Time for another installment of Knit-a-palooza! And I have some finished objects and a tragic tale of woe for you all this week…
First off, here are the results of the DC/MD/VA primaries:
As you can see, they’re already in use. Aren’t they lovely?
As soon as they were finished, I went back to my sweater sleeves. I had read on Ravelry to be careful about remembering to do the sleeve increases at the same time I was working on the cabled bit, so I had marked off the increase rows to be sure I didn’t screw them up.
I was sick with a cold, so I got a fair amount of knitting in on Thursday and Friday. I was so excited to have finished the chart for the pattern on the sleeves last night:
Don’t they look great? I thought so too.
That is, until I decided to read the pattern to see what I needed to do next and how much further I had to go with just plain stockinette stitch for the rest of the sleeve. That’s when I discovered that I had left out half of the increases: I only increased 2 stitches on every increase row, when I should have increased by 4. Of course, I could have avoided this by, you know, actually reading the directions for the increase row instead of just skimming them. D’oh!
So this morning I unraveled all my work back to where I went wrong, and this is where I am now:
Sigh.
So, what’s needling you this week?
“Knit me the fabric of your thoughts.”
Sorry about your tale of woe, but don’t feel alone, I have taken out more than I have produced, at least it feels like that, but I consider it all part of the learning curve and yes I did the same thing, sailing along thinking I was doing it right and lo and behold, pattern said different.
I wasn’t too upset about it. I had just been noticing that I thought the sleeve was looking a little skimpy, but didn’t realize why until I just happened to look at the directions for the increase row.
And of course, it’s faster the second time around. π
I’ve ripped out a lot too, CG. Remember my sock from a bit ago? I finally discovered after trying to get the lace pattern to work correctly that the chart didn’t show the plain or “rest” rows between pattern rows. I had to rip back out to the toe shaping and go from there.
It looks a bit funny on my foot because I’ve started the heel shaping and the sock is longer than I could pull on. Here it is flat.
I’m finished with the yoke of the sweater I’m designing for my grand-daughter. You can see the stitches for the neck shaping and the fair isle running down the top of the sleeve.
I’m working on the body now and will go back and finish the cuffs & neckline when that’s done.
I was just lucky I noticed before the sleeves were finished!
Sorry about your sock do-over, but it’s looking good now. And I love the sweater for your granddaughter. Is that an extended opening there at the neck, like for a placket?
I’ve never knit anything from the top down, but I want to try it one of these days.
Yes, I was aiming for a Henley neckline but didn’t take into account that I’d need room for a placket. Rather than frog back, I think I’ll work around the opening in light blue single crochet and then the dark blue of the fair isle – maybe even make crocheted buttons on one side and loops on the other. The design is still evolving {g}
Hi, CG, good for you with the socks, they still seem to hard for me…here is what I’ve been working on:
I just finished this top today and below is the knitting bag I am almost finished with, still have to sew in the lining and crochet the straps.
Oh I forgot to add about the blue top, I made up my own pattern on this and crocheted it in the round, so there are no seams until the shoulder, it worked pretty good. I took all kinds of measurements so I would get it equal and the right size, used safety pins for markers for neck and armhole placing. Iused two different stitches, shell and single crochet and three kinds of yarn.
They both look great. You are quick, too!
I love knitting in the round for avoiding seams – I probably should have done that with my sweater sleeves.
My son just came over and I had him snap a pic of me wearing the above sweater/shell, looks much better on than off.
Very nice! π
It looks great, Diane. I like the shell stitches in the body.
Thanks DB, after I made my poncho, I realized that anything could be made in the round,(and I saw your comment about the sweater you were making) so I just applied that to this and started from the bottom up. I just make up the color mix and stitches as I go along, so I don’t know exactly how it’s going to look…after making a few of these I am getting better ideas of where to put in colors and change patterns.
The one I did last week I am going to tear out as it has a couple mistakes and doesn’t satisfy me as to how it looks, but I sure learned a lot.
I love working in the round and have rewritten patterns in order to avoid the dreaded seaming {g} Crochet is fun and easier to design in than knitting because it’s easier to rip back and not lose a stitch with just one loop to worry about. A few years back I made over a dozen different puppets for my youngest daughter to use in her first grade class.
The knitting bag really caught my eye. Kind of a “first among equals” kind of thing. It’s just gorgeous.
thanks about the knitting bag, here it is finished and filled with a project. One side is solid green and the other is multi.
BTW, saw your comments down below about learning to knit, I just started to knit in Nov. and crochet a couple weeks ago, so learning goes pretty fast. I find crocheting to be easier than knitting and you only need one tool, but you do need a variety of hooks for different projects.
This is all so lovely! Since discovering that our wonderful nieces now know how to knit, I’ve been inspired. But where to go to get started? (They now live two states away, damn it all, or I’d just ask them.)
I’ve never had any artistic talent or any real luck with crafts, but this is creative, calming–and practical! Any pointers would be great! Many thanks in advance.
Knit shops and, sometimes, Senior Centers or adult education programs offer beginner’s lessons. Or you can get a skein of worsted weight yarn and some needles (I suggest 10½s as a good size to start with) and go to Knitting Help dot Com for videos on how to do the stitches and follow along. They show how to cast on, do the stitches, increase, decrease, & bind off.
It’s a fun craft and rather addicting once you get started. A good first project is a dish cloth made from cotton yarn (Sugar & Cream, etc). Cast on 28 stitches and knit every row until it’s square. Cast off and run the yarn ends in.
I want to second Knitting Help. The videos are extremely helpful.
I started in January with a pair of size 9 needles and a skein of cheap polyester. I would actually recommend starting with a less fuzzy yarn in a light shade because it is easier to see your stitches. Any big craft store will have all you need to get started. There are a gazillion free patterns on the net and a gazillion websites devoted to knitting, many of which have good photos and descriptions and tips and such.
Knitting really isn’t as hard as it looks and once you learn how to cast on, knit and purl, and cast off, you can pretty much make anything.
Here’s a list of local-to-you teachers and yarn shops. I saw that Knit Happens offers classes for 2 hours on Saturday afternoons for 4 weeks for a total of $80, which is pretty typical of what you’ll find. One of our local shops here offers $6 classes, where they teach you the knit stitch in an hour, the purl stitch in an hour, but I haven’t seen that anywhere else.
That same site I linked also has a listing of knitting circles where people get together and knit, which is nice after you’ve gotten started; if you’re working on something and get stuck, there’s always someone to ask at knit night. And of course, we’re only an internet away here. π
Thank you so much!
But I have to admit, I almost fell out of my chair laughing when I saw “Knit Happens.” Oh, holy cow, is that ever funny! Great name for a store.
It’s amazing how the little ones can inspire. Actually, I have to stop saying that. Our nieces are young ladies now!
(((sigh))) We’re not their parents and even we wonder where all the time went! I just think it’s great that I can follow their example.
Thanks again!
It is amazing how quickly little people get big. My baby is going to be 13 soon!
I hope you have fun with it…and of course, we’ll all be wanting to see how you’re doing with the learning process. Kamakhaya just started knitting this winter too, and she’s cruising right along.
Thanks for the vote of confidence! I’ve been at a Pagan convention since Thursday and will be returning in a couple of hours. I had to come back home to take KamaKid to a meeting. Grrrr. At any rate, on Friday morning, I was in the lobby of the hotel, sipping my morning coffee and knitting when someone ran up to me and gave me a ribbon for my badge which read “Knotty Knitter”. It was great. I feel like a “real” knitter now. :>)
On Thursday night, I was showing KamaKid how to knit when I completely screwed up on the hat I was making for her. I had to rip the whole thing and start over. Sigh.
So, no new pics to share this time. The hat looks the same as it did last week.
I’m loving the sweater, CG. Between the great color and the Celtic knot work, it’s looking fine. It’ll be even better the second time!
Diane…you continue to amaze me. The project bag is fabulous.
BD, I think that sweater is just amazing. I really love the sleeve pattern. Fair isle is perhaps even more intimidating to me than socks, but I’ll get there!
Thanks for the compliment! Fair isle isn’t difficult at all. The main points are follow the chart and be careful not to pull the yarn too tight between groups of stitches. Look for an easy pattern like this leaf design that only uses two colors – three stitches of color A, three stitches of color B, repeat and move one stitch over for the next two rows, then move over to the A areas and mirror.
XXX XXX XXX XXX
XXX XXX XXX XXX
XXX XXX XXX XXX
XX XXX XXX XXX X
X XXX XXX XXX XX
XXX XXX XXX XXX
But, CG, I know it’s winter and everything, but you reallllly need to shave your legs.
Don’t you be pickin’ on the fur now…
Hello all you talented, crafty ladies! It’s so much fun to see all these inspired projects. It’s nice to think that we are all part of a weekend knitting collective consciousness. I too, had to rip out and reknit several rows several times last night because I wasn’t paying attention to the directions. 10:30 PM is probably not a good time for a knitting nerd like me to start a new, slightly complicated pattern!
I did manage to finish this little hat last weekend – I like how a little black angora yarn can really spice anything up :
Very cute, I like the pompom. π
And sort of funny that we’ve pretty much all been doing some unraveling this week. BTW, I think I should be back where I was on my sleeves later tonight. Whew.
Yes – “collective unraveling” I think it’s called. Very Jungian.
I broke down and bought a pompom maker last weekend.It’s so much fun – I have to find some other things to pop them on! Ask refuses to wear them (though he’s great at making them) and I don’t have
any pets who will wear them on sweaters without protest.
“Yes – “collective unraveling” I think it’s called. Very Jungian.”
FWIW, the name for pulling the needles out & unraveling that’s used on most knitting blogs is FROGGING as in Rip-It, Rip-It. Very appropriate for the Frog Pond {g} If you go back one stitch at a time, it’s called “tinking”, tink being the reverse of knit. I’ve done an awful lot of both over the years.
I finished the bottom ribbing of my grand-daughter’s sweater last night and will work on the neck & cuffs today. Photos next week. CB, I can’t tell you how much I enjoy the Weekend Knit-a-palooza threads.
Hi DB –
Thanks for those fun knitting terms. I love that
they actually make sense. Knitters are so reality based.
Love your sweater and spontaneity!
I’m looking forward to seeing the sweater next weekend!
I’m glad we’re all having fun with the Knit-a-palooza. It’s a nice break from all politics all the time.
What I want to know is when someone is going to knit me something like this.
Or George something like this.
Although George hasn’t gotten a haircut yet, so he has plenty of fur.
You can always hope, FM. There is definitely a lot of talent around here. You’d both look great.
I have one similar to this:
But wouldn’t mind one like this:
Yep I can hope. π
I had a chance while living in Europe to buy a lot of nice sweaters. Although for the last 20 years I haven’t lived in cold areas so they would have gone mostly unused. Plus with age I’ve seem to put on a few extra pounds, so they probably wouldn’t even fit today.
Now that I think of it, I guess a sweater wouldn’t be used too much down here. π
However, I do like those sweater in the pictures.
You want the guy or the sweater? Just kidding – losing my mind a little bit! But I think
you’re hinting around about getting a new, handknit Norwegian sweater, which I will be
happy to help you shop for during this summer’s trip to Norway.
shopping is good…because you’re going to be knitting that Greenjeans sweater for yourself first. π
It’s lovely in Malabrigo worsted, btw…
As I said last weekend – you will have to come here
and coach me as I torture the pattern and yarn into something that barely
resembles the sweater. No way I can do that one on my own!
What is Malabrigo worsted?
Malabrigo is a yummy squishy yarn that comes in great colors.
I can come up and coach you through the pattern. I’d actually like to try that one too, and I think once you get started, you’ll whip right through it.
We should make a knitting date! Sounds fun.
But I just noticed a problem with that pattern – the smallest size is medium – it would probably be unbelievably difficult to refigure stitches. Damn.
Maybe I could find another knit in the round & top down pattern. I also have to research the Malabrigo yarn stopping at the yarn store today for sure!
I think the sizing on that runs from XS to 3X. But maybe you can look at other patterns while you’re yarn shopping. π
Oh boy – classic case of not reading directions carefully already! I was looking further down in the body of instructions where it gives instructions for M &up only directions. Not a good start – but great news. Well, I wound up with a really nice new, knitting magazine with a few great patterns you can peruse when you get here. π