting the brim was a a bit odd. I couldn't figure out what doing short rows in the middle would do to the shape. I just couldn't picture it. Also, the way the pattern is written, the two long edges are not the same length, and I thought they would be since they just fit on the inside and outside of the hat. Weird. I just kept on going with the pattern instructions and tried not to question it.
Once I finished all the pieces they cuddled up together in a bag on the couch as I tried to gather up my nerve to tackle the brim. I did have another hat to follow for brim shape, but I was anxious about doing it wrong. Then I realized if I didn't cut something, I wouldn't have a hat to wear when I went home for Christmas. And of course, I wanted to show off my handiwork!
I would have made the knit piece for the brim smaller but I just sewed it in father on the inside so I wouldn't have a baggy brim. If I make this hat again (and I think my friends back home are preparing to put in their orders) I will figure out how to make the knit piece a bit smaller, and use the cardboard template I made for the brim as a guide.
It's time to give this hat a wash in the sink and put it in with my other winter things. Or maybe I'll wear it on particularly chilling spring days...it is the perfect shade of blue!
Here is a photo of me and my big sister after the crazy northeast storm that made getting home from Christmas an adventure. Instead of flying from Rochester to Boston, I rode with my sister and brother-in-law to Montclair, NJ, then took the commuter rail in to NYC, then a Bolt bus to Boston, and then the subway home. A roundabout way of getting home after the holidays, but better than waiting for the snow to clear. I know this photo doesn't show off the hat all that well, but you get the picture!
Monday, February 14, 2011
Baby Sizing
It's that time again, time to put the pedal to the metal and crank out some baby things for a shower. How do these things creep up on me? My friend Mary made a special request for purple booties and I am happy to oblige, but of course I can't just make booties, I need to make a hat too! I've known about this since sometime in the fall, and Mary is due in April, so I had plenty of time. I made a winter hat for myself, the Cabled Chapeau (which you will see a finished picture of soon), worked on some other unfinished projects, and started but didn't finish a scarf for my sister's birthday in December. I wanted to finish the scarf before starting the baby things, but now I'm getting down to the wire.
Mary's baby shower is March 5th so I need to mail the gift by March 1st. That's two weeks from today! Now if I could just get knitting...though that hasn't been the problem. The problem is size.
I picked out the patterns months ago, bought the yarn a few weeks ago, but didn't sit down and read through everything until I was ready to start. Common mistake. I bought Plymouth Encore in worsted, but the Etanapipa snail hat calls for bulky, and Saartje's Bootees call for fingering weight. Ugh!
-Snail Hat-
1st cast on - size 10 needles, yarn doubled. Too confusing, can't figure out if the hat is the right size, pulling from both ends of one skein. Frogged.
2nd cast one - size 9 needles. Cast on 64 stitches. Slightly stretched it's 16-17" - too big for a baby, more like a toddler size. And I had added a stitch somewhere. Frogged.
3rd cast on - size 9 needles. Cast on 48 stitches. Stretched it's 12" - way too small. Frogged.
4th cast on - size 9 needles. Cast on 56 stitches. Stretched it's 14-15". Sticking with this one.
Never mind that bebecita probably doesn't need a woolly knitted hat in April. It's upstate NY. It still snows in April and May sometimes.
I've been referencing this size chart to figure out how big to make the hat.
-Saartje's Bootees-
1st cast on - size 7 needles. Seemed to crowded. Frogged.
Waiting until I'm finished with the hat to cast on again, probably with size 8 needles.
Mary's baby shower is March 5th so I need to mail the gift by March 1st. That's two weeks from today! Now if I could just get knitting...though that hasn't been the problem. The problem is size.
I picked out the patterns months ago, bought the yarn a few weeks ago, but didn't sit down and read through everything until I was ready to start. Common mistake. I bought Plymouth Encore in worsted, but the Etanapipa snail hat calls for bulky, and Saartje's Bootees call for fingering weight. Ugh!
-Snail Hat-1st cast on - size 10 needles, yarn doubled. Too confusing, can't figure out if the hat is the right size, pulling from both ends of one skein. Frogged.
2nd cast one - size 9 needles. Cast on 64 stitches. Slightly stretched it's 16-17" - too big for a baby, more like a toddler size. And I had added a stitch somewhere. Frogged.
3rd cast on - size 9 needles. Cast on 48 stitches. Stretched it's 12" - way too small. Frogged.
4th cast on - size 9 needles. Cast on 56 stitches. Stretched it's 14-15". Sticking with this one.
Never mind that bebecita probably doesn't need a woolly knitted hat in April. It's upstate NY. It still snows in April and May sometimes.
I've been referencing this size chart to figure out how big to make the hat.
-Saartje's Bootees-
1st cast on - size 7 needles. Seemed to crowded. Frogged.
Waiting until I'm finished with the hat to cast on again, probably with size 8 needles.
Monday, November 29, 2010
Cable complications
I got to row 10 on the Cabled Chapeau hat and just didn't like what was happening with the purl stitches in between the cables. I was ending up with loose purl stitches, particularly to the right of the cable (for most knitters this happens in the column of stitches to the left of the cable, but I'm a lefty so it's reversed, remember?) I started searching online for help and ended up with some pretty complicated methods to try.
Cat bordhi has a video for just such a problem, however it's a complicated move that I could not grasp. Side linked with this were clips on how to do the Norwegian purl stitch, which looks to be the same move. Again, a bit tricky. I read somewhere that you could leave out a purl stitch in each place where the loose purl happens, knit the garment, then go back and pull up a line of stitches in that loose area with a crochet hook. Sort of picking up a dropped stitch that wasn't there. This seems like a lot of trouble to go to, modifying the pattern, adding the potential for lots of error. Knitty has a great section on knitting cables that does mention the loose purl stitch problem and essentially says, pull it real tight!
I decided to rip back to the ribbing section and start the cables over. I realized though that my cast-on/ribbing section was looser than I normally knit, and so the stitch spacing of the whole hat would be off, and after knitting two rows I ripped it all out again.
On row 2 of the second try I noticed that when I joined the yarn I didn't join it properly and once again, I have an infinite loop instead of a hat. I did this with my second try for the baby berry hat too. I never used to have a problem joining, but it seems to happen when I use a circular needle that's longer than I need it. If I plan to use magic loop for the knitting I just cast on with the longer needle, but then it's very easy to twist the join without noticing. So, 6 days after starting the hat and knitting along, I cast on for the third time. *sigh*
I decided to reverse the directions for the cable. The pattern calls for a 4/4 LPC (slip 4 stitches to cable needle and hold to front) to make left twist cables. For me, since I am lefty, I do this and get right twist cables. I really like how the hat looks as is, so I held the stitches in the back.
I managed to finish the main body of the hat while away for Thanksgiving, and started in on the brim only to realize that I needed a refresher on short rows. The hat pattern does not include full instructions on short rows. Once I was back home and could sit in front of the computer I sought some visual aids. Everyone has their own way of explaining the strange 'wrap and turn' function that makes short rows possible. I found watching the video on knitting help to be the most straight forward for me. I think this time I finally understand! Maybe now toe-up socks won't seem so scary.
So, all I have to do is finish the brim, knit the band for across the front, find buttons, eat a container of Cool-Whip, cut a brim out of Cool-Whip lid, sew it all together, and...I think I need a nap.
Cat bordhi has a video for just such a problem, however it's a complicated move that I could not grasp. Side linked with this were clips on how to do the Norwegian purl stitch, which looks to be the same move. Again, a bit tricky. I read somewhere that you could leave out a purl stitch in each place where the loose purl happens, knit the garment, then go back and pull up a line of stitches in that loose area with a crochet hook. Sort of picking up a dropped stitch that wasn't there. This seems like a lot of trouble to go to, modifying the pattern, adding the potential for lots of error. Knitty has a great section on knitting cables that does mention the loose purl stitch problem and essentially says, pull it real tight!
I decided to rip back to the ribbing section and start the cables over. I realized though that my cast-on/ribbing section was looser than I normally knit, and so the stitch spacing of the whole hat would be off, and after knitting two rows I ripped it all out again.
On row 2 of the second try I noticed that when I joined the yarn I didn't join it properly and once again, I have an infinite loop instead of a hat. I did this with my second try for the baby berry hat too. I never used to have a problem joining, but it seems to happen when I use a circular needle that's longer than I need it. If I plan to use magic loop for the knitting I just cast on with the longer needle, but then it's very easy to twist the join without noticing. So, 6 days after starting the hat and knitting along, I cast on for the third time. *sigh*
I decided to reverse the directions for the cable. The pattern calls for a 4/4 LPC (slip 4 stitches to cable needle and hold to front) to make left twist cables. For me, since I am lefty, I do this and get right twist cables. I really like how the hat looks as is, so I held the stitches in the back.
I managed to finish the main body of the hat while away for Thanksgiving, and started in on the brim only to realize that I needed a refresher on short rows. The hat pattern does not include full instructions on short rows. Once I was back home and could sit in front of the computer I sought some visual aids. Everyone has their own way of explaining the strange 'wrap and turn' function that makes short rows possible. I found watching the video on knitting help to be the most straight forward for me. I think this time I finally understand! Maybe now toe-up socks won't seem so scary.
So, all I have to do is finish the brim, knit the band for across the front, find buttons, eat a container of Cool-Whip, cut a brim out of Cool-Whip lid, sew it all together, and...I think I need a nap.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
From One Hat to Another
I finished a project! Late Sunday night I completed the baby hat for my friend's 17-month-old. I made them matching hats out of the Berry Baby Hat pattern and used black and white, flipping the colors so mom has the white with black top, and baby has the black with white top. I hope I can get it in the mail tomorrow. They've already had a bit of snow there!
Very late Sunday night I started a new project, the Cabled Chapeau, a pattern from Stitch Nation which is free on their site and on Coats and Clark. Last year I made a hat I loved but it doesn't look good on me. I would also need to frog it a bit and make the crown a lot deeper to get the fit I'm after, namely, to cover my bloody ears!
I'm using Plymouth Encore Worsted Tweed for this project. It's a wool/acrylic/viscose blend that is springy and soft. I noticed when casting on that this yarn is a 'Z' twist. I hope that doesn't cause too much of a problem for me. The only other time I knit with a 'Z' twist was for a baby kimono sweater in 2009. The Lion Brand Microspun has a tight 'Z' twist which gave the knitted fabric a different texture. This yarn seems to knit up fast and is very cushy and lovely so I hope that will offset the irritation of cables. They are lovely after all, so I must put up with them.
Tonight when I picked up the hat to work on it, I noticed a weird stitch. Well, not so much a stitch a mistake. There is a loop of yarn pulled from one row up over 5 rows and knitting back in. I don't know how this happened, but I will be ripping back a bit tonight to take care of it.
Also, does anyone have tips on how to knit cables? I end up with some loose stitches on one side of my cables, and I think there's a trick to preventing that, twisting the stitch, or knitting through the back? Something like that.
Very late Sunday night I started a new project, the Cabled Chapeau, a pattern from Stitch Nation which is free on their site and on Coats and Clark. Last year I made a hat I loved but it doesn't look good on me. I would also need to frog it a bit and make the crown a lot deeper to get the fit I'm after, namely, to cover my bloody ears!
I'm using Plymouth Encore Worsted Tweed for this project. It's a wool/acrylic/viscose blend that is springy and soft. I noticed when casting on that this yarn is a 'Z' twist. I hope that doesn't cause too much of a problem for me. The only other time I knit with a 'Z' twist was for a baby kimono sweater in 2009. The Lion Brand Microspun has a tight 'Z' twist which gave the knitted fabric a different texture. This yarn seems to knit up fast and is very cushy and lovely so I hope that will offset the irritation of cables. They are lovely after all, so I must put up with them.
Tonight when I picked up the hat to work on it, I noticed a weird stitch. Well, not so much a stitch a mistake. There is a loop of yarn pulled from one row up over 5 rows and knitting back in. I don't know how this happened, but I will be ripping back a bit tonight to take care of it.
Also, does anyone have tips on how to knit cables? I end up with some loose stitches on one side of my cables, and I think there's a trick to preventing that, twisting the stitch, or knitting through the back? Something like that.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Projects check in - late fall 2010
A few weeks ago I was sick and down for the count with the really bad cold that's been going around. My knitting friends tell me they are able to knit when sick, and I suppose I could probably manage some stockinette or garter stitch on a project, if I had one that was that simple. I wish I spent more time working on knitting and other projects. When I'm sick I don't do much of anything, and when I feel fine I waste a lot of time on the internet or watching tv with knitting in my lap. Maybe I need to institute a rule that I can only watch tv if I'm actively knitting since I don't have any progress to show. I did try and knit while I was sick and realized later that I did have a stockinette hat in the round in progress, but instead had reached for my Lace Ribbon scarf - been in progress since, oh, May 16, 2009, according to my Ravelry notes.
Do I really knit that slowly? No. I have major startitis. It's disappointing that I can't seem to finish projects. Story of my life. REALLY. I think it might be time for a post about all of the 'in progress' projects and a run down of where they stand and why. Sound good?
I actually HAVE been working on some of these. Here's a quick list of what I've work on in the past month (fiberwise):
Babette - came out of hiding, looked at ALL the yarn. Started work on some in progress squares. Monday night 10/25 tried to start a new square and realized I can't remember how to start them. That's always been a stumbling block with this project, nothing new. Hate starting new squares.
Lace Ribbon scarf - this was next to the couch so I started working on it again 10/24. Have done 7 rows!
Citron - worked on at knitting group briefly 10/18. Realized I had a dropped stitch and panicked. Wasn't feeling good (impending monster cold) and set it aside with dropped stitch caught and marked. A big thanks to Jimmy who counted all 273 stitches and discovered that no, I didn't have any weird stitches going on and yes, just keep knitting. So, I've done another row, and put it down to work on
Black and White Pair, hat #2 - no excuse for this not being done other than monster cold. As I write this I am working on the i-cord stem of the hat, but stopped to post! I will definitely be able to follow up with another post on the finished product tomorrow!
Static Socks - probably 5 more rows knit because I was going through all my projects.
Emmaline - I stopped this because I reached the point in the armpit where I needed to continue on with the body, and the stitch count didn't add up. Now I've lost some weight and was thinking about ripping it out, but I think I will continue on and make the whole thing so at least I can say I've made myself a wearable garment. I was going to have to modify the belly area on the original pattern, but now I will knit it as written and see where I end up with the fit. Maybe I'll be finished by spring?
Wabenschal - I started this during my last flurry of startitis. I sort of like the pattern, but I am pretty sure I hate the yarn. Its scratchy and I can't think of anyone I could give it to who would be please to put this around their neck, so I'm going to move it to hibernation for now and probably frog it.
One project was in the current list, but...
Modified Twenny Dolla Sweater - officially frogged and put needles, yarn, etc back where they belong.
Posts coming up - an update on all my hibernating projects, sharing my newobsession craft, and reorganizing my craft bookshelf.
Do I really knit that slowly? No. I have major startitis. It's disappointing that I can't seem to finish projects. Story of my life. REALLY. I think it might be time for a post about all of the 'in progress' projects and a run down of where they stand and why. Sound good?
I actually HAVE been working on some of these. Here's a quick list of what I've work on in the past month (fiberwise):
Babette - came out of hiding, looked at ALL the yarn. Started work on some in progress squares. Monday night 10/25 tried to start a new square and realized I can't remember how to start them. That's always been a stumbling block with this project, nothing new. Hate starting new squares.
Lace Ribbon scarf - this was next to the couch so I started working on it again 10/24. Have done 7 rows!
Citron - worked on at knitting group briefly 10/18. Realized I had a dropped stitch and panicked. Wasn't feeling good (impending monster cold) and set it aside with dropped stitch caught and marked. A big thanks to Jimmy who counted all 273 stitches and discovered that no, I didn't have any weird stitches going on and yes, just keep knitting. So, I've done another row, and put it down to work on
Black and White Pair, hat #2 - no excuse for this not being done other than monster cold. As I write this I am working on the i-cord stem of the hat, but stopped to post! I will definitely be able to follow up with another post on the finished product tomorrow!
Static Socks - probably 5 more rows knit because I was going through all my projects.
Emmaline - I stopped this because I reached the point in the armpit where I needed to continue on with the body, and the stitch count didn't add up. Now I've lost some weight and was thinking about ripping it out, but I think I will continue on and make the whole thing so at least I can say I've made myself a wearable garment. I was going to have to modify the belly area on the original pattern, but now I will knit it as written and see where I end up with the fit. Maybe I'll be finished by spring?
Wabenschal - I started this during my last flurry of startitis. I sort of like the pattern, but I am pretty sure I hate the yarn. Its scratchy and I can't think of anyone I could give it to who would be please to put this around their neck, so I'm going to move it to hibernation for now and probably frog it.
One project was in the current list, but...
Modified Twenny Dolla Sweater - officially frogged and put needles, yarn, etc back where they belong.
Posts coming up - an update on all my hibernating projects, sharing my new
Friday, September 24, 2010
Black and White Hats
Little Xavier grew out of his blueberry hat, and I've had a request for a new hat, but this time with a matching one for mom, and this time, in black and white! So, Xavier's hat will be black on bottom, white on top, and Emily's hat will be white on bottom, black on top. I bought the yarns months ago but I'm seeing them in two weeks (!) so I'd better get knitting. I managed to make the 6 month hat in a week before, and that was with cotton yarn which was tougher to work with, so I'm hoping that I will be able to crank out these two hats. (holy run-on sentences, Batman!)
That means I won't be able to work on Citron OR my new socks, and once again I have way too many projects sitting around collecting dust.
Rav link for hat project: Black and White Hats
This week has been long and tiring, and I'm struggling with being hungry and getting workouts in at all. This weekend is full of activities - book group, party, outdoor music, and while I do want to go to all of them and see peple I'm just so tired. Maybe tonight I'll skip the workout and just do laundry, knit, take a nap, have dinner, wash dishes, reorganize my apartment...
That means I won't be able to work on Citron OR my new socks, and once again I have way too many projects sitting around collecting dust.
Rav link for hat project: Black and White Hats
This week has been long and tiring, and I'm struggling with being hungry and getting workouts in at all. This weekend is full of activities - book group, party, outdoor music, and while I do want to go to all of them and see peple I'm just so tired. Maybe tonight I'll skip the workout and just do laundry, knit, take a nap, have dinner, wash dishes, reorganize my apartment...
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Biggest Loser Year 10!
Along with the fall 2010 season of the Biggest Loser I am starting a new challenge for myself in my fitness and weight loss efforts.
I joined a Ravelry group for some added motivation called Biggest Loser Fitness and Knitting*. There is a mini competition where people can sign up to keep track of percentage of weight lost, and will be matched up with motivation buddies and that sort of thing. There are already some discussion threads going about nutrition and exercise. I am also helping out as assistant moderator.
Of course, since this group is on a knitting site, there will be some knitting and crafting involved. Hopefully there will be a knit-a-long too.
So far my goals are to:
-work out a minimum of 3 days a week
-convince my doctor to take me off blood pressure meds
-strengthen the muscles around my knee and thereby stop the creaking and occasional pain
-continue to lose weight - at least 1 pound a week
-lose 30 pounds by December 31, 2010
-buy and use a heart rate monitor to keep my workouts more consistent and more productive
The premiere is tonight! Off to buy healthy groceries, work out, and watch the show.
*You have to be a member of Ravelry to join the group.
I joined a Ravelry group for some added motivation called Biggest Loser Fitness and Knitting*. There is a mini competition where people can sign up to keep track of percentage of weight lost, and will be matched up with motivation buddies and that sort of thing. There are already some discussion threads going about nutrition and exercise. I am also helping out as assistant moderator.
Of course, since this group is on a knitting site, there will be some knitting and crafting involved. Hopefully there will be a knit-a-long too.
So far my goals are to:
-work out a minimum of 3 days a week
-convince my doctor to take me off blood pressure meds
-strengthen the muscles around my knee and thereby stop the creaking and occasional pain
-continue to lose weight - at least 1 pound a week
-lose 30 pounds by December 31, 2010
-buy and use a heart rate monitor to keep my workouts more consistent and more productive
The premiere is tonight! Off to buy healthy groceries, work out, and watch the show.
*You have to be a member of Ravelry to join the group.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Citron progress
I have finished Row 18 of the 5th section. The pattern calls for 5 sections of 20 rows and a border section of 12 rows. I am definitely doing two more sections. I will never wear it if I stop at this size. I know the pattern makes more of a shawlette, but if this thing will never cover my shoulders, I think I would fling it across the room and leave it there. Maybe if I knit every day...I'll be done before the snow flies! Two more sections is 40 more rows, and these are biiiig rows that get over 600 stitches across. Eeep!
I also want to pick up a project from last fall - a wedding gift of a cabled pillow for my sister that I lost momentum on as the wedding drew closer. I figure if I can finish it by her 1 year anniversary then I'm in the clear. And I think that switching from working on my lace weight Citron to a worsted weight project will make the rows fly by! If you happen to look at the project in Ravelry, I have more knit than shows on the project page. Honestly I do! I just haven't updated the photo. Which I will do. Tonight. Really.
I also want to pick up a project from last fall - a wedding gift of a cabled pillow for my sister that I lost momentum on as the wedding drew closer. I figure if I can finish it by her 1 year anniversary then I'm in the clear. And I think that switching from working on my lace weight Citron to a worsted weight project will make the rows fly by! If you happen to look at the project in Ravelry, I have more knit than shows on the project page. Honestly I do! I just haven't updated the photo. Which I will do. Tonight. Really.
Monday, August 16, 2010
Citron frustration
I was poking around on Ravelry looking at finished Citron shawls, and found poofus73's citron. She said it ended up looking like a tiny tea towel! That's exactly what I'm worried about. I am from healthy German stock and have the proportions to prove it. I don't want a big floppy shawl thing, but I also don't want to end up with a tea towel that I spent 6 months making (at this point) that doesn't look good and I won't wear out of the house. The shawl model on Knitty looks quite tiny and I can't see how that same size shawl on me will even come over my shoulders. I've now knit to the point where I am halfway done with the 5th and final section. Then there is a ruffle edge section which is 12 rows. I can sort of try it on now, but I certainly can't hold it AND see where it falls, let alone take a photo. I think there might have to be some photos taken at my knitting group tonight.
When I bought the yarn to make this shawl I bought two skeins of Malabrigo lace, planning on making it doubly big. I just don't want it TOO big. And I know it will stretch out a bit. Relax. Settle in to it's shape. So I don't want to go wild and add too many extra sections. I've seen some pictures of this shawl with anywhere from 5-9 sections. The thing is, in most of the photos, the shawl is laid out flat and NOT shown on a person. How do I know how big it turns out if people don't photograph themselves wearing it???
Hopefully photo of 5 full repeats to follow soon.
When I bought the yarn to make this shawl I bought two skeins of Malabrigo lace, planning on making it doubly big. I just don't want it TOO big. And I know it will stretch out a bit. Relax. Settle in to it's shape. So I don't want to go wild and add too many extra sections. I've seen some pictures of this shawl with anywhere from 5-9 sections. The thing is, in most of the photos, the shawl is laid out flat and NOT shown on a person. How do I know how big it turns out if people don't photograph themselves wearing it???
Hopefully photo of 5 full repeats to follow soon.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Progress Bars
So right now I think I have five different posts in draft form, all 90% complete, and they haven't made it out here to the actual page where you readers can see them. Soon, I promise, I will post those and more. But for now, my first quick attempt at adding progress bars for my Ravelry projects. Ta-dah! (looks right) And...the percentages display in white, on white background. Hmm. And no thumbnail photos...Well, at least there are bars, and I'll get to fixing hopefully tonight, or this weekend.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Trying on Emmaline
Emmaline take 1 - 05.15.2010
Originally uploaded by bareblueskin
I've used up one ball of yarn and started the second. I am 4 repeats in of the K1/Raglan Increase rounds and trying on Emmaline to see where the arms are. Are the markers that divide off the sleeve stitches supposed to meet under my arm? Is that how I know if it's long enough? For the large I need to do 8 rounds. I tried to take better pictures, but it's hard to hold the sleeve markers in place for the picture on my own. I guess that means they're not in the right place yet!
Proceed carefully
~Okay, I wrote this post over two weeks ago (looks like it was means for April 30), and when I posted it the middle bit was chopped out. I've been meaning to fix this post and rewrite it, but at this point I'm just going to fudge it.~
I always thought I was good at following directions and reading everything through clearly. Building bookshelves, a website, doing my taxes, catching important but minimally mentioned plot points, that's me.
Building a knitted garment, however, is not something my mind seems to want to do. Take for instance my early mishap with the Citron shawl. Having gotten through the strange 'knit a sort of square thing' with a lot of help from Amber (who says this cast on for shawls is used quite regularly) I jumped in. Knitting merrily along,
Row 1 [WS]: K3, place marker, p3, place marker, k3.
Row 2 [RS]: K3, slip marker, [m1, k1] three times, m1, slip marker, k3. 13 sts.
I get to the instruction Rows 3-5: Work in pattern as set, maintaining first and last 3 sts in garter st and working sts between markers in stockinette st. No problem. That means keep doing the pattern set up in Rows 1 and 2. I knit Row 6.
Row 6 [RS]: K3, slip marker, [m1, k1] seven times, m1, slip marker, k3. 21 sts. That instruction came after the section I had just knitted. Does this apply to the whole pattern? It doesn't seem to...but if I apply that to everything, then yes, the counts do come out properly. I ripped it out, started over, followed the instructions, and now I am much further along. Okay, further along for me. I am now halfway through the second section. Ok, that could have been a misinterpretation of instructions, but how about what happened last Thursday night?
What??? After this increase I am to have 21 stitches? I don't remember now now many I did have, but if I was going along increasing, starting with 13 stitches, plus 4, plus 8?, plus ??, so I had 40 or so stitches instead of 21. But I didn't notice that 21sts and I kept going.
Rows 7-11: Work in pattern.
By now I had WAAAY too many stitches, and I was looking at the counts, trying to figure out what I had done. A little further down in the pattern, it said
SHAWL BODY
Note: In all directions that follow, “work in pattern” means to work in stockinette st, maintaining first and last 3 sts in garter st as set.
~Here's where the bit I wrote disappeared. Crucial right? Anyway, figured it out, thought either the pattern/pattern writer/myself was having a bad day. Ripped it out completely, started again, which gave me practice with the odd casting on for this project, and ta-dah! I am now halfway through the second round of instructions.~
By the way, the white strings are dental floss lifelines so that I can rip back to the beginning of the section if necessary.
I was watching the finale of Project Runway (disappointing) and decided to dig in and make some progress on Emmaline since I had one and a half rows done. I was stuck on the row with RLI - right lifted increase - since I knit lefty and need to reverse the way I do the stitch. The instructions say:
RLI (Right Lifted Increase): Use the right needle to pick up the stitch below the next stitch on the left needle. Place it on the left needle, then knit into it. 1 stitch has been increased.
Using this increase helps give the bulky yarn structure. I refer to the close up photo of the lovely, tight raglan seam of Emmaline. It looks like two solid lines of stitches drawn diagonally near the shoulder.
And what did I do? Not that. M1 instead, which leaves a gaping hole beneath the added stitch. R-i-p.
After searching out instruction online, I started again. I now have about 10 rows of Emmaline so far, and I still don't think my RLIs look like the picture, but I have to keep going. It's the perfect weather to wear this now, and if I don't hurry up, it will be too hot. Maybe I should spend the weekend knitting?
I always thought I was good at following directions and reading everything through clearly. Building bookshelves, a website, doing my taxes, catching important but minimally mentioned plot points, that's me.
Building a knitted garment, however, is not something my mind seems to want to do. Take for instance my early mishap with the Citron shawl. Having gotten through the strange 'knit a sort of square thing' with a lot of help from Amber (who says this cast on for shawls is used quite regularly) I jumped in. Knitting merrily along,
Row 1 [WS]: K3, place marker, p3, place marker, k3.
Row 2 [RS]: K3, slip marker, [m1, k1] three times, m1, slip marker, k3. 13 sts.
I get to the instruction Rows 3-5: Work in pattern as set, maintaining first and last 3 sts in garter st and working sts between markers in stockinette st. No problem. That means keep doing the pattern set up in Rows 1 and 2. I knit Row 6.
Row 6 [RS]: K3, slip marker, [m1, k1] seven times, m1, slip marker, k3. 21 sts. That instruction came after the section I had just knitted. Does this apply to the whole pattern? It doesn't seem to...but if I apply that to everything, then yes, the counts do come out properly. I ripped it out, started over, followed the instructions, and now I am much further along. Okay, further along for me. I am now halfway through the second section. Ok, that could have been a misinterpretation of instructions, but how about what happened last Thursday night?
What??? After this increase I am to have 21 stitches? I don't remember now now many I did have, but if I was going along increasing, starting with 13 stitches, plus 4, plus 8?, plus ??, so I had 40 or so stitches instead of 21. But I didn't notice that 21sts and I kept going.
Rows 7-11: Work in pattern.
By now I had WAAAY too many stitches, and I was looking at the counts, trying to figure out what I had done. A little further down in the pattern, it said
SHAWL BODY
Note: In all directions that follow, “work in pattern” means to work in stockinette st, maintaining first and last 3 sts in garter st as set.
~Here's where the bit I wrote disappeared. Crucial right? Anyway, figured it out, thought either the pattern/pattern writer/myself was having a bad day. Ripped it out completely, started again, which gave me practice with the odd casting on for this project, and ta-dah! I am now halfway through the second round of instructions.~
By the way, the white strings are dental floss lifelines so that I can rip back to the beginning of the section if necessary.
RLI (Right Lifted Increase): Use the right needle to pick up the stitch below the next stitch on the left needle. Place it on the left needle, then knit into it. 1 stitch has been increased.
Using this increase helps give the bulky yarn structure. I refer to the close up photo of the lovely, tight raglan seam of Emmaline. It looks like two solid lines of stitches drawn diagonally near the shoulder.
And what did I do? Not that. M1 instead, which leaves a gaping hole beneath the added stitch. R-i-p.
After searching out instruction online, I started again. I now have about 10 rows of Emmaline so far, and I still don't think my RLIs look like the picture, but I have to keep going. It's the perfect weather to wear this now, and if I don't hurry up, it will be too hot. Maybe I should spend the weekend knitting?
Thursday, April 22, 2010
knitting mostly
Or should I say, this is about other people's knitting, since mine has completely stalled despite the lack of lovely yarn and patterns covering my couch.
I just wanted to share this story by futuregirl about knitting with a stranger in the park.
I think I first saw mention of this by ElectroGirl, but it might have been mooncalf as she has the banner up now too, but a new-to-me blog I'm following is eskimimiknits.com who has organized the upcoming Knitting and Crochet Blog Week. The main post for the details is here but basically it's encouraging us crafters to blog every day for a week and also to write about unified themes. I hope to take part in this and continue this odd burst of blogging to hopefully continue it as a regular thing.
Oh, and today marks a whole week of tracking eating and working out. Go me!
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Head up, young person
Last week was a good week. I am finally feeling better after being knocked out by an intense sinus infection for a week and missing Easter with my family.
Last week I:
-planned a visit home to visit with family and friends, and to say goodbye to my high school, Nazareth Academy, which is closing after 139 years of educating young women. I will get a chance to reconnect with people I haven't seen in almost 20 years. Friends that I wish I had been closer to in high school that I will hopefully forge a better connection with now.
-worked out at the gym. Finally! I have been trying to stay on track with being active, but having that sinus issue put me right off of life, never mind working out.
-cleaned the top of the stove. Doesn't seem like much right? I took the top of the stove OFF and put it in the bathtub, and scrubbed it with all my might using cleanser with bleach and a scrubby sponge. There is still one spot that is a bit stained, but it had built up over time so hopefully now that I have the stove top 99% clean I can remove that stain over time.
-gotten a new kitchen counter set up and picked up the kitchen - BIG project
-cast on for Emmaline, a bulky knit short-sleeve top
-washed 5 loads of laundry. Yes, I live alone, but I hate doing laundry and it builds up, and I had a big pile of towels and rags that I had used to mop up the leaks in my apartment when we had the bad storms a few weeks back, and yes, I'm just getting to them now.
-started back on the whole eat healthy, live healthy thing. Counting calories, counting everything, really, because I don't have a sense anymore of what I eat or what it contains. It's back to basics while I relearn what my body actually needs. I use the tools at SparkPeople, but if anyone has suggestions of other free tracker and community sites, I'm listening.
To-DO this week: (yes, I know it's already Tuesday but I forgot to post this entry Sunday night, so I'm modifying it, alright?)
-repot seedlings
-plant more seeds - lettuce, sage, (first ones seem to have died) tomatoes, and a few other things.
-go to the gym. Yes, AGAIN.
-keep tracking
-go to bed by midnight most nights
-do some yoga
-maybe get around to putting my laundry away
-read The Little Stranger for my book group meeting on Sunday (352 pages to go)
-oh, and knit
Last week I:
-planned a visit home to visit with family and friends, and to say goodbye to my high school, Nazareth Academy, which is closing after 139 years of educating young women. I will get a chance to reconnect with people I haven't seen in almost 20 years. Friends that I wish I had been closer to in high school that I will hopefully forge a better connection with now.
-worked out at the gym. Finally! I have been trying to stay on track with being active, but having that sinus issue put me right off of life, never mind working out.
-cleaned the top of the stove. Doesn't seem like much right? I took the top of the stove OFF and put it in the bathtub, and scrubbed it with all my might using cleanser with bleach and a scrubby sponge. There is still one spot that is a bit stained, but it had built up over time so hopefully now that I have the stove top 99% clean I can remove that stain over time.
-gotten a new kitchen counter set up and picked up the kitchen - BIG project
-cast on for Emmaline, a bulky knit short-sleeve top
-washed 5 loads of laundry. Yes, I live alone, but I hate doing laundry and it builds up, and I had a big pile of towels and rags that I had used to mop up the leaks in my apartment when we had the bad storms a few weeks back, and yes, I'm just getting to them now.
-started back on the whole eat healthy, live healthy thing. Counting calories, counting everything, really, because I don't have a sense anymore of what I eat or what it contains. It's back to basics while I relearn what my body actually needs. I use the tools at SparkPeople, but if anyone has suggestions of other free tracker and community sites, I'm listening.
To-DO this week: (yes, I know it's already Tuesday but I forgot to post this entry Sunday night, so I'm modifying it, alright?)
-repot seedlings
-plant more seeds - lettuce, sage, (first ones seem to have died) tomatoes, and a few other things.
-go to the gym. Yes, AGAIN.
-keep tracking
-go to bed by midnight most nights
-do some yoga
-maybe get around to putting my laundry away
-read The Little Stranger for my book group meeting on Sunday (352 pages to go)
-oh, and knit
Monday, March 29, 2010
Well I wasn't planning on...
Well I wasn't planning on blocking it. And it's going to drive me crazy. must be time to rip...iI'm only 8 rows in. better now than later.
Friday, March 19, 2010
Shawl sans spine in green
I was wandering around on Ravelry yesterday and wondered if Knitty had a new issue out for spring. Well no, they don't, but apparently I never looked at the Winter 2009 issue. In that issue I found my new project. Citron is a lovely little shawl/scarf with a ripple to the edge and some texture without really being lace. Sure, the pattern uses lacewight yarn, and knits up like lace, but the end result looks much more solid than a typical lace shawl. Here is the shawl on Ravelry.
I love the color used in the demo shawl, but when I got to Windsor they didn't have that in laceweight (lettuce, here on the right). Well, I found it in worsted and the color is much for yellow for me to wear anyway. Problem solved. Or so I thought, when I approached the Malabrigo lace basket and found two different greens and a light blue that all wanted to come home with me and become a shawl. I bought 2 skeins of Sapphire Green (in the middle). This is my first malabrigo purchase!! I'm excited, can you tell? The others in my knitting group rave about this yarn, and I fondle it every time someone brings a project with this yarn. I think it's time for me to make myself something decadent, that will be worn next to the skin, that will hopefully be my go to item. I bought some size 8 Addi lace needles, but I'll have to swatch and make sure that my isn't so tight that I need to up another needle size. The pattern calls for 6s, but I typically need to up two needle sizes.
Amy, if you're reading this, weren't you looking for a shawl pattern without a spine? I think this might be the one for you!
Amy, if you're reading this, weren't you looking for a shawl pattern without a spine? I think this might be the one for you!
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Ravelympics Update, and a little cross stitch
On February 12th I cast on a project for the Ravelmpics - insane knitting olympics madness. The Olympics began, and I plowed through, changing from 1 color to 3, handing my knitting over to a master for a fix of a skipped stitch 13 rows below (thanks Cassandra!), and changing out a broken circular for a spare. I had houseguests for two full weekends, a medical crisis, and chose eyeglasses (believe me, it's stressful!) and I am just now picking up my knitting again. I'm not done. It was a difficult goal for me if I had had nothing to do for two weeks. If I was on vacation for the full two weeks and did nothing but knit, I'm not sure I would have finished. I do like the pattern, but I've never done stripes before and that a little confusion. I am making the 6 month old size, but I think it's more likely going to fit a 2 year old. Time will tell. Here is a photo how my progress so far.
Now, I'm also supposed to be working on my big cross stitch project, Soul of the Rose. I belong to this other site, 2010 Weekly Stitch A Long, where people keep track of their main project and post updates. I've made some progress, added that long dark blue stripe, and the sort of green to the right of it. Hopefully now I'll at least work on it every week a bit.
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