Revving up for the Ravellenic Games

The world's biggest Knit-a-long is less than two weeks away!  It's time to get ready. 

My challenge for the Ravellenic Games is to reknit a UFO that I put aside because it was miserably huge.  Like, would have had 8 inches of positive ease huge!  The pattern is the Wood Hollow Vest by Kirsten Kapur, one of my favorite designers. 

I started this about six months after my daughter was born, so I hadn't quite returned to pre-baby measurements yet.  That was problem number one.  Problem number two is that the pattern runs large to begin with.  You might expect me to say that problem number three is that I wasn't getting gauge, but here's the crazy thing.  My gauge was spot on.  I was making the size 40, and the front of my vest was exactly 20 inches.  With all the cabling, though, that 20 inches stretches to about 26 inches.  

Based on the portion that I've already knit, I'm thinking that I'll reknit it in a 32.  A 32!  I usually make between a 37 and 39.  This thing is so stretchy that I don't think a 32 will be a problem.  Other Ravelers have had problems with the vest coming out too big, and Kirsten does say that she intended the vest to be worn with positive ease.  I just like my vests to be a bit snug. 

The first step is to frog!  I should really wash the yarn, too, and hang it to get rid of the crimp.  After that, it will need a few days to rest and get some of the sproingyness back.  I better get busy!

FO: GAP-tastic cowl

Did I show you this yet?  My first FO of 2012.  (And my only FO to date, because the Granny Stripe blanket has taken over my fingers.) 

This would have been very speedy except that I knit it twice.  I didn't do a gauge swatch, so I accept all responsibility.  (Who else would accept it?)  I tried it on several times, and each time I thought it probably wasn't wide enough.  I kept knitting, thinking it would get wider?  I don't know.  I was halfway through the third skein, so 5/6 of the way through the project, when I decided I just had to make it wider.  I frogged it, CO 20 more stitches, and viola!  Three days later I had the perfect width cowl. 

The yarn is amazing and soft.  It wasn't splitty, even after being frogged.  I ordered it during Webs' year end sale. 

Yarn: Great American Yarns Superfine Merino Wool
Pattern: GAP-tastic cowl
Ravelry page

Meanwhile, I'm still crocheting! 

one track mind

Exhaustion.  Hibernation.  Recovery.  Hermitting.  All perfectly good synonyms for January.  This is because

• A: It's cold.
• B: We used up two month's worth of energy holiday-ing.
• C: Well, I guess really just those first two things.  But it seems like there should be more.

I want to be one of those people whose January looks like the cover of Martha Stewart Living: clean and bright and fresh and new and active.  But instead, I look like this:

  All those big plans I had?  Still there.  Still big plans.  Every night I think, "I should go cut out that dress," or "I should measure that swatch and work out the math for that new sweater."  But then I pull out this basket of super bright yarn and mindlessly crochet the night away.  And really, I think that's okay for January.  And look what I have to show for it:

This was a few days ago, so I'm already much further along than the picture shows.  This is Attic24's Granny Stripe Blanket, and I've already made a baby-sized version for a friend. 

The yarn is 100% acrylic, Stylecraft DK something-or-other.  I only use acrylic for big blankets.  This one is for the couch, and I'm glad to have something that is low maitenance.  I bought the yarn from a UK site, deramores.com.  They have a great package, and with free shipping to the US right after Christmas, I got 17 balls at around $2 a ball.  The colors are just what January needs.  I might not be too far from that bright and fresh Martha Stewart start to the year after all!  Just don't look at the rest of my house. 

UGH! Total craft FAIL.

So last night, I finished off the waistband on Vogue 8749, and I did a bang up job of it.  It looked great.  And then I tried it on, and it was so huge, I could almost pull it off with the zipper closed.  I made the size based on my measurements, and I even did a tissue fit, but I guess, since it's cut on the bias, the fabric is stretchy and made for a bigger waistline than I anticipated.  Even though the waist measurement printed on the tissue matched my waist measurement.  Oh well.  It doesn't matter if I was right or not because it clearly is too big. 

I'm going to make it a lemonade kind of situation.  I think this fabric really needs to be lined, so I've decided to rip off all the facing and line it instead. 

Meanwhile, I have gift knitting to do.  So I sit down with my current WIP.  I'm halfway through row 5 when I discover a terrible mistake.  I consider myself an expert when it comes to fudging things.  It can always be eased in.  But not this.  Halfway through the row, I realized that two rows back, I only did half of the pattern repeat.  So half the row is drastically off. 

I've never had to rip out knitting like that before.  But there really wasn't any other option.  So I threaded a needle, made myself a lifeline, and ripped away. 

Now it's 10:48 pm, and I've lost ground on not one, but two WIPs.  And the days are ticking by. 

Back to row 1. 

trying something new ...

I went a little nuts this week reading blogs, being inspired and planning projects.  That wouldn't be unusual, except that I wasn't reading knitting blogs.  I read sewing blogs.  Since Little A's Halloween costume was a success, I started thinking I should start sewing a little bit.

One of my favorite knitting/sewing blogs is Green Apples.  I found her through Ravelry about a year ago, but most of her current creations are sewn garments.  She is crazy talented!  Last week, she shared projects that she'd like to make this fall and winter, and this one caught my eye:

This is McCalls 6048.  I love the belted versions of this cardigan!  They look pretty simple, and I found myself saying, "I should do that!"  So I started clicking like a mad woman and found others who had already made it.  This led me to discover lots of other great blogs and other garments I might want to make.  I also added McCalls 5974 to my queue:

Apparently, this was voted the best pattern of 2010.  Scads of bloggers have said how flattering and easy this pattern is.  I have a serious lack of winter work dresses, so I'm going to give this one a try after the cardigan.

I checked out our local Joann's, the only fabric store for hours, and I was surprised how expensive patterns are!  The fabric selection was so-so, but nothing that I was really excited about.  So I got busy clicking again, and found everything I need online.  I found the patterns for $5 each on ebay, and I bought fabric from fabric.com.

I'm super excited about these patterns!  I grew up sewing, but I haven't really done very much since I was a little kid.  I really had no idea that there were so many people out there sewing fashionable clothes.  I'm excited about the possibilities of making clothes tailored exactly to my tastes, less expensively than buying them.

But I'm also a little apprehensive.  I'm a pretty good knitter, but it took years and years to gather all that information and skill.  I am a pretty inexperienced sewer.  I have all the basic skills, but when it comes to altering a pattern to fit me--sort of the point of sewing--I'm pretty clueless.  I'm of two minds: I'm excited to learn something new, but I'm also not looking forward to not feeling completely competent.  That's good though!  I need to push myself to try new things.

I figured that I could get a little more sewing practice before all my internet booty arrives, so I started on a jumper for Little A.  This is Simplicity 2574.  It has a bunch of different options and adornments, but I went for something pretty simple.

I cut it last night and worked on it for about two hours total today.  Tomorrow, I'll install the zipper and hem it!  It's really dark, so the pictures aren't that great, but I think it's turning out pretty cute!

Meanwhile, I'm still knitting!  No matter how inspired I get with other things, knitting's still my first love!  I'm still slogging through my FLS.  This thing might be the death of me.  I've finished both sleeves, so I just need to knit until it's long enough and call it quits.

I've done the first pattern repeat of my Thundercloud Cowl, and I'm enjoying it.  But I've found two amazing bulky cowl patterns lately that I would love to be wearing right now, since it's finally getting cold.  I cast on for a Super Cupcake in Berroco Ultra Alpaca, but I'm not sure it's the right yarn for the job.  I didn't do a swatch and now I'm kicking myself.  I need to wash a swatch and see how it stretches and blooms.  So I might cut my yarn and swatch, and if the yarn doesn't puff up quite a bit in washing, then I'll frog it and get some Malabrigo worsted, which is what I wanted to use in the first place. 

Here's my goal: finish the FLS before my fabric and patterns arrive in the mail!

cast on!

"Before beginning, thread 360 beads onto working end of yarn ..."

bare needles

So the only thing I really have on the needles right now is my FLS.  I'm feeling pretty bored with it, but I keep on trucking because I want to be done so I can move on to other things.

Somewhere along the way, I think I've become a monogamous knitter.  I think it was with C's vest.  I was so afraid I'd still be knitting that thing at my retirement party that I decided I would just work on it until it was done.  Surprise!  It was done in four weeks.  That method worked so well, I've cranked out one project at a time ever since.

But now I'm getting bored, and I think I need something else on the needles.  Having some variety in projects to choose from keeps my mojo from going flat.

So I think I'm going to cast on a new lace project.  I have all the materials I need to start my Thundercloud Cowl.

Pattern picture from knitpicks.com

I'm so excited to use this Knitpicks Aloft!  I haven't used mohair before, but I've always wanted to.  I'm looking forward to these beads, too.  I'm not usually into sparkle, but for some reason, I'm excited about it with this cowl. 

So I think I'll cast this on tonight or tomorrow, and hopefully the excitement of a new project will seep into my old project, too.

FO parade

While we were on vacation, I started and finished a couple of things.  They need a moment in the spotlight.

On the way to the airport, I bound off the Rose Red beret, a Ysolda pattern.

I used Valley Yarns Deerfield, an alpaca and silk blend in a DK weight. 

This yarn is very inexpensive, but feels like a treat.  Ysolda, of course, has beautiful designs that are fun to knit.  A combination of lace and cables = perfect.

Ravelry project page

I finished Little A's second February Baby Sweater.  It is pretty stinking cute on her.

I lovelovelove this Elizabeth Zimmermann pattern.  It's zippy fast, practical and beautiful.  I used Valley Yarns Superwash in the teal colorway.  I think the bright orange buttons take a sweet, classic sweater and make it just a teeny bit edgy.

Ravelry project page

Then I cast on a Shawl Collared Cowl for my mom using Cascade Yarns Baby Alpaca Chunky.

I'm not quite decided on this one yet.  It seems like there needs to be a button to keep the bottom layer more stable.  If I had a coat on over it, maybe that would keep it in place better.  I have some yarn to make myself one. 

Ravelry project page

I've finished a couple other things since we got home, but I'm still slogging away on my February Lady Sweater.

How wrong would it be to cast on another sweater before I finish this one?

My one and only

I tend to have several things on the needles at once.  Kelly Petkin from Knitpicks has said that you should have seven things going at the same time: something simple for public knitting, something complicated, and about five other categories.  I don't think it through that much.  I just have so much I want to knit, and I don't want to wait.

But this August, I am putting all my knitting energy behind one thing and one thing alone: my husband's wool vest.

I originally tried to design a vest for him.  I put in many hours swatching, making calculations and writing out notes.  But I chickened out.  I am not a pro at cables, and I was really uncertain about how it was going to turn out.  So I went back to the Skye Tweed Vest pattern by Kathy Zimmerman.  So by the time I started this vest, I was tired of thinking about it. 

I was nervous that it was going to take forever, and I really didn't want to string along poor Hubs, taunting him with a never-finished vest.  So I decided that I better just knit like the wind until it was done.  And now I'm pretty excited to see how it's going to turn out, so that's motivating me, too.

This will be the third thing I've made for him.  I've also made a pair of socks, which were very successful.

And a hat, which was mildly successful.  True to form, C lost it upon wearing it the second time, so I only got this picture of him.

It's much harder to lose a sweater than a hat, though, so I think this one's going to be more successful.