Finished.

F

Fylingdales Cardigan
A Fine Fleece

Finished Object.

Mr. Greenjeans, design by Amy Swenson, from the Fall 07 issue of Knitty. Yarn used, Patons Classic Wool, dark gray mix colorway.

No Go.

This is my Cabled Riding Jacket, which I did not finish and am about to unravel. I love the yarn, love the pattern but don't think they belong together. Or they don't belong together on my body. I feel like I'm wearing part of a bear suit.

Some things worked perfectly: the bias cables on the bodice match perfectly. Wish I could say that about the length of the sleeves, which are not the same length, something I didn't realize until today. And the waist shaping sits below my waist, or what used to be called a waist. What I saw as shaping sits on my hip bones, and then things turn lumpy. I admit that using dps in place of buttons isn't helping, but I did not want to sew 12 buttons in place only to hate things more.

I am in the process of stripping layers of ugly wallpaper and so am able to have a deconstructed background.

What do you do when....

My cabled riding jacket doesn't fit. Well, it fits, but I look like I'm wearing a bear costume. Following advice from Knitting Daily, I re-measured. The measurements match the schematic; the measurements match me, but the sweater overwhelms me. So, what do you do??? I'm pretty sure what I do is frog.

Work on the Cabled Riding Jacket

Somewhat blurry, but this is my sleeve seam done with the mattress stitch. The shoulder seams were done with the knit stitch, and I'm setting the sleeves using the backstitch. Even if this seam isn't totally invisible, I'm quite proud of myself.

Whimsey #2

Zakka Pouch
Design by Blackdog Knits
Yarn: Lion Cotton
Fabric: remmants

This is a place holder, something to show while I work on the Cabled Riding Jacket. Originally, I made this as one of three to hold three separate balls of yarn while I was working on the fronts and back of the jacket. Before I finished this, I finished that portion of the jacket, could use this for the one ball of yarn I'm currently working with, but so far it is holding another project.

The instructions for this pouch are clear and easy to follow. I would change some things about the sewn portion of the pouch, if I made another. And I would probably not use this same yarn again, at least not for this.

Whimsey.

Molly's Headband

Interweave Knits, Summer 2006
Yarn, Rowan Calmer

Something to break up the cable knitting, though that is going quite well.

A Work in Progress

The Cabled Riding Jacket, by Teva Durham. Begun in 2006, restarted November 2007, when I realized I was knitting a size too small.

Pictured above: re-knitting the cables at the waist. The knitting was zipping along when I pulled out the first incarnation, thinking I would soon have to unravel that for the yarn. The waist shaping is accomplished in part by spacing the cable crosses closer, which I neglected to do on Take 2. At least I could use the technique the Yarn Harlot taught me, was worried that the one mis-crossed and corrected cable from the earlier incarnation would be wasted. I have finished that portion and am working on the bodice, only on row 6, so the bias slant of the cables isn't obvious yet.

Project Spectrum 3

Flickering Flames cloth, Lion Cotton.

Not a dish cloth, I think, but perhaps a face cloth? The pattern is lovely and the cloth knit up quickly.

2008 and already a finished object.

These are are Fetching Mitts, in all of their glory. I did make a few changes, ahem. I lengthened the cuff, added a thumb gusset and made them longer in the palm. However, they did begin with the same cabling and the palm was done in the same ribbing. At what point do they cease to be Fetching? Actually, I think they are quite fetching, forgive the pun.


And I sized them using my hands, which may have been a mistake, as they were a gift and the wearer is much more petite than I am. She hasn't responded yet, so I don't know how they were received, or if they were received.


Last photo should have been first, as it shows the thumb of the second mitt being finished. As usual, couldn't do the very simple thing of moving the image. I know I've done this before. Sigh.

End of the Year Finished Objects

Cece: Begun February 2007, finished August 2007, frogged January 2008. Just too big as knit. Could be the yarn wasn't right for this project, though I've seen other versions of this pattern knit in the same yarn: Elann Sonata. Could also be that the length of the finished sweater and my body are not sympatico.

Log Cabin Socks: begun and finished December 2008. Yarn: Dream in Color Superwash.

Rainbow (short row) Socks. Begun October 2007, finished January 2008. Yarn: Trekking XXL. Sock # 1 was purely an experiment and a sampler for different short row techniques. I think I last track somewhere along the way and the pattern skewed somewhat, but not enough to convince me to frog it. And it fit when done, so I intrepidly began Sock #2. And finished it. This yarn was purchased accidentally, or at least the colorway was, since I do not like self-patterning yarns. The pattern gives a different twist to it, which is all to the good, in my opinion.

And finally, Roza's Socks, begun Feb. 2007-finished Sept.2007. Lovely pattern by Grumperina. Yarn: Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock Yarn, color denim.

Some Travel and Some Knitting

The Grand, Canyon, or at least part of the Bright Angel Trail. This was my destination late April and early May. I did not hike all the way to the bottom, since I also needed to hike back out the same day, and while I'm a prodigious walker, I wasn't sure of my limits and did not want to exceed them. I would go back at the drop of a hat. It is lovely and spectacular, somewhere I needed to go.

And it was also my reason for beginning Cece. I thought the weather would be milder than in my part of the world, but possibly cool enough that a light cover-up would be welcome.

On the left my Cece in it present incarnation. Using Sonata by Elann, size 5 Addi lace needles. On the right, previous incarnation, kind of flabby in feel, using size 7 Addi's. I think the lace pattern is crisper now; possibly I could have blocked some crispness into the other, but if so I would have had to block it large, or at least larger than needed.

Just because I'm knitting slowly doesn't mean this is a difficult pattern. The repeats are easily remembered, and it is knitting up quickly. When I realized that I needed to start over, I put Cece aside, started a quick shawl for the trip (which I also didn't finish; I'm just not good at knitting to meet a definite time line), and have just recently started Cece again. And ripped out the shawl and started it again. And I'm enjoying knitting both, which is most important to me.

How the Rhinocerous Got His Skin

Again not a picture in sight.

I've been working on Cece; as I worked I thought my knitting was looking loose and sloppy. Eye my knitting, eye Bonne Marie's picture on the pattern. Knit some more. More squinching of eyes to make it look smaller. Finally slip all stitches on to waste yarn.

This is lace knitting; lace needs to be blocked. If I block this, it will increase in size, and I will look like the Rhinocerous in Kipling's story. So I'm swatching on needles two sizes smaller, and it looks much better, the lace better defined, even before blocking.

Yarn: Sonata from Elann.
Needles: Size 5 lace needles from Addi.

Just Trying to Get Through the Day

I'm experiencing computer problems, have lost all of my photos, etc. As a result, no new photos to post.

Progress to report, though. The infamous pink socks are done, and I will not whine about them any more.

And on my needles: Roza's socks by Grumperina from the Spring '07 Interweave Knits, and Cece by Bonne Marie Burns of ChicKnits. I am not linking to anything until the computer woes are solved. Very dispirited, that's what I am. Time to go for a long restorative walk where I'm walking all over modern technology (at least as represented by my walking shoes). Time to see how much bigger leaves have grown overnight.

Reading: The Namesake, The Blind Assassin, Special Topics in Calamity Physics.

Blue Knitting

Since I'm playing along with Project Spectrum, I've been knitting blue. There is the wondrous Garterlac dishcloth (I was smitten by Eunny Jang's entrelac socks so am working to overcome my entrelac ineptitude.), a mitten from a pattern by Elizabeth Zimmerman (a Zimmermania project), and the pink socks. Currently they are making me blue. One could read the last two entries about this if one is curious.

So there I was Saturday morning...

sitting in the rocking chair by the window as the sun streamed in. The cat was sleeping on my lap, enjoying the rare moment of sunshine too. I had just turned the heel on pink sock #2, take 2, and was feeling proud of myself. I leaned over and picked up my notes on pink sock #1 and looked at the heel flap notes.

Why, I asked myself, had I only done 24 rows on the heel flap of sock #1, when sock #2 required 36 rows to amount to 2 1/2 inches?

And then the memories came flooding back. And I was alternately flummoxed, disgusted and finally highly amused.

When I started work on these socks, I knit a swatch or two, trying to get the gauge right. Then I started asking around and found a KAL for these socks.

(Do you know that not many people knit gauge swatches? Well, I knit 'em, because of knitting one sweater again and again until I learned about gauge and how it counts. And then I only had to knit that sweater once more and it fit. What a revelation! Check your gauge, folks.)

Not many of the KAL members gave a toot about gauge; they all just jumped in and then wrote about how they were changing the pattern, didn't like this, didn't like that, this was too loose or too tight. All of which might have been corrected by getting the correct gauge.

Finally one kind person directed me to another kind person who had helped her with the socks and who had also knit several pairs of these socks (7 pairs). She kindly answered my email, advised me and set me on my way.

To knit the socks as the pattern was written. But, you see, the pattern was written for two weights of yarn, and between Thing 1 and Thing 2, I forgot that I knit Thing 1 as the pattern was written for the heavier yarn. And when I started Thing 2, take 1, I knit it according to the directions for the lighter weight yarn, which meant more stitches, but I was using the bigger needles, so that meant a flabbier sock. And after unravelling Thing 2, and starting Take 2, I used size 2 needles instead of size 3, but still the stitch count for the lighter yarn, which meant a slight difference in size which I had been puzzling over even as I knit.

So I've come to a stop with that sock once again. I don't know if I'll continue or unravel. It's good practice, yes? this unravelling and re-knitting.

Another Unfinished Object

What we have here is Sock #2 in progress. Sock #2 existed before in a flabbier form and was unraveled for a new beginning . I've placed it on top of Sock#1 for comparison. I worked this incarnation of Sock #2 on size two needles. Apparently I did use #3s for the original Sock #2. How did that happen? I can only imagine that the #3s were lying out in the open, and the 2s weren't. I kept a record of number of rows, but not of needle size.

These socks, the Simply Lovely Lace Socks from Interweave Knits Spring 2006, aren't difficult. The lace pattern is easy to remember, and they knit up fast. That said, I won't be knitting a second pair because they are anklets, and I'm not an anklet fan. The yarn for these I won, along with the pattern, so felt that I should knit a pair. And because I'm stubborn, I will knit a pair, but only one pair.

And as a non-sequitur, I read three books during the month of January. They are:

Heat by Bill Bryson
Forgetfulness by Ward Just
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See

This is a promising beginning to a year of reading.

Finished object.

Hmm. I should have looked for a different background or waited for a sunny day. This looks rather gloomy. What it is: The Airy Scarf fromLast Minute Knitted Gifts. It was knit with Rowan Kidsilk Haze in gray. It is a gift for a dear friend, and I'm not sure she'll take to the color, which rather resembles a dust laden spider web. I actually chose it because it seemed neutral to me, so would go with a range of other colors. But spider webby it is.

I'm listing it as a finished object, partly as an unofficial entry into the Unfinished Objects KAL I read about. My unfinished projects include: a)my cabled sweater; b)the Shedir hat I began then stopped when I discovered a backward cable; c)what were supposed to be the Wine and Roses Mitts from Interweave Knits. I was using Blue Moon Seduction. That was not the problem; the problem was that I just couldn't "see" the lace pattern developing. I will probably use the yarn for something else; d)a pair of mittens for the Zimmermania KAL; and e)those pink socks from the Lovely Lacy Socks pattern. That's five projects in various stages of completion. The scarf made six, and as such was an easy way to have success.

This One Is For You, Jane

Finally the tree is up and decorated, and I have a moment to breathe and post this photograph.

This is one of the four ornaments Jane sent as part of the Knit The Classics ornament swap. They blend perfectly with our eclectic collection of ornaments.

Many thanks again, Jane.

Finally a finished object.

This is the ornament made for the Knit the Classics ornament swap. The pattern came from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. I've been intrigued by tiny sweaters as ornaments for a while and liked this pattern best because of the neck line. It was a fast fun project, and I hope my swap partner likes it.

I also finished a pair of socks, once again using the Jaywalker pattern. Those were the only socks actually started during Socktoberfest, despite grand plans. I finally finished the pair on November 20, and although Socktoberfest was long over, it was a personal best time-wise for me. A mere month and a half for that pair of socks. They were meant as a gift and mailed off before I snapped a picture.

Currently I'm swatching for a pair of mittens for myself and as part of the Elizabeth Zimmerman Knit Along. Once they're started, there will be pictures.