Friday, January 29, 2010

Finishing

The sleeves are done. I'm now at the "Finishing" part. I always get sad at this section. The creative part is over and I'm a little bit in mourning for my almost finished project.

The main knitting is all done and all that's left is the blocking of pieces, weaving in of ends, and the sewing up - boring! This is the part where I lose interest in the project. I've been going, going, going and then BAM! - it's suddenly about as interesting as balancing your checkbook. Many a project has been abandoned at this point. I'm sure I'm not the only one.

I'm sitting here trying to rouse some enthusiasm for the finishing, but it's not working. Ugh! I need to get this done! (I also need to balance my checkbook.)

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Sleeves, Again.....

Those of you who know me know that sleeves and I don't get along too well. (Actually, we're more of nemesis rather than a mere "do not get along". )

I am getting better at sleeves, though. This time I did the sleeves for my Valentine's Day sweater and I got the pattern AND the decreases correct both at the same time!!! That's a first for me and I was rather proud.

Then I noticed that I did the wrong border (did a garter stitch boarder instead of the 1x1 rib the pattern specifies). I considered leaving it as it was, but that would have bothered me every time I looked at it, so - rip, rip, rip! went the sleeves. Oh, well, it's only my second try this time. That's something. :)

Happy knitting!

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Movie Time Fun

My Aunts sent me a blue-ray movie, "Julie and Julia", that they had picked up by mistake thinking it was a DVD. I loved the book and have been looking forward to seeing the movie for a while. I started watching the movie this morning and have still not finished it. It's now 5:15 PM.

The remote for the blue-ray machine went missing about 15 minutes after we set the thing up. (I wonder if one of the cats ate it or something - we'll never know for sure.) This means that once a movie gets started you can't pause it. You can stop it, but once the movie gets back on play it starts all over at the beginning again. Between phone calls, lunch outings, and picking up boy scouts, I can't seem to catch a break. I've seen the beginning about 6 times now.

Why don't we just get a universal remote? Because we only have 2 blue ray movies, including "Julie & Julia", and the old DVD remote works the start and stop functions. We also think (or used to) that this is kind of funny in an irritating sort of way.

I think I just need to stick to knitting...

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Lunchtime Update

Just a quick note - I'm on my lunch break right now. Just found out that ALL of my work knitting group are in for the Elizabeth Zimmerman's Green Sweater KAL!!! The last member just decided to join in and I'm SOOOO excited!

What got her to join in was the steeking - I sent her a link to this video and that was the deciding factor. I love Knit 2 Together videos! Link:
http://letsknit2gether.com/2009/12/06/lk2g-063-eeeek-steek/. I've never done steeking and it's a bit scary, but it helps to have others along...

On Ravelry, there are 78 projects for the EZ Green Sweater:http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/elizabeth-zimmermanns-green-sweater/people?page=1. Saw lots of greens as well as some really interesting versions. How cool is that?

Now, I just need to finish my Valentine's Day Sweater and I'm all set!

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Update on Valentine's Day Sweater

I finished the back and started on the front two panels. I do two of anything (sleeves, socks, front panels, etc.) at the same time so they are the exact same size, pattern and so forth.

After my knitting group I noticed the the left side was a few rows higher up than the right side, and had repeated a section the shouldn't have been repeated at that time. Oh, boy. I got so irritated at myself for doing this that I put the work down and DID NOT KNIT FOR TWO WHOLE DAYS. Anything. Nothing. It was like my hands had been amputated or something.

Lesson learned here: Do not bring anything to knitting group that requires any kind of thought. Bring simple garter or stockinette stuff. That way you can chat with your friends without worry of what will you mess up this time while you ignore any fun conversation. Boo!

Monday, January 11, 2010

Happy as ...

Well, I'm as happy as a (insert your favorite expression of happiness here: "pig in mud", "cat in cream", "teenager in new video game", etc.)! In the mail today arrived not only the new Knitpicks catalogue but the EZ Green Sweater pattern I ordered! It feels like Christmas all over again.

I have started a new project - a red sweater for myself. The Guild is challenging us to wear something red that either we knitted up or someone knitted up for us in honor of Valentine's day. The pattern I'm using is "Hey, Teach!' by Helene Rush, which is a free Knitty download (http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEsummer08/PATTheyteach.html). Using red Encore (as usual!), a wool/acrylic blend, for ease of care.

I have the back piece mostly done and I like the way it's knitting up. My work so far:



I need to get this done for the February Guild meeting, so I'm gonna scoot & knit. Later!

Friday, January 8, 2010

New Year Projects

Happy New Year! I just realized I haven't posted anything since the start of the new year. Oops! I need to remedy that.

I've been reading - which is a real luxury to me - several wonderful books by Phillippa Gregory. I started with "The Constant Princess", moved to "The Other Boleyn Girl" (and the book is MUCH better than the movie, in case you're wondering), and am now working on "The Boleyn Inheritance". What a treat!

Something else I've been working on is creating a couple of patterns for the techniques afghan KAL. I did a couple of small 6" squares to start since I've never written a pattern before. This has been interesting. Proofing is the worst. Even after I've gone over the chart many times and have knitted up the square for the ump-teenth time I'm still finding errors. Yikes!

I sent an email to one of my friends on what I've learned so far on the creating process:
  1. Do not use a dark blue for the cable patch - it makes things hard to see. Use a LIGHT color yarn. (DUH - don't they tell you that in all the books? Yup.)
  2. Use wool or other blockable material. I used a wool/acrylic blend - it majorly wadded up on me and that stuff doesn't block well. (I also tried it with acrylic. Yuck!)
  3. You can only cable on ODD rows - Right Side facing. (Yes, I did.)
  4. Use a counter to prevent you from losing track of which row you're on. (Yup, did that, too.)
The good news if that I've finished 2 block patterns and they look pretty good. Need to get some more done. I sure hope this process doesn't kill me...

Your in Knitting,

Jen