A Bit of Head Scratching

I'm kind of confused by the pattern.

Here's the current progress:



I've just gotten to the armhole shaping. Here's what it looks like i'm supposed to do for these rows:

RS: P2, K2, P1, P2tog, rib to last 7sts, P2tog tbl, P1, K2 (54 sts)
WS: K2, P2, K1, K2tog tbl, rib to last 7 sts, K2tog, K1, P2



I'm supposed to be doing that here.

I think this is going to throw the pattern off, but I'm not sure. I guess I've got nothing left to do but go with it, so I guess that's what I'll do.

Fear has set in, but I think I might be ok.

Olympic Endeavors and being a bad girl

I started the Angie Sweater last night. I got quite a bit done during the extremely long Italian Futurism-esque opening ceremonies (which, I'm insane and in a minority, but I actually liked it). I also got a lot done on the train on the way home from Queens. The N was actually making local stops through lower Manhattan, something I hadn't accounted for. Here's a WIP shot:



This is the bottom part of the back of the sweater. It's being made of Knit Picks Sierra which is a wool/alpaca blend.
I forgot how much I like watching the Luge! :)

So I was bad. Bad? I have limited funds, and yet, I continue to buy random knitting things. One is really helpful, but neither was imperative for me to get now. Oh well. What are they? I got Ann Budd's The Knitter's Handy Book Of Sweater Patterns. Some of my Stitch 'n Bitch friends were talking about it last night at the opening ceremonies party we had, and it seemed like a great thing to get. I have all that mohair that I'd like to do something with, and it should be enough to turn into a sweater. Also, my brother recently contacted me and he wants me to knit him a sweater. I can use some of the construction ideas in this book to help me create something that he should like. And it'll be something I created from top to bottom. I like that idea.

The other thing that caused my baddness is just really really good. Rowan's new magazine No. 39. I just saw too many patterns in here to use yarn that I already have to not buy this. There's a necklace that I'll probably make out of the 28K silver yarn that I have. I shrug/shawl that I can make with my Brook's Farm yarn. And a really pretty cardigan that I want to make out of Knit Pick's Shine. I've wanted to make something out of shine for quite some time, and have been looking for the perfect project. There are a lot of projects in there before I can get to that, which is good because I don't really have a lot of money to buy yarn right now.

Well, that's it for now. I've gotta keep at this sweater if I want to even think about getting that gold metal!

WIP photos!!!

YAY!

I'm almost done writing the pattern for the Opera Gloves I was working on. I need to update the status bar on the side. They're totally finished and I'm wicked excited about them. Everyone says that they're great, so that's really encouraging!

Somethign really random happened today. I was walking around my office like i'm wont to do, and one of my friends in Subsidiary Rights plopped a book in my hand. He knows I knit a lot, and I've been looking at some stuff for the knitting book that we're putting out in Fall 06. He plopped the book to the right into my hands. I love the paper that it's printed on, it's a beautiful hardcover book, and it looks like the stories in it are going to be great to read! Right now I'm reading Yarn Harlot: Confessions of a Knitter before bed. Knitting Lessons is going to be the next bedtime read I think.

I got the coins in for the hip scarf but I don't think I'll have time to start it before the Knitting Olympics. I'm trying to decide if I want to start it from the hypotenuse or the point. If I start by the hypotenuse, it would be easier to figure out how many coins I'm going to need. Also, if I run out of coins, then it won't be as bad cause I can fudge a pattern out of the ones connected to the bottom. I have to figure out how to connect them. I'm thinking of using a loop stitch and adding jump rings (so the metal on the coin doesn't cut the yarn itself).

Why can't I start the hip scarf before the olympics? I started the Embossed Leaves Socks this weekend. Here are some status pics.


The yarn I'm using is Artyarns' Ultramerino 4. I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to hand wash these suckers, but I think it's ok. The yarn itself is really soft, and my only gripe is that it isn't wound tight enough to keep it from splitting. It's wound similarly to Karabella's yarns (like aurora 4, 8 and bulky). I'm also trying magic loop on these socks. I've never used magic loop before, so it's interesting. I'm not sure I like the slack in between the needles. On the next sock I think i'll use two circulars.


Here's the detail of how the pattern's knitting up. It's going pretty quickly, and it's pretty fun too! The only socks I've done thus far have been exclusively stockinette, so I'm excited at the change in pace. I don't think these look too overtly girly though. I think I'll actually wear them I guess is what I mean by that. The cast on is a combination of long tail cast on, and some sort of reverse long tail cast on that gives you a ribbed thingamagigie. I think i did it backwards, but that's ok. You're supposed to start knitting ribbing for two rows straight before you join. I find this weird, but alright. I'm slightly nervous that these are going to be a bit too big, but whatever. If they are, maybe I'll give them to my mom and tell her that they're made of cotton instead of the wool that she's "allergic" to.


What a yarn snob! Look at the way his nose is pointed in the air!! No, the bear doesn't have a name. But you can name it if you like (said name must be approved). Obviously the bear is a master knitter. you can tell by the way he expertly holds those needles. I think this is officially the mascot of my blog actually. From now on. So, you folks should definately name him. Yes, it's male. He's very in touch with his masculinity. I'm a picky namer too (hence why he doesn't already have a name, though he was briefly called "Capoiera Bear" for a while - we're not discussing that though).

My knitting olympics project should be ok. I was worried about the stretcyness of the material, but I think it'll be alright. I still need to really get gauge. I went from 10 sts to 10cms on 11s to 12 stitches per 10cms on 10s and I need 13.5 stitches for 10cms. The next step is 8s. This might knit up quicker than expected. One of my Stitch 'n Bitch friends is having a Torch Lighting/Start Knitting party. I'm pretty excited about this...I hope I can do it!

O Gloves

Looks like we had a bit of a rough patch there yesterday. Oh well. I finally finished the O Gloves. I'm in the midst of writing up the pattern as we speak. It's mostly written, but I need to fit it to the template that Wiley's using. The book should be out in September. I'll let you know the title as soon as I know it (I'll probably try to put a link up on the sidebar too!

I still haven't quite gotten the coins for the hipscarf yet...i'll bet they arrive right after the olympics start. Oh well. At least that'll be a planned recovery project. I started swatching for Angie last night. I think i finally got gauge on size 10 needles. I'm really nervous about what this yarn is going to do to the fabric though. I hadn't thought twice about getting a wool alpaca blend until now. The original sweater was done in Rowan Tape, and I can't help thinking now that that's goign to stretch a great deal more than the yarn i bought for the sweater. I guess it doesn't matter. if it's radically smaller than I am, I can give it to my cousin, who might fit into it, but I'd still really like to wear it. I guess the problem now is learning how to read the pattern so that I can figure out what size to read. This is all training related, right?

Whew!

I just ordered some coins from Pillaged Village. They even look kind of middle eastern, so I'm kind of exicted about that. I just hope they're the right size. I think they're 3/4 of an inch in diameter. That might be a bit small, but we'll see.

I'm just about done with the opera gloves. I have to finalize the pattern and send it to the author. I just faxed the release on monday. I still have to send in the real thing. The physical gloves were nearly completed at Stitch 'n Bitch tonight - I just have to sew on the buttons and make a crochet chain to go around them to fasten them. Thanks to that special person who taught me those crochet stitches and how I can use them.

Well, that's all I've got for tonight. I'm too lazy to take pictures of the huge amounts of sierra that I'm not touching yet (I told myself not until the gloves are finished!). I need to start swatching, there's only ten days before the knitting olympics!!!

Maybe in that time I should find out what I really have left in my stash. I should catalog it here along with what I bought it for, and what I currently intend to do with it. It's about time for my hands to start moving as fast as my mind!

The Hip Scarf will happen!

Alright, so I'm almost finished with the Opera Gloves. I have to name them (O Gloves?), finish up writing the pattern, and there are just a few more rows before I add the finishing touches.

What this means is that I'm looking ahead. I went to M&J Trimmings on Saturday to check out what they had. I was feeling inspired from the Belly Dancing class that made me sore for three days after. I found some metal coin things - but they only had one package of 100 pieces. I called them yesterday to see if they were getting any more anytime soon. The verdict is no. They won't be getting any soon. Thing is, these janglies were $4.99 for 100 pieces. I did some looking around on Saturday, and I found one place that had 144 for $95 and another place that would give me 144 pieces for about $18. Now, I'm thinking that I could use anywhere between 200 and 300 pieces, so I'm a little less excited about spending $18 for 144 pieces. I'm at my wits end. Does anyone have any suggestions? I might call my mom and see if she can stop off at a Michaels or a AC Moore or something on her way home from work and mail something like that to me. I'm getting frantic.

For a backup interim project, I decided that I'd start a pair of those socks from the Winter 05/06 Interweave Knits. I posted a picture of them before. The ones with the leaves. I don't really want to do anything on tiny needles anymore, but I could use another pair of socks, and these ones are so pretty!

In knitting Olympic news: My Sierra came in today from Knit Picks! I have it here at work and I need to wind it all and start swatching and all that. I need to really look at the pattern. My yarn isn't going to stretch as much as the Rowan Cotton Tape they used for the original. I also have to really seriously look at the pattern to see how to make it fit. The fact that it doesn't stretch as much might mean a problem. Overall, I thought the Sierra was going to be a bit softer than it actually is. I'll post pictures of it when I get it home.

Also, in web news, my friend showed me a bit of how to take an image in photoshop and turn it into a web layout. I think I'm going to read more about that, but perhaps the look of PassionKNITly will be changing....

Mr. Bo Jangles

Well...good thing I checked my bank account before heading out into the world today. I think the janglies are going to have to wait until I get paid. :(