I hate Widdershins. There, I said it. I didn't frog that first heel and try decreasing instead of increasing. I actually figured out that I was wrong and you really should be increasing toward the heel because when you knit top-down, you decrease as you're turning. So, in essence, if you're working in reverse, you should be increasing as you turn.
~~~~~
Yes, she did get that right. Unfortunately, I screwed up big time because it decreased the number of stitches for my gusset, which shortened the foot of my sock. I know, I know. I should have been measuring with my trusty tape measure as I went along. I would have seen that the sock was running short. But I didn't.
~~~~~
I know with complete accuracy that, when working a cuff-down sock, I turn my heel, decrease for my gusset and then I knit 55 rows before I decrease for my toes. Doesn't matter what the yarn is as long as it's knit on my trusty 2.25mm needles. My gauge is almost perfect regardless of what yarn I'm working with and any variation in yarn thickness is so minimal that it's negligible.
~~~~~
So I knit my trust 55 rows, did my gusset, made a few adjustments for the heel but I turned that and knit about 80 rows up the cuff and cast off. What's the problem? Short foot. I need another 10 rows in my foot measurement to match the socks I make cuff down.
~~~~~
Big sigh....
~~~~~
So I have a pair of absolutely gorgeous Great Adirondack socks that are now useless to me and anyone in my family because I have the smallest feet.
~~~~~
Argh!!! Oh, and to add insult to injury? I've finally figured out what my problem is lately. I have dry skin. We're talking alligator skin. You could make a very fashionable pair of shoes out of my skin if I came in another color besides "pink" or "nude" or whatever you want to call "pale"... LOL! And I've been itching like crazy. My arms. My legs. (It's real tricky to try and scratch your inner thighs at work when you work in a bubble booth... /grin/) I have patches of itch on my belly, etc. It finally dawned on me this week that we'd changed our laundry detergent. I can't use major brands because they add perfumes and softeners and all kinds of additives. Generic brands tend to work for me because they keep the price down by sticking to soap and that's about it. So I think that's what my problem is.
~~~~~
It's gotten so bad in the last week that I'm waking myself at night, feeling like one big allergic hive. I was blaming it on the dry air that seems to have huddled over Connecticut. Everyone around us for the last month or so gets all kinds of rain and snow. We get the clouds and the clouds try to drop precipitation, but it's evaporated into the atmosphere before it can hit the ground. That's how dry it is. Weird to think that it's raining at 20,000 ft but not a drop is hitting the ground, but there you have it. Anyway, I thought the dry atmosphere was affecting my skin, but now I'm thinking it's the new laundry detergent.
~~~~~
So oldest daughter picked me up some generic stuff last night. Today I'm going to wash the whole wardrobe and see if that helps.
~~~~~
Quick update... surgery is set for May 7th. The only day of work I'll miss is the big graduation. Classes end the week prior and then I'll be able to work the law school graduation on Sunday. It pushes back the date I wanted by two weeks, but that's okay. It's still early enough not to totally erase my summer, and late enough that I won't have to use all my accrued sick time. That's a good thing because I figure you can always use sick time. God forbid someone in the family got really sick and I needed to take care of them. The job allows me to accrue up to 6 months of sick time and my goal is to do just that. Vacation time doesn't carry over from year to year, so save sick time whenever possible and let that build up.
~~~~~
Anyway, this is all good. The only day I'll miss of work is the 10-hour, 12,000 person party. Hmm... while it's nice to be able to be there on graduation day for those kids I've seen come through the university, it's not always one of the easiest days to work. Kids moving out is the worst because half the kids don't pack before their rides come to pick them up. Kids moving in runs about equal because the freshmen parents never quite figure out when it's time to move on so we have room to move more kids in. Third to those two is the big graduation just because of the sheer numbers.
~~~~~
These are the three events where I get used to being called a "b*!(%" on a regular basis.
~~~~~
Now, I doubt I have more than 10 people who actually read my blog, but can I make a request to those few who do? If you have kids in college or friends who have kids in college, can you please understand the reality of what's about to happen? It's about 6 weeks or less until the big move-outs all over the country. Can you try to understand that it really is not our goal to make this as difficult as possible for you or us? We have approximately 3 days to move out about 4000 students from approximately seven areas where we can park cars.
~~~~~
Ship your child some boxes and bags. Tell them to have their stuff as packed and ready as possible. (Yes, I had a freshman one year who carried his chair downstairs and proceeded to sit in it to work on his tan while his parents packed his room. I told him to get his @ss upstairs and move his stuff or I'd have him hauled away on the hook of a tow truck... /g/) Yes, trust me, I know your child will have 43 friends that they still have to say goodbye to, so please move your car to another spot to wait for them to track down said friends. We need every inch of parking we can get our hands on, so please don't take this moment to stand in line at the bookstore to return books or have that last lunch. You and I both know that your kid waited until the last moment, hoping that you'd do all their packing for them. Don't let them get away with it. Get back in your car and go to lunch. Tell them to call you when they're packed and ready to load. Then please do it as quickly as possible. I have 200 people waiting for your parking spot.
~~~~~
Graduation Day? I know it's a HUGE moment. Unfortunately, it's a huge moment for every one of our 1500 graduates and their families. That's why there are 12,000 people squished onto the quad. I know that you paid $200,000 (give or take) for that "forever photo". Trust me. I've been doing this for five years. But also understand that every other parent is feeling exactly like you and they paid the same amount of money. We have a system set up and, if everyone does what they're supposed to, it works for everyone involved and you'll have those "forever photos". But there's always that one (generally at least a dozen) who feel they're above and beyond everyone else. To us, every single one of our graduates and their respective family members are special. Smile and be polite. You're there for that one moment. We're doing our best to accomodate 1500 of those moments and juggling 12,000 people in order to make sure each of those moments are captured on film.
~~~~~
Okay, 'nuff said.
~~~~~
Laundry today. And more laundry. Oh, and grocery shopping. Oh boy. What fun...
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Sunday, March 23, 2008
I have a stash and a realization...
Lots of things happened in the last couple of weeks. First, I have to tell y'all about a sale. (Yes, that's read as SALE!!!!) Connecticut Yarn and Wool in East Haddam. I got the email on Friday morning that they were getting rid of their old fall and winter stock because of the arrival of the new spring stock.
~~~~~
Fill a 30-gal bin for $300. Now, yes, $300 is a lot of money. But I'm facing surgery. (Yes, I picked a date. I have to call on Tuesday, but I'm shooting for April 23rd for some very strange reasons... /wry g/) So I'm going to be sitting on the couch for a couple weeks in recovery mode. That means time for knitting next year's Christmas projects as well as finally breaking the seal on all those DVDs I've bought last year and haven't had time to watch.
~~~~~
So I picked up my friend Linda and we descended on CT Yarn & Wool. Now, they always have a "remainder" room where you can get bargains. I can choose from that room and they had bin after bin on the porch. All kinds of colorways. Practically everything is hand-dyed. Yes, most of it is worsted weight and spun singles (think felting). I loaded up. At first, I was very careful to match things, but I lost that ability soon after. I dug into every bin so I could check everything. I unloaded some baskets so I could see what was on the bottom. (Yes, I was careful to put everything back so I didn't make a total mess of the place. /g/)
~~~~~
I picked up 14 skeins of this gorgeous silk/cotton/wool blend. I looked it up on the Internet later. $20 a skein. That's $280 right there and that was a small portion of what I'd stuffed in my bin. Then I found an absolute treasure. A cotton/rayon blend that they call "I'm Allergic to Wool". It's soft and cushie. A wonderful thick n thin that would make some gorgeous sweaters (and scarves and even another shawl). It runs $30 a skein and I've got about 50 skeins of this stuff. Okay, some of the skeins are pretty short, but others were full and fat. That alone is about $1500 worth of yarn.
~~~~~
Oh yeah, I easily stuffed at least $2000 worth of yarn into this bin. Believe it or not, the woman working at the shop suggested that we untwist the skeins and lay them flat. Worked well. We got more into the bin. Course, it really helped that when I thought the bin was pretty full, Linda looked at me and said, "Oh, no, we can fit more" and she sat in the bin... /wry g/
~~~~~
Okay, so I'm going to be laid up. Basically, I talked with the doctor and we agreed that the fibroid needs to go. It's a good size. We also agree that I'm at that age that the plumbing serves no purpose either, so she's going to remove the whole shebang. It's simply a matter of picking a date. Lots of things to consider and not that simple. I'll be laid up for approximately 6 weeks before returning to normal. And since I do a LOT of yardwork in the summer, I don't want to wait too long or we can just forget summer entirely and that's not an option. After all the work I did last year, there's no way I'm going to let my yard go to hell. Another thing to consider is I really can't do without the paycheck. So I looked and I have just shy of 3 weeks sick time accrued. Back up from my last week of work and that means April 23rd. I should be cleared for regular life by the first week in June and, since I never plant much before Memorial Day (danger of frost any time before that and don't let anyone tell you otherwise), the timing would work well.
~~~~~
And this all leads back to my shopping spree. I imagine I'll spend a mimimun of two weeks laying on the couch. Okay, maybe the first couple days I won't feel much like knitting (is that possible?!? /g/), but then I'll have lots of time and lots of boredom to fill. Hence, knitting. Now, all these yarns are in fall colorways. If I start Christmas presents now, all those colorways will be back in vogue by the time I give them away. Sure, it'll be weird to be knitting with oranges and yellows and browns (autumn leaves) in April and May when I'd rather be working with yellows and purples (think crocus). But I'll also have a huge jump on Christmas knitting. Purses and clogs for everyone! LOL!
~~~~~
Now I can finally move the the update seciton... Let's see. I finished the Diamonte socks. Okay, I call them "Cat Yak". The yarn is lovely. The pattern is lovely. Put the two together and it's definitely something the cat yakked up. I don't like it and they would NOT be a favorite pair of socks. But Younger Daughter likes them. So they now belong to her.
~~~~~
Pi Are Sqaured Shawl is coming along. About 3 more rows and I can move to section four, which will double the number of stitches. I think I'll be up to about 1000 sts or so. Yup, a long-term project. Another one to keep handy when I get tired of extremely big knitting for felting.
~~~~~
I just turned the heel for the Widdershins sock last night. I got the increases for the gusset okay. That was fine. But I followed the directions for the heel and it was way off. Not the direction, mind you. I was way off. So I frogged back and did it again. Hmm... definitely something skewed here. I frogged it again. Then I sat down with my trusty pencil and worked out the math from an entirely new direction and it clicked. I turned the heel and I'm now working my way up the heel flap. Again, I looked at her directions and they didn't work for me, so I didn't even try. I read through about three times and got the overall concept, worked up my own math and it's working beautifully.
~~~~~
Okay, how to explain my math (for someone who doesn't understand her concept of math)? I put a stitch marker at the center of the heel. Now, you have to remember that you're coming toe up, so you've got to begin with the largest part of the heel first. So, as you work the short rows, you'll be decreasing the number of sts that you work with, rather than increasing like you do with a normal short row heel.
~~~~~
Wow, it just dawned on me what's wrong with the directions. She makes stitches as you add your short rows. You make a stitch before you wrap and turn to create the short rows. No wonder the heel looked weird when I was looking at it this morning. I haven't tried it on yet, but I think I'm going to have to frog again and decrease, rather than increase in the short rows. Hmm... have to check that out.
~~~~~
But anyway, I started with working 8 sts out from the center before the "m1, k1, w&t". Then I'd work 8 sts in the other direction from the center marker on the purl row. Then I'd work 6 sts from the center marker on the knit row, come back to center and work 6 sts on the other side of the stitch marker. Back and forth in decreasing numbers from the marker as I worked closer to the heel itself.
~~~~~
Bingo! Heel is turned. Now you have to work up the gusset and decrease all those stitches you'd added to make the gusset.
~~~~~
Again, it's really easy if you simply think of working a set number of stitches to each side of the center marker on the heel.
~~~~~
IOW, I like 60 sts overall and I work Magic Loop. So my heel should ultimately end up with 30 sts on that needle. At the beginning, I didn't count, but let's say I have 50 sts, so I want to decrease 20 to get back to 30. As I knit each row back and forth, I only have to remember to knit 15 to each side of the center marker. Then I ssk on my knit rows (pulling one stitch in from the gusset and decreasing on each row). As I purl back, I don't have to remember anything except to purl 15 on the other side of the marker and my last stitch is p2tog, again, pulling one guset stitch in and decreasing). I go back and forth in this manner, almost like working a short row heel, until I have no more to decrease at the end of the needle and then I can begin knitting all the way around again.
~~~~~
Hmm.... now I'm really curious if that heel turn is wrong. Well, not wrong for her or anyone who loves it, but I wonder if it's wrong for me. I think, rather than w&t, I should also be doing an ssk and a p2tog on the heel. It should be pulling in towards the end of the heel, not getting wider and adding more stitches.
~~~~~
Oh dear. I've already frogged it 3 times. Now, I not only have to frog it again, but also about 20 rows of heel flap.
~~~~~
Bat poop... /sigh/
~~~~~
Fill a 30-gal bin for $300. Now, yes, $300 is a lot of money. But I'm facing surgery. (Yes, I picked a date. I have to call on Tuesday, but I'm shooting for April 23rd for some very strange reasons... /wry g/) So I'm going to be sitting on the couch for a couple weeks in recovery mode. That means time for knitting next year's Christmas projects as well as finally breaking the seal on all those DVDs I've bought last year and haven't had time to watch.
~~~~~
So I picked up my friend Linda and we descended on CT Yarn & Wool. Now, they always have a "remainder" room where you can get bargains. I can choose from that room and they had bin after bin on the porch. All kinds of colorways. Practically everything is hand-dyed. Yes, most of it is worsted weight and spun singles (think felting). I loaded up. At first, I was very careful to match things, but I lost that ability soon after. I dug into every bin so I could check everything. I unloaded some baskets so I could see what was on the bottom. (Yes, I was careful to put everything back so I didn't make a total mess of the place. /g/)
~~~~~
I picked up 14 skeins of this gorgeous silk/cotton/wool blend. I looked it up on the Internet later. $20 a skein. That's $280 right there and that was a small portion of what I'd stuffed in my bin. Then I found an absolute treasure. A cotton/rayon blend that they call "I'm Allergic to Wool". It's soft and cushie. A wonderful thick n thin that would make some gorgeous sweaters (and scarves and even another shawl). It runs $30 a skein and I've got about 50 skeins of this stuff. Okay, some of the skeins are pretty short, but others were full and fat. That alone is about $1500 worth of yarn.
~~~~~
Oh yeah, I easily stuffed at least $2000 worth of yarn into this bin. Believe it or not, the woman working at the shop suggested that we untwist the skeins and lay them flat. Worked well. We got more into the bin. Course, it really helped that when I thought the bin was pretty full, Linda looked at me and said, "Oh, no, we can fit more" and she sat in the bin... /wry g/
~~~~~
Okay, so I'm going to be laid up. Basically, I talked with the doctor and we agreed that the fibroid needs to go. It's a good size. We also agree that I'm at that age that the plumbing serves no purpose either, so she's going to remove the whole shebang. It's simply a matter of picking a date. Lots of things to consider and not that simple. I'll be laid up for approximately 6 weeks before returning to normal. And since I do a LOT of yardwork in the summer, I don't want to wait too long or we can just forget summer entirely and that's not an option. After all the work I did last year, there's no way I'm going to let my yard go to hell. Another thing to consider is I really can't do without the paycheck. So I looked and I have just shy of 3 weeks sick time accrued. Back up from my last week of work and that means April 23rd. I should be cleared for regular life by the first week in June and, since I never plant much before Memorial Day (danger of frost any time before that and don't let anyone tell you otherwise), the timing would work well.
~~~~~
And this all leads back to my shopping spree. I imagine I'll spend a mimimun of two weeks laying on the couch. Okay, maybe the first couple days I won't feel much like knitting (is that possible?!? /g/), but then I'll have lots of time and lots of boredom to fill. Hence, knitting. Now, all these yarns are in fall colorways. If I start Christmas presents now, all those colorways will be back in vogue by the time I give them away. Sure, it'll be weird to be knitting with oranges and yellows and browns (autumn leaves) in April and May when I'd rather be working with yellows and purples (think crocus). But I'll also have a huge jump on Christmas knitting. Purses and clogs for everyone! LOL!
~~~~~
Now I can finally move the the update seciton... Let's see. I finished the Diamonte socks. Okay, I call them "Cat Yak". The yarn is lovely. The pattern is lovely. Put the two together and it's definitely something the cat yakked up. I don't like it and they would NOT be a favorite pair of socks. But Younger Daughter likes them. So they now belong to her.
~~~~~
Pi Are Sqaured Shawl is coming along. About 3 more rows and I can move to section four, which will double the number of stitches. I think I'll be up to about 1000 sts or so. Yup, a long-term project. Another one to keep handy when I get tired of extremely big knitting for felting.
~~~~~
I just turned the heel for the Widdershins sock last night. I got the increases for the gusset okay. That was fine. But I followed the directions for the heel and it was way off. Not the direction, mind you. I was way off. So I frogged back and did it again. Hmm... definitely something skewed here. I frogged it again. Then I sat down with my trusty pencil and worked out the math from an entirely new direction and it clicked. I turned the heel and I'm now working my way up the heel flap. Again, I looked at her directions and they didn't work for me, so I didn't even try. I read through about three times and got the overall concept, worked up my own math and it's working beautifully.
~~~~~
Okay, how to explain my math (for someone who doesn't understand her concept of math)? I put a stitch marker at the center of the heel. Now, you have to remember that you're coming toe up, so you've got to begin with the largest part of the heel first. So, as you work the short rows, you'll be decreasing the number of sts that you work with, rather than increasing like you do with a normal short row heel.
~~~~~
Wow, it just dawned on me what's wrong with the directions. She makes stitches as you add your short rows. You make a stitch before you wrap and turn to create the short rows. No wonder the heel looked weird when I was looking at it this morning. I haven't tried it on yet, but I think I'm going to have to frog again and decrease, rather than increase in the short rows. Hmm... have to check that out.
~~~~~
But anyway, I started with working 8 sts out from the center before the "m1, k1, w&t". Then I'd work 8 sts in the other direction from the center marker on the purl row. Then I'd work 6 sts from the center marker on the knit row, come back to center and work 6 sts on the other side of the stitch marker. Back and forth in decreasing numbers from the marker as I worked closer to the heel itself.
~~~~~
Bingo! Heel is turned. Now you have to work up the gusset and decrease all those stitches you'd added to make the gusset.
~~~~~
Again, it's really easy if you simply think of working a set number of stitches to each side of the center marker on the heel.
~~~~~
IOW, I like 60 sts overall and I work Magic Loop. So my heel should ultimately end up with 30 sts on that needle. At the beginning, I didn't count, but let's say I have 50 sts, so I want to decrease 20 to get back to 30. As I knit each row back and forth, I only have to remember to knit 15 to each side of the center marker. Then I ssk on my knit rows (pulling one stitch in from the gusset and decreasing on each row). As I purl back, I don't have to remember anything except to purl 15 on the other side of the marker and my last stitch is p2tog, again, pulling one guset stitch in and decreasing). I go back and forth in this manner, almost like working a short row heel, until I have no more to decrease at the end of the needle and then I can begin knitting all the way around again.
~~~~~
Hmm.... now I'm really curious if that heel turn is wrong. Well, not wrong for her or anyone who loves it, but I wonder if it's wrong for me. I think, rather than w&t, I should also be doing an ssk and a p2tog on the heel. It should be pulling in towards the end of the heel, not getting wider and adding more stitches.
~~~~~
Oh dear. I've already frogged it 3 times. Now, I not only have to frog it again, but also about 20 rows of heel flap.
~~~~~
Bat poop... /sigh/
Saturday, March 01, 2008
I'll Be Back...
Let me say upfront that I'll be back later today to post pics of the sweater that's finally in my brother's possession. Yup, it's finished. It was washed and blocked (more on that later because it took me four days!!!! Yikes!!!!) and sent off via overnight mail, which of course took two days to get to him. It turned out even better than I thought it would.
~~~~~
Okay, here's the deal and I'll get to more knitting later. I actually finished it right on schedule. It was Feb 16th when I finished the last stitch. I took all day Sunday and steeked and sewed and did all those little finishing touches. 10PM when I ran downstairs to stick it in the sink so I could wash and block. A quick squirt of dishwashing detergent and this was a BIG sweater, so I didn't have a lot of room left in the sink for water. The sweater soaked up every last drip of liquid. So I did the best I could without having to resort to filling the bathtub and then I went into the basement and stuck it in the washer for a quick rinse, drain and spin. It rinsed. It drained. But I couldn't get the damn thing to spin. Yeah, yeah, a real slow spin, but that's not going to get the 42 lbs of water out of the sweater.
~~~~~
So I restarted the cycle again. It rinsed. It drained. But it wouldn't spin at a high speed. We're now getting upwards of 11PM and I get up at 5AM. So I grab a towel (or two), lift the 40 lb sweater out of the washer, roll it up and stomp on it a few times. Then I take it over to my handy drying rack and pull, yank and mold it into the shape I want. Yup, looks gorgeous.
~~~~~
I check on it Tuesday after work. Wednesday after work. Finally, I gave up and gave it the weekend to finish drying. I'm guessing that my basement isn't as warm as I thought it was and I can't put it anywhere else or the cats would have a nice white layer of fur all over the thing. Sunday night. YES!!!! It's dry. It's lovely. And tomorrow is my brother's birthday.
~~~~~
So I call him the next morning, sing him "Happy Birthday" and tell him that if Mom doesn't see this after work before I pop it in the mail, she'll die of disappointment. He says that's fine, he understands and it's okay to show it to her tonight and pop it in the mail on the next day.
~~~~~
That's what I did. He finally got the sweater on Feb 28th. He's thrilled. He hasn't mentioned if it fits, but he did say that he's going to wear it all weekend because he's also got a cold spell down South. Rather than turning up his heat, he'll just live in the sweater all weekend.
~~~~~
Now, during the last couple weeks while I've been waiting for that sweater to dry, I made socks and mittens. Remember those Thick Woodsman's Socks that I made for the Hubby? Well, I made him another pair and used reverse stockinette under the footbed. He doesn't like the first pair because the purl nubs under his feet are like wearing those Adidas sandals with the torture devices they call "foot massagers". Yeah, like walking on nails. So I reversed the purl nubs on the next pair. He says they're definitely more comfortable, but he can still feel the lines for the st st. So I'm making LOTS of mittens out of the yarn I'd bought for more socks. I'm going to have to break down and make him socks out of fingering weight.
~~~~~
But I also did a couple other things this week that I found are really neat little mental tricks. I'd started a pair of Jaywalkers in Lisa Souza's "Joseph's Coat" colorway. Now, those are on a size 1 needle (2.25mm) and I make the mittens on a size 8 (4.0mm?). So I'd work 10 rows on a sock and then 10 rows on a mitten. Go back and do another 10 rows on a sock, then another 10 rows on a mitten. Wow, time flew! In the past two weeks, I've finished the Jaywalkers and make about 3 or 4 pairs of mittens as well as finishing the socks for the DH.
~~~~~
Because I was never very long on any given project, they both kept my interest and I never got bored. Okay, after two weeks of nothing but mittens and socks, there was an overall boredom, but never on the individual projects. If anything, I felt this driving need to cast on even more projects... /g/
~~~~~
So I pulled out my Elizabeth Zimmerman's Knitting Around and I've been dying to make a Pi Are Squared shawl. I find myself wearing my shawls more and more. I do love them, but there's one thing that annoys me. This is just a personal opinion, but why do shawls have to be lace?!?!?! I live in the North. It's cold here. I don't want a shawl that has holes to let that cold air infiltrate. I like my shawls solid and warm! /g/
~~~~~
So yesterday, as soon as I got out of work, I buzzed off to my LYS and found the last two skeins of that wonderful Peruvian Tweed. It's 100% alpaca in all natural fleece. There's a light, medium and dark colorway. Each skein is plied with several different natural fleece colors to get that tweed effect. I'd used the dark colorway (think dark almost black, dark chocolate and a thin strand of med caramel) to make a basketweave stole which is my favorite and most often worn. So I picked up a skein of the light colorway, which has two plies of almost white/creamy and a very light, almost white caramel. I also picked up a skein of the medium colorway which has a thin ply of the natural cream, the light caramel and then a rich golden caramel is the heaviest strand. Hmm... really gorgeous and very "neutral" so I'll be able to wear this with anything.
~~~~~
Came home and pulled out the nearest Addi Turbo (I think it's a size 5 or 6... Does it matter? /g/) and cast on 20 sts to begin a Pi Are Squared. To keep it interesting, I looked over the instructions and there are 5 sections. So the first section is in the light tweed and I knit that in stockinette stitch. Then I did the increases for section 2 and changed to the medium tweed and knit that in garter stitch. Changed back to the light tweed for section 3 and have reverted back to stockinette stitch. Looking really pretty and this is where I left off, so I'll keep that pattern going. I should end in the light color in st st, so I think I'll do the "traditional" sawtooth border in the medium color in garter. But I can check again when I get that far.
~~~~~
While at the store, I found some Claudia Handpainted in the colorway Irises. What can I say? I have this driving need to keep my stash well stocked for socks... /g/ We'll ignore the point that I have enough yarn to make at least another half dozen pair of socks already.
~~~~~
The other great deal that I stumbled into was some Araucania Nature Wool. They had a table of mark downs and this was calling my name. I already have 5 or 6 red sweaters, but this was a different red. This is color 25 RO 12-0400. A gentle variation that goes from a med brick red down to a deep, rich brick. All my other reds tend to have a cool undertone, not a warm one. This is warm. And what can I say? I like red! /g/ It's 100% wool, 4 ply, and 242 yds per skein. There were 6 skeins and they were chanting, "Take me home! I'm yours!" LOL!
~~~~~
I've been watching and rewatching the Meg Swanson DVD called Cardigan Details so I didn't screw up my steeking and I could really use a couple new cardigans. Most of my sweaters are pullovers but there are times you want a nice cardigan. And I really like the simple design she adds to the top of the sweater. So I grabbed those 6 skeins and, lo and behold, there were 2 skeins of Nature Wool in a soft creamy white, color 01. It will be a perfect addition to the red. A sharp bright white would be too stark against the soft brick of the red, but that creamy off-white will be perfect. And they were marked down from $7.50 a skein to $5.50. Hmm... a Meg Swanson EPS cardigan in 100% wool for $44.00?
~~~~~
Uh, yeah. Duh! I'm SO there and it just naturally found its way into my arms... /g/
~~~~~
Oh, before I forget! New trick!
~~~~~
I'm now knitting the Diamonte sock pattern from Knitty.com in Araucania sock yarn. I'm knitting them top down instead of toe up, but that's besides the point. I wanted to mention something that I discovered yesterday while knitting along (and dreaming of yarn stores when I left work /g/). To do the increases, the designer uses the M1 and says to pick up the strand between stitches in the row below. Pick it up with your left needle from front to back and then knit through the back loop to twist the stitch and make it virtually invisible. Hmm... great idea except it's really hard work (at least for me) to get the right needle into the back of the stitch once I've picked it up with the left needle. I don't knit all that tight, but I tend to split the yarn with my right needle regardless of how careful I am when trying to wedge it between the stitch and the p-u.
~~~~~
So what I do is pick up the yarn with my right needle from the back to the front. And then I simply have to slide my left needle into the front of the loop. Because the yarn is on the front of the needle and the stitch is right in front of me, I can slide the left needle between the yarn that's picked up and the first stitch on the right needle much easier. It still has the same effect in twisting the stitch and, yes, it really is virtually invisible, but it's easier to pick up with the right needle and then insert the left needle.
~~~~~
Does that make sense? If not, let me know. But try it. Especially if you're a tight knitter. I think you'll find this is much easier for you.
~~~~~
Okay, enough talking. Time to get daughter up for her dentist appointment. I have a few errands I have to do while out, but then it's picture time when I get back. My goals today are to upload pics of projects, clean bathroom, do my taxes and then back to my Pi Are Squared shawl. Yeah, I think that's enough for today. A little bit of work and then lots of fun!
~~~~~
Okay, here's the deal and I'll get to more knitting later. I actually finished it right on schedule. It was Feb 16th when I finished the last stitch. I took all day Sunday and steeked and sewed and did all those little finishing touches. 10PM when I ran downstairs to stick it in the sink so I could wash and block. A quick squirt of dishwashing detergent and this was a BIG sweater, so I didn't have a lot of room left in the sink for water. The sweater soaked up every last drip of liquid. So I did the best I could without having to resort to filling the bathtub and then I went into the basement and stuck it in the washer for a quick rinse, drain and spin. It rinsed. It drained. But I couldn't get the damn thing to spin. Yeah, yeah, a real slow spin, but that's not going to get the 42 lbs of water out of the sweater.
~~~~~
So I restarted the cycle again. It rinsed. It drained. But it wouldn't spin at a high speed. We're now getting upwards of 11PM and I get up at 5AM. So I grab a towel (or two), lift the 40 lb sweater out of the washer, roll it up and stomp on it a few times. Then I take it over to my handy drying rack and pull, yank and mold it into the shape I want. Yup, looks gorgeous.
~~~~~
I check on it Tuesday after work. Wednesday after work. Finally, I gave up and gave it the weekend to finish drying. I'm guessing that my basement isn't as warm as I thought it was and I can't put it anywhere else or the cats would have a nice white layer of fur all over the thing. Sunday night. YES!!!! It's dry. It's lovely. And tomorrow is my brother's birthday.
~~~~~
So I call him the next morning, sing him "Happy Birthday" and tell him that if Mom doesn't see this after work before I pop it in the mail, she'll die of disappointment. He says that's fine, he understands and it's okay to show it to her tonight and pop it in the mail on the next day.
~~~~~
That's what I did. He finally got the sweater on Feb 28th. He's thrilled. He hasn't mentioned if it fits, but he did say that he's going to wear it all weekend because he's also got a cold spell down South. Rather than turning up his heat, he'll just live in the sweater all weekend.
~~~~~
Now, during the last couple weeks while I've been waiting for that sweater to dry, I made socks and mittens. Remember those Thick Woodsman's Socks that I made for the Hubby? Well, I made him another pair and used reverse stockinette under the footbed. He doesn't like the first pair because the purl nubs under his feet are like wearing those Adidas sandals with the torture devices they call "foot massagers". Yeah, like walking on nails. So I reversed the purl nubs on the next pair. He says they're definitely more comfortable, but he can still feel the lines for the st st. So I'm making LOTS of mittens out of the yarn I'd bought for more socks. I'm going to have to break down and make him socks out of fingering weight.
~~~~~
But I also did a couple other things this week that I found are really neat little mental tricks. I'd started a pair of Jaywalkers in Lisa Souza's "Joseph's Coat" colorway. Now, those are on a size 1 needle (2.25mm) and I make the mittens on a size 8 (4.0mm?). So I'd work 10 rows on a sock and then 10 rows on a mitten. Go back and do another 10 rows on a sock, then another 10 rows on a mitten. Wow, time flew! In the past two weeks, I've finished the Jaywalkers and make about 3 or 4 pairs of mittens as well as finishing the socks for the DH.
~~~~~
Because I was never very long on any given project, they both kept my interest and I never got bored. Okay, after two weeks of nothing but mittens and socks, there was an overall boredom, but never on the individual projects. If anything, I felt this driving need to cast on even more projects... /g/
~~~~~
So I pulled out my Elizabeth Zimmerman's Knitting Around and I've been dying to make a Pi Are Squared shawl. I find myself wearing my shawls more and more. I do love them, but there's one thing that annoys me. This is just a personal opinion, but why do shawls have to be lace?!?!?! I live in the North. It's cold here. I don't want a shawl that has holes to let that cold air infiltrate. I like my shawls solid and warm! /g/
~~~~~
So yesterday, as soon as I got out of work, I buzzed off to my LYS and found the last two skeins of that wonderful Peruvian Tweed. It's 100% alpaca in all natural fleece. There's a light, medium and dark colorway. Each skein is plied with several different natural fleece colors to get that tweed effect. I'd used the dark colorway (think dark almost black, dark chocolate and a thin strand of med caramel) to make a basketweave stole which is my favorite and most often worn. So I picked up a skein of the light colorway, which has two plies of almost white/creamy and a very light, almost white caramel. I also picked up a skein of the medium colorway which has a thin ply of the natural cream, the light caramel and then a rich golden caramel is the heaviest strand. Hmm... really gorgeous and very "neutral" so I'll be able to wear this with anything.
~~~~~
Came home and pulled out the nearest Addi Turbo (I think it's a size 5 or 6... Does it matter? /g/) and cast on 20 sts to begin a Pi Are Squared. To keep it interesting, I looked over the instructions and there are 5 sections. So the first section is in the light tweed and I knit that in stockinette stitch. Then I did the increases for section 2 and changed to the medium tweed and knit that in garter stitch. Changed back to the light tweed for section 3 and have reverted back to stockinette stitch. Looking really pretty and this is where I left off, so I'll keep that pattern going. I should end in the light color in st st, so I think I'll do the "traditional" sawtooth border in the medium color in garter. But I can check again when I get that far.
~~~~~
While at the store, I found some Claudia Handpainted in the colorway Irises. What can I say? I have this driving need to keep my stash well stocked for socks... /g/ We'll ignore the point that I have enough yarn to make at least another half dozen pair of socks already.
~~~~~
The other great deal that I stumbled into was some Araucania Nature Wool. They had a table of mark downs and this was calling my name. I already have 5 or 6 red sweaters, but this was a different red. This is color 25 RO 12-0400. A gentle variation that goes from a med brick red down to a deep, rich brick. All my other reds tend to have a cool undertone, not a warm one. This is warm. And what can I say? I like red! /g/ It's 100% wool, 4 ply, and 242 yds per skein. There were 6 skeins and they were chanting, "Take me home! I'm yours!" LOL!
~~~~~
I've been watching and rewatching the Meg Swanson DVD called Cardigan Details so I didn't screw up my steeking and I could really use a couple new cardigans. Most of my sweaters are pullovers but there are times you want a nice cardigan. And I really like the simple design she adds to the top of the sweater. So I grabbed those 6 skeins and, lo and behold, there were 2 skeins of Nature Wool in a soft creamy white, color 01. It will be a perfect addition to the red. A sharp bright white would be too stark against the soft brick of the red, but that creamy off-white will be perfect. And they were marked down from $7.50 a skein to $5.50. Hmm... a Meg Swanson EPS cardigan in 100% wool for $44.00?
~~~~~
Uh, yeah. Duh! I'm SO there and it just naturally found its way into my arms... /g/
~~~~~
Oh, before I forget! New trick!
~~~~~
I'm now knitting the Diamonte sock pattern from Knitty.com in Araucania sock yarn. I'm knitting them top down instead of toe up, but that's besides the point. I wanted to mention something that I discovered yesterday while knitting along (and dreaming of yarn stores when I left work /g/). To do the increases, the designer uses the M1 and says to pick up the strand between stitches in the row below. Pick it up with your left needle from front to back and then knit through the back loop to twist the stitch and make it virtually invisible. Hmm... great idea except it's really hard work (at least for me) to get the right needle into the back of the stitch once I've picked it up with the left needle. I don't knit all that tight, but I tend to split the yarn with my right needle regardless of how careful I am when trying to wedge it between the stitch and the p-u.
~~~~~
So what I do is pick up the yarn with my right needle from the back to the front. And then I simply have to slide my left needle into the front of the loop. Because the yarn is on the front of the needle and the stitch is right in front of me, I can slide the left needle between the yarn that's picked up and the first stitch on the right needle much easier. It still has the same effect in twisting the stitch and, yes, it really is virtually invisible, but it's easier to pick up with the right needle and then insert the left needle.
~~~~~
Does that make sense? If not, let me know. But try it. Especially if you're a tight knitter. I think you'll find this is much easier for you.
~~~~~
Okay, enough talking. Time to get daughter up for her dentist appointment. I have a few errands I have to do while out, but then it's picture time when I get back. My goals today are to upload pics of projects, clean bathroom, do my taxes and then back to my Pi Are Squared shawl. Yeah, I think that's enough for today. A little bit of work and then lots of fun!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)