Arm number 3 April 14, 2012

Ding ding ding!  We have a winner!

I know, crappy self-shot Android picture

It’s just what I always wanted.  Now I just need to knit the second fourth one.

Arm Number Two April 8, 2012

So, for arm #2, I used the directions for the size Large sleeve cap.  It actually matched the number of stitches I picked up (OK fine, I picked up 83 and it called for 82 stitches.  So decrease 1, whatevs.)  I had read someones note on Ravelry stating that they just continued decreasing every 7 rows for a normal sleeve, so that’s what I did.  Here’s what it looked like:

Want to see that closer?

The sleeve was nearly twice as big as it needed to be at the wrist.  Does it look like it got smaller at all?

RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIP.

I have applied some knitterly maths, and will be decreasing 2 stitches every 4th row.  Third times the charm, right?

Arms, arms! My sweater for some arms! March 28, 2012

So, this week the weather hit a high of 85.  I’m really thinking that I won’t be able to wear my Sahara before October.

And all I need are the arms.

I half-knit one of them.  Way too big.  And let me just say, I now know how not fun it is to knit sleeves – especially when you’re knitting top down and the sleeves are attached.  It’s very awkward, constantly having to rotate the pile of knitting on my lap.

Hey, it’s time for the perpetually hopeful gardening again!  Last year, all my work starting seeds indoors netted me 2 green beans (beans, not plants.)  I did have more luck with the rhubarb and asparagus starts; every one of them I planted has grown this year.  Too bad I can’t harvest them yet.  One more year!

Oh yeah, I discovered that I have carpet beetles.  Damn things – I never knew what they were, and now I know that they love eating wool.  They’ve taken a skein of Red Cascade 220 and touched my Knittery 4 ply merino.

the green one on the left

I went a little crazy with the vacuum, and I think I’m OK now.  I think they were living in a cheap wool rug, which has now gone to live in the landfill.

Decisions and Distractions March 9, 2012

I have decided that the hem will have to be ripped out.  I only had to knit 3 rows of the neckline to figure that out.

I have decided that I really dislike purl 3 together through the back leg.  But I’m an adult and it doesn’t do any good to complain.  It may slow down my progress, though.

I have decided that I know who is getting the Moderne Baby Blanket I knit way back in 2008-2009.  One of my best friends from college is having her first baby (a boy, due in July)!  So any stalkers out there now know why I’m searching through the baby patterns on Ravelry and picking up 5 baby pattern books at the library.  Right now my top to-knit choices are the Duck Feet and the Modernist Stripe Sleep Sacque (and awesomely, I picked up the book this pattern is in for $7 at Tuesday Morning one time).  And I’m trying to choose a toy to knit, as well.  I’m thinking one of the stuffed balls or stars that are out there.  I own Zoe Mellor’s Knitted Toys, and I picked up Rebecca Danger’s Big Book of Knitted Monsters at the library, so I may go a little overboard for this baby.  Too bad baby is going to be born in Germany! Ayyyy!, the shipping.

Why so overboard?  Remember this?

And this?

Yup.  She’s a knitter, too.

I have a plan March 3, 2012

I read through the pattern before starting.  I highlighted all of my numbers and all the “gotchas” – the “at the same times”, the “Only for size XL” etc.  So when I started the diamond rib at the bottom of the body, I just kept knitting using the US 6 needles I’d been using for the rest of the sweater.  It looked a little off, so I read that part of the pattern again.  And again.  “Hmm,” I thought to myself, “this ribbing looks really loose.  Should I go down a needle size or two?  Nah, the pattern doesn’t say to.  I’ll just keep knitting.  Let’s see what it looks like with both repeats.”  Bind off.  “It’s OK, not perfect, maybe it’ll be fine after a wash.  Water washes away many sins.”  Look at instructions for neckline, it uses the same diamond rib.  “WHAT THE HELL, use smaller needles?  Why didn’t it say to OH MY GOD HOW MANY TIMES DID I LOOK BUT NOT SEE THAT?”

So yeah, I’m going to knit the neckline with the smaller needles and see if there’s a big difference.  If I like it better, I’ll rip out the diamond rib from the bottom.  It’s only a bind off and 8 rows.

In other news…  I washed my recently completed Fawkes socks, and this is what the water looked like.  Good thing I didn’t just toss them in with everything else!

In other, other news, Ladybug had her 7th (ACK!) birthday in January, and received a pretty cool gift. A crocheted ripple blanket. It’s the size of a twin bed, seriously. As you can see, it’s done in a color that she loves.

Yes, it almost perfectly matches her comforter.

If she’s not careful, I may steal it.

Sweater for Spring? March 1, 2012

I’m moving right on down the body of Sahara.

Say Hi to Pigeon Snow White, everyone!  Photo taken by Ladybug.

Actually, I’m binding off the body now.  The picture was taken on Sunday.  I think it’s going to fit, but right now it looks a little like one of these!

Happy March!  I wonder if I’ll get a day to wear my sweater before Summer hits.

And the winner is… February 11, 2012

I suppose it was never a fair fight.  Hubby saw that doe-eyed model sporting the side-boob and said that I’d be crazy to knit anything else but Sahara.  I wound my 7 skeins of Cascade 220 and cast on last week!

Would you like to see what might possibly be the worst WIP picture ever?

It’s not even the right color – think more burgundy purple than pink.

Yee. Haw.

On the flip side, I discovered the LYS in my area that carries the KnitPicks cables, so when I decided that a 32″ cable wasn’t going to work with my 45″ bust, I was able to run out and grab what I needed, without being tempted to spend $50 just to get free shipping on a 40″ cable.  (However, I did also pick up a 47″ cable and some cable joiner things.  I just can’t stop being an impulse shopper.  Still, it was cheaper than $50 and instantly in my possession!)

I still think I’ll knit the February fitted pullover someday.  Let me get my first adult sweater out of the way first, though.

A New Skew July 1, 2010

Here’s where I am on my pair of skews.

What? You say that it doesn’t look much like a sock?

Better? Want to see the heel?  Please note how taut those stitches are in the band that wraps around the back of the heel.

Here’s another view. (Don’t get vertigo, I think I was dangling the camera to get this picture.)

Here’s the right side of the sock. You can see I haven’t closed up the hole after “turning” the heel.

So one word of advice. If you know you have a high instep, please don’t blindly follow the pattern. You will end up with a sock that will not, under any circumstances, go over your heel. And then you will have to rip out 3 days of work just to make the designer’s adjustments for your instep. This will not make you happy, and you will also likely forget one of the increases on top of the foot. You won’t fix it because there’s no way in hell that you’re going to rip out 3 more days of work.

(Yarn is Mountain Colors Bearfoot in Sun River.  It also likes to blind my camera.)

How do you Photoshop leg hair? April 8, 2010

Because I totally didn’t shave for these pictures.

Pattern: Uh, just a generic 56 stitch stockinette cuff-down sock, with a round afterthought heel a-la Turtlegirl‘s Let it Be sock.
Yarn: Online Supersock something or other
Needles: CP Bamboo size 0 (2.00mm)
Started: January 18, 2010
Finished: Oh hell, I don’t remember. Sometime before March 17th.

So I did the afterthought heel. I don’t like it on my foot, but I don’t do well with short row heels either. Were I to try again (which I might because I have more striping yarn) I’d work the heel over more stitches. I’d also be a little more particular about where I placed it – the foot portion of these socks are a little short.

These socks were possibly going to be gifts, but that’s not going to happen. Strike 1: They barely fit my feet, and the potential recipient has bigger feet than I. Strike 2: The yarn bled like crazy when I washed them. Strike 3: They were finished too late for the gift-giving occasion, so the person got a gift card instead.

But I do love the color, and even though they’re snug, it’s a good snug on me.  Maybe my subconscious made me make them too small.

Speaking of other small things, I’ve lost some weight.  My computer chair is just way too big for me now, see?

I just need a skirt and some wings, and then I’ll be done!

Status Updates February 24, 2010

The past month, in Tweets untweeted and statuses not updated:

– Going to Chicago, Yay!  Also, finally healthy with no cough.

– Back home from Chicago.  Hopefully we didn’t catch the vomiting bug that was going around.

– I’ve learned that you can use a credit card as an ice scraper at 2am, IF the temperature is 29° F and the ice on your windshield is fairly thin.

– Awesome, sump pump not pumping!  Ice in the outside piping.  Glad we caught it before the basement flooded.

So I’ve been knitting – boring knitting – but I’m at a point right now where I don’t want to have to look at a pattern.  Heck, I didn’t even put in a heel!

Just a standard, 1.5″ 2×2 ribbing, then stockinette down to the wedge toe.

I need to show you how much I knit during our vacation.

Wait, let me get closer.

Yes, that one row is all that I knit on our trip. I get too carsick to knit in the car – heck, I get too carsick to do anything but drive.

So yes, I’m doing an afterthought heel.  I just didn’t want the striping to change at the heel.  But no, I’m not so particular that I made the socks match exactly.  Go figure.