Gauge has kicked my ass

Again. Gauge will be the death of me. After 9" of the cable and rib sock, I thought "This looks pretty skinny. I don't know that this will fit over my foot." I was right. I hate when that happens. Check the gauge. Dammit. NOT CORRECT. Rip. Rip. Rip. MAKE A GAUGE SWATCH.

Sigh.

So now I've restarted the sock on size 3 needles instead of size 1. It doesn't look as nice, because the stitches are kind of wonky on bigger needles, but I'm thinking a good blocking should take care of that. And, it might actually fit. Imagine that.

Ribby shell continues - 10" of the body is done. I leave for LA tomorrow, so I'll have some knitting time on my trip. I'm taking my laptop and camera, so hopefully I'll have some travel blogging.

Here's a picture of my mom's first (and last) pair of socks.


Leave me a comment and tell her how nice they are, so maybe she'll make some more.

No new knitting pictures. Progress continues on both the Ribby Shell and the sock, but it looks pretty much like the pictures below. Just a few inches longer.

So, in the meantime, I hope to distract you with this very cute picture of the kiddo...





Oh, I've also required commenters to do a word verification, due to the ridiculous amounts of comment spam I've been getting. Please don't let that stop you from leaving me some (legitimate) comments!

A new look

I've been thinking about re-designing my blog for some time now, and I finally got around to messing with the style sheets in the templates. After a morning of "work" here's what I have. What do you think????

Also, when you look at the blogger navbar at the top of the screen, does it stretch across the screen, or bunch up at the left? Whenever I see it, it's bunched up and I can't figure out how to fix it. Any thoughts?

Pictures, bay-bee!

The cable and rib sock from the Fall Interweave Knits magazine. This is Lorna's Laces in "Cool."



My new swift! It tooks every ounce of my being NOT to unhank every hank I own last night!



Ribby shell. It's impossible to photograph stuff in the round. I almost dropped a few stitches trying to get this to sit on the table.

Last night was Stitch n Bitch, but I forgot to take some pictures. Which is too bad, because I think we had record attendance! Thanks everyone for coming out!

Weekend

I had planned on doing some knitting over the weekend, but that didn't quite happen. We went up to Pennsylvania to see Chris's parents, and go to the Ravens game, and I embarked on what I thought would be a 2 hour project (networking a new computer to an old computer), which ended up being an 8 hour project, over 2 days. Somehow it always works out that way. And it didn't even end well - I still don't know what's wrong with the computer, so I'm not entirely sure I can fix it. Sigh.

But I did work on the cable and rib sock last night, and I really like it. I may have to make a pair for myself, maybe using some of the Knitpicks Essential in brown. I'm wondering how it will knit up - after knitting with Lorna's Laces, I think I'm a little spoiled.

Some progress was also made on the Ribby Shell - I do think it'll look good in the Crayon yarn, and I'm getting used to working with it. Concerning the size issues, I decided to reduce about 20 stitches, which means I'll need to adjust everything else as I go along. Caution to the wind! Adventure! Math! Gulp...

Ribby Ribby Ribby all the time

Not much to report on the knitting front today - last night at Unraveled I worked the first 2" of the Ribby Shell, and when I got home I did another few rows. I'm to the plain front and back, so there's less ribbing. I hate knitting ribbing. Well, not "hate," but I'd rather not do it. I'm getting gauge (by going down 3 needle sizes), but I think it will be too big, as the smallest size is 37" around. I need more like 35". If I were smart, I'd tinker with the pattern to make it work. I think by now we've established that I am not smart. So we'll see how it goes. I may make it too long and try to (gasp) shrink it.

And I got to the cables on the cable and rib socks. I think they'll look great in the Lorna's Laces "Cool" colorway. Love the socks.

Maybe some pictures tomorrow, but don't expect anything exciting. I gave you fair warning!

Crayon Ribby Reborn

Last night I ripped out what I had done on the Ribby shell in the Alpaca, and tried again with the Crayon yarn. It's not too bad once you get used to knitting with it, but I'll need to knit it with a 4 instead of a 6 to get gauge. Which is OK by me. It's described as a "frisee" yarn, and that's pretty true. It's hard to see the ribbing pattern right now, but I think once I get going, I think it'll come out a little more. Not a big deal, since I'm doing the plain-front version anyway. so we'll see how that goes.

I also cast on for the cable and rib socks from the latest issue of Interweave, using Lorna's Laces in "Cool." They're for my mom - hopefully she'll like them, since she's decided she'll never knit using DPN's again. PPPPPFFFFBBBBTTTT!

There's my story. No pictures, as nothing is exciting yet. I'm headed to Unraveled tonight for some SnB, since I missed last night at Panera.

Good news and bad news

Good news first: I finished sock #1 last night. I updated the pattern this morning and sent it out to the test knitters. Whoo hoo! After knitting the damn sock 4 times before I got it right, I'm pretty tired of the sock. I love the sock, but I'm tired of it.

Here's the bad news: I cast on for the Ribby Shell in Crayon. Um, no. I didn't even knit the first round before I decided that I cannot knit a whole adult sized garment in the stuff. It's nice and all, but it splits. Which is too bad, because I think it would have looked OK as a summer shell. And thinking back on it now, I kind of think I might give it another go. Because it would be pretty, and maybe not as fuzzy as I first thought. I can convince myself of just about anything if I try hard enough.

But I digress. I tore out the Crayon cast on, and instead used the Elegance I had bought for the Plum Shrug. But then I realized that an alpaca shell is maybe not the thing I'm looking for when it's 100 degrees outside. Oh yeah, that would be cotton. Like the Crayon yarn. Damn.

So. Here's the plan. Get more of the Elegance to make the ChicKnits Eyelet Cardigan. Cause I can always use another one of those. Try for the Ribby Shell again in the Crayon yarn. Scrap the Plum Shrug. And get the damn pattern for the Rowan Grace Cardigan that I've had the yarn for all summer.

I feel better now.

Oh yeah, some answers to questions:

Heather asked about the color of the Crayon yarn. It's green. Very green. Like this green:



Sarah asked: I'm curious, actually. Do you have some good bulkyweight patterns/suggestions?

Unfortunately I have none. I need to go through my stack of magazines and look for something. When I run across something I like, I'll be sure to add it to my list.

C'mon, folks, hit me with some more! (Shameless, I know...)

Put an interesting title here

I'm almost done with my first self-designed sock! Yesterday I turned the heel and worked all the way down to the toe. Tonight I'll do the toe and make any adjustments to the pattern, and then email the pattern to my test knitters/guinea pigs! I really like this sock. I'm using Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock yarn, which I love - I have a few other hanks, and I'm just waiting for the arrival of my swift to get them into usable form.

Speaking of the queue, I only have one project on needles right now! Must cast on for something else...I think it will be the Ribby Shell, since I have everything I need for it. It's certainly hot enough for a sleeveless sweater! I'm planning on working it up in Knitpicks Crayon. I'm not sure how that will work, but we'll see.

I'm very intrigued by the new fall yarns from Knitpicks. Lots of new colors, and some bulky yarns too. Very nice! Knitpicks continues to be my favorite yarn pusher, especially for basics.

Check out the gallery for new pictures of the gull wing socks and the ballerina wrap sweater.

Ballerina Wrap sweater, a duck and a piano

While waiting for my piano to be delivered yesterday, I finished this:



Dancing Shot


Just because she's cute...


The only way I could get her to pose was if she could hold the duck, stand with De-Da, and watch Miffy afterwards.


Details:
Ballerina Wrap Sweater from Adorable Knits for Tots, by Zoe Mellor. Size 2-4 years. Knit using size 3 circulars and 3 1/2 balls Endless Summer Lara yarn in Azure (stash). No changes to pattern, but as you can see, it's almost too small. I need to remember the kid is tall, and make her stuff an inch or two longer! I used snaps to secure the wrap instead of a ribbon.

My piano is here! I had it moved from my parents' house in Pittsburgh. Ainsley checks it out:


I played it a little last night - it needs to be tuned pretty badly. Of course, it's been a while since I've played, so I didn't sound great either...

Nifty Swifty

Thanks to Monica's fortuitous 50% off coupon from Joann Fabrics, I will in 7-10 days be the proud owner of this:



A swift! I already have a ball winder, so my gear for unhanking hanks will be complete. If I were smart, I would have gotten the swift first, because that's really the hard part. But, I am not smart.

Last night I finished the other sleeve to the ballerina wrap top, sewed the shoulder seams, and picked up ALL 224 STITCHES around the front. I'll bind off today and finish the finishing (haha), a little spritz blocking and voila! Crap, though, I need ribbon. I see a quick Michael's run tonight.

Tuesday Enablers

So I did get my hair cut. Monica took this picture last night - it doesn't really show the hair too much though.



There was stitchin and bitchin going on, as well as some FO's:






And a WIP:


As for me, I'm almost done with the second sleeve of the ballerina wrap top, and I think (crossing fingers!) I might have enough yarn.

I'm also working on a sock of my own design! It's a lace pattern, and I've reworked it about 4 times so far, trying to find the right combination of gauge and stitch pattern. I think I have it, and hope to finish the first one, so I can get my test knitters working on it. No pictures though, this one stays under wraps.

But here's a cute picture...


And a scary one...

Working hard...

...or hardly working? You be the judge.

The ballerina wrap top is getting closer. I finished one sleeve and am about halfway done with the other. But I think I'm going to run out of yarn. GRRRRRR! Elann does carry the yarn still (Endless Summer Lara), but I really don't want to order another ball. Because you know if I do, I'll have to buy something else to justify the shipping. So much for using up some stash yarn!

I was supposed to get my hair cut today, but my hair cutter lady (what are they called - hair stylist? Hair dresser?) cancelled on me. Argh! So I either wait until Thursday, or take a chance on someone else. Probably better to wait.

Suzanne finally got a blog. Check it out and leave her some comments so she sticks with it.

Stitch n Bitch to-NITE!

Gull Wings and Too Much Spare Time

Another pair of socks is done! I don't have a picture readily available of both of them, but here is what it might look like if the socks were in a field of flowers...


Photoshop is fun!

I've finished the back and the left front of the ballerina wrap top - it's so cute. I'm working on the right front, and then on to the sleeves, which I think I'll do in the round. I hate finishing. I'm a slacker.

Unfortunately, I missed SnB last night because I was ill. I still am, but for some reason I'm at work. Not sure how that happened.

Late addition:

Haha, I'm so proud of myself...

Happy feet, happy feet...