Never Assume always read your pattern carefully

So I had a little mishap with the baby jacket I am making. The back flew off the needles without a problem. As I was casting off the shoulder seam I thought it had a little bit different of a shape that what I had seen before, but that wasn’t the problem. The problem came when I was working on the front pieces.

So I am working up one of the front pieces and the first part goes without a hitch, then I get to the shaping, it starts by saying cast off XX number of stitches on the next row and then decrease on the neck edge one stitch every row for XX number of rows. Okay that sounds simple enough.  So I cast off the stitches and on the next row started the decrease on the opposite side from the first cast off. I did the funky thing with the shoulder cast off and, Walla finish piece. Then I did the other piece. Same thing when I got up near the top for the shaping, cast off XX number of stitches and then decrease one stitch every row for XX number of rows, shoulder cast off and another finished piece. Wooo Hooo, or so I thought.

Then I didn’t work on the sweater for about a week, I had way too many other projects to finish. Anyway, this past weekend I was determined to finish this sweater so I could give it to the new baby it was intended for. I start lining up the pieces to seam them up, and the right front didn’t line up with the shoulder correctly. So I start to think that I might have to rip it back and fix it, then I think no, it will be worn by a baby who won’t know if they shoulder isn’t exactly right, and I decided to start seeming it up and make it work the way it was.

The pattern called for me to start by seaming up the shoulders, but since the shoulders didn’t line up just right I thought I would leave that for last and figure out how I was going to swing it as I got most of the pieces together. I seamed up the right seam and then the left seam and then started in on the hood, when I realized, where are the little arms going to go, the only holes left were the shoulder seams, and once they were seamed up, no arm holes. Okay, so I had a feeling the mommy wasn’t going to go for the whole removing of lims so the sweater fit so I had to figure out what I did wrong.

I looked back at the pattern and read it over and over again, but kept coming up with the same thing. I did EXACTLY what the pattern told me to do, well almost. My mistake was thinking that the XX number of cast offs on the first row was for the arm hole shaping. The one thing I missed was the section heading: NECK shaping. My first clue that something wasn’t quite right was the fact that I cast off 6 stitches on the right panel and 9 stitches on the left panel. This obviously wasn’t for arm hole shaping, which by the way, I found out that most baby sweaters don’t have armhole shaping. Now you tell me.

I ended up having to frog back to the "Arm Hole" shaping of each front piece and re-knit them. Oh and by the way, the pattern wasn’t written very clearly either, which is probably why I ran amuck to begin with. The pattern directions were given for both a boy and a girl sweater, which for some crazy insane reason are different. WHY OH WHY is this the case. The baby isn’t going to button their sweater so what difference does it really make what side the buttons are one, and for that matter can some one tell me why men’s clothes are buttoned different than women’s. It just seems nutty to me.

Anyway, after reading the pattern over and over again, and realizing that the mistake wasn’t all my fault, I finally got the pieces knitted correctly and the jacket is all seamed up now. I am working on a cute little picot trim, which by the way isn’t called for in the pattern, but I wanted it to look cuter than the original design. I am now trying to decide if I want to add buttons or leave it open. If I add buttons I would have to frog part of the trim to put in a buttonhole band, but that wouldn’t be all that bad based on what I have already been through with this sweater.

It was definitely a learning experience.

I hope to have pictures post this weekend of the finished sweater along with the cute little baby socks that I made to match.

Happy Belated Birthday to ME

I know I don’t need any more yarn, and need wool even less, but I just had to get this yarn with the money I got for my birthday. Hey, it was on sale at a price that couldn’t be passed up, and as I was looking at the website it started talking to me and so many ideas popped into my head.

It is Cascade 220. This picture doesn’t really do the colors justice, but I plan to design a sweater with the purple/lavender and add some strips with the two greens and the white.  I will be starting a sweater designing class on June 9th so hopefully I will learn enough to be able to create this sweater. I can’t wait.

I also purchased some Tofutsies yarn in a coordinating color combination to make some socks to match the sweater. Again the picture doesn’t do it justice.

Happy Tuesday everyone.

Never to Old to be a Kid

So you already know that I am a video game junkie. I still play my Nintendo DS on a daily basis and I just bought one for my niece, whose birthday is in July. Now my sister is also getting into the action and playing Animal Crossing too. We now have 6 people in the family playing this game, and we are all addicted.

In addition to playing hand held video games I have also been enamored with Heely’s. They are the shoes with the wheels on the sole that allow you to skate or walk. Every time I see a kid with them I wish I had a pair. Never knowing what they were called or where to find them I never took the time to look for them.

Anyway, my 14 year old niece got a pair a month or so ago and now my other niece who is 11 wants a pair for her birthday. While talking to my mom about getting my niece them for her birthday, I found out that my 11 year old niece has a monstrous foot, size 8 women’s. She must be getting ready to grow about 8 inches. She is sure to sprout up taller than all of us. By the way, the 14 year old wears a size 5 shoe. It is funny how two sisters can be so different. It was the same with my sister and I. She out grew me by age 13, and I am the older sister.

My first worry was that the shoes didn’t come in her size, but to my surprise they do. They come in girls/women’s up to size 9 and boys/men’s up to a whopping size 12.

Needless to say I was very excited, because now I could get a pair myself, and I did. I know I am dork, but I think they are so cool. Up until today, I have only worn them around the house, and they are a lot harder to get use to then I ever imagined. Today, I decided to wear them to work so I could practice on the carpet in my office. I am still a little wobbly, but with time and practice I am sure to be rolling along without falling on my butt.

I am trying to talk Steve into getting a pair too, but so far he isn’t interested. But that is what he said about the Nintendo when I first tried to get him interested; now he is as addicted as I am.

New Books

I got word this morning that some of my new knitting books will be arriving tomorrow. Hooray, I will have some fabulous new books to browse through during the long weekend.

So you are probably wondering what books I chose. Well, here they are.

1. Lace Style: Traditional to Innovative, 21 Inspired Designs to Knit
2. Weekend Knitting: 50 Unique Projects and Ideas
3. Vogue Knitting: The Ultimate Knitting Book
4. No Sheep for You: Knit Happy with Cotton, Silk, Linen, Hemp, Bamboo & Other Delights

I am so excited to get these books. I haven’t seen any of these books in person, but I already know of two patterns I want to knit from them and I ordered the yarn this morning. Like I need any more yarn, but I really don’t have any summer knitting projects with cotton, everything I have is wool, so I decided to go ahead and take the plunge.

The two patterns I want to knit are the Katherine Hepburn Cardigan from Lace Style, and Tomato from No Sheep for You. I am so excited to start both of these sweaters. I previously mentioned that I wanted to start Wicked, but I have decided to knit Green Gable first, along with these other two sweaters. This will give me plenty to do this summer and I will even be able to wear them as soon as they have been completed.

I am also thinking about making the Dollar and a half Cardigan from Interweave Knits, but the yarn I want is currently on back order until next months, so that will have to wait.

Desert Island Knitting

Originally I was going to talk about the books I decided to purchase with the amazon.com gift certificate that my mom gave me for my birthday last week, but then I was over on Crafting Morrighana’s site and decided to talk about Desert Island Knitting, which seems to be a hot topic these days on both blogs and podcasts. The book discussion will have to wait until tomorrow.

If I had to decide what three types of yarn I would take with me if I were stranded on a desert island what would they be? Assuming I would also have every other knitting supply readily available to me, including but not limited to every size needle, lots and lots of knitting books and all the notions I would ever need.

Now before you read my response, remember that I consider myself new to this fiber craft. I have known how to knit for about 20 years, but I am very new to all the wonderful fibers that are available. Until late last year I was only aware of the brands sold at the big box crafting stores, which are mostly acrylic, but now I know there is so much more to this craft. Having only really been experiencing different fibers for the past 5-6 months my fiber knowledge is still very limited so my selections are based on what I know today. I am sure if you ask me this same question a year from now my answer will be completely different.

When I first posed this question to myself my choices were Cascade 220, Shine Sport from KnitPicks, and Socks that Rock Light. Now the reason I choose Cascade 220 is because the enormous number of available colors, I would never get bored with the selection of colors, plus the yarn could be knit into many different things and I could felt it too. In addition, it would also keep me very warm if it should happen to get cold at night. My choice of Shine Sport is because the cotton could be knitted up light and airy for the hot days I would be experiencing assuming the island is tropical. It is a very soft yarn that feels great next to the skin and it would be a nice change from the wool in the Cascade. And who wouldn’t want Socks that Rock yarn if they were deserted on an island. I haven’t actually made socks from this yarn yet, but I ordered some awhile back and I love to just touch it and rub it on my face. I can’t wait to experience actually knitting with it.

Anyway, that was the off the top of my head answer, the answer that if I had 30 seconds to decide or I would have nothing at all. Then as I was typing up my response I got to thinking. If I had all the knitting supplies I would ever need that would mean that I would also have dyeing supplies too right. So I wouldn’t necessarily need Cascade 220 in every color, just dyes in every color and a bare wool yarn that would be similar to the texture and feel of Cascade 220. Same goes with the cotton Shine Sport I could get a Bare Shine that I could die in any color. So my choices haven’t changed much there, I still have a wool and a cotton yarn. I would still love to have Socks that Rock, but actually if I had to replace it with something else I would choose Roving. Now I am not currently a spinner, but I have watched other people spin and it does look quite peaceful. So if there was any possibility that I would some how get tired of knitting I would want some other fiber craft to pick up, and I think spinning would provide a great outlet for that as well as provide more yarn. I have no clue what type of roving I would want to take because I haven’t even thought about the possibility of becoming a spinner. Any suggestions?

So now I pose this question to you as well. You don’t have to provide me with the same level of detail behind why you chose the yarn you did, but I would love to know which three yarns you would want to take with you if you were deserted on a desert island. It might even provide me with some yarns I will have to check out.

Knitting Meme

I found this over on Lixie Knits it and I thought it would be fun to see where I stand. I looks like I still have a lot left to do.

Edit the list, bold for stuff you’ve done, italics for stuff you plan to do one day, and normal for stuff you’re not planning on doing.

Afghan/Blanket
I-cord
Garter stitch
Knitting with metal wire
Shawl
Stockinette stitch
Socks: top-down
Socks: toe-up
Knitting with camel yarn
Mittens: Cuff-up
Mittens: Tip-down
Hat
Knitting with silk
Moebius band knitting
Participating in a KAL
Sweater
Drop stitch patterns
Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn
Slip stitch patterns
Knitting with banana fiber yarn
Domino knitting (modular knitting)
Twisted stitch pattern
Knitting with bamboo yarn
Two end knitting
Charity knitting
Knitting with soy yarn
CardiganToy/doll clothing
Knitting with circular needles
Knitting with your own handspun yarn
Slippers
Graffiti knitting (knitting items on, or to be left on the street)
Continental knitting
Designing knitted garments
Cable stitch patterns (incl. Aran)
Lace patterns
Publishing a knitting book
Scarf
Teaching a child to knit
American/English knitting (as opposed to continental)
Knitting to make money
Button holes
Knitting with alpaca
Fair Isle knitting
Norwegian knitting
Dying with plant colors
Knitting items for a wedding
Household items (dishcloths, washcloths, tea cozies…)
Knitting socks (or other small tubular items) on two circulars
Olympic knitting
Knitting with someone else’s handspun yarn
Knitting with DPNs
Holiday related knitting
Teaching a male how to knit
Bobbles
Knitting for a living
Knitting with cotton
Knitting smocking
Dying yarn
Steeks
Knitting art
Fulling/felting
Knitting with wool
Textured knitting
Kitchener BO
Purses/bags
Knitting with beads
Swatching
Long Tail CO
EntrelacKnitting and purling backwards
Machine knitting
Knitting with self-patterning/self-striping/variegating yarn
Stuffed toys
Baby items
Knitting with cashmere
Darning
Jewelry
Knitting with synthetic yarn
Writing a pattern
Gloves
Intarsia
Knitting with linen
Knitting for preemies
Tubular CO
Freeform knitting
Short rows
Cuffs/fingerless mitts/arm warmers
Pillows
Knitting a pattern from an online knitting magazine
Rug
Knitting on a loom
Thrummed knitting
Knitting a gift
Knitting for pets
Shrug/bolero/poncho
Knitting with dog/cat hair
Hair accessories
Knitting in public

Chock-ful-of-knitting

I said there was going to be lots of knitting this weekend and there was. As I mentioned last week, I took Friday off and I started out the day by finishing my second pair of socks. I only had to do the kitchener stitch to finish them off so it didn’t take me very long.

 

Then for pretty much the rest of Friday I was experimenting with different stitches for the sock pattern I am working on for the Hill Country Sock Pattern contest. I started by graphing out a few different ideas and then I knit them up to see how I liked them. I think I finally found something I like and it is easily changed for different sizes.

On Saturday, I attended a crafting day with about 15 other ladies. Most everyone else was working on scrapbook pages or stamping cards, but of course I was knitting. After working on my third pair of socks with striped cables, I completed the assembly of the Roll The Dice Bag.

 

 

The bag still needs to be felted, which I hope to do tonight.

After finishing the Roll the Dice bag I got right to work on my French Market Bag, which was also near completion. I just had to complete the handles and graft them together. This bag is also completed except for felting.

 

One thing that I didn’t work on this weekend, but should have was the baby sweater I am making for a friend’s new baby. Since it is still in pieces I give you small little taste of it with the pattern. I will probably focus my attention on this for the remainder of the week in hopes that I can finish it up to give to her in two weeks.

It is a simple moss stitch, but it really turned out nice. I am even considering making myself a simple cardigan using this pattern and the same yarn, it is very light and would make a great spring or fall sweater.

The other projects that I also have on the needles but didn’t work on this weekend are the Brown Ribbed Sweater and the other felted bag that I knitted up on the sweater machine. I did work on the Brown Ribbed Sweater last week at knitting club, but the felted bag has been tucked away for quite some time. I started seaming up the bag a month or so ago, but haven’t like how it was coming out so I stopped. After seaming up, ripping out and seaming up the Roll the Dice bag 4 times this weekend I finally found a method that I like and I think I will also use it for this bag too. Which means there is going to be some ripping of the seam before I can make some more progress on this bag.

Needless to say I am well on my way to finishing up with my WIPs. Three down and four more to go. Okay, five if you count the pink sweater I started in January, but haven’t touch since. I have been thinking about just frogging it, but I just can’t bring myself to do it. I will probably pick it up and work on it ever so often to finish it off, but who knows at this point. Or 6 if you count the socks, which I haven’t started for the pattern contest. Even so I have made some great progress this weekend, and I am feeling pretty good about it.

I even knit for most of the day on Sunday, but I don’t have much to show for it because it was all practice knitting, which we all need every once and awhile. I was working on the construction for my sock pattern. Having only done a short row heel once before I wanted to practice and determine exactly how I wanted it to look. Although I was able to complete a short row heel without a problem, I didn’t like how it was turning out so I kept trying different things until I got exactly what I was looking for. Then I had to write it out with enough detail so that anyone knitting the pattern would get the exact same result that I did. I took me at least 6 tries, but I am glad that I took the time to test it out. It was actually fun trying different things without feeling as if I was doing something wrong.

Hopefully there will be more knitting for me tonight. Steve and I have been saving up the episodes of Lost, Medium, 24, and Heroes so that we could watch the last few episodes of the seasons back to back. So this week will be jam packed with TV since some of the season finales are this week.

Lots-O-Knitting to come & Ravelry.com

I am looking forward to a weekend of knitting. I have decided to take tomorrow off as a vacation day, and I will hopefully be spending the entire day knitting and watching Knitty Gritty. If it is a nice day I might even sit on the deck and knit. It sounds so relaxing I can’t wait.

Since I am a fairly slow knitter I don’t expect to actually finish anything tomorrow, except maybe those socks that are so close to being finished. Then on Saturday I am attending a crafting day at a friends church so there will be plenty of knitting time then too.

Today was listening to Manda of Knitting Psychos Podcast, the one from May 5th, I know I am a little behind, but there are so many great podcasts out there and there is only so much time in a day. Anyway, now I really want to get invited to join Ravelry.com. Manda gave a great description of all the wonderful things you can do on the site. I signed up to get an invitation last week but haven’t heard anything from they. I know they must be really busy getting things going, but I so much want to join. I just hope I didn’t accidentally delete the email if they already sent it. I am pretty sure that I accidentally deleted an E-Greeting Birthday card earlier this week. Steve told me that he sent one, but I never got it or maybe I deleted it by mistaking thinking it was SPAM. He showed me the confirmation he got, so I must have deleted it. Opps!

Anyway, Freckle Girl, if you are out there, I really want to join the fun. Please pick me.

I promise to have some pictures by the end of the weekend, even if they are only WIPs and not FOs. Hope everyone has a great day and an even greater weekend.

Birthday Fun

Okay, so my birthday was Monday, and I got lots of knitting goodness. By the way, don’t ask me how old I am, not because I don’t want anyone to know, but because I can never remember half the time. Recently I was at a doctors appointment for a physical and the doctor asked me how old I was I told her 34. She looked at me then looked at the computer and said that the computer says you are 35. I looked at her with a puzzled look on my face and said, I guess I am 35. So I guess I am now 36, although I still feel 25. The way I look at it is that you are only as old as you feel, RIGHT!

Okay, so on to the knitting goodness. Awhile back I decided to set up an Amazon.com wish list, and it was probably the best thing I could have done, because for my birthday I got two new books and a gift certificate.

Steve got me these two of the books that where on my wish list, Elizabeth Zimmermann’s Knitter’s Almanac and Knitting Workshop. I just recently read about these two books and added them to my wish list. I am currently reading Elizabeth Zimmermann’s Knitting Without Tears and now I am looking forward to reading these two books next.

My mom also sent me an Amazon.com gift certificate. She told me that after looking through everything that I wanted she just couldn’t decide what to get, so she sent the gift certificate. Now I have the same problem, I can’t decide either. I have so many books on my wish list that I can’t decide what books to get first. So I plead for your help, let me know what knitting books are in your library that you can’t live without. You can also check out my wish list and make your recommendations. I have put a direct link on the side bar for your convenience.

By the way, I have been knitting. I have been meaning to take some pictures of my works in progress, but every day when I get home from work I get right to knitting and always forget to take pictures. Then I remember the next day when I am at work and promise myself that I will take some pictures at lunch, but then I forget again. I guess I am getting very forgetfull in my old age.

Anyway, I have been working on the little baby jacket for a friend of mine, who’s baby was born a few weeks ago. It is almost finished. I have completed all the pieces now I just need to assemble it and do the detailed trim. I am also working on some little matching socks. I am trying to create the pattern as I go and it hasn’t worked out as I expected. Does anyone know the length of a baby’s foot? I am so glad I got the sock pattern wizard software. I would have no clue what size to make the dang sock. I hope to have both of these projects finished by the end of the week.

I still have not done the kitchener stitch on the socks that I completed a few weeks ago. What is holding me up, I just don’t know. I guess I should get that done soon too. I have also been working on my sock pattern for the Hill Country Sock Pattern Contest. I thought I had my stitch design all worked out, but I have decided to change it up a bit so I have been doing more swatches to see what I like.

I have also done some work on the Roll the Dice Felted Bag that I mentioned back in March. I have finished the body of the bag, and started to sew up the bottom. I don’t really like how it is coming out so I think I will rip out the seam and start again. After that all I have left to do is the handles.

I am also almost finished with my French Market Bag. I am very close to the top of the bag, I think a few more rows should do it, then I will do the handles and felt it.

Then there is the almost forgotten Brown Ribbed Sweater. This sweater has sort of been put on the back burner because the weather is warming up and I probably won’t be able to wear it until fall. I haven’t worked on this project in more than a month, maybe longer.

With so many projects on the needles I am starting to get frustrated that nothing is getting finished, so my plan for the next few weeks is to finish up all these projects before I begin another one. I so want to start my Wicked, which will be the short sleeve version, so I am hoping that this desire will propel me to finish these other things so I can get started.

I hope to have some FO by the end of the week, because who wants to see a WIP when they can be surprised and see the FO.

Ravelry.com

So have you heard of Ravelry.com, nope, me neither, until today that is. I don’t know a whole lot about it but it looks interesting and very helpful. From what I know it is a new website, still in beta testing, where you can track your projects, stash, and needles, along with being able to search the archives of patterns that other people have knit with the yarn they have used. What a fantastic idea. I can’t wait for it to be ready for full traffic. By the way, you can put in a request to be a beta tester. I sure hope I get picked, and then I can tell you more about it.