No Knitting

I haven't knit in 3 days. This (for me) is a substantial amount of time. It isn't that I don't have anything on the needles... You can easily look to the right and see that I have at least 2 projects waiting for me to work on. The problem, I have realized, is that I am unsure of them. I'm not sure the socks are the right size and I'm not sure what row I was on in the Ishbel and it just makes me stop. I just put them down and think about them all day. Should I continue when the socks might be too big and then I would have to rip them back? Should I stop and measure but measuring isn't as accurate as everyone makes it sound. We all remember the dreaded FLS rip of '09when I had to rip back an almost complete FLS, even though I swatched (for the first time ever I might add), because it came out way too small.

I guess I could get started on the shawl pretty easily but to be honest I REALLY don't feel like working with lace weight right now. Even though I am mere rows away from being done with the Ishbel I just cannot look at lace.

So now I'm in a dilemma... and what do I do? I sit and do nothing. I just stare at the socks. Then I hide them so that they don't taunt me and then I pull them out like I'm going to work on them only to start worrying and put them away again. sigh. Somehow, in my mind, if I let them sit long enough then they will magically be perfect and I can start knitting them again. I know I know - Great solution right?

Ok thank you for listening and letting me get that all out there. Back to staring at socks

2009 Knitting Review!

I thought I would recap my knitting accomplishments for 2009!!!

Here they are in order and the awards (Officially given by the Knitting Duck foundation) they recieved

1. Phiaro - Gets the award for Most Used. I wear this thing ALL THE TIME! I love love love this scarf and would probably never knit this again. Hello endless stockinet

2 & 3. Noro Stripped Scarf and Noro Striped Scarf II- gets the award for most addictive knit. I NEVER knit two of something... there are too many other things I want to knit to knit something twice!

4. Happy Birdie - gets the award for "Awwwww"! So cute! and all the seaming is well worth it!

5. Roaming Hat - gets the award for recycling as the yarn came from someone else's de-stash. Bonus!

6. Twirly Skirt - gets the award for stash busting as this was all made from leftovers from the pinwheel sweater! LOVE!

7. Party Hat - gets the award for fun! This was fun to knit and I know my niece has loads of fun wearing it

8. Roses - gets the award for most loved. I know my mom loves having these roses that never wilt... in fact if they get a little dusty you can just throw them in the washer dryer!

9. Roar! - gets the award for scariest hat! Any kid that puts this on automatically feels like a real dinosaur!

10. Orange Hat - This hat gets the award for brightest knit. You can spot this hat from miles away. It came out fabulously and I know the recipient loves it

11. First Socks! - Gets the award for being MY FIRST SOCKS!! and I love them for that.

12. Monsters! - These two get the award for cutest recipient - The little guy I made these two for is SO cute! His cuteness outdoes the cuteness of these monsters exponentially!

13. Bath Blanket - the blanket gets the award for most creative. I know it looks to be one of my simplest knits of all year but I knit it with out a pattern and on the diagonal. So, for me, it was really creative to think up what I wanted and make it happen. Oh and this blanket also went to Mr. Cutie Cute from the above award.

14. Knotted Hat - this hat gets the award for team work. My mom picked the yarn then I found the pattern and then we drove all over portland trying to find the pattern as it could only be bought in hard copy. But our persistence paid off and a week later mom had a hat!

15. Swollowtail Shawl - definitely gets the award for biggest accomplishment. I dyed the yarn and then knit it into this beautiful shawl. My first lace shawl ever! Really loved the way it came out with the pattern and the colors. score!

16. February Lady Sweater - this sweater gets the award for longest. knit. ever. I started this on February 1st 2009 and finished it October 23rd! 9 months! It wouldn't have taken so long if I hadn't put it down for 6 of those months or had to knit most of it twice but oh well... I took my time but still got it done. and I love wearing it!

17. Husband's Socks! - These get the award for endless cables! ugh those one stitch mock cables never ceased to mock me with their neverendingness!

18. Silky Ruffles - gets the award for perfect project for the yarn... I searched hi and lo of a project that would do this georgous yarn justice and didn't find it until I found the pattern for Just enough ruffles. LOVE!

yeesh 18 projects and total skeins used was 26!!! Seeing as my new years resolution last Jan 1st was to have 10 Fo's I would say that I more than accomplished that! Score one for lindsay!

My second new years resolution last year was to make something for me. I accomplished this too in a big way because the FLS, Phiaro, First socks, Noro Striped Scarf II and Silky Ruffles are all for lil' ol' me!!!!

This year I also started dyeing yarn and learned that I really enjoy it. I am hoping to get some more dyeing time in 20-10

But overall I'm quite happy with my progress for 2009 but I know that next year will be even better!

My goals for 20-10 (knitting wise at least) are:

- Knit with some of my dyed yarn
- No yarn buying until at least June!
- Finish the cabled purse I started ages ago
- Make a second sweater for my self (I'm looking at wisteria)
- Complete 19 FO's!

FO: FLS

FINALLY!!!!!

I finally finished the February Lady Sweater that my knitting group started as a KAL on FEBRUARY FIRST! I know! Insane that it took me almost 9 entire months to get this thing done. Obviously I took a break from it for a while not to mention that I knit nearly the entire body twice. TWICE! Remember me talking about it here? Yup pretty frustrating. I basically got back to this same point as before and then put it away for ooohh five months. But about a week ago I decided to pick it back up and just finish knitting it.

So there are multiple factors as to why I decided now to pick this back up now.

1. I'm on a stash knit down diet and have decided that all skeins used in a WIP would count. So I figured BONOUS get 1.5 skeins for just a little more work!
2. I had a bad knitting experience that also has something to do with my last post and really wanted to be selfish and make something just for me and no one else. And as it seems I have a lot of people having babies around me I figured now was as good a time as any to finish up something for my self
3. I love pink and wanted to wear my pink sweater
4. It's getting chilly out (mid 80's! I know freezing!) and I can start wearing sweaters again! Woot woot!




Anyways I know you are tired of my rambling so here are the details!! (I'm so excited!)


Pattern: February Lady Sweater by Pamela Wynne
Yarn: 1.5 skeins of Twisted from Blue Moon Fiber Arts. This stuff goes forever. What a bargain... not to mention less ends to weave in. woot woot!
Needles: Size US 8's
Modifications:Well there weren't a whole lot of modifications needed. But the sleeves I did modify by shortening (I only did 6 lace repeats and 8 rows of garter stitch for the hem) and I also decreased the circumference of the sleeves by decreasing the extra stitches you pick up in the underarm over the next few rows.

Oh and the best thing of all is that the sweater fits beautifully! Totally worth the do-over or rather knit-over!

FO: Swallowtail Shawl

I DID IT! I fought the shawl and I WON!



I had a strict deadline as this was for one of my good friend who is getting married today! How exciting is that!

Being that purple is her very favorite color in the whole wide world I wasn't very surprised that she asked for the shawl to be made in purple as well...

I wanted to make sure that it matched her purple wedding dress perfectly so I dyed the yarn my self... you probably remember me talking about it here

Picking the pattern was easy too as I quickly realized that my friend loved any shawl pattern I showed her as long as it was purple. So I chose the Swallowtail for a few reasons
1. Let's be realistic it's a free pattern! I LOVE THAT!
2. Loads of people have knit this so I knew I could get plenty of help if I got stuck (cough*nupps*cough)
3. I love the budding lace pattern... simple and elegant.





Then I got to knitting... This being my first shawl it took a lot of patience and a lot of reworking but it was well worth it as it came out better than I hoped and the smile on my friend's face yesterday when I handed it over made all the work worth it.

I was pleasently surprised with how beautiful it looked even before I blocked it


But I couldn't pass up using my new lace blocking kit from KnitPicks!

So here are the details of my shawl
Pattern: Swallowtail Shawl by Evelyn A. Clark
Yarn: Malabrigo Lace in Natural color that I then dyed in a lilac purple. This took slightly less that one skein... I swear this mally lace reproduces almost as fast as you can knit it!
Needles: Size US 4's
Mod: This shawl wasn't going to be big enough so I decided to do 19 budding lace repeats instead of 14 but I must say this wond not have gone very smoothly for me if it hadn't been for this blog post by Petterknit. Oh and those nupps? Not nearly as hard as everyone made it sound... just fiddly which was a huge relief cause they were quite intimidating to attempt but came out wonderfully

Honestly knitting this was a pleasure and has made lace knitting one of my new favorite types of project... good thing too as I have loads of lace yarn!

After the wedding is over I'm going to try to get some more proper pictures of the FO... I just didn't have time to take pictures of the Swallowtail in good light.

Now I'm revisiting the FLS! Can you believe it?!?!?! I'm almost done with the body! Woot woot!

FLS: Sleeves!

That's right! I separated the sleeves on my February Lady Sweater! Woot woot!

Just to make sure that I don't encounter the same problem as last time I have tried the FLS on like 300 time. I'm just so worried it will be small again, but so far so good. I think this time around the sweater just might fit!

So now that it seems to still fit I'm knitting away on the lace part of the body. I have noticed that the whole process is going a lot faster the second time around which is really encouraging and the faster pace is keeping me form getting too board.


Princess says: it's getting hot out.

FLS: Starting over

I re-cast on my February Lady Sweater and I have been knitting away. This is where I am at so far.

I am actually pretty proud of my self here because I was really worried that if I frogged the project that I would never start it again. I would just hide the yarn in the bottom of my yarn drawer where it would forever taunting me as the failure project that never was. And we're not talking some complicated double knit, fair isle, steak project (gives me cold sweats just thinking about it), no we're talking about a project that has been made over 4800 times and those are just the ones on ravelry!

When I was learning to drive on a manual shift (my dad insisted, saying I would be grateful for it and really he turned out to be right I'm so happy I can drive a manual and I actually prefer them) and I was having problems figuring it out and getting frustrated, I would just looked around the roads and figured if ALL of them can figure out how to drive and if ALL of them can pass their drivers license test so then I knew I could do it too (of course that was in Oregon out here I'm not sure half the people on the roads actually know how to drive but that's another story).

So now with the FLS I'm using the same technique. If 4800 people can make beautiful, well fitting sweaters well then SO CAN I and I will. Oh you don't know how stubborn I can be (well mom you probably do). I will make this sweater and it will fit me and I will wear it!

Frogged: FLS

sigh

what's wrong with this picture?

I know it looks like a beautiful February Lady Sweater (FLS) to you. And it would be perfect if I were making it for someone about 6 inches smaller than me (in width not height). But I'm not I'm making it for me.

It became quite clear yesterday at my knitting group that it just wasn't going to fit. Even if I blocked it, it still wasn't going to fit. sighAnd I was so close to being done! I mean, look at that lace!


I couldn't even frog it until tonight because I had to the let idea sink in. All that knitting just gone. Now this is my FLS.

I really could have finished knitting it and given it to someone smaller (much much smaller) than my self and under normal circumstances I would have. But this is my special sweater with my special Twisted BMFA yarn. I love this yarn and I love this color so I decided I WILL knit this sweater and I will knit it in a size I can wear.

So lets talk about the project that DIDN'T go completely wrong.

It my Noro Striped Scarf with Rowan Tapestry! I love this scarf. It's just the right width (a little more narrow than the original Noro I made) and I love the rainbow colors.


Look at the pretty colors

I love this scarf.

Ok now to go re-cast on for my FLS

Eeney, Meeney, Minney, Moe.....

Ok, I'm getting a bit tired of knitting the lace repeats on the February Lady Sweater now. So I decided to pick out the buttons that I'll use and will you believe I'm having a hard time deciding? I know! Who would have thought. Me. Indecisive.



So these are the three I narrowed down too. I really cant decided because honestly I think they all look great. I love them all for separate reasons.

The first ones: From Jennifer and I Love the chocolate color with pink and the heart shape is really cute.

The second ones: From the Button Drawer. They are goldish in the center silver towards the edge. I like the colors and I did buy this with the FLS specifically in mind because I love the antiquey design they have.

The third ones: I also got from the Button Drawer. They are Mother of Pearl with a little design carved in. They also shine pink in the light and I like that.

My husband says either the chocolate hearts or the goldish and silver ones. But honestly I like them all so I thought I would ask for your opinion. What do you think? Which ones would you pick? Or perhaps seeing as how I have three button holes I should just do one of each?

HAHAHA just kidding just kidding. But I had you going there for a second, didn't I?

WIP Update

As promised yesterday, it's time for an update on my Works in Progress.

First the Noro Striped Scarf II which isn't actually made with Noro but rather Rowan Tapestry. But the Rowan offers the same effect and it was in my stash. Couldn't argue with that!

I'm really loving the way the colors are coming out. I just can't wait to see what the finished product will look like.



and HERE is my February Lady Sweater!!!

Look I separated the sleeves and everything!! I am now plowing my way through lace repeats.

Although I have to say you ladies, working on the same sweater with me, seem to make this lace go much faster than I can manage. But I'm getting the hang of it finally and I'll keep knitting away and soon I'll be working on the sleeves! woot woot!

The Mac is Back!

My trusty MacBook is back safe at home... completely refurbashed!!! woot woot! It's so weird having a computer with nothing on it. It's a blank slate just waiting for me to pile information into it. At this point I can even delude my self into believing that I can develope and adhere to a whole new organization process in order to make sure everything is easy to find and that I wont have duplicates all over the place. Clearly labled foldersm, dates and names that represent, in a systematic way, what each file is and best of all a clean desk top. I'm sure I can keep it up for oh about 8 minutes. But until then, I will have the most organized computer on the planet!

Something I learned from this experience is that sometimes we all need a "go to" that will offer an instant smile and good mood.

Whenever I'm stressed, down or about to go into a tense situation I just watch this video and I feel all better....



I know you are worried about my knitting becuase it has been so long since I have given you an update. Rest easy in knowing that during this whole Apple melt down I was still knitting away on my FLS and Noro Striped Scarf II so tomorrow (because my computer is finally back home where it belongs) I will be able to show you up dates! woot woot!

The Success of the Eyelet

Yesterday I promised you a picture the progress on my February Lady Sweater...



I know it doesn't look like much but really there's a lot of hard work and perseverance that got me this far. The pattern calls for 38 YO to be distributed evenly over 207 stitches. Now it doesn't take much to figure out that 38 doesn't go into 207 evenly. Nope I had to do some heavy duty math. 3 times. Yup I'll admit it. I'm not afraid. I'm not ashamed. I had to redo the eyelet row 3 times. I re-knit it three times and I still have one extra stitch (shhhh don't tell). My solution to this problem it to just knit two together on the next row cause I really can't stand attempting this a fourth time.

So now I head forth in to new territory (for me at least). I shall attempt the separation of the sleeves!!!

Dragging weeks

Lately the weeks seem to be dragging... well dragging until I get to the weekend and then it flies by!

I think this is due to a particularly heavy work load that results in decreased knit time. I seem to be making hardly any progress Sunday through Thursday. I'm excited when I get one or two rows done before I'm falling asleep face first into yarny goodness. I then drag my self to bed where I attempt to read. Books that use to take me a day or two to read now take weeks! Weeks I tell you! I read like 3 pages a night and the first one is review from when I fell asleep the night before.

But on the weekends I spend hours trying to make up for lost time. Like today for instance. I woke up at 9:30 and sat on the couch knitting at my leisure. It was fabulous. I got all the way to eyelet increases on my February Lady Sweater which is great progress for one lazy day and tomorrow I'll be able to make it all the way to the lace! Woo Hoo!

Tomorrow I will show you pictures of my progress.

What's wrong with this picture?

I was sitting on the couch, knitting away on my February Lady Sweater and look what happened!



Ahhhh!!!! THE YARN BROKE!! My Blue Moon Fiber Arts yarn broke. I really have no idea how this happened and the break looks quite clean. I would suspect Princess but she hasn't seemed interested in this yarn... plus she's an eater not a chewer and there were no wet ends (big clue). Anyways I fixed it but I was so excited that I would only have to weave ends in once because of how big the skeins are and now just rows into the beginning I'll have another join. :::sigh::: It's ok though. At least I have the buttonholes figured out, FINALLY.

But I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this was just a fluke in the yarn.

WIP: KAL Style

Look what I started yesterday!



It's the February Lady Sweater for our Knit Along! or in other words it's the WIP of my FLS for the KAL! HAHAHA maybe I should just rename it the Acronym Project.

Anyhow I am very excited to have finally gotten this on the needles. We have been talking about and planning this KAL since December! It took a lot of restraint but I waited for the group cast on yesterday. I even did a swatch! So out of character but it had to be done as this is something I want to get a lot of use out of once it's done and the best thing to do is make sure it fits right. I'm loving the Twisted in Rose Quartz from Blue Moon Fiber Arts (or BMFA) it's a gorgeous color and I love that the color variations are so subtle. Plus that ball you see is 570 yds! that means I only have to sew one set of ends in!!! Fantastic!

If you are interested in joining or following the KAL check out the U-Knitted Amiras blog... and don't worry I'll keep you update on my progress ; )