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The race is on…

July 21st, 2009 · Update, Works in Progress

I have a wedding to go to on August 1. I stupidly let the flower shawl lay in my bag all these months, even though I had the idea in JANUARY that I might wear this shawl to this wedding. Then I thought, “I don’t even know what dress I’m wearing; it might not match”. This was the rationale to let it sit. Then there was the laziness. I was too tired to knit a shawl – it took too much thinking after a long work day. Meh.

Well, here we are on July 21 and as it happens, I’m wearing a black and tan dress, and this shawl matches very well. I got the dress just under two weeks ago, and I pulled out the shawl. I was at about row 80. Out of 190. Umm, that’s a lot of rows. But I figured I had to start knitting again to gauge if it even would be possible to finish. Here is where the math comes in. I plowed through until I hit row 123, the beginning of the final repeat of the flower buds. It was taking me roughly 20-30 minutes to knit a row. At 30 minutes a row, that is 33.5 hours of knitting remaining. I usually knit for three hours a night, so that’s six rows a night. Three weeks remaining. Seems possible…so I keep going. After a slight disaster on Sunday which caused me to throw it aside for a few hours, I pushed through and finished the flower bud section completely. That means I was at row 147. Hmm, getting much closer…only 43 rows left. 21.5 knitting hours to go.

Tonight I hit row 156 – this is sticking to my schedule exactly! Here is what I have tonight:

I have 34 rows remaining, which should equate to 17 knitting hours (or a little longer since these rows are getting damn long). I have 8 working days, and 2 whole weekend days remaining. IF, and only IF I can keep up this schedule, it should technically only take 5.66 days more to finish it. I have just a little less than twice that, plus weekends could give me more knitting time. I’d need a whole evening to block it.

Gratuitous detail shot:

And the great big ball of fuzz:

I think I can do this. Math says I can. I *think* I can…stay tuned!

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On the strangeness of lace…

April 21st, 2009 · Musings, Works in Progress

I’m making awesome progress on my Kelso Lace Cardigan! It looks so funny though!

Lace is a strange beast. It looks all shriveled and nasty as it is. I am having a hard time convincing myself that this is an adult garment! Every so often I am picking up my gauge swatch to see just how much the arrowhead lace flattens out. I keep gently pulling it, and it gains INCHES without even being remotely stretched. It just utterly transforms when it’s blocked – I feel like the real beauty of this piece is yet to be revealed, even though I can marvel at it while I’m knitting. That, and I hope to hell that it fits.

I just did the first raglan decrease as of this photo, and I’m hoping to power through and get this done soon. I’m amazed how much willpower I had for this project. Things go fast when you don’t procrastinate! After this, I will be on vacation for a while, and when I come back (provided I don’t need any short term consolation/satisfaction after vacation is over) I really want to finish the → No CommentsTags:

Clementine’s Cardi

April 16th, 2009 · Finished Objects, Works in Progress

Yay, it’s done and wearable!

I’m really happy with it actually! There ended up being enough yarn left over that I might’ve been able to manage full sleeves. If I’m being honest, I rarely wear long sleeved sweaters anymore. I’m MUCH happier with shorter sleeves. I’m sure the yarn will come in handy for something, as it’s BEAUTIFUL.

Details:

Pattern: Clementine’s Cardi (pdf)
Yarn: Briar Rose Fibers Legend (unique colourway)
Needles: US8/5.0mm

Already jumped onto the next project too:

It’s a Kelso Lace Cardigan in Paton’s Katrina. Damn yarn is lovely but impossible to photograph. I will try to get a better picture of it when the weather is nice – it was gorgeous today, but I completely forgot to take advantage of the daylight!

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Sweet Pea Coat

March 31st, 2009 · Finished Objects, Musings

I finished this a few weeks ago!

Pattern: Sweet Pea Coat by Kate Gilbert
Yarn: Valley Yarns Berkshire Bulky in the (unfortunately named) Blue Ming colourway
Needles: Knitpicks Options size 13

I’ve gotten tons of compliments on this jacket already! It’s such a bold colour, warm without being too warm, and sooo comfortable to wear. It’s obviously not windproof, and the singles nature of the yarn has caused a *bit* of pilling, but it’s not much of a problem. The best part is the buttons:

They’re metal, making them a touch heavy for the coat, but they’re so pretty! It took me ages to get them on in the right place – placing buttons is not my strong suit, since it also requires patience which I severely lack. I prefer seaming to placing buttons. Seriously.

So, in other news, I am sewing up my Clementine’s Cardi! I should finish it tonight. I also ordered a shawl pin for it, which is exciting. I can’t wait to try it on. I am also about 5 repeats in on the leg of my Maelstrom sock, and finishing up the 4th of 5 repeats on the flower section of the flower shawl. I am loving knitting it – save for one teeny snafu which I have made look ok (we’re just not going to talk about it). The pattern is very “readable”, in that you can see exactly what you’re supposed to be doing without having to lean on the chart so much. At least, I’m finding it that way.

I’m not sure what to pick for my next project though – that gray cardigan is still sitting in the bag, nearly finished, I need to make a decision on how I want the shoulders to look. And I think all I have left to do is knit the fronts. I might have to take that out just for the sake of finishing it. I really want to finish the garments that need surgery, such as the blue lace top disaster or the Tilted Duster (more on that another time). I’m tempted to pull out all my Debbie Bliss Cathay and start the Dayflower Lace Top – I’d need to alter the top since I don’t think a square necked tank would suit me very well, but I’m going to poke around and see if I like any other tops of garments with this sort of construction. If anything, I’ll make it to-pattern up to the bust and fashion a different sort of sleeve.

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Eeep…

February 17th, 2009 · Uncategorized

I’ve spent the last several weeks feeling guilty for not updating. I have so much to say, but I haven’t had the wherewithal to write it down. I have pictures that I have not posted here, projects that haven’t even made it to Ravelry. It’s sort of an inspirational slump. It’ll come back, I’m sure, but I feel like a bad blogger. I don’t flatter myself into believing that a lot of people actually read this, but I’d like to keep it up for myself, and I haven’t. I suppose I just have to let it be until I feel better.

So, in a mini-update in bullet form:

  • I’m still knitting my Clementine’s cardi – finished both fronts, just about done with the back
  • I’m nearly through the second of 5 repeats on the Flower Shawl – I actually think that the metal needles are too slippery for me to manage this soft, soft yarn without it stressing me out, so I might look into getting/borrowing a set of bamboo needles (perish the thought!)
  • I knitted a whole Sweet Pea Coat in a little over a week. Pieces need to be blocked and sewn up, and then the collar needs to be knitted on
  • I’ve been thinking about (note: THINKING) starting the second Maelstrom sock.

    • So yes, I have been knitting. My obsession with finishing these projects has shifted spinning to the back seat for now; as in the past, when my life is in turmoil, I find spinning a little too relaxing to appreciate, so I will get back to it when things settle down.

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    Clementine goodness

    January 27th, 2009 · Uncategorized

    I have been wanting to knit Clementine’s Cardi for over a year. I finally wound off my big hunk of Briar Rose Fiber Legend into manageable sized balls. I swatched. I started knitting:

    I decided to do a 3×3 beaded rib rather than 1×1 ribbing. There is very little pooling, and what little there is, is less obvious in person than taken with the flash. (On a side note, I can’t wait till winter takes a hike and I can take decent photographs in the evening again. Every time I want to take a photo, I lament that it must be done in artificial lighting. And weekends pass me by before I can blink, so it’s difficult.) The fabric is wonderful – it’s DK weight yarn knitted at an Aran gauge, so it’s quite loose and flexible which should make for a cuddly cardi without being bulky. I’m half way done with the second front now, and it’s my “brainless” project next to my new lace shawl.

    Look at the pretty:

    It’s the Flower Shawl from Couture Knit 11 (Ravelry Link). I can’t even BEGIN to explain what it took to get my hands on this book. Let’s just say, I’m extremely grateful to my friend Yukiko for helping me negotiate the Amazon.co.jp Marketplace. I have no idea why this issue is out of print, and many others before and after this one are available. But we appealed to one of the sellers to ask them to ship it outside of Japan, and thankfully they agreed. The pattern is entirely charted, so reading Japanese isn’t an issue (but of course, as a linguist, I had to learn to read it). I am loving how it’s coming out! The yarn is from Etsy’s NoTwoSnowflakes. It’s the thinnest laceweight I’ve ever seen – I need to do a comparison to some others that I have on hand.

    Next up…the spinning update.

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    New year, new goals?

    January 7th, 2009 · Finished Objects, Update, Works in Progress

    I am SO not a New Year’s resolution kind of person. However, I am glad that 2008 is over, and I’m looking forward to better things (I hope) for 2009. One of the many things that dissatisfied me in 2008 was my apparent inability to finish a project without screwing it up terribly. There have been more “d’oh!” moments than I would prefer, so here’s hoping that things improve.

    I’d like to present my first finished project of the new year (mainly because the crappy weather on New Year’s Eve prompted me to leave the house two hours earlier than I’d planned, therefore I didn’t finish sewing up OFFICALLY in 2008): My Manon.

    And the back:

    No, my knitting is not crooked, I am.

    It fits perfectly – I just need to decide on a closure. I ended up reknitting the piece with the missing bust dart. It took one evening of marathon knitting, so with only that one day setting me back, it didn’t feel SO terrible. I can see myself wearing this a lot – I really love it so much.

    Amidst my finishing up the Manon, and the few days of misery once I realised I forgot my bust dart, I decided I needed to knit up something bright and cheerful to take my mind off it. When I was recently in NYC, I stopped at Purl Soho and fell in love with a demo project. I am normally not attracted to something so….busy, but I really loved how the colours worked together!

    The two yarns look so ill matched in their separate skeins, but together, they play so nicely! The scarf is over 7 feet long now, so I think I might have to stop…but there’s still yarn left and I don’t want to waste any. I haven’t decided how I will deal with this. It’s either going to be an 8.5 foot scarf or a scarf and a headband. I don’t know! It’s sat in its near-complete state awaiting its fate.

    And I also have a Maelstrom sock:

    I was aching to do a sock, this one in particular. It’s much more progressed in real life than in this photo. I have half the foot left to go, having just completed the chart. It’s 2×2 rib across the top from here on out. Easy. I went up one needle size (2.25mm to 2.5mm) since I was worried about the circumference – thankfully this seems to have been a wise decision. I’m noticing that I should perhaps be making my heel flaps a little longer from now on since anything patterned seems to pull a bit differently (and is not as forgiving as stockinette), causing issues taking the sock on and off. In this instance it will be fine, but it’s surely a lesson for the future.

    Finally, as it wouldn’t be a New Year’s post without a goal involved, my goal will be to crochet a garment this year. I have two I will potentially pick from, neither of which are your traditional mumsy crochet. Both are lacy and beautiful, it’s just a question of which one to choose! More details on this later though (as well as a spinning wheel update), as this post has already got too long.

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    Mine!

    December 25th, 2008 · Spinning, Update

    I got a spinning wheel! Yay!

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    Yay and boo

    December 23rd, 2008 · Uncategorized

    Yay #1:

    Christmas shawl #2 is finished! I’m so glad it’s blocked and wrapped up now. Knitting three of these in one year is enough to burn anyone out, but as I was blocking it, I was taken once again by how totally awesome the pattern is. It’s great. I can’t knit it again for some time, but it’s great.

    Yay #2:

    A Queen Anne’s Scarf. It was an impulsive project – and even with my super slow crocheting skills, I finished it in 2 evenings. It was so super easy and addictive. I was really sad when I was done! I used a size H/5.0mm crochet hook and 2 balls (pretty much exactly) of Plymouth Royal Bamboo in Lilac. I think this was a great project for this sort of floppy yarn since crochet is so dense. It stands up nicely, and the finished product looks amazing. At least I think so!

    And finally for the BOO. I finished all the knitting on my Manon. I blocked the pieces – I found a small problem. I didn’t take a picture of it being blocked since I was too pissed off, so I have highlighted the problem in the other picture I posted last week (click to make bigger):

    I was alone when I discovered this mistake, but I assure you that profanity was used in great quantity, in varying degrees of extremity, and at great volume. I have no idea how it happened and I have not yet decided what to do. Without the dart on the one side, it’s about an inch shorter than the other side. I have no idea how noticeable it will be. As it’s blocked and should hang nicely now, I may baste it up quickly again and try it on to see if this is going to be a problem. If it is, I have two options: rip back and reknit the entire bloody right front, or cut it, knit the short row section and graft. I have knitted up a swatch to see if cutting and grafting is a viable option, but I haven’t done it yet. I’m worried the most about the 1×1 ribbing and the grafting being uneven. I’ve heard that it’s usually off by half a stitch, but from what I have read, that usually only applies if you’re trying to attach ribbing end-to-end rather than in sequence. I don’t know. I really had hoped to wear this for Christmas, but I don’t foresee myself having the patience before the 25th to test my theory. Either way, I’m not leaving it too long because I just want to FINISH a sweater before the end of the year. I can’t sideline this again. I am really hoping for better knitting karma for 2009 because it pretty much sucked for 2008.

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    Manon is…

    December 11th, 2008 · Works in Progress

    The bodice is done, hurrah! It’s unblocked, so it’s just basted together for trying-on purposes. It fits, thankfully! I did end up doing bust darts – in the end I decided they were necessary. They are about 2 inches, which seems ample enough…even though the actual differential is about 6 inches. It just doesn’t need to be THAT fitted, if you ask me.

    So, this is quite exciting. I’m doing the sleeves now. Quite a boring update from me.

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