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Wednesday, August 24, 2005
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New:
New project: the fatly cabled sweater (#14) in the fall 2005 Vogue Knitting.
Progress after 1/2 hour of knitting on Sunday.
Progress as of last night.
- Yes, I know, chunky girls + chunky knits = chunky chunk, but I think it's cute. And, hell, there's no hiding the fact that I'm not a size four. I needed to knit something fast and wooly, and I'm digging this. So there.
- Gauge strikes again! I'm using the called-for size 11 needles, but my gauge is drastically different. We're talking 13 stitches to FIVE inches, not four. It works out well, though. Before I had to choose between a 44 inch and a 52 inch bust - the former too small, the latter too large. Now, I can knit the smallest size with this gauge and be spot-on at about 49 inches. Perfect. How Wool-Ease Thick and Quick can be knit at a tighter gauge, I have no idea. I tried size 10's, which offered a slight improvement, but the fabric went from squooshy and soft to rigid and, well, gross.
- They put a nice, big mistake in the pattern, too, one I didn't notice right away (and, so, my first cable row is not right, and at first it didn't bug me, but now it does, now that I'm at the armholes). Dear Vogue Knitting, Left cable crosses mean you hold the stitches in FRONT, not the back.
- Speaking of armholes... So I just got there, right? They kindly wrote the pattern as "decrease one stitch on each side of each row." Um, okay. So I did a decrease in pattern (so, purl stitches) one stitch in. I read ahead to find that later on, in the back-of-neck-area section, they give explicit decreasing instructions of k2, k2tog...skp, k2. Gee, thanks. Why not just do that before?
New Yarn!
Monsters cannot resist the tasty yarn!
- Future victim #1 is a skein of Malabrigo worsted in "Bobby Blue," destined to become a hat to accompany my winter-but-not-the-really-cold-part-of-winter coat. I got this for $3, thanks to Yarnzilla only having one of the Summer Tweed colors with which I needed to exchange another color. I'm sure I can scrape by with the yarn I have, so I picked this stuff out. It's nice to pet.
- Future victim #2 is one skein of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Black Purl/Pearl/Perl/Whatever. And, yes, one skein will make a pair of socks, disbelieving yarn store lady. If you wouldn't have spent so much time trying to convince me to buy another skein and let me get a word in edgewise, I could've told you that I just made a sock out of the same yarn (different color) and it's a BIG sock (taller than usual) and I have about a third of a skein left. So I think I can manage some little ankle socks, yes?
(I'm weird, maybe, but I hate it when employees anywhere try to be helpful. I mean, I want you to be nice and around if I need to ask you a question, but I don't like unsolicited advice.)
New knitting-related charitable opportunity: Help kids learn to knit and read by donating to this project. In order to encourage donations, there's even a contest!
What's new for you?
Tipper @ 9:43 AM * link
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Thursday, August 18, 2005
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Happy birthday to meeeee!
My darling fiance is a keeper. Not only did he get me a good birthday present (a big, fat memory card for the digital camera; he probably would've gotten a Woolee Winder if he could remember what it was from day to day. He kept calling it a "niddy-noddy."), but he got me cake.
But not just any cake: yarn cake!
Not only that, but he gave me permission to buy yarn. Unfortunately, my "responsibility gene" (or some other stupid body part that really should be amputated because it's not doing me any good!) is kicking in and saying, "But, Tipper, there's always bills to pay!"
Of course, you know I'm posting that so you can encourage my habit, yes?
Tipper @ 7:33 PM * link
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Tuesday, August 16, 2005
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Blue on my birthday
Blue? I'm tangled up in it.
Larch progress - 1 1/2 balls down
One piece completed on the secret project
I'm not blue otherwise, aside from the fact that you people didn't buy me presents. But that's okay. I forgive you.
My stash sale wasn't the rip-roaring success I desired, but at least three more things will leave my stash. I guess the Gusto 10 wants to stay with me forever, so I suppose I'll indulge it and turn it into a phat hat or big, thick scarf.
Yesterday I picked up the new Vogue Knitting and ended up impressed and inspired. I really like the cropped cabled cardigan made of Lion Brand Wool Ease Thick 'n' Quick, though I'd make it un-cropped. There were quite a few other gems in there, as well, and their insistence that tartan is back (and my own current obsession with the Outlander series, thanks to Nancy) makes me really want to make the tartan jacket from last year's Fall IK (look at Laura's!).
I think the cooler weather is going to make this blog much more interesting.
Tipper @ 11:46 AM * link
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Sunday, August 07, 2005
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Take my stash, please!
I have some stuff up on eBay because I'm sick of it sitting in the stash and mocking me.
Tipper @ 10:41 PM * link
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At long last
Alas, I now have a working, and nice, digital camera. Meet Cameron (I just decided to call him that right now). It's got so many features I have no idea how to take a good picture yet, but that doesn't mean I'm not trying. One gripe: it seems to revert to the highest quality (read: really, really big) photo whenever you turn it off, and I don't have a decent resizing tool - nor do I have image retouching software, so bear with me! - on this computer (which is Matthew's, not my laptop), aside from the one provided by my domain host.
Here's the (nearly) finished Tivoli tee:
I've finished the armholes and neck with a bit of crochet. When I tried to do the same to the bottom, it was very, very tight. Oops. The bottom needs something, though, because it's far too short otherwise, and that's with adding at least two inches to the pattern length. I should've added a couple more, but I was so ready to be done.
I'm not sure how I like it. It fits well enough, but the Cotton Fleece at this gauge is a little dense and heavy. I should've bought some Knitpicks Shine, I guess.
A bit of spinning:
Here's something that's been sitting on my wheel forever - 100% silk, hand dyed, and a *$&#*@ to spin. It wasn't prepared well, so there were chunks throughout, and the single ended up being lumpy. I ended up plying the singles together, and it's quite underwhelming.
A secret undertaking:
The recipient may read this blog, so this sweater will be kept under wraps, mostly. It's knit in Jaeger Trinity, which I'm still not sure that I like. Above you see the faggoted lace border.
A secret pal gift:
The postman kindly left a package on the front step without letting us know in any way, shape, or form, so I didn't get this until I happened upon it this morning, but here's my second package from my secret pal. It's three fluffy, squooshy skeins of handspun?/handpainted? yarn and a hat pattern. Thanks! It'll come in handy; I can feel winter lurking around the corner.
P.S. to Secret Pal: Please email me so I can give you my new address.
See? The camera works. It's nice to see that something still does around here. In the past couple of weeks, I have had my car break (the muffler rusted out, necessitating replacement), my hearing aid break (the left one, Thelma, is in the shop, so I get to walk around hearing lopsidedly and with the impending repair fee hanging over my head - not to mention the knowledge that I'll have to fork over a few grand for new hearing aids soon), and now my glasses have broken (the right arm keeps falling off of its own accord). I'd say "What next?" if I wanted to ask for trouble.
Tipper @ 9:33 PM * link
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