Happy FO Dance! || March 04, 2003 ||11:24 am

The Margrite sweater is finished, and I'm wearing it today. On Sunday I knit until I thought my hands would fall off! (That can't be good.) I'm happy with how it came out, and have gotten several compliments on it. Of course, ever the perfectionist, there are things I would do differently if I were to do it again. Mainly, I would make the ribbing on the bottom of the body tighter and longer. For some reason, I used the same number of stitches for the ribbing as the main body. What was I thinking? Ah well, live and learn. It's still pretty good, and Scott insists that it doesn't matter.

I'll work on some small things until I get the rest of the yarn for Henry VIII ( I have to figure out which color to use for the elusive Autumn, and order it.) I also have some ideas for more designs.

On Saturday I watched Amelie, which my darling bought me as a surprise random gift. I love this film, everything about it, and watching it, I think every single shot looks like a painting. You can tell the director storyboards everything - I always like movies like that. Anyway - here's how this relates to knitting: I'm going to design a sweater inspired by the look of the film. At one point I noticed that in many shots of Amelie in her apartment, everything is red, except for a tiny accent of yellow or green. So I'm going to do a fair isle cardigan in different shades of red with some yellow and/or green. It will have set-in sleeves (I've always suspected that you could do a set-in sleeve in the round by knitting the sleeve caps with steeks, and last night I randomly pulled Jade Starmore's A Collector's Item off my shelf, and found that her Elizabethan Jacket uses this very technique.) And the borders will be a picot hem. My plan is to order some J&S colors when I order my Autumn substitution, and start swatching. If I can do it in time for the March 31 deadline, I'll submit a swatch and sketch to Interweave Knits for their winter issue

A good day for finishing || March 02, 2003 ||12:51 pm

It's a rainy Sunday, and I have no plans to go out today. I'm in the middle of finishing my Margrite sweater. I haven't set in very many sleeves before (never mind designed them), so it's been good practice for me. The first sleeve is set in, and I'm taking a break before doing the other one. Then I have to make the cowl. Since I'm using the eyelet rib pattern stitch, I can't easily increase to make the cowl get wider and floppier, so I'm going to use progressively bigger needles - from size 4 to size 7.

I'm concerned that I made the body a bit too big. I don't know what I was thinking when I calculated it. And of course I didn't realize my error until I was most of the way up the back, so I didn't feel like ripping out by then. It's only an inch or so wider than I'd planned, but that could obviously make a big difference. We'll see. I can't really try it on right now, because of the holders holding the neck stitches (I tried). I think it will fit okay, just not the way I was originally planning. Note to self: in the future, check your math!!!

I'm also working on a hat for my hat booklet - here's a photo in progress:

I'm knitting a long strip, which will go around the head horizontally, and then I'll pick up stitches along the top and make the top of the hat circularly.

Back to my finishing!

Resisting tempation || February 26, 2003 ||4:48 pm

Today on the ASOF list they've been talking about Nordic Fiber Arts, a source for the Norweigan yarns used in Norsk Strikkedesign and Poetry In Stitches. I checked it out and it is taking every fiber of restraint I possess not to order a kit for the swan sweater from NS. I got as far as putting it in my shopping cart, then I backed away and viewed my credit card statement online instead. An effective deterant.

How I wish money grew on trees. Or I would win the lottery. *sigh*

I am trying to console myself with the fact that I just got a teaching gig, doing a beginning knitting class at Makor, part of the 92nd St. Y. This will bring in some decent money, and maybe then I'll let myself buy that kit. Here's hoping I can resist until then...

Up late on a school night || February 24, 2003 ||12:37 am

I picked up my camera several days ago, and have been wanting to post some photos up here, but it's been so cloudy, and also I've mostly been home at night, so I haven't been able to get any decent photos. (Granted, I'm not a very skilled photographer.)

But I couldn't wait any longer, so here goes - dark but visible, heres Glen Albyn:

and here's the front of the sweater I'm designing:

and the sleeves in progress:

The sleeves are progressing relatively slowly because of the eyelet pattern, but I'm enjoying working the pattern so that's okay. Too bad the picture's not so good - it's a really pretty stitch.

I got my yarn for Henry VIII! I bought most of it from Pat Kirkland's store Yarn Barn - Pat's an ASOF member, and what great service I got from her! She was extremely helpful and patient while I was figuring out some substitutions, and once I placed the order, I got the yarn in just a couple days, despite the "Blizzard of 2003." Yay, Pat!

Here's hoping I'll finish this sweater soon so I can start working on Hank.

Snowy holiday weekend news || February 18, 2003 ||5:03 pm

My camera is fixed! But I haven't had a chance to pick it up from the repair shop, so you'll just have to wait a few more days for a photo of the completed Glen Albyn. I'm so happy that at least it's sitting somewhere safe, back in one piece.

I spent the large part of the holiday weekend watching season 1 of "24," which my husband rented on DVD, while knitting on my Margrite sweater. The back and front are complete, and they only took 3 balls each! Since I have 12, this makes me feel good - in my experience, most sweaters take about 1/3 for the front, 1/3 for the back, and 1/3 for the sleeves. This sweater will have a cowl, so I wanted to make sure I would have enough for that, and I'm no longer worried.

One perplexing thing I noticed while working over the weekend is that my guage hasn't been entirely consistant. It's not noticable when I look at the pieces, but my swatch was 6 sts/in, and parts of the finished pieces seem to be as much as 6.5 sts/in. I think it's mostly around 6.25. But since I'm designing this one myself, the guage inconsistancies have been stressful, mostly for the calculations of the armhole, shoulder, and neck shaping. I had to do some re-calculating midstream. And in fact, I re-knitted the shoulder shaping on the back 3 times before getting it right! I hope someday soon I'll get better at this...

I also started one of the hats for my hat book. The yarn is Aurora 8 in a sea-foam green color, and I'm knitting the main part of the hat as a strip that will go around the head. Then I'll sew it together to form a tube, and pick up stitches to shape the top of the hat. I'm doing a really simple cable pattern. Looking at stitch patterns, I had the urge to go with something more complex, but I'm trying to keep these hats really simple. Most knitters aren't as crazy as me and the knitters at Knitting Beyond the Hebrides.

And my last bit of knitting news is that I've ordered the yarns for AS's Henry VIII from Tudor Roses. (If you'd like to see a photo of the sweater, go to the Photos page of KBTH that I just mentioned above - it's under Stranded Color.) I've been wanting to make this one for my dad for a long time. Last week I found out that I need to have surgery on my vocal chords, which will cause me to be stuck at home not allowed to speak. Just think of all the knitting I'll get done!!

Glen Albyn finished! || February 10, 2003 ||10:33 am

After an entire week of sewing down steeks and weaving in ends, Glen Albyn is finally completely done and wearable! I will post a pic soon. I haven't had a chance to get my camera fixed yet, but I think I can borrow one from my office. The sweater came out beautifully, and I'm excited to wear it to a knitting class tomorrow that I'm assistant-teaching, and to my knitting group on Wednesday.

I've started a sweater out of my yummy Margrite. I'm designing it myself. It's going to be a cowl-neck with set-in sleeves. The sleeves will be in an eyelet rib stitch pattern that is very pretty. I think it will be a challenging design for me, since I have to figure out the sleeve cap. But I like a challenge! And I'm sure I'll learn a lot.

In other design news, I've done a bunch of sketches for my hat book. I'm going to show them to Berta on Thursday and also get some of the new yarns to play with - including one that's 100% cashmere! Yummmm...

Glen almost done || February 03, 2003 ||4:22 pm

hello! Long time no write.

My dear Glen Albyn is near completion! The sleeves are both done, I knitted the neckband (twice - perfectionist that I am), knitted the left button band and just have 2 rows plus the bind off on the right button band left to knit. Then I'll sew down the steeks (Starmore and other traditional Shetland patterns have you sew them at the end rather than machine stitching them before you cut like, for example, Norweigan patterns). And finally weave in the ends.

Oh and I have to get some buttons and sew them on. I just found out that One World Buttons, a great button wholesaler, is opening their doors to the public for retail sales February 13-16 and 20-23 from 12-7. The address is 41 Union Square West, Rm 311. If you're in NYC, you should check it out - they have really great buttons.

I may break down and wear it without buttons as soon as it's done, since I rarely button my cardigans anyway.

In other knitting news, it seems that many of my friends from the Upper West Side knitting circle are making the hat I designed in Margrite. Unfortunately I have been too busy to go to the meeting for the last 3 weeks, so I haven't seen this phenomenon in person. But I just got my own hat back - it was sent to Patternworks to be photographed for their catalogue. I'm so happy to be wearing it again!

Still haven't gotten my camera fixed - wish I could show you some pics of these events...

I am cursed. || January 29, 2003 ||3:17 pm

Life has been just a series of mishaps for the last week, but I'm trying to keep my chin up. This morning I woke up at the hour that I'm supposed to be at work, and my boss (not the yarn shop, my other job) was very nice about my being an hour late, saying that she knew I must have needed the sleep. I'm very fortunate that I work for someone so compassionate!

I wish I could show you a progress pic of Glen Albyn. I'm about halfway down the 2nd sleeve. I lugged it in with me today, hoping I could get some more done at my knitting group this evening, but I scheduled a knitting lesson with a new student, so I won't be able to. Ah well.

I'm also working on socks with Koigu, in a pretty purple. I'm using a pattern from Knitting on the Road, I can't remember what it's called, but it's actually the one calling for Koigu. However, the pattern is written using size 0's at I think 8.5 sts/in, and I thought it looked nice on 1's at 7.5 sts/in. (Or anyway, I didn't feel like using 0's, since I always break them.) So I adjusted the stitch count accordingly, and I also omitted a bunch of fancy stitchwork just below the cuff. The result is a lacy cuff, then plain stockinette with a little cable on either side, which will go from the top all the way down the foot until the toe shaping. They're very pretty! And I'd forgotten what good subway knitting socks make.

I still haven't had the heart to get back to my hat, but I'd better do it tonight since I think Berta expects me to bring it in to work tomorrow. I may not get any Glen Albyn knitting done tonight! Grrrrrrrr...

Modern Technology and other mishaps || January 27, 2003 ||10:34 am

It was not such a good weekend.

Thursday night, having just completed Dylan's sweater, I reached for my digital camera so I could show you all a picture. And dropped it on the floor. The camera, that is, not the sweater. It broke. The problem seems mechanical, no parts appear to be broken, they're just not fitting together the right way. So, sadly, I won't be able to post any pictures for you anytime soon. This seriously bums me out, since that's really the whole point of this blog. Hopefully I can get it fixed soon. Lord knows I can't afford to buy a new one. (Probably can't afford to get it fixed, either, but we'll see.)

I also finished on Thursday night my Margrite hat. It came out a little too tall, and the decreases were making the top have 6 corners, instead of being round. When I showed it to Berta, she liked the hat, but didn't like the corners and thought if it wasn't too tall, if it sat right on the top of my head, they wold be stretched out to a circle. So she suggested some surgery. Rather than unravel the whole top part, she suggested taking it off the bottom, by pulling on a stitch, stretching it waaaaaaaay out, and snipping the thread. Then you just pull off the bottom section, pick up the now-raw stitches and knit down from there.

I was intrigued. Seemed so simple, a technique I should definitely learn. So we did it. Only, turns out it doesn't work so neatly in fair isle. I haven't finished it yet, but I think it's going to look really bad. And she told me how I can fix the pattern with duplicate stitch, but in the end, it will have taken me longer to do all this than it would have to rip out from the top. Furthermore, I was not so unhappy with the hat, and would have just left it the way it was if I had known it would be so much trouble. I haven't had the heart to get back to it. I feel like she ruined my hat. And worst of all, I'm really mad at myself for letting her.

So Saturday I was pretty grumpy. But I eventually got over it and Sunday I had a really nice day. But then Sunday night I accidentally erased all the data in my Palm Pilot. And 10 minutes ago I spilled coffee on my keyboard at work. (I did this last month and broke the thing, had to order a new one. This is the new one.) So far, it seems unharmed.

But really, what is going on with me?!? I'm feeling a little bit like I need to stay in bed for a few days. Or crawl under a rock.

Okay, that's more than enough whining. Knitting content: Glen Albyn is coming along nicely - I'm about 2/3 down the 2nd sleeve I think. And every day picking out my clothes, I long to wear it.

Bad, bad Alison! || January 22, 2003 ||11:24 am

I broke my promise. Sort of. Here's my story: I very dutifully got back to Dylan's sweater with the wrong dye lot yarn. I finished the second sleeve, and then blocked it. So there it was, damp and pinned out, and there was nothing left to do on it for the evening. So I went ahead and cut the 2nd armhole steek on Glen Albyn and picked up the stitches for the 2nd sleeve, despite my promise not to do so until I'd finished D's sweater.

I have no willpower.

But it's so cold and I really want to wear Glen Albyn right now! And I promise I won't do anymore until D's sweater is done.

Here's a picture of the sleeve with the odd dyelot - can you see where the change is?

I can see it, especially in this picture, but I honestly think it's only because I know where it is and am looking for it. Scott couldn't tell at all. But he's colorblind, so we can't really go by him, can we?

Everything happens for a reason. || January 21, 2003 ||2:41 pm

On the second go-around, my latest hat is coming out much better than then first time knit it. I came up with a better way to deal with the break in the pattern at the end of the rounds, and I also had some design inspiration for the top of the hat. I'm going to put another braided band at the top before I begin the decreases. I think this will give the hat more structure. So as it turns out, it's a good thing it didn't fit right the first time, because now it will be so much better!

I have resolved not to start the second sleeve of Glen Albyn until I have finished my cousin's Christmas (!) present. I've been avoiding it because I'm so very very ashamed that I ran out of yarn. I got another ball but it's not the same dye lot. While I don't notice a difference yet, I fear that it will be painfully obvious once I start knitting with it. *sigh* This sweater has been cursed from the get-go. Next time I'll just buy Dylan something with Spiderman on it.

Actually, maybe I should have knit him a sweater with Spiderman on it!! Then he might actually like it. He's 4, and gets excited about absolutely anything with his beloved Spidey on it. Somehow I don't think he'll care at all about receiving an Aran sweater. I'm just hoping his mom is happy with it. Once I actually finish the stupid thing. Which will be imminently. Really it will.

Happy MLK Jr Day || January 20, 2003 ||7:54 pm

I finished a sleeve! Here's a pic:

Needless to say, I spent a lot of time on my couch this holiday weekend. At this rate, I will definitely be able to wear it this winter... maybe by February? Well, probably not. But a girl can dream...

The bad news is, I had to rip out my entire hat. I got up to where I was going to start the decreases, and tried it on. It was a little too snug. Scott also commented that it looked a little tight, without any prompting from me. So I ripped down to the bottom band (I like to do these braided bands on my hats - you'll see when I finish the thing). I didn't want to make the band over, because it's sort of a bother, so I increased over the row after the band, figuring it will be good for the band to be snug. I'm kinda bummed about it, since I was almost done and it's SO COLD OUT I could really use a cute hat, but what can I say, I'm a perfectionist when it comes to my knitting.

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