Major Knitter

Finishing Friday - Finally!

I'm finished (I think) with my Faery Ring.

I wore it all day this week... and even though I think I need to go back and rip out the button band and pick up fewer sts (it puckers and flares) - I am not sure I'm ready to do that.  

POSITIVE COMMENTS - 

• This is a really warm coat.  It's more than a sweater.  
• It's too big for me.  I take that as a positive comment because I see myself larger than I really am.  I could have made the next size smaller and it would have been fine.
• I love the look of the hood and tassel.  
• I bought way too much yarn for this project, fearing that I wouldn't have enough.  Suffice it to say I'm thinking about knitting an entire sweater for myself out of the leftover yarn.  I'm thinking another Ribby Cardi may be in my future.

FIXES FOR OTHERS

• Remember first, that the directions are not complete for the larger sizes of the Faery Ring - so I had to wing it.  I picked up too many sts for the button band.  While I thought it looked fine when I picked them up and knit them, once I sewed the band, I noticed the puckering and flaring.  Since it was more than 400 sts, I was loathe to rip it out.  I know now that I should have.   I probably will some day, but not today.
• The hood is too big and heavy.  It weighs down on the coat and when I wore it unbuttoned, it pulled off on one shoulder and I constantly had to tug it and put it back on my shoulder.  I'm not sure what the answer is here.  On the Wonderful Wallaby, there is a K1, P1 neckline after the body of the sweater and before the hood.  It has fewer sts and the ribbing pulls in the sweater.  More sts are then added for the hood.  I think this might be a good fix and something worth trying.

Now I need to get some black slacks and a black turtleneck to wear with my Faery Ring and really show off the coat's handiwork.  I'm really pleased with this project that took more than 2 years to knit.  I love the design and the cables.  The silver Faery Ring buttons are the perfect addition to this beauty.  I am just thrilled to pieces to have finished it in time to wear while it's still winter (even if the temperatures say otherwise).  

 

Project Update

Thanks for all your votes on my WIPs and UFOs.  

I decided to finish the socks (since I was traveling and they were easy).  So here's a peak at my Appalachian Trail socks in Cherry Tree Hill sock yarn in the "birch" colorway.

These are a gift for a Scouting friend of mine.  I think they'll be really appreciated.  

Now that these are complete, I need to concentrate on finishing the next project.  The votes nearly unanimously came in for the Faery Ring - and I agree.  I'm very close to finishing it.  I think I can focus on it this upcoming week and still wear it this winter.

I do want to focus my energy on the Alhambra, too, as it's intended to be a gift for a friend.  I'd like to give it to her this winter.  Maybe I can finish the Faery Ring next week and the Alhambra the following week.  

How's that for some serious knitting goals?  Did I mention that BF will be traveling a lot in the upcoming month?  I'll have lots of alone time to focus solely on my knitting.

Thanks for all your input and votes of confidence.

Sorry to all of you who are still pining away for a finished Floral Jacket.  She's not on the short list... yet.

Ribby Cardi

I finally finished the once ill-fated Ribby Cardi.  I cast on for this sweater in April 2009 and feverishly knit for a quick finish.  Unfortunately, after I blocked all the parts and was ready to sew, I realized I had made a huge mistake in the sleeves.  I frogged the sleeves and shoved the project in a bag in the back of my knit nook.  There it sat for nearly 18 months.  But in August, in my frenzy to finish UFOs, I resurrected it and reknit those sleeves, carefully paying attention so they wouldn't face the same fate as their antecedents.  It worked.  I seamed the pieces together, sewed in the zipper, and wet blocked the entire cardigan.  Yesterday I debuted the sweater and am happy to say, it's a keeper.

There are a few things I would change next time - 

• I'd take 1.5-2 inches off the sleeves.  
• I'd add 2 inches to the body.

And you know how I like to repeat a pattern when I like it (can anybody say Wonderful Wallaby?) - so I think I'll definitely make another Ribby.  Of course, I wear so much black, that the first color that comes to mind is the eye-numbing, blindness causing black.  Sigh.  Good thing I recently got an OTT lamp.

 

Finessing Friday - Go Around Again!

Do you remember way back in 2009 when I was zooming through the Ribby Cardi and it looked like an actual sweater FO was on the horizon?  

Then *BAM* there was a problem with the sleeves - they would never fit the armholes.

I cried.  I bit the bullet. I pulled the plug.  I frogged.

I ramen noodled.

And then I did nothing.

And then I did some more nothing.

Months passed.

Seasons came and went.

Secundogeniture entered middle school.

Primogeniture became a senior.

And finally, I decided the time had come to conquer my fears.  And I cast on for the sleeves once more.

I carefully knit the sleeves checking my progress against the pattern at regular intervals.  I entered the dreaded sleeve caps with fear and trepidation.  And this time, I completed them successfully.

So now my two newly knit sleeves are blocking - waiting to be joined to the body - and become one Ribby Cardi.  I suppose I really should have jumped immediately back into the saddle.  Two years was perhaps too long.  I can almost taste the sweet success of a FO.  

Finishing Friday - Red Sampler Blanket

Thanks for all your input yesterday.  I really enjoyed hearing your picks and your rationale about which WIP/UFO you wanted me to finish next.  Many of you are pining to see me fall back in love with the Floral Jacket.  Lots of you picked Faery Ring - since I'm so close.  A whole bunch of you thought like I did - finish the Palindrome scarf since it's a quickie and then move on to one of the three sweaters.  So that's what I'm doing.  

1. Palindrome Scarf - because it's a quickie.
2. Faery Ring Sweater - because I'm so close to the end
3. Well... then it gets tricky.  I guess I'll wait and see how I feel after finishing those first two and see which speaks to me.  I am enjoying checking some of these projects off my To Do List and I'd like to keep this up.  But I don't want to make promises I can't keep.  It's already bad enough that these projects have been in the UFO pile for oh-so-long.

So, now, let's focus on the 3rd FO of the week.  I proudly present a project I cast on in June 2008.  Now after three years and two months, I've finally finished the Red Sampler Blanket.  

* APPLAUSE *

Hmmmm....I put three blankets to Zzzzzz on Ravelry and am starting to think that perhaps I should pull them out of hibernation and finish them... someday.  For now I'm going to finish the two UFOs I promised to finish above.  Then I'll make a decision about what to do next.  Who knows which project will speak to me then.

 

 

Pink is Perfect for Shopping!

Here's Take II on the Market Bag

This is Beth's Re-Usable Grocery Bag with optional side seams.  The pattern is quick and easy so I highly recommend giving it a try.  I opted out of the optional side seam because my brain got distracted and erroneously decreased the size of the bag on my first try.  This time it's absolutely perfect and my pink bag can hold lots of groceries!  It's also very happy.  I think I should make some more.  How about you?  Have you cast on for your market bag yet?

Details:

US Size 7 circular needles
US Size 15 circular needles
Worsted weight Brazilian cotton yarn from my stash (or use Sugar n' Cream, etc)

It's quick and easy.  I hope you'll make several, too. 

Finishing Friday - Julie's Tessarae Socks

I am happy to announce a FO for Finishing Friday.  More specifically, I finished my niece's socks - aka - Julia Bulia's Tessarae Socks.

Please disregard the funny angle - I know it distorts the socks and makes the feet look larger than life.

I plan on shipping these off tomorrow, so they should arrive sometime next week.  Wear them well Julie!

Finishing Friday - Fish Hat (Dead or Alive)

It's Finishing Friday and I made a Bright Shiny Object that also qualified as Instant Gratification.

I knit up a Fish Hat (Dead or Alive) by Thelma Egbert from Knitty 2008 for our upcoming winter Klondike campout.  It's going to be great fun with the 2+ feet of snow on the ground (and more coming this week).  I can hardly wait.

I used Brown Sheep's Lamb's Pride Worsted in various leftover bits and bobs to make this whimsical little guy for my little guy.  I can't wait for the snow games to begin!

What I Did On My Snow Day

Aside from shoveling, that is.

Is a lot of knitting.  In fact, I finished the hood on the Orange Wonderful Wallaby.  

It's such a bright ray of sunshine on such a snowy day.

Oh! Odessa

It's Friday and I took a break from the Faery Ring to finish an object in my queue.

For all of those who take self-portraits in the mirror, I am in awe of you.  I found it very challenging.  

I laughed my head off!

... and tried again.

Focus, focus

OK - that's about as good as it gets.  This is much more difficult than it looks.

But the good news is that I have correctly knit Odessa this time (patient counting was the secret to staying on track!) and it's ready to go to my friend to warm her during her chemo treatments.

Be well!