Back on track

I have a slight reprieve on the Tuckernuck sweater, as g'daughter's birthday will be celebrated several days after the fact. Still, I know how these projects go: you get the bulk of the knitting completed and think you are nearly done, but the finishing almost finishes you off.

Body

Sleeves

Coming together

There will be blocking, of course. And buttons! I hate sewing on buttons!

Another detour

My daughter put out a call for doll clothes, so I could not resist whipping up this poncho out of leftover yarn.

Pattern: 18 Inch Doll Poncho
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino, colorways 340027 (blue) and 340202 (light blue)
Needles: US4
Modifications: None. Instructions for a jogless color change found here.

Now back to our regularly scheduled knitting.

Almost monogomous

With my gdaughter's birthday closing in, I have devoted all my knitting time to her sweater. I finished the sleeves, more or less. They are knit in the round using DPNs, no problem there, but they are then to be set in. I have never done set in sleeves before, so this should be interesting, plus a pressing reason to get the rest of the knitting done in a timely manner, to allow for do-overs.

Originally, I started the body on circular needles, but when I had to start the body over, I switched to straights, the better to cable with. I eschew using a cable needle (using this technique - scroll down) and find it easier on straights.

The pattern is not difficult, but for some reason I cannot do anything else while knitting it - no audio books, no TV - without messing up. Consequently, this project is relegated to the home front. Needing something portable, I started gdaughter's xmas socks, using the same yarn as the ones for her mom.

And because my purse was too cramped for carrying even small knitting projects, I just had to buy a new one.

The designer is Donna Sharp. Not only are her purses attractive, they have lots of pockets inside and out. And this style has room for a bit of knitting.

Off to a slow start

The Easy as Pie blanket notwithstanding, I decided my next knitting project should be a sweater I have been dying to knit for *years*. It's not for me, but for the granddaughter, who turns four next month. Since the sizes for the pattern go up to only age 5, there is not much time left. So off I went.

The Tuckernuck Cardigan has cables, and there began my troubles. Cable stitches pull in, so how does one measure gauge? I made a halfhearted attempt at swatching, then dove in on knitting the body. There arose another problem: despite the swatching, my gauge felt too tight however it was measured, due no doubt to my still relatively new devotion to using the Irish cottage (lever) knitting technique. As I knit along, I kept telling myself the usual lies we knitters tell ourselves when something is not going quite right, one of which is "I can fix this with blocking." Then I remembered I had deliberately chosen a superwash yarn as my daughter is known to wash the bejesus out of everything, felting even the unfeltable. With this in mind, I eventually came to the conclusion I should knit looser.

So I started anew, on a sleeve (which first involved a trip to Joann - not my favorite store - for some US9 DPNs). Actually, I prefer to start sweaters with the sleeves, to avoid the dreaded one-sleeve syndrome that tends to occur oh-so-close to the end of a sweater project. I also performed an experiment on a sweater of my own, one knit in Wool-Ease. The fabric felt too loose, so I machine washed it (on the gentle cycle), then put it in the dryer. That did tighten up the fabric without sacrificing the size. I am hoping the same will occur for Tuckernuck.

A side note: I wish I had chosen the Karabella yarn the pattern called for, as it has better stitch definition than Cascade 220. My usual source for this elusive yarn no longer sells it, though, plus I was literally at Webs when I selected this lovely lavender that seems perfect for a little girl. Oh, well!

105 days until xmas

While visiting my dad in the hospital, I knitted socks. My sister-in-law gushed over them. I never know what to say when someone does this, especially when what is making the knitted item so special is not the knitting but the yarn. In this particular case, the knitting was as plain as can be, but the self-striping nature of the yarn provided a very pleasing result. All I contribute is an OCD-like persistence. At least she did not ask me to knit a pair for her (although I just might).

Pattern: None really, just Turkish cast on, 52 stitches around, gusset heel, taller than usual for wearing with boots, Jeny's Surprisingly Stretchy bind off.
Yarn: ONline Supersocke 6-ply, colorway 1617
Needles: US3
Modifications: I did the toes on two circs, then switched to DPNs for the rest.

I didn't try to match the stripes this time other than start at the beginning of a color run so the striping at least lined up. For winter socks, these colors are surprisingly summery looking, like watermelon. Hopefully, there is enough yarn leftover for a pair for my granddaughter; then she and her mom will match.

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!

February Little Lady sweater DONE

This sweater took exactly two months to knit, from casting on to attaching buttons. It was a surprisingly painful journey for such a simple knit. Somewhere along the way, I screwed up the stitch count in the yoke and, rather than starting over, I added a placket. Other mistakes were made along the way as well, including an attempt to cap the sleeves which was rapidly abandoned, and then there was the massive procrastination in buying the buttons and another one in sewing them on. But finally, FINALLY, it is finished.

Took long enough, huh?

Pattern: February Little Lady sweater, adapted by Paula Fletcher from EZ's February Baby sweater
Yarn: Elan Den-M-Nit Pure Indigo Cotton
Needles: US7
Modifications: Intentional: short sleeves; unintentional: mistake placket

Goofy face

Despite the setbacks, I am happy with the results. The gull stitch did not get all wonky from the denim yarn shrinking in the wash. There is plenty of room for growth horizontally but I can add to the sweater vertically if that becomes necessary. And there is no way my daughter can felt this sweater in the laundry. Win, win, win!

This yarn stinks

While shopping for buttons for the February Little Lady sweater, we took a quick cruise through the yarn section of JoAnn. Mistake. My granddaughter glommed onto a ball of Sugar n Cream cotton in multiple pastels. I am not short of cotton yarn, not at all, but I still added it to our basket. After all, it was pretty, and I figured I could make a couple of wash cloths to make up for the orange hat debacle.

At the checkout, the clerk pointed out that the yarn was scented. If you have ever stood in line at JoAnn, you will understand why I did not interrupt the checking out process by fetching an unscented yarn. Plus the same colorway might not have been available in a non-scented version. Plus, how bad could it be?

I'm not sure what the manufacturer was thinking when deciding to add a scent to the yarn. It wasn't a fresh scent like "clean linen" or citrus or lavender, but a decidedly perfumey one. Knitting with it actually gave me a headache. I hope the smell washes out quickly.

I was able to knit a couple of wash cloths in short order, though, which restored my knitterly balance.

Moebius hat?

The bright orange hat was supposed to be a quick and easy project, something I could pick up and work on here and there, an object to give me a sense of knitting accomplishment while also working on the Easy as Pie blanket. But no. Sometimes nothing is ever easy.

The first problem cropped up when, instead of following the pattern instructions, I tried to do my own thing. This hat has a hemmed edge, and the directions suggest starting out with a smaller needle for the section that gets folded under. I did not see that suggestion (because it came late in the pattern, not at the beginning), so instead I cast on four extra stitches after the "fold" row, then later decreased by four stitches to align with the rest of the instructions. This resulted in a ridge, a ridge I told myself did not matter, it was just a HAT.

Of course, by the time I neared the crown, that ridge was eating away at me. It glared at me, it yelled at me, it told me I could do better. So, despite being nearly done, I started over. And instead of redoing the hat on DPNs (stitches kept falling off the ends) or a 16-inch circ (which has a short needle length that is a challenge for my man hands), I decided to use two circs, just as I have used on some toe-up socks.

So away I went, fat, dumb, and happy, for about an inch, then tried to admire my work by unrolling the stockinette. That's when I realized there was a twist in the stitches. In disbelief, I kept trying to flatten the stockinette, thinking surely, *surely* I had not made that newbie error. But alas, it was true.

So the hat is in a time out. Me, too. Gonna move on, at least for a while.

Drawing a blank

I have absolutely no memory of attending this class, no idea of what we knit or what happened to it. My short term memory is a sieve, but my long term memory has giant holes.

Don't try this at home

I would have a finished February Little Lady sweater to show you except I knit the second sleeve INSIDE OUT. I was not drunk at the time, but this is the kind of thing that drives knitters to drink.

Progress

The body of the February Little Lady sweater is complete, so all that is left are two short sleeves and buttons. I've been complaining on Ravelry about my struggles with the math of the pattern, with one correction by the author so far. But I am still bugged by the stitch counts I ended up with at the end of the yoke. A few others have knit this pattern without complaint, so I fear the fault is with me. Despite drawing pictures, I just can't see where I went wrong; a spreadsheet is next. I'm also worried about my yarn choice, as the denim will shrink lengthwise; what will that do to the gull stitch?

The hunter orange hat is more than halfway done. I decided to do a hemmed version and wish I had read the part of the pattern (at the END) that suggests using a smaller needle for the inside part of the hemmed section before I had knit three inches of the thing. Instead, I increased the stitch count by four stitches after the turning row, then decreased three inches later when joining the two sections of the hem. The hat won't look perfect, but wabi sabi.

Not so monogomous

The February Little Lady sweater is coming along. I was right about the gull stitch being easier on my body, but I still can't do more than one pattern repeat at a time. My left shoulder is what complains the most.

As I approach the end of the body, I'm debating about the sleeves. The February Lady sweater I knit myself is rather bulky in the armpits, so I think I will start the sleeves on this sweater as capped using short rows, then add a couple of pattern repeats before cuffing them. That will work, right?

Meanwhile, since I can't knit for long on this project without pain, and I'm a bit tired of the counting required for the Easy as Pie blanket, I started a simple hat. This one will probably go into the hat bin in the closet, to be grabbed for hikes during hunting season. Even though hunting is not permitted in the nature areas I visit, one can never be too careful.

Think it's bright enough?

Detour

Me: You need a summer sweater.
Granddaughter: Gran'ma, will you make me one?

Hence, a detour from the Easy as Pie blanket. I found a pattern for the February Little Lady sweater, like the February Lady sweater I made myself and the February Baby sweaters I made granddaughter when she was wee. For some reason, I like the gull stitch. Also, no seaming.

For a moment, I contemplated taking granddaughter to a LYS to pick out some Spud & Chloe, but I didn't feel like going out and I didn't feel like spending money. So I decided to check the stash. The first bag I opened contained more than enough Den-M-Nit to proceed forthwith.

What I (keep forgetting that I) don't like is knitting with cotton. It has no elasticity. It makes my shoulders, wrists, and hands hurt. I hope when I get to the gull stitch, it will go a bit easier. And hopefully I will get this done in time to be useful this year.

199 days until xmas

Another xmas gift is done, another pair of "boot" socks, knit toe-up, extra large for my son, a.k.a. Big Foot.

Matchy, match!

Pattern: ad hoc (see below)
Yarn: ONLine Supersocke 6-ply (DK) in 1619 colorway
Needles: US3

The heels look funky because these are unblocked. I'm rethinking the need for blocking machine wash socks.

Using instructions from Socks from the Toe Up, I cast on using the Turkish cast on, knit 64 stitches around, made a gusset heel, waited until the top of the leg before adding some 2x2 ribbing. Using instructions from Cast On, Bind Off, I bound off using Jeny's Surprisingly Stretchy bind off.

Initially, I worked the first toe with US3 circs knitting continental, switching to DPNs and Irish cottage knitting for the foot, but even though the gauge was the same for both, the continental stitches looked fat and lazy while the Irish cottage ones were fit and trim. Now reminded *why* I made the switch, I redid the toe Irish cottage, although I still switched from circs to DPNs once past the toe. I just don't like knitting socks with circs.

I should know better

One of the primary reasons I have not tried weaving is the expense of a loom. Well, Saturday my granddaughter and I visited the Salomon Farm Fiber Arts Festival where I saw a loom made from cardboard. Ruh-roh. I could barely wait to get home to try this.

I know - not a pretty sight. In my defense, I was babysitting an increasingly restless pre-schooler at the time. It is an inexpensive way to get a taste of weaving, though.

I referenced this site for detailed instructions (which I failed to follow very well), in case you are tempted to try this at home.

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.

222 days until xmas

Have you started your holiday knitting yet? Well, why not?!? I have one gift finished, a pair of what I call boot socks for my son-in-law.

Pattern: Sock Recipe, by Stephanie Pearl-McFee
Yarn: ONline Supersocke 6-ply, 1615 colorway
Needles: US3
Modifications: cast on 60 stitches for the top, decreased to 56 for the foot, my own avoid-the-gusset-gap trickery. (For detailed instructions, see Ravelry post.)

My new resolution re socks is to try to get them to match. I almost made it this time - you can't tell from the photos, but the tips of the toes betray me. If asked, I will say that the difference is so the wearer can tell his right foot from his left.

Or wabi sabi.

The secret is to have a plan

My SO and I spent a week or so in Massachusetts in the very recent past. The primary intent was to visit family, but we also wanted a bit of a vacation, so spent a couple of days in Springfield. While planning our very loose itinerary, I realized we would be within spitting distance of Webs in Northampton. And they are celebrating their 40th anniversary with a sale. Ruh roh!

First, I set a yarn budget, then created a project list, then spent an inordinate amount of time online, scoping out the sale items and tentatively selecting colors. Otherwise, I knew I would be overwhelmed with the sheer volume of choices available and either buy one of everything or not a single skein.

A subset of all the yarn available.

I pictured Webs being a giant warehouse, but the warehouse itself is separate from the store. Yarn is arranged by weight, which helped me avoid the sock yarn. (I have enough sock yarn to last me several years, plus Simply Socks is located in my hometown, so no need to visit those aisles.) They also have books and buttons, so my SO selected buttons for his Fibonacci vest and I was able to confirm the number needed by referencing Knit One Below.

These look black but are actually dark green.

One project I have in mind is a Danish-styled tunic sweater for cross country skiing, for myself. Other than wanting worsted weight yarn, my only criteria was the color, which had to be the perfect shade of red. I found it, and while I was not specifically looking for Superwash, that was a bonus.

Cascade 220 Superwash in the perfect shade of red

Another project idea is a sweater of my own design. I had already selected the yarn and color, so just needed to locate it in the store. Alas, there was not a sweater's worth there, but the helpful staff offered to find it in the warehouse and ship it to me free. It arrived home before I did.

Cascade 220 Heathers, in 'Cordovan'.

I knew I wanted Superwash for a sweater for my granddaughter, but did not know which color until I spotted this one.

Cascade 220 Superwash, in periwinkle

And then, because I like to have a selection of spare winter hats for visitors, I picked out some single skeins for that.

Plymouth Encore, in gray, hunter orange, and brown.

Some of my sweater projects are going to be knit in the round, and since I am rather round, I added some long circular needles to my purchase. (FYI: buttons and needles fall outside the yarn budget. Just saying.) The selection in US7 and US8 sizes was meager - very picked over - which is why one of those sets is "cubics".

Knitters Pride Nova circular needles.

And then we got the hell out of there. I had planned to visit another yarn store, over the border in Connecticut, because it features locally hand-dyed yarns, but I was out of money plus I probably would have selected fingering weight yarns in single skein doses, just right for MORE socks. All in all, I am very proud of myself for sticking to my budget. Different yarns are on sale in May at Webs, if you dare look at the website.