Back to where I was...

...before my swim in the frog pond.

Miss Honeychurch - 2nd time around

Here's the first version:



There's not a whole lot of difference, but I'm happy with my 2nd attempt. I'm going to add about 2 more inches to the length and then complete the sleeves.

Here we go again

Frogged Miss Honeychurch last night and re-cast on. I'm about 20 rounds in.

Goodbye, Honey

I have decided to frog & start over. I LOVE the drape of the hemp fabric so I want my Miss Honeychurch to have a little more drape when worn. Right now, there is too much negative ease so I am going to go up a size and hopefully gain some more drape. My gauge swatch turned out to be a whole lot looser than my actual knitting (I didn't intend to have any negative ease) so to the frog pond I go...

Montavilla...

...is frogged.

She hopped into the frog pond on Friday, May 1, 2009.

Splish Splash

Well, my Tilted Duster has taken a trip to the frog pond. I had gotten as far as seaming up the sides and shoulders, had picked up 174 stitches along the cast on edge and knit up about 6 rows of the skirt, when I finally decided to take stock of the nagging feeling I'd had. This thing was just going to be a bit too small - a bit too snug for my liking. Even though I had gone up a size in needles to compensate for some extra ease, I still did not like the amount of ease, well, actually - lack of ease that was going on. So - I've started over, using size 10 needles (where my guage was right on anyway) and I'll just make the larger size so I'll have enough ease. Afterall, this is meant to go over a top, so I do need a little extra room.

It's a quick knit, so starting over shouldn't set me back too much.

Endless Summer Ends and Do-Overs Begin

I finished the Endless Summer top on Saturday and will post a picture soon. It came out a little big, but I'd rather have it a little big than too small. However, I do think I could have gotten away with making it in the smaller size. It came out to the exact dimensions I had anticipated, but the way it fits, it just hangs, so a snugger fit may have been more appealing. Oh well - you live and learn. I may make it again - it was a fast & easy knit. Knitting in the round rather than front and back separately certainly saved on seaming. I only had to set in the sleeves and that was not all that bad.

The mesh pattern in the sweater is really pretty. It adds a lot of texture as does the seed stitch. All and all, a great pattern. That's why I may just knit this one again. I very rarely knit the same item twice because I get too bored, but this one just may be a winner. I would change the color combo, though, and use a different yarn - maybe a cotton blend or wool.

HERE ARE THE STATS
Pattern: Endless Summer by Katherine Hunt
Source: Knitter's 87 (Summer 2007)
Date: Cast On: 07.14.07 // Cast Off: 08.04.07
Yarn: Lion Brand, Micro Spun, Lavender, Lime and Buttercup
Needles: Size 5 US (3.75mm), Inox circular needles, 16" and 24"


I just started back into the checkerboard afghan for my son. I had been knitting this, but I ripped that out on Saturday & Sunday (yes - it took 2 days) and started it over in crochet. I did not like using 6 skeins at once - too much tangling up and my floats for the color changes were too big (and discovered too late), so I decided to just start from scratch. I figured I'd try crochet and see how that goes for awhile. I'll post pictures on my progress soon.

This is the checkerboard before it got sent to the frong pond:



I am also going to start the Arrowheads sweater as well. This is the progress I hade made almost a year ago before that got sent to the frog pond because my gauge was waaaay off. I think I am ready to tackle this project again. It's about time I learned two-handed fairisle.

Frogs Legs & Other Delicacies

Well - I had to take a trip to the frog pond with my Inside Out Socks. The cable pattern on the leg is just too tight of a pattern. I initially used size 0 (2.0mm) CN's, but pulling the socks over my heels is a bit tough. I can get the sock on and it fits well - it's just getting it on that's the problem. I kind of have to pull the heel to get the sock all the way on. It works, but I'd rather have an easier time of putting the sock on & off. I'm going to try a size 1 (2.5mm). I hope this doesn't leave the sock too loose on my leg. That is a possibility, because with the smaller needles, once I managed to get the sock on, the fit was perfect. I'll never know, though, until I try.

I had actually knit 42 rows of the cable pattern before I decided to frog. That was almost the complete sock (and two at that!). Oh, well, I'm more of a process knitter anyway, so I don't mind doing it all over again.

Here are a few pictures before my socks went RIBIT:

Arrowheads no more....

<=======This is no more. My arrowhead sweater is now just a couple skeins of yarn. After speaking with someone who happens to be a fantastic knitter, I decided to rip the whole thing out. My guage was way off and I think this was because of the way I did stranded knitting. My normal way of knitting is the English method - I throw the yarn with my right hand. However, the ideal way to knit stranded is to use the Continental method - holding the yarn in your left hand. The way I was knitting resulted in too tight of a guage and a lot of puckering. So Arrowheads is no more. I will begin it again once I have practiced knitting in the Continental method for awhile. It's like learning to knit all over again.

So - I went here, Knitting Help On-Line Videos to figure out how. I also found this video on YouTube which I thought was very helpful.

All I need now is a lot of practice, and I just happen to be working on my son's checkerboard afghan, so I will use the Continental method to finish it.

Kuba Redux

Well I had to take a trip to the frog pond. The way my M1's were looking on Kuba was really bothering me. They were making a big hole where the increase was. I thought this may have been the way it was supposed to look, but I slowly began to realize that it should not look that way. The light bulb finally went off. I was making the M1 wrong. I thought I had been lifting the bar from front to back, but in fact, I actually was not. What I would do was lift the bar with the right needle (going front to back) and then place it on the left, but what this essentially ended up doing was making the left go from back to front. And even though I then knitted through the back loop, I was actually "untwisting" the increased stitch, leaving the hole.

So -- I ripppppped out all of my work and have now started over, knitting the M1's correctly this time. I've only finished the first two small triangles so I have a ways to go before I get back to where I was before I had ripped - at least 2 weeks worth of work. That's OK, though. I'm not up against any deadlines and I find knitting quite relaxing so having to do a "do over" suits me just fine.

The way I discovered my actual error was when I tried experimenting with my first toe-up sock. (By the way, the Turkish Cast-On is great for this). I was beginning the toe increases, using my M1 method and noticed the holes here, as well. I decided to take a closer look at what I was actually doing, and VOILA! the light bulb went off. I ripped out the toes (yes, toes as in more than one: I'm a 2 socks at once person) but have not restarted the toe-up socks. I'm not sure I like this method, although it may be that I am too used to the cuff-down method. Once I make some headway again on Kuba, I may try the toe-ups again.

Glorianna Update

I am through row 8 of the 2nd repeat of Glorianna. I'm using size 4 US (3.5mm) 24" Inox circular needles. Hopefully, I can stick with this scarf and not rip it out!!!

Glorianna

I decided to rip out the Trellis Scarf I started last week. I just could not get into it. I have now started Glorianna, a scarf from the Elizabeth I series. (It's one of three scarfs). I'll see if I can stick with this. I'm in kind of a rut right now. I'm just not sure what I want to knit. This, too, will be made out of Knitpicks Alpaca Cloud in peppermint.

Trellis Scarf

I started the Trellis Scarf from InterWeave Knits, Spring 2006. I'm using Knitpicks Alpaca Cloud in peppermint. (It's what I used for the Frost Flowers & Leaves Shawl & I have TONS left over. I cast on Saturday, 02.25.06 but really have not done whole lot of knitting on it. It's one of those things that I am not sure I really want to make right now, but for the lack of anything else, I started it since I had the yarn.

I have completed the beginning border chart. That puts me 18 rows into the project (5% complete).

Splitz Top is "Splitz" (& FF&L Progress)

I decided to frog the Splitz Top I had been working on. I just was not happy with it and I found that there were too many errors in the pattern which I really did not want to deal with. (The errata did not catch one of the glaring errors, so I decided it just was not worth my time). Here it is in all its glory in the frog pond...



Besides that, I've got the Clapotis bug again so I started my second one last night using the yarn from the Splitz Top. I am using Patons Grace in Tangello, size 6 US (4mm). It's a 100% mercenized cotton and I like the way it is knitting up.



I'm only through row 109 on the Frost Flowers & Leaves shawl. That translates to only one row of the FF&L knit all week!!! I needed to take a break from it but will get back to it this weekend. Here are my usual stats on my progress...

FF&L: % Complete as of Friday, 11.18.05

WORKING ON 3RD REPEAT OF CHART 2 (5 rounds to go)

One round knit since my last post --> 109 total rounds completed.

• 38,392 stitches cumulative (792 since last Thursday)
• 28% of body completed (0% since last Thursday)
• 24% of entire shawl completed, including edging (1% since last Thursday)

USM Pullover Completed

I finished the Union Square Market Pullover. It came out a little big on me, so it will probably just be something I wear around the house. Oh, well. The sleeves are long, and the bell shaping makes them seem even bigger.




I also decided to FINALLY block my Field of Flowers shawl. This was the first lace shawl I had ever made. I began it in October 2002, and only just finished it about 6 months ago. I figured it was finally time to block it and make it an officially completed object.





Here's a couple pictures of the gang - Adam, Jazz-Purr and Jacob & Cleo. Scooter was too shy this time to have her picture taken. The big question is - will Adam get his hair cut for Jacob's Bar Mitzvah???

Union Square Progress

Well, the weekend is over & it's back to work. Hopefully this week will not be as hectic as last week. Quarter-end close is always such a busy time. Things should slow up a bit after earnings release this Wednesday.

I'm hoping to get the proofs later this week for Jake's invitations. If all goes well, we should have the invitations completed & delivered to us by the end of July. That will give us plenty of time to finalize the guest list and address/print out envelopes. For Adam's Bar Mitzvah, we lucked out and were able to find a font close enough to his invitations with which to address the envelopes. Hopefully, we'll have the same luck with Jacob's. My plan is to mail the invitations by early September, maybe late August. I have to set up a time with the caterer to go over the menu. I was thinking of doing that this week, but may wait a week. Jake will be away for three days this week, and next week, I may have jury duty, so scheduling a time with the caterer may be tough. I may just wait a couple weeks. I can't believe the Bar Mitzvah is less than 4 months away. The nerves are beginning to set in.

I made a little bit of progess on the Union Square Market Pullover. I finished the hem. Using the figure 8 cast on method and 2 needles did the trick. It made it quite easy to "seam" the hem. I'm on the body of the sweater now, and am approaching the 2nd decrease round. I really like the colors I chose. The light blue provides a nice contrast to the navy and will look good as the accent.



I still have a pair of socks OTN. I'm just past the gusset, so things should go fairly quickly, but only if I actually work on it! I'm thinking of casting on for another dishcloth. I finished my first one a couple days ago. It was a fun & quick project.