A big deal

I *finally* finished the Easy as Pie blanket. This project has been so close to being done for so long that I almost lost hope - each of the final bits took *forever*. It seemed once the circles were squared, things should wrap up (heh) fairly quickly, but first. The squares had to be attached into rows, the rows attached into a blanket, the blanket edged, the edging bound off, and *then* the ends wove in. Fortunately, I had taken care of the ends for the squared circles quite a while ago, or the blanket might still be languishing on the coffee table.

Pattern: Easy as Pie, by Anna Richardson
Yarn: Ella Rae Classic Solids, in 75 Green, 60 Yellow, 70 Tang, 41 Blue, 68 Orchid, 31 Red; Patons North American Classic Wool Worsted in 77110 Navy, and Cascade 220 in 8401 Silver Grey
Needles: US7
Modifications: Used worsted weight yarn instead of DK, and went up a needle size; made seven motifs instead of 2; created 4x4 square instead of 3x3; used suspended bind off around edging

This blanket is for my granddaughter, and while finishing it, I decided no more blankets for her until she leaves for college. Once I laid it out to block, though, I'm thinking this one is big enough to go to college, assuming it lasts that long.

If you wish to make this blanket, here are some helpful hints:
How to do a Left Lifted Increase (LLI)
Grafting tutorial
More info may be found at my Ravelry page.

WIP vs UFO

What exactly constitutes a work-in-progress (WIP) vs. an unfinished object (UFO)? Does a certain amount of non-productive knitting time need to pass to transfer a particular project from WIP to UFO? Or maybe it is location, WIPs floating to the top while UFOs sink to the bottom of the knitting basket? If something gets transferred from knitting basket to closet, then it definitely becomes a UFO, but what about all those good intentions that remain? Maybe if the knitter gets a grip on startitis, those quasi-UFOs can bubble up and return to the realm of WIPs.

The Easy as Pie blanket is a case in point. What usually happens to stall a project is a snag of some sort, and in this case, I could not reconcile the instructions to pick up 49 stitches along the edge of a square with the fact I could come up with only 48. That, and the onset of summer when knitting wool feels just plain wrong, relegated this project to the bottom of the knitting basket. Now that autumn is trying to ease summer out of the way, the blanket squares have emerged. Some commentary on Ravelry verified that there really are only 48 stitches to be picked up, so I feel vindicated on that point, but now I seem to be short a square. Did I lose one or what?

Fortunately, between my notes on Ravelry and this blog, I was able to ascertain that an earlier snafu left me with the choice of either making a 3x5 blanket or knitting another square to create a 4x4 one. My circles are not divided between two motifs as the pattern dictates but spread out over seven, so I have two squares of most motifs and three of two of them - except for the missing square, of which I have only one. No one else would probably notice, but my knowing that one motif would be represented only once in the blanket is something I can't live with. So now I need to make another square, but it has been so long since I knitted that part of the pattern that I am feeling a little stuck, AGAIN.

Meanwhile, the bathroom curtain is almost done, STILL. All I need to do is bind off while picking up stitches along the way, to create the sleeve for a curtain rod. That is ALL. What holds me back is the need to baste that row of stitches to be picked up, to make sure I stay on course while binding off. Why is that so difficult for me to do?

Sometimes I think my issue with finishing a project is that the end marks the Day of Judgment. Will this knitted object turn out how I envisioned? Will it fit? Will the recipient (even if it is me) like it? Will it look homemade vs. handmade? Will others mock? Will its flaws scream at me every time I look at it?

Despite all the socks I have knit, even they can be daunting to finish, but since they are usually meant as xmas gifts, they get done, the results be damned. I haven't knit many pairs this year, but they are the epitome of portability when it comes to knitting. I might not actually work on them while dragging them hither and yon, but I like the idea of having something at hand in case the need arrives.

What about you? What's your excuse for all those UFOs? I know you have some.

Time out

I took (another) tumble a couple of weeks ago. Injuries include a sprained wrist, so I rested it until the swelling went down. It is still wrapped in an Ace bandage, but I find I can knit again. And type.

Not that the knitting has been going that well. I'm still slogging along on the Easy as Pie blanket. All the circles are squared, but I decided to redo the first six, slipping stitches knitwise, as it makes for a smoother fabric. The first one I picked up to redo was missing a row on color one. No problem, I'll just pick up an extra stitch for that quadrant. Things were going smoothly, until I reached the final quadrant, and instead of having 30 stitches left, there were 39. Gah!

I tossed that one aside, and several days later, after I had recovered from that disappointment, I checked the remaining five. All the circles were as they should be. I am still going to resquare them, and then I'll decide whether to completely redo the screwed up circle or reduce the blanket from 4x4 to 3x5.

It will be okay

I've been marching along, working on the Easy as Pie blanket, squaring up the circles. Only four more to go! But I was beginning to worry that the squared circles would not lay flat when done. Then I got the bright idea to block one and see how it turned out.

Whew!

Picking up a UFO after such a long time is problematic. I could not remember if I had already switched to the Irish cottage knitting style when I started (I had but had not yet learned to upsize the needle to make up for tighter stitches). While seeing if the pattern specified how to M1 at the points, I realized the slipped stitches were supposed to be slipped knitwise; I'm not sure I did that, but I am now. I want to do my best, but some days my best is not very good. Since this is a blanket for my 4-year-old g'daughter, and it will remain here at my house, I'm not concerned about perfection. Next time I will do better (I hope).

Third time's the charm

I just could not let that orange hat get the better of me. Once I gave up trying to be clever, all went well. At least, until I was ready to turn the hem and could not find my US8 16" circs, misplaced during the remodeling. I bought new ones, finished the hat, and *then* found the missing needles. Isn't that the way it always goes?

Pattern: Basic hat pattern, by Ann Budd, hemmed edge, size large
Yarn: Plymouth Yarn Encore Worsted, colorway 479
Needles: Started with US7 circs, switched to US8 after turning the hem.
Modifications: Cast on 112 stitches instead of 114, eliminating the first crown row which decreases by 2.

There is still a bit of a ridge that I expect will be less so once the hat has a good soak. Doing the hemmed edge has given me the idea of making ear bands with partial skeins. And now I have an FO to tide me over while I continue with this:

Second guessing

I am *finally* getting back to the Easy as Pie blanket. So much time has elapsed that I am having trouble remembering the difficult bits, like how to graft garter stitch. I had figured out how to do it myself, but my notes no longer made sense to me. I looked up instructions online, but they did not seem right for how the stitches were set up on the two needles. Still, I tried it "their" way, only to have the contrasting colors intermix. Then I checked the finished projects on Ravelry for a clue, testing out one of the methods recommended by several. Still wrong. And *then* I found these instructions on lethalknits.com. My situation calls for grafting reverse garter stitch, which I have never heard of but which is what I was doing in the first place! The graft just looked wrong because I pulled the stitches too tight. So now I am equipped to carry on. Huzzah!

Now we are six, plus toes up

I'm still making sporadic progress on the Easy as Pie blanket for my granddaughter. Six squares are done, not sure how many there will be total. That will depend on how the yarn holds out.

The problem with the pattern is there are too many reasons to pause, starting with the provisional cast on and ending with squaring the circle. I'll be marching along, and then have to change cadence, so to speak. Plus, I get distracted by socks.

These are toe-up "boot" socks for my son, knit in DK. Since they are heavier, I also try to make them taller, so they can be worn with boots. Since my son has big feet, I decided to do them toe-up, so I can make them as tall as possible before running out of yarn.

For a while, I was concentrating on toe-up socks. Then I took the Yarn Harlot's "Grok the Sock" class and reverted to top-down. Now I'm tired of that, so it is back to toe-up. One of these days I will try EZ's sideways socks. I know - I am one wild and crazy gal.

Project monogamy

I'm still here, still knitting. Life intervenes - preparing for major remodeling (follow the progress here) and starting the gardening season (follow that here).

Even though there is yarn here, there, and everywhere, begging to become the start of a new project, I have been remarkably determined to stick with two projects at a time, a big one (Easy as Pie blanket) and a small one (socks, of course). I may add an old WIP or two into the mix, just to whittle away at that pile. Unfinished things make me twitchy.

Third time's a charm?

In the Easy as Pie saga, I first knit the LLI stitches as M1's because I did not understand the stitch description in the pattern. The result was a bit lumpy.

Then I knit the LLI stitches as KFB which reduces the lumpiness in the pie but left holes in the square around the pie.

Then I consulted the Internet about LLI and discovered, no, the pattern designer did not make up that stitch like I thought (because I am such an expert). In fact, here is a good description of LLI and all its cousins.

Now the lumps are gone, the holes are gone, and once again, we can forge ahead, having learned something new.

The only question remaining is, will I reknit the first two squares? Can you see the difference? Or will it just bother me?

Easy as pie, sort of

I'm working on a blanket for my granddaughter, something with bright primary colors that might be finished by the time she goes to college. The pattern is "Easy as Pie" and, once you get past a practice square, it is fairly easy.

It is also rather clever. You knit the radii of the circles, making increases to fill in the space between the radii, then recapture those increases to keep from wandering off into who-knows-what kind of rainbow spiral. It's those increases that have been a puzzlement.

The pattern says to "Use the left needle to pick up left leg of the purl stitch below the last stitch on the right needle. Knit into the back leg of this stitch." Not understanding this at all, I simply did a M1 instead, but the results were a bit bumpy.

On the next square, I made more of an effort to follow the instructions, but I am not seeing the difference between those instructions and simply knitting through the front and back of that last stitch. I don't know if what I am doing is correct, but the result is much smoother.

Whatever. I'm going to stick with the latter method and forge ahead.

The lever knitting is getting better. Stephanie said practicing ten minutes a day for 30 days would be enough to create the muscle memory to transition to this new way to knit, but she did not take into account how difficult it is to teach an old dog new tricks. I have been at it for 100% of my knitting time since Thanksgiving weekend and am finally getting comfortable with it. There for a while, it was such a struggle I didn't even want to pick up the needles. Even now, I can be cruising along, and yet hit a wrenching road bump the next day, the next hour, even the next row. It gets better every day, though. My knitting mojo is back.