Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Progress!

I've been alternating between working on the cable baby sweater, and on my grey sweater. Grey sweater when I want to plain old knit....(like when I'm half asleep) ....and cable sweater when I've got the itch to knit. I love it! These cables are so fun! I've never done anything with multiple cables before.....luckily...this is a pretty easy pattern to keep straight.So, not a lot done...but pretty good I think considering I actually have to go to work....and then I have some sort of evening thing happening almost every night this week (and last week...and next week...lol) I think I need to clear my schedule.....just so I can knit!
Awww, I'm going to go knit now...until I fall asleep, hopefully I'm conscious enough to put the needles down before I actually fall aslzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Saturday, September 15, 2007

Continental knitting

I've always wanted to learn how to knit the continental way...but whenever I've tried it just doesn't work....looks easy...but I just can't do it....
So anyways....I was browsing around and stumbled across this video on YouTube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuRLFl36tDY&mode=related&search=

I soooooooooo want to try this!!!! (with some scrap yarn of course...maybe I could practice on washcloths or something. I'm glad that she mentioned that she has to go down about 2 needle sizes when knitting the continental way...I never would have know that....I think when I tried before...one of the things that bothered me was that everything was so loose and sloppy, I thought it was hopeless....

Anyways....I'm gonna try again!

Knitting bug

I officially have the knitting bug. I'm looking around at all other crafty things with uninterested and uncaring eyes. The knitting however is all I can think about!

I pulled out the lacy little tank this morning...it was over in the corner underneath and crocheted blanket that only needs to be pieced together. I've been thinking about it a lot this summer, and I had decided to rip out what I had done and start fresh. Not a big deal because I'd only knit about 2 inches. Then when I looked at it,....it just looked so pretty so I knit two rows of it...and then decided that it would be a good idea if I knew what size I had started on LOL. After digging through the paperwork I noticed that the date on my invoice is november 2005!
While trying to figure out if I actually had started on the medium size or not (I could have just counted the stitches...but...that just sounded too painful this morning) I looked up the pattern online, and saw that the sizing had changed...and so had the way they wrote the needle size. I checked on my pattern and it said US3 needle (I guess I hadn't really bothered to check further than that, I was using US3, but online I noticed that it said US2.5, 3.0mm. Hmmm, my pattern said US3, 3.0mm. Gauge was listed as the same....of course I hadn't checked the gauge before...I never used to bother with that...after all...I never finished anything anyways! So, there we go again with my needle size issue lately...go figure...did I just never notice the difference before? Anyways, my US3 that I was using is a 3.25mm. So I went online and bought a new circular, and set of dpn's in US2 3.0mm.....and the site I bought them on said you could get US2 in 2.75mm OR 3.0mm.....I'll never deviate from metric again...I've learned my lesson...I can't wait to get my new needles! I'm ripping this out and starting completely fresh...and I'm even knitting a gauge swatch this time! Ha! Watch it turn out that the new needles will cause my knitting to be too tight hehehe...
So, while I was digging out the lacy little tank, I found in that knitting basket the needles that I need to start the hooded cabled cardigan for niece. They were right there all along...I've been wanting to start it for a few weeks, but thought I had to go needle shopping first...Perhaps I should go through ALL of my needles and such, and write down what I have, maybe even store everything together in one spot...gasp...imagine the organization....I really really really can't wait for my invite to Ravelry to come!

Here's what they tell me:
  • You are #29962 on the list.
  • 16596 people are ahead of you in line.
  • 3114 people are behind you in line.
I was busy this morning! I was really on a mission to find the needle I needed (heheehe) to finish my grey cardigan! While digging around in everything else I found the two sets of double points that it says I will need for finishing the cuffs....one set of them is still attached to H's sock...so....I guess that means I'm gonna hafta finish that sock in order to finish my sweater. Then I walked down to the extremely small and snooty yarn shop which is really only about 3 blocks from my house, but really so small that if you pick up anything...an entire pile of things topple to the floor, things are all just piled up, it's really annoying I'm afraid to touch anything...I'm like Mr.Bean in the yarn shop. I can afford nothing there without missing a car payment...except the needles...which they ACTUALLY had in stock...so YEAH! I can finish the sleeves on my sweater!

This is a picture of where my short row sock lies....just sitting there.....I will probably rip it out and start a different pattern...but I'm not sure what...I really like toe-up, and I like the idea of short row toes and heels, but this method I'm just not getting....it's the wrap method, and I'm just not getting the proper way to pick up the wraps without leaving holes. I don't know what I'm doing wrong. I 've read that there is another method PG-R's but I don't know anything about that...perhaps I'll try to find a pattern and give it a try...can I do that method while working from the toe up?Soooo, I casted on the baby sweater. There is a lot of cabling in it, which I've not done very much of, so I thought this could be my more challenging and interesting knitting project and my gray sweater can be my more relaxed one...that is until the needles arrive for my lacy little tank..hehhe....I'd better knit this baby sweater quickly...so that I actually finish it before it's too small :-D I chose to do the largest size..so she'll have room to grow ...in theory...or maybe just so that it will still be her size by the time I get done. I've already found a mistake in this pattern, I have yet to see a pattern from MM that doesn't have mistakes. My mother-in-law buys a lot of them, and she's always finding that they just don't work....until we figure out the typos...and then it usually runs smoothly :-) Happy knitting!

Friday, September 07, 2007

Sweater neck done....man...and stalled again!

Ok, So I actually sat down and finished picking up the stitches around the neck and I finished knitting the neck of my sweater.....Great! I did while watching 3 back to back episodes of What Not To Wear....poor H, I just love that show..... anyways, I'm so excited to pick up the sleeves and get going......buuuuuuut...guess what I just noticed...the new needle I bought to do the sleeves...the no.6 16inch.....is 4.00mm, while the one I used for the body of the sweater was a no6 24inch .....but that one was 4.25mm DOH! Why oh why isn't there a standard needle size for standard needle sizes...why oh why do they differ between brands....why oh why do I always have to remember the metric size....and why oh why did I buy a different brand in the first place! Doh! because it was about 1/3 the price that's why! Even though the other one (which may not have even been available) would have been sooooo worth it....

Oh well, stalled again until I find the right needle size....you wouldn't believe how long it took me to find in the first place....nobody stocks these needle sizes around here...everyone said they would have to order them in special.... seriously...I'm not lyin'!

Oh well, I will have to finish H's socks...and a gift for my friends new baby...who is now nearly a month old....I think I'm going to make a simple but hopefully pretty baby quilt...because I really don't know of very many baby knitting patterns (strange I know!) and my friends mom is a wonderful knitter anyways...so I'm sure she's go tons of knits already.

Finally....diving!


Well, I finally got to go diving last weekend. We went up to Tobermory for labour day Monday... it was fantastic! Boy, I forgot how good it feels to be underwater, anyways...I was so anxious to get myself under that water, that I kindof had a bit of a fall on the rocks on the way in and I pulled a ligament in my knee, I've been hobbling around all week...ha! I look very silly...but luckily...I didn't tear anything so I should heal up nicely.

I did get a whole lot more of my sock for sweetums finished on the way up....and back.... but....I still haven't even finished a whole sock...and as for my sweater.... I still haven't finished picking up the stitches around the neck!

I'll post some pictures SOON!