Tag: Knitting

WiP Wednesday

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July 11, 2007

9:30 pm

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Inspired by something I read on (where else?) Ravelry, I’ve decided to start doing WiP Wednesdays. So, of course, I’ve been having technical difficulties with this here blog all evening. But I’m here now, with three hours to spare.

Allow me to present the Baby Shrug, from Debbie Bliss’ Simply Baby.

The yarn is Cashmerino Aran in lilac, purchased from SuperCrafty a few months back. It’s very cute and oh-so-soft, but even though I made the 12-18 month size for Little Miss, who is now only 5 months old, I think she may outgrow it before it gets cold enough to wear it.

The pattern is fairly clear, although I didn’t see any need to switch from straights to circulars – I just used my Denises the entire time. And I ran into an issue in the sleeve shaping after the right front. If one starts with a right side row (as one does) and then works an odd number of rows, then when one reaches the instructions for the front shaping, one is on a wrong side row when the directions say one should be on a right side row. I think I solved this by knitting an extra row (or maybe one row short – I don’t remember), but I’m wondering if I missed something. Missing something would explain why the chest and sleeve measurements are right on, but I seem to have come up a couple of inches short in the length to the shoulder. Well, missing something and the fact that my row gauge is off.

Still Little

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July 3, 2007

8:24 pm

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That’s the Little Miss at four weeks old, wearing her Baby Bolero. She’s worn it once – maybe twice – aside from posing for that picture. It was usually too warm, or else she was wearing a warm footed outfit and didn’t need a sweater on top of that. Mostly, the sweater’s been hanging in her room on a decorative hook. And now it’s considerably too small.

K gave me two knitting books for my birthday – four days before the Little Miss was born – and I’ve been working on a sweater for next winter from one of them. Occasionally. Knitting’s taken a bit of a back seat in the last five months around here, although I did spend the week or so before Little Miss was born frantically finishing a pair of cabled baby socks.

Still, I was excited to finally find an invitation to Ravelry in my inbox. Come find me, I’m on there as Plexippa.

Baby Bolero

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December 1, 2006

9:27 pm

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Yes, I have been knitting!
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The picture quality is somewhat lacking, I know. I discovered last week that the focus button on my camera has gone missing, and without it I now have a fixed-focus digital camera.

Pattern: Baby Bolero
Source: One Skein, by Leigh Radford
Yarn: Blue Sky Alpacas Organic Cotton, slightly less than one skein
Needles: 8 and 9 Denise Interchangeables
Modifications: Left out the eyelet pattern. Not really a modification, since that’s an option in the pattern.

It’s a cute pattern, but it seemed more complicated than necessary. And I don’t know what happened with my provisional cast-on, but I could not get it to come out without the help of scissors. Effective, but slow going. Also slow going was sewing in the sleeves. Sewing is not my strong point. I seamed the second sleeve before pinning it in place and sewing it in. Looking at the picture, it looks like one sleeve is bigger than the other, which is odd. They’re the same size, really! I even managed to knit both of them at once, working from both ends of the skein on my Denise needles.

My main reaction so far? It’s so little!

A Jacket!

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October 8, 2006

2:41 pm

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Behold! The “Hello” Sweater! Or, as our niece exclaimed when she opened her birthday present, “A jacket!”

It’s a pattern from an old issue of Workbasket magazine. I don’t know which issue, because I got the pattern as a photocopy from a knitting store in Encino. It’s supposed to have the word “Hello” worked in intarsia across the back, but (a) I thought that looked a little silly, and (b) I’ve never done intarsia.

I’d never done a crocheted edge before, either, but there it is. And you know what doing a crocheted edge means? It means more ends to weave in! Just thought I’d mention that.

There were a few issues in the making of this sweater. The original pattern has two colors in the ribbing – the first two rows in one color, the rest of the ribbing in a second color, and then the body of the sweater in the main color. The sample sweater in the store was only worked in two colors – one for the ribbing and edging, and one for the main body. I ended up doing two rows of the contrast color and then switching the main color, rather than doing all the ribbing in the contrast color, for reasons even I can’t explain. Also, on the advice of the nice lady at the store, we bought one skein of the contrast color and two of the main color.

You know what happened next, right?

Of course, I ran out of the main color early in the yoke. Five days before the birthday. We called the shop, and they had 5 skeins of the right color… from a different dye lot. I tried to call around, but I had no luck. We drove out to Encino and took all five skeins out into the sunlight and took the closest match.

It came out pretty close. And the sweater is darn cute on the recipient.

Deadline Knitting

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October 5, 2006

12:46 pm

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Work continues on the Seekrit Gift Project. Last night’s festivities including weaving in about 56 yarn tails and sewing seams. It was Part II of the sewing, actually, since I did about half of the weaving and seaming Tuesday night.

At least last night’s fun also included the season premiere of Lost.

Tonight, I attempt to crochet an edging. And buttonholes. Wish me luck.

Knit a Little

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September 11, 2006

3:29 pm

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Hey, yeah, remember knitting?

I remember it, too!  I’ve even been doing some of it.  I started working on a sweater for the baby while we were in Alaska, which then got pushed aside when I started working on a Secret Gift-Type Project.  And those Retro Rib Socks are still in my bag, waiting for me to work on them now that I have a second set of the needles.

Maybe for my next entry, I’ll even have pictures.

In the meantime, let’s go look at some pretty pictures in the new Knitty, shall we?

Let us start with Sherwood, which is so darn cute.  And then let us contemplate Serrano, which is lovely.  And, really, lacy cardigans might just be one of the few practical knitting items here in sunny Southern California.  And Diamante intrigues me with its promise of a heel turn that doesn’t result in a hole in the knitting.

There we go, three new projects to ponder until I manage to get some actual pictures of actual knitting progress up here.

Needle, Needle, Who’s Got the Needle?

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May 23, 2006

5:51 pm

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Last Friday, we had tickets to see The Da Vinci Code. Despite the fact that I was sick, I headed over to theater extra early to get us some good seats, since K would be cutting it close getting there.

I brought the Retro Rib sock, tucked in my small knitting bag, tucked in my Kitchensink bag.

I found great seats. Up high, right in the center. I pulled out the sock.

Why, exactly, must they keep the lights so low before the previews even start? And have you ever tried knitting a navy blue sock in the dark?

I did one round, then stashed the sock in the bag.

Can you see where this is going?

I did not manage to stash it in the knitting bag. I stashed it in the Kitchensink bag, which is an expandable mesh pattern.

A couple of nights ago, I pulled out the sock to work on during the Desperate Housewives finale, and I discovered my fifth needle is missing.

Grrr.

Socks, More Socks!

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May 15, 2006

9:11 pm

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Having finished the Jaywalkers, what should I work on next?

More socks, of course!

I have two skeins of Bernat Sox in Navy Blue and a pattern for Retro Rib Socks from a back issue of Interweave Knits, and that works out just great.

Speaking of IK, the newest issue showed up at my house recently. Did y’all notice the “Ravelings” from Amy? And there are some mighty fine projects in there… made from some might pricey yarns. Anybody got a good substitute for Goddess Yarns Phoebe? Or for Gedifra Cotton Merino?

And She Knits, Too!

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May 7, 2006

9:59 pm

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The Jaywalker socks are done! They’re one stripe off, which I think is kind of neat. One is longer than the other, which is less neat. The shorter one is the right length – I don’t know if I’ll rip it back to make them even or not.

The details:

Pattern: Jaywalker, from the September 2005 MagKnits
Yarn: Regia Nation Color 5399, 2 skeins, with a little left over from each
Needles: Size 2 plastic DPNs

Jaywalkin’

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April 24, 2006

2:27 pm

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In the past week, I have knitted on a sock at a Weight Watchers meeting, at the West Hollywood SnB, at a meeting of my union, and in front of the television.  And I may be working on it at the library this afternoon, depending on how many people come for our monthly Craft Club.

Do I have pictures of the sock in any of these places?  Of course not.

I’ve been working on my very own pair of Jaywalkers, in a colorway of Regia Crazy Colors that’s sort of like a rainbow.  I started a couple of weeks ago, and I thought I’d be done with the pair by now, but I overestimated my ability to turn a heel.  I started out with the flap heel in the pattern, then hated the way it looked after I picked up the stitches around the gusset.  I ripped it out and tried to do a short-row heel, but I couldn’t quite understand the pictureless directions I was following, and I couldn’t find my copy of an Interweave Knits back issue that successfully guided me through short-row heel-making on a pair of baby socks, and I think I created a new type of heel.  One for people with REALLY wide, round heels.  So, I ripped that out, and that’s where it all went horribly wrong.  I ripped and ripped, and I couldn’t figure out where I was in the pattern.  And I ripped and ripped, and I couldn’t find where one round ended and another began.  I’m normally not bad at reading my knitting, but I was lost.  So, I ripped and ripped, and I eventually ended up two rounds past the end of the ribbing at the cuff.

That was Thursday night, at SnB.  I worked on it a little on Friday, my day off.  At Saturday’s union meeting, I got back up into the heel, which is once again a flap heel.  After gleaning some advice on picking up the gusset stitches off the Internet, I have a fairly decent turned heel, except for the glaring hole in one corner, which I am not ripping back to fix.  I’m not.  I refuse.  I will finish this sock and get on to its mate.  I just hope I finish the toe before I finish the skein, because I only have two skeins, and I’d hate to have to rip back AGAIN just to shorten the leg.

Although, come to think of it, I’d have a chance to fix that little gap….