Category: Knitting
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
It’s a bad addiction, this ravelry thing. I spend far too much time on there oogling other projects and stumbling upon patterns that I absolutely must make. It really becomes a hinderance. I look at my current projects and I slowly become uninterested in them. I really need to throw away my bookmark and tell myself not to look at ravelry again until I have complete a few projects and am ready to start fresh. But yeah right, that’s not going to actually happen.
I just need to control what it is that I surf ravelry for. If I just stick to forums and don’t click the pattern/project links, I won’t have any trouble. I’ve currently got 4 WIPs and that is more than enough for my plate. If I could only get them finished in a timely manner then restrict myself to only 2 at a time, I’d be doing a whole lot better.
I have too many ideas and ambitions and I just don’t have the time to knit fast enough to follow through with all those ideas. For instance: I still want to make the crochet hexagon blanket and I’ve even gone so far as to purchase the pattern book (in Japanese no less) for it. I have yarn sitting in my stash waiting for me to do the rectangular granny afghan. I also would love to make a ripple blanket. And lets not forget the countless items in my ravelry queue and favorites (for maybe some day).
I’m sure every knitter has these issues, but it really does overwhelm me the amount of stuff I want to make or have pending to make (meaning I have pattern and yarn patiently waiting for the cast on). And I can’t seem to finish anything fast enough for my liking. Once I cast on a new project, it’s like a race to the finish so that I can start a new project.
I managed to get down to 2 WIPs and I told myself I wouldn’t cast on anything else. 2 WIPs were more than enough. I’d prefer 1, but I know that’s unreasonable. There’s no way I can knit a lace shawl while watching tv, so why not use that time to work on a pair of socks, for instance. But anyway, somehow, I didn’t listen to the niggling voice in my head telling me to wait. And I ended up casting on 2 more projects. So now I have 4, 2 of which are pretty labor intensive…one a lace shawl that requires concentration and no interruptions while I count and recite the stitch pattern out loud as I knit. The other is DH’s afghan which is just going to take a while, no matter how I look at it. Mindless tv knitting, but I’m making it extra long and wider than suggested because I have a 6′1″ tall husband.
The other two are somewhat simpler, but not really. The cardigan is simple, I’m just knitting a sleeve…pretty basic structure there and I’ve got the stitch pattern down. Just a matter of doing it, so I can seam it up and move on. The cabled bag is time consuming…doing two repeats of each row in a 12 row cabled stitch pattern takes time. But I’m 1/2 way through it, so the project is moving right along. I can see these two being finished fairly quickly. I will finish them both before I cast on for anything else.
Then I’ll have 3 projects going. Because once the bag and the cardigan are finished, I will immediately cast on for my sister’s wedding afghan. This is my mammoth project. Probably the biggest I’ve done to date. But as I mentioned, I really need to get the other two projects done first. Ugh!
I also have hopes of knitting some towels for Christmas. I still have yet to start on the baby’s Christmas stocking, which I bought the kit for back in January. And I want to start working on my quilting again now that mom has given me a decent sewing machine.
It’s really a good thing my husband both supports and encourages my hobbies.
Posted in Knitting | No Comments
Monday, July 14, 2008
I was away a whole week and there’s not much knitting progress to show for it. Therefore there are no pictures to share. I did finish up sleeve one for my cardigan. Mom suggested I tack it in place to make sure it’s going to fit before I start on the second sleeve. Which I think is a good idea. I have a feeling it’s still going to be tight on the underarm area and I’ll still have little room for moving my arms. I think I was a bit hasty in knitting the smaller size. My measurements came out as I expected, but I forgot take into account that I would be wearing somewhat bulky, sleeved shirts underneath, so after all the issues I’ve had with this thing, I probably should have knit one size bigger than I did. And here I thought I was doing it all perfectly. Sure it fits, as a shirt (with nothing underneath), not a sweater.
But all is not lost, because I will wear it as much as I can, then save it for Amelia. :) That’s another great thing about having a daughter. Knits that end up too small for me can be passed along to her. Then I can make something bigger for me. I really like that sweater so I might try knitting it again with a different yarn at a bigger size. Maybe the next time I can get gauge and actually knit the size 41, so that I have room underneath for the bulk of a shirt.
I also finished the first repeat on the body of my cabled bag. This project is small yet, sometimes it feels like it’s taking forever, because I’m doing the pattern twice around (once for each side of the bag). So it feels like it’s taking longer than it probably is. But there’s progress. And I think I’m going to make it my focus project for now so I can finish it.
I also completed 2 color blocks on the 2nd strip for DH’s afghan. I like this project because it’s mindless knitting, but it can also get boring, because of the simplicity of it. At least it’s done in sections.
Mom and I ordered the yarn for the Saffron Cables afghan. We ordered 30 balls of KnitPicks Comfy in Cashew (a soft latte-colored brown). I have just under a year to make this afghan as it’s my sister’s wedding present and she’s getting married next June. I definitely need to get started soon, but I really want to finish something first. So I’m going to try hard to get the bag finished so I can cast on for the afghan by the end of this month.
Posted in Afghans, Knitting, Sweaters and Cardigans | No Comments
Thursday, July 3, 2008
OK, so the a/c in my office has not been fixed. But for some reason, when my handspun socks were finished, I got an urge to work on the cardigan. You know. The one I was making as an office sweater. Well, it’s still hot, but I’m actually enjoying working on the cardigan. I’m re-knitting the sleeves because I knit them in the wrong size the first time. I’m crossing my fingers that this time it works, because after all that work and excitement, I will be extremely disappointed if the thing doesn’t fit me. I’m about 1/2 way through the length of the first sleeve, then I move on to the sleeve cap.
Going on vacation next week to Florida with the baby. I plan on taking all my WIPs so I can work on each on. I just need to make sure to take enough yarn. That’s always the hardest part. Trying to decide how much yarn to take with me. Just exactly how much knitting time will I get? If I take an extra skein of each required color for all 4 projects, plus my drop spindle and some fiber, I’m sure to have enough to keep me knitting all week, even if I do run out of yarn for one project and can’t continue it. So I should be okay.
One thing I’m hoping is that I make significant progress on the cabled bag and the cardigan sleeves. The afghan and the shawl can be my side projects for now.
Posted in Knitting, Sweaters and Cardigans | No Comments
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
You know, I was doing a little thought processing this morning on the way to work while listening to the Knit Picks podcast and I had an aha! moment. I just recently did my first short row heel and it made perfect sense. I started thinking about how it would apply for the toe and suddenly it all clicked. It also suddenly made sense why you need a provisional cast on and that I’m sure I could figure out how to use the cable of my cable needle as a "waste yarn" when using the magic loop method, which I prefer when making socks.
I also decided I much prefer the short row heel when using circular needles, because you don’t have that insane # of stitches on the needles from picking up gusset stitches. Somehow it all made perfect sense.
Isn’t it great when you have that aha! moment when everything clicks and it all makes sense finally?
Posted in Knitting, Socks | No Comments
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
The air conditioning in my office has been fixed, or we hope. This is day 2 of cool air coming out of the vents. Hurray! This means no more oven to sit in all day. It also means I have reason to get back to my minimalist cardigan. So that I can wear it in the office finally! I must finish those sleeves that I had to rip back. And pray they will fit. If they do not fit, then it means the sweater as a whole will not fit. When I knit the body, I knit to the stitch instructions for the size 34" because my gauge was so off. It worked and my sweater measures just short of the width measurements for the size 39" which was my intentional size. I also knit the length of the armholes for the size 39" so that I’d have more room in the armhole since I have somewhat chunky upper arms. But I made the mistake of knitting the sleeves to the size 34", which meant the sleeve cap was way to short for the armhole. So when I went to sew the sleeves on, the sleeve was so tight I couldn’t move my arm. I ripped it all back out and cast on again. I’m planning to work the sleeves in the size 39" and hope it works out better giving me more room in the armhole to actually move my arms.
This finally cool office also means I can go back to my plan on knitting Evangeline [links to ravelry] (fingerless mitts/wristwarmers). I’ve been wanting to make these for a while, but decided to wait til the weather got cooler because I had no need to make them now with an office that felt like an oven. It’s cool enough in my office now that my hands and fingers actually got cold. So I think my need for a pair of fingerless mitts just increased. Hurray!!!
Yesterday I did make the run to A.C. Moore and picked up a Vera look-a-like bag. I really like it too. I can fit my two projects, patterns, and my notions bag in there and it takes up less room than total tote. I can also sling it over my shoulder with my purse, which is nice when I’m carrying a mug of coffee and a toddler with all her stuff. The only thing is that since she carried it around the store for me when we bought it, she now thinks it’s hers, so she won’t let me carry it. She just screams "BAG" when she sees it and insists on carrying it herself. LOL!
Posted in Knitting, Sweaters and Cardigans | No Comments
