Impulse

I had to go to DC this weekend, on somewhat short notice. As I was packing, I threw Crumpets in my bag for the plane ride. I had to leave very early in the morning. I didn't want to sleep on the plane so I knit. Part of the way through the two-hour flight, I finished the ball I was using. I didn't have another. I had only taken that project. Shoot.

When my friend Carrie picked me up, she suggested we head to a yarn store. She's the best. I bought some RYC Cashsoft DK, some Rowan Calmer, and a pair of 16" size 7 addis at Knit Happens. We also went to another place, but I don't remember the name. It had interesting yarns and very friendly staff.

Thank goodness I had a project for the plane ride home. I ended up reading (a book--The Accidental by Ali Smith, so far very good) most of the flight, but that RYC is so freakin' soft, I couldn't resist it entirely. I started a hat Saturday night for Dan because he requested one last time he was in town. The first hat I made for him has gotten some wear this winter and he wants a replacement with a few changes. I knit a little while reading in the airport, while sitting in the sun. It was a very pleasant wait.

Otherwise, I'm still working on the cotton projects. I finished one sock, but I want to work on Crumpets and my grey sweater a bit before I get back to it. I've been thinking about habits and knitting a little, so my next post may be less update, more musing.

Next!

Isabella is finished. I spent most of Saturday finishing it up. I ripped out one of the picot arm openings because I didn't like it, but I was still finished by Saturday night. I love it. But.

I'm disappointed with the neckline. The reason I was drawn to Isabella in the first place was the way the neck sloped up to the shoulder. Something must be missing from the pattern. It just didn't work out like that. My gauge was a little looser in the lace part, but not enough to make the panel grow that much. I even tacked down the edge to round it off, but it still leans upwards. I'm sad, but I'll still wear it.

I wanted to focus on Isabella so I could start a new pattern. Well. I rearranged my living room on Sunday, and in the process pulled out all my unfinished knits. I didn't realize there were so many (nine). Crumpets and a pair of socks are in progress and Joseph's sweater just needs to have the underarm holes grafted, so that leaves six items I've cast aside for one reason or another. Here's my plan: I'm going to finish all the projects that are knit with cotton yarn. That's five of the nine projects. The other four are wool or another animal fiber that can wait for air conditioning season.

Soon, I hope to have progress bars in the sidebar (HTML is foreign to me, so I have to spend some time understanding it first). The hardest part will be resisting the urge to start something new.

First up is a striped, stockinette wrap I used to keep at work. It got too big to take to lunch, so it's been sitting at home for nearly a year. Next will be finishing the sweater I started to design myself. I'll probably finish up Joseph's sweater when I'm done with Crumpets (which is my commute and lunchtime project) so I can mail them off. The socks I'll work on when I tire of purling. Everything on the cottons list is stockinette. Maybe that's why they were put on hold.

Update. It's been an hour. I've decided to frog the wrap. There's no point working on a wrap in stockinette. I don't have enough yarn left for a border. The yarn (Adrienne Vittadini's Miranda) is nice, and I think I'd like a tank from it. I started this in September, 2004 and will frog it in May, 2007 (I'll post the reason for waiting in a couple weeks). It's time to let go, I think.

Happy Birthday, DG

Today is DG's birthday. I thought I'd share a picture of the gift I made (I also sent two books, a skein of silk yarn, and a pair of Lantern Moon needles). He says it fits perfectly.

I think the lopsidedness will work itself out. I used two strands of Euroflax Originals held together on size 9 needles. The whole apron only used two skeins, plus some green for the ties. I knit a rectangle based on DG's measurements, increased to half his hips measurement, then continued down to where I thought an apron should hit (top of the knees--I got that measurement from him, too). DG didn't question what I needed all those crazy measurements for. He thought maybe a dress.

It's all stockinette with a seed stitch border. I used size 8 needles to make the I-cord ties--which are long enough to tie in the front--and the seed stitch neck piece, which was picked up along one edge and connected with a button I sewed on the inside of the apron on the other side.

The IK pattern reminded me that I'd been thinking of making something like this for DG. I didn't follow it, and I didn't follow the one in the Knitty archives either. Neither were manly enough, and both went all the way around the lower body, which I didn't want. DG's is really just two rectangles anyway.

Jumping the Gun

I should have started with the front. By the time I got to the lace panel, I was getting tired of this knit. It usually happens about three-quarters of the way through anything I'm working on, even hats. I just want to finish (I'm like this with books, too. Remind me to explain how I think our knitting habits correlate to our reading habits) and start something new. With this project, I kept making mistakes because I stopped paying attention somewhere around the third leaf repeat and couldn't seem to concentrate after that.

So I ripped back and added another repeat, of course. The shoulders are now seamed along with one side. I'll do the other side and the armhole edgings later.

One Step Back

The title implies two steps forward, doesn't it? I had to rip Crumpets (but only the skirt) because I used the wrong needle (8s mis-filed in a 5 package). Then I messed up on the lace on Isabella (talking while knitting). Then I kept making little mistakes that I had to rip, mostly due to bad counting. Finally, I finished the left shoulder of the front only to redo it because I didn't like the way it looked. The pattern doesn't say to continue in pattern, but the photograph shows a line where the decrease is, so I went back and knit in pattern. It still isn't the right shape, but I'm hoping blocking will work its magic.

So, I have nothing to show because I've been knitting the same inches over and over for the last week. I'm ready for a new project, so I'm going to focus on Isabella until it's done. I'll post when I have an FO.

Secrets

I finished the gift for DG's birthday. I'll send it this week, even though it's a week early, because I kept buying more things and thinking of other projects to knit for him. I figure, I'd better just send the presents before I overwhelm him.

I threw the gift in the wash, to soften up the linen, which worked beautifully. But. The gift came out lopsided. I think it shrunk a bit in the dryer, but it didn't shrink evenly. ARGH!! What is my problem with shrinking? I tried stretching it out, but that only helped a little. I figure the linen will pull downward anyway and even itself out (fingers crossed). Thank goodness DG is forgiving and appreciative of handmade gifts. I guess I should wait to find out what he thinks of the gift, but I think he'll like it, crooked or not.

I started Crumpets, finally. I keep twisting one of the slip stitches, and I have to follow the pattern each row. It's moving quickly, though. I haven't hit the part that increases to 264 stockinette stitches in the round. That will make for some good reading-while-knitting time.

I've also been making slow progress on Isabella. I finished the back last night and will cast on the front today. It's actually a pretty quick knit, in spite of the size 3 needles and fingering-weight yarn. I'm looking forward to the more interesting parts of the front, like the neck detailing.

I was only working on Isabella here and there while I focused on DG's gift. Now I can concentrate on this and Crumpets for a while. Of course, I'm still itching for a sock project, and I bought some Wick the other day.

Conundrum

DG's birthday is coming. I have been trying to think of something to knit for him for quite a while. I've even asked what he'd like. Nothing has really struck me as exciting. As a knitter, I feel like I have to give a knitted gift, especially since teaching DG to knit (because he appreciates it so much). Plus, it's special, and he deserves something special.

I was going to start something tonight, and I've ordered some yarn for something else (in case I changed my mind about that first something). But I've just had a brainstorm and now I don't know what to knit.

Currently, I'm working on Isabella. I'm about four inches from finishing the back, so I don't want to set it down. (I did finish knitting Joseph's sweater, I just have to weave in the ends and graft the sleeves.) This brainstorm idea is something I'll have to design myself (with help from a pattern in the current IK and one in '04 Knitty), which will be fun. I'm thinking of using linen yarn.

So, do I go with a) the tried and true; b) small but nice; c) challenging and special? Hmm. I think I just answered my own question. I'm going with challenging and special, and I'm starting tonight.

I'll post pictures of Joseph's sweater after putting those finishing touches on it.

Unneccesary Worry

Jack loves the disaster of the messenger bag. What is it with cats and knitted things? Maybe he's hinting that he wants a cat bed of his own. This may be as close as he gets, so he'd better enjoy it.