pokingmyeyesout

After much fussing, J convinced me I should finish seaming and see how WC fits before I take ANY action (aka frogging the shoulder). So I finished seaming WC last night .. the shoulder/armpit/armhole is just a little too small [as expected].

I blocked the shoulder/sleeve cap seam and the top of the shoulder. I pulled diagonally on the shoulder/sleeve cap seam and tried not to stretch out the body .

[crossing fingers that WC will be ok with this blocking]

Oh, here is a badly lited AF barfed on pic before blocking. And another raglan for comparison.

All in all, I spent 10+ hours seam/frog/seam WC, and what have I learn for my first sweater:

- Pattern directions are 'suggestions'
- Trust my measurement [before I trust the pattern]
- When in doubt, dont bind off
- Measure, measure, and measure again
- Do math carefully
- I enjoy trying to figure out cable cross

And ... to WC and Big Wool
- Big Wool is fun and fast to knit
- Big Wool tuft is a funny [ha ha] yarn
- I like Big Wool, and Big Wool tuft
- I like Wet Cat, I cant wait to work on Wet Kitten (3x1 rib with tuft ends scarf)

Posted by E at 9:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

[insert embrassed face] I try to keep to TWO projects in progress - Rogue's hood and watching WC while it dries. So I really shouldnt CO another.

I had planned on scarf for the upcoming trip. I did a double take when I noticed Nashua Equinox Stripe recommends US#15. Which means .. I cant work on this on the airplane.

J pointed me to this multidirectional diagonal scarf from Karen Baumer. I used US#13 .. and I tried to adjust to the stripe blocks.

To say this is easy and fun and fast ... is an understatement. I want to finish this as quickly as possible so I can return to two projects in progress.

Posted by E at 10:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Here it is - Wet Cat body ... with plaited cables. Mine definitely doesnt look anything like the one in the mag .. somewhere I screwed up the neck dec.

And a close up of how the cable cross on the v-neck turned out. I must have did the cross 6+ times .. trying different combinations .. .I finally frogged two rows down and dec and inc at different places. Hrmph, it turned out alright .. there is another spot that bugs me, but .. it is off the needle.

I threw it over my shoulder and it feels small on me .. I gave WC a quick soak in lavendar wool mix .. it is relaxing (unpinned) now ..

Posted by E at 3:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Projects report:
WC (VK Big wool cable v-neck) cut in line and it is now in progress (doh!). I added two other presents in Nashua Equininox which takes priority.

These sweaters will just have to wait.

• Drops #88 lace cardi
  
• Dale Gerbera
  
• Annie Modesitt's Corset Top in CEY Bamboo
  
• Rowan Cloud cardi in Rowan Calmer book
  
• Saffron from Rowan #25 in 4-ply cotton
  
• Butterfly from Rowan #36 in KSH
  
• York (or Marvis?) from Noro with Mano bing cherry
  

Posted by E at 8:44 AM | Permalink

Happy t-day!

Phew. Row 24 chat B just before the neck split ... I changed the metering on the camera to see if I can get better black knittery pics :)

Oh! I 'tried' it on over a cami and it seems to fit alright .. whoo! Now tis time to take care of fuzzies and finish t-day treats .. that would be 2 gallons (36 cups) of eggnog. (There is a pecan tart cooling its heels in a safe place. ;-) )

Posted by E at 1:27 PM | Permalink

Sleeves are done. Hopefully they fit.

On an unrelated note .. my newly acquired SD card for the compact camera decided that it is write protected. er.

Posted by E at 10:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Row 70. The body side cables are completed. I need to go to LCS to get stitch holder to proceed ..Ugh. Taking picture of a black thing is terrible at best!

Posted by E at 8:48 AM | Permalink

"WC" aka Wet Cat ...

I started WC last night when I had to stop on row 70 of rogue.

US 15 addi turbo
8 rows of Big wool tuft and 7 rows of Big wool later

... It is looking like a cuff. I am off gauge (as usual), but I think it will work out ok. You can see the two different colors of black, but it doesnt bother me (hrmph, not now anyways).

Posted by E at 8:42 AM | Permalink

Bad pic. a little progress ...

Posted by E at 10:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Since Charlie is a gift, I didnt want to subject it to more fur than it already has. So here is Charlie with one of the Siberians in the house... one of the non-sheddy ones.

Posted by E at 10:44 PM | Permalink

I am on row 14, which is where I frogged. Here is a recycled pic of about where I am. I checked, no twist. There is a small hole at the bottom of the cable loop that is bugging me .. but not enough.

Posted by E at 10:46 AM | Permalink

Two balls of DB cashmerino and Charlie is .. well.. almost done. Hand washed and lay flat to dry. :) I have plenty left over for a hat, socks, or ...

Posted by E at 12:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I am two rows in the actual body. Second time may be a charm. We will see. :) Read on if you want glory details ..

I CO'ed and started knitting .. on the row 1 of 6 of St st, I realized I miss counted. I backtracked and added 5 stitches .. I continued and realized I am still off .. stitch markers only help if I counted correctly between them. doh. Take 2, I finally got thru 6 rows of St st .. but

somehow I am turned around and I am backwards from the end I need to pull the provisonal CO off. argh. So I compromised and put all 216 stitches on another needle. phew.. I knit both together and have a long rectangular hem. Take a deep breath.

I tried to join the hem at that point. Which ended up with two really f*** stitches. After that failed attempt, I gave upI crossed two end stitches together at row 1 of body. I used the end to join the 6 stitches of hem. All this left me with an ok joint ...

The hem is not twisted. I won tne twisted hem, but lost the joint battle. I am ok with that.

Posted by E at 11:02 PM | Permalink

Rogue body was frogged tonight with the help of DH. I found a couple of problems that escaped me...

-there is a twist
-one of the k1, p1, k1 increase had a hole

Frogging makes me unhappy. Argh. It is back to the beginning. Just how does the k1, p1, k1 work? ya know, the one with the solid dot w/the downward arrow.

Posted by E at 11:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

So I have been on a quest to have custom sewing labels made. My requirements are pretty simple: personal, distinctive, and down to earth. I will be using them for knitted gifts. (just how many knitted gifts will I make? do I need a few lifetime supply!) There are a lot of companies that make labels. However, very few make small run and custom woven labels. I mucked around a bit and found ...

... a bunch on about.com (http://sewing.about.com/od/sewinglabel/)

http://www.charmwoven.com/page.html
http://www.namemaker.com/
http://www.generallabel.com/html/smallcustom.html
http://www.apparellabels.com.au/
http://www.nameonlabels.com/
http://www.luckylabel.com/
http://members.aol.com/heirlooml/

I emailed Charmwoven (who has very reasonable price posted) and want to find out if I can have a 'semi-custom' one made - combining two on their site. I received a a polite but "no" ...

Not satisfied, I did more searching and found http://www.labelyourstuff.com/. I emailed them and Laura was very nice and gave me a quote. They arent cheap, but ... they do small run and custom work.

So I created the 'artwork', paid 50% deposit for 'sample' run .... stay tuned.

Posted by E at 8:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

J pointed me to Gerbera with Sisik ... however, Hauk seems like a reasonable choice for PNW. From Yarndex "Hauk" by Dale of Norway is a worsted weight, classic plied yarn. It is Teflon treated to make it water and snow repellent.

hrmph .....

P.S. Thanks to J, I now have double digit # of blogs in my "fiber" blogline folder.

Posted by E at 11:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Here is the beginning of the body cables .. row 10. 216 st per row. phew. The 32" inch long addi is a little too short now, it should be alright after a few more decreases.

Posted by E at 10:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

216 stitches. Oh boy ... I CO 216 stitches with a crochet hook. Knit 2 rows ... [insert good brunch break] then finished off the remaining 4 rows. so far so good eh?

NOOOOOOOOO ... I was silly in believing that the start of the body would be so smooth. I wasnt aligning my stitches correctly! I tested by skipping one stitch and knit a few more stitch. Yeup. [insert ramen dinner] I frogged. All in all, it was ~8 hr execerise.

I will post pics another day ... I need a break from that "thing'.

Posted by E at 11:12 PM | Permalink

OK. I managed to get stitch gauge (18st per 4") on US8 needles with the DB Cashmerino Aran. My row gauge was off -- yarn specifies 24 rows, but I get more like 26.

I cast on 36 stitches, used 5 stitches per side for the vertical border (36-5-5 = 26 pattern stitches).

I worked 8 rows of garter stitch at start and end with 36 rows in between -- 36 + 8 + 8 = 52 rows total.

One square was 23g, so we should be able to get at least 2 squares out of a ball (plus change).

This is a nice plain red st st square -- ~1" border all around.

Cables and ribs pull in more, but the cables can be blocked flat so they still have the different look but less texture.

Are lace squares okay, or should we only do cable/rib/etc?

Eda: whoo!
I like lace squares, nothing too open? This way, the CC of the backing shows through?
I am getting 6st/in and 6+a little rows/in.

jess: pics here and here

Posted by jess at 8:37 PM | Permalink

Finished the ends .. all set! Now it just needs a label, ribbon, a box .. Platnium millennium Gund Bear included for size ;-)

Posted by E at 8:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

We interrupt the regularly scheduled programming to bring you ....

Posted by E at 5:21 PM | Permalink

Here is Charlie. (The zigzag stripe reminds of Charlie Brown's sweater. Yes I have strange association.) US#8 bamboo needles on DB cashmerino aran in dusty pink. This also doubles as gauage swatch for the squares.

It is a pattern of stockinette and garter. The stitches arent laying flat so they look funny.

Posted by E at 11:00 PM | Permalink

Garbage bag shot of lace blocking on garbage bag on top of the foam chair ;-)

I am trying out the chair to see if thats better than the guest bed. Heh. "Ouie, something sharp just poked me!" Oh .. here is a view showing how long it is ...

It isnt complete dried yet... perhaps tomorrow. I need a name for this scarf.... gurr.

Posted by E at 8:48 PM | Permalink

http://feralknitter.typepad.com/feral_knitter/2005/06/

http://nonaknits.typepad.com/nonaknits/2004/12/jogless_stripes.html

Posted by E at 10:53 AM | Permalink