Monday, May 16, 2005
I might be slipping into a knitting funk. Nothing I've been working so far is distracting me enough to spend hours and hours on. In fact, I've been doing the laundry, mopping the floors, cleaning the house, pulling out weeds, and other various chores that I normally would happily neglect - and have been - in favor of knitting. Clearly something is amiss. Something like my Knitting Groove.
Three start 'n stop projects to talk about:
Dianne
Hey now, a real blocking board!
Can you see the boo-boo in the lace pattern? No? Great.
The front of Dianne has been done for some time now. Nothing but stockinette from here on out and it's so boring, I find it difficult to get myself motivated to finish. Only a few inches completed so far, and it's killing my hands for some reason.
Chevron Rib Tank
 To change things up I started the Chevron Rib Tank, free from interweaveknits.com.
Just a few rows into it and I discovered I didn't like this pattern. The chevron is extremely steep, it practically goes down to the crotch, and plus, it's only on the front, while the back is straight across. Goofy McGoofers. I'm going to rework this pattern to reduce the length of the chevron, or come up with something new entirely. But for now let's just put it aside.
Cotton Tank from Phildar
Once the tank project was nixed, I decided I'd start on something else rather than return to Dianne: a cotton tank from Phildar Tendance Famille, using Cotton Ease in yellow. I like this pattern. It's simple but interesting, which is half of how I would describe Cotton Ease. Simple yarn, uninteresting colors. The price you get for the yardage of Cotton Ease is fantastic, but the color choices are pretty much primary school. Is yellow my color? All feelings revolt, but I'm feeling frisky...We'll see how this goes.
The M1's that make the diamond pattern
in the center are also making small decorative holes.
Filed Under: Adrienne V | Phildar
Friday, May 13, 2005
Thanks to everyone who left such lovely, ego-inflating comments on AJ! I really appreciate it. I put AJ through an unscheduled stress test the other day when I ran a small marathon to catch my train after work, heavy laptop bag in tow. AJ was slipping off my shoulders. I think I stretched that sucker pretty good. But, the buttons stayed sewed on (was worried about that because I did a pretty ad hoc job sewing them on), and sleeves didn't get torn off. Not that that is usually a huge concern, but sometimes I wonder if mattress stitching sleeves isn't strong enough, if I should be using backstitch instead...and now I won't be wondering no mo.
So now I'm focusing back on AV Dianne. For awhile there I was tempted to abandon ship, then decided I couldn't, then sat down and drew my own chart.
My chart's better
I charted only the RS, and color-coded the yarn-overs to better see the diamond pattern. It is soooo much easier this way. Now I'm nearly done with the pattern, thank god. I still made an error, even though I redid the offending row(s) several times it came out the same (wrong). My chart looked ok, so I don't know what happened, and I don't care! You can't tell otherwise.
Filed Under: Adrienne V
Tuesday, May 10, 2005
Finally there is sun!
Pattern: Apricot Jacket from Rebecca 27, duh
Yarn: Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece (80% cotton/20% merino wool) in teal, 3 1/4 skeins.
Gauge: itty bitty on 6/4.25mm needles
Everyone's seen it, everyone's made it. Judging from photos on various sites (it's amazing how different the same sweater can look on different people), and from the magazine itself, the sweater looked like it was running a little big, or had the potential to. I mean look at the photo in the mag: it's probably knit in the smallest size and the model is wearing a frilly, poufy blouse underneath the sweater and it still looks a bit roomy. Dare I even say...ill-fitting? There I said it. Also very very long in the arms. All Rebecca patterns end in very long arms, so this time I took care to revise that.
Notes on knitting AJ:
- Update: I didn't mention the pattern error because my English copy included a correction insert in the magazine. The correction is still on the rebecca site, despite reports that it no longer exists. You just have to search through their news archives. Find it here.
The error is on the back pattern. It should say "10 sts. pattern A, 34 sts. (instead of 40 sts.) as they appear..." That's it.
- Substituted yarn, again. Cotton Fleece was nice. Great yardage. A little splitty but I guess all cotton is like that to some extent.
- Went down two needle sizes for a better fit on my person. I'm practically collapsible so any bit of roominess and suddenly I'm wearing a deflated balloon.
- Stitch markers are powerful allies. Place a stitch marker before starting row 1 of chart, and if you follow the chart up to row 7, an extra stitch will appear after each row before or after the marker (depending on whether you're working left or right side). Once row 8 is completed, move the marker in front of the yarn-over made in row 7, and repeat chart from row 1.
a
- Wow was that above bullet confusing or what. Sorry. I wrote that because the textual instructions in the magazine had me spinning. It was trying to explain the chart but just made it more muddled instead. I would have fared better without having read the text. Just use stitch markers my friends, repeating 1-8, and keeping the yarn-overs in diagonal pattern, until pattern A and B are separated by 2 purls, and then continue repeating rows 9-10. At the point the yarn-overs will be stacked on top of each other.
- Used the back piece as my visual guide for knitting the fronts, as the front left is the same as the left half of the back, and vice-versa. Again the textual instructions confused me a lot.
- Reduced the length of the body ribbing by about 5 cm. Same for the sleeves.
- The front bands, that go in the back. Ah yes. Those things. It was a very ad hoc process. First of all, I disregarded their call to join another ball of yarn to cast on one single stitch. That seemed silly, so I just made an increase.
After knitting the prescribed amount of cm's I kept the stitches live on both sides in case. Just, in case. As I was getting ready to sew them to the back piece, I ended up knitting an extra several cm's more to the bands. They seemed too short that the back neck area would likely bunch up when seamed. So I would seam a little, working from outside in, then knit more length to the bands, a little on one side, then on the other, seamed a little here, and little there, until they met right in the center. Then I grafted the bands together.
- Seaming: the pattern has purl selvedges for the sleeves and body ribbing, which means come seam time you'll be mattress stitching reverse stockinette. In the sleeves it leaves a very visible seam, almost like a ditch running underneath your arm, which can either be interpreted as decorative or ugly. I thought it looked fine, but technically I found it more difficult to seam reverse stockinette. If I were to do this again, I'd knit, rather than purl, the selvedges.
- Did a slip-stitch crochet edging along the fronts and neck, making button holes on the front right. Pain in the butt. I find slip-stitching to be difficult because I always have trouble pulling that yarn through the loop, it naturally wants to tighten as I'm drawing the yarn through.
- Sewed 6 buttons on the front left, going from top to bottom instead of bottom to top. I actually crocheted enough loops for 8, but decided I'd never close the two bottom buttons and it looked funny to have them just dangling.
Very careful consideration (aka preening in front of the mirror) went into deciding where to put the first button, and how far apart. I wanted a deep V-neck, so I started the first button at the point where the ribs stopped, and sewed on about every 3 cm's. It took many many many hours to sew on these few measley buttons, just a clunky, yicky process that I did not like it at all. But now I've learned and the next time it won't be nearly half as bad.
I really like how AJ turned out. Fits well, color is nice, perfect for spring (IF IT EVER ARRIVES). I am suddenly in awe of just how labor-intensive knitting is, especially with a piece like this. Next time I'm going to start the clock everytime I pick up a project. Forget about materials, using labor alone something like AJ would cost about a gaBILLION dollars.
AJ mows too!
I love it when I don't have to figure out what to wear to work the next day.
Filed Under: Completed Projects | Rebecca 27 | Apricot Jacket
Monday, May 09, 2005
But pictures will have to come later. The lighting is bad (sun covered by cold, gray, decidedly un-May-like clouds) and I haven't showered.
To celebrate, I'm making a lemon bundt cake!
Filed Under: Apricot Jacket | Rebecca 27
Friday, May 06, 2005
The last several weeks, 4 separate couples announced they were pregnant, and funnily enough ALL are due in October. What's in the water? A strange global phenom as they're all from different parts of the globe. One couple includes my cousin, and the other, Duck's brother. Hooray, we're officially off the hook! Finally someone in the family is stepping up to the plate. Duck and I get to practice before...anything happens. Anyway now it looks like I'll finally have a chance to knit for someone other than me. Cute baby things!
Any recommendations as to a book of the cutest baby patterns? If you were a new parent, would you like receiving something that your newborn could wear now, as a 3-6 month old, or could wear a year from now? Babies grow so fast...
Filed Under: General Knitting
Thursday, May 05, 2005
I've just been tagged by Adele, or She Who Knits 1000 Projects At Once. This meme is my first ever. It's about books. I like books.
Total number of books in your house ...
For an avid reader, not that many. Well I take that back, there are a couple of factors. First, there's not enough time in the day for me to be an avid reader -- hello, have you noticed how time-consuming knitting is?? -- but for someone who really enjoys reading, there still aren't so many books in the house. Less than 100 definitely. Second, I love browsing through the bookstore, but love checking out library books more. In fact I just went and checked out the America textbook by Jon Stewart, read the foreword by T. Jefferson and already it's the funniest thing I've ever laid my eyes on. Anyway, I have this horrible habit of not finishing what I start. The library cures me of the guilt of having spent $15 on something I might not finish.
The books I do own are mostly classics, especially those involving spirited English girls, instant classics like Harry Potter, non-fiction (plenty on Elizabeth I, various European monarchs, and geek computer crap), and a large stash of travel books.
The last book you bought was …
The World is Flat: A Brief History of the 21st Century by Thomas L. Friedman
Haven't started yet.
The last book you read was …
Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy
Everyone now and then I need a real feel-good kind of a read.
5 (or 6) Books You Often Read or That Mean A Lot to You …
These are books that I not only often read, but books that have made me weep:
Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
The South shall rise again! Great writing, great storytelling. When Melanie on her deathbed tells Scarlett to "be kind to Rhett, he loves you so," I get all choked up. Trivia: This book is the only one I know of that's won the Pulitzer and whose movie won the Oscar.
Bastard out of Carolina by Dorothy Allison
So beautifully written. So bloody sad.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by What's Her Face
Towards the end of the book, with Sirius dead and Harry pissed and confused, Dumbledore tells him that contrary to all well-laid plans, he ended up caring more for Harry's happiness than for his knowing the truth. The chapter closes with a tear trickling down his long wizardy beard. It's tough seeing a grown man cry.
Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
When Matthew tells Anne that he's glad the orphanage didn't send a boy, I start blinking uncontrollably. Great series. All her books are.
Emma and Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen
None of these made me cry per se, but they're my Most Favorite Books of All Time. Wit never gets boring.
And there you have it.
I will next tag Blossom (fellow Taiwanese from the South!), and Carolyn (fellow Bostonian!)
Filed Under: Life
Wednesday, May 04, 2005
I picked out little mother-of-pearl buttons for AJ yesterday at Windsor Buttons. The buttons' own bluey iridescense matches the teal of the yarn. Fantabulous! Only half a sleeve to go...and the slip crochet edging (slip-stitches not so easy, maybe I'll try single)...and the sewing of the buttons, which hey, just occurred to me, I don't think I know the proper way to sew buttons?
I also purchased two more Phildar magazines - the latest spring and the latest spring Famille. I don't know the reason why I haven't completed anything from Phildar when I love their stuff, AND their patterns are easy to follow. Everyone gets a chart! My second sweater was supposed to the Drapey Shoulder one, but it's so far been woefully neglected as I plough through one Rebecca project after another. It's funny how I've been totally on the Rebecca-only train. Kind of just happened.
Tulips in Copley Square
Still too brisk out to really feel like spring, but it sure looks like it. By the way, thanks for all the nice comments you guys left about AJ. I hope to take her on her first Grand Day Out this weekend. Fingers crossed...
Filed Under: Phildar | Rebecca 27 | Apricot Jacket
Sunday, May 01, 2005
Front half of AJ seemed
Instead of casting on immediately for the next sleeve after finishing one, I decided I'd start seaming one side so any adjustments that might have to be made can be done before everything's been knitted and sewn up. I learned my lesson after unwittingly knitting up The Sweater with Gorilla Arms that, after much cursing and way too much math, later became Savanna.
For AJ I went down two needle sizes to a size 6/4.25mm, and for awhile there it looked as if I'd have the complete opposite of the gorilla arms problem, but (angels singing) all is well. In fact I think this is the best fitting sleeve/shoulder I've knitted and seamed so far. No lumpy frumpy bumpiness, and the sleeves are hitting right below my wrist, instead of down to my knuckles as usual with Rebecca patterns.
Two minutes after the post on the Adrienne V. shaped top, I derailed on the lace pattern for the right side and could not reconcile it enough to get back on track. Ripped out a few rows and will return to it once I black out their chart with a big black marker and rechart it myself, following the textual instructions found in the first pattern, in the same book. So same lace pattern, but instructions for one piece uses text only, and instructions for other uses chart only. How odd is that? I did a cursory row-by-row match of the text and the chart to confirm that they actually don't match. So yeah, the chart is crap.
Spring in the Boston Public Garden
To celebrate my favorite month that is May, the month my favorite flowers that are lilacs will be in bloom, I present this lovely picture of spring that is currently awash all over Boston. Unfortunately this picture was taken last year, because this weekend it did nothing but rain. I am so looking forward to warmer weather (not this 55, 60 degree crap) and pleasant sunshine. Boston is so very nice when the weather is too.
Filed Under: Adrienne V | Rebecca 27 | Apricot Jacket
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