Major Knitter

Size Matters

Knitting patterns vary so much in their sizes.  It can be so annoying.  Thank goodness I took the time to compare my knitting with an actual piece of well-loved perfect fitting clothing for size.

I cast on for a Large sweater and began the waist band.  When I held it up after a few rows, I thought to myself "This isn't large, it's HUGE!" and I was right.  I'm comparing it to Secundogeniture's favorite hoodie and it's about 4-5 inches larger!  My gauge on the knitting is spot-on, it's just a case of non standardized sizing in knitting patterns that so often drives me crazy!  Good think I caught it early.  While I know that my thirteen year old boy will grow from his 6' frame... I'm hoping he grows more in heighth than in girth.  I'm going to make the sweater Medium (which will still be a little bigger than this hoodie, but will allow him some room to grow.

Back to the drawing board...

Favorite Friend

I'm knitting a favorite pattern again.  It's like an old friend.  I just pick up the project and it seems to knit itself.  It's comforting - reassuring.  I think that's what I like about it.  

I'll probably have a FO to show you in another day or two.  An entire adult sweater in just under two weeks.  Can't beat that!  And there is hardly any finishing to do when I'm done knitting.  Life is good!

Button, Button

It's finally button time!

These sterling silver garnet Faery buttons are really the perfect buttons for the Faery Ring.  They're the Faery Ring buttons of Regalia Fiber Tools by Minnow Creek Studio that were created especially for the Faery Ring jacket.  

Don't you just think that these are the perfect buttons for this project?

Cuffed

While watching my Twilight marathon, I managed to finish knitting the cables for both cuffs.

I swear they're the same length - it's just the angle that makes the front one look longer.

See - here are the cuffs, one on top of the other, and you can see that they are the very same length.

Tomorrow I'll seam the cuffs, pick up the border sts and knit those smooth edges.  Can't wait!

Saturday Sewing

I ended up canceling all my weekend plans as I got sick and did not dare venture out and make others sick. After a visit to the doctor and pharmacy, I took my medicine, and slept most of the day.  When I woke, I decided to watch Eclipse - inspired by the fact that my final DVD was shipped yesterday and I hadn't yet seen the 3rd movie, which I thought would be a good thing before watching the fourth DVD - Breaking Dawn Part I - in the Twilight series.

This was the perfect movie to watch while I picked up my Faery Ring to sew the button band seam.  

When you look at the entire Faery Ring, you can see that there was a great deal of sewing - up one side, around the hood, and down the other.  It took me several hours to sew.

I am optimistic that the button band will flatten when the entire Faery Ring is soaked and blocked.  

Here's a close-up of the bottom hem of the Faery Ring.

The button bands are puckering quite a bit now, but when flattened, they appear all right... so I have faith that a good blocking will work wonders.

There you have it.  I made some significant progress on one of my oldest UFOs.  I plan to work diligently on both cuffs tomorrow so stay tuned for more pictures.  Who knows - I could be wearing this for Valentine's Day.  Wait.  Even if I finish knitting everything by then, it will be soaking wet in just three days.  That may be a bit too optimistic.  But I will continue to knit on.

 

Resurrected!

You probably thought you'd never see it, but here it is. I picked up the Faery Ring this week to finally make some progress.  I intended to sew the button band at my Wednesday knitting group.  The button band starts at the bottom right hand of the sweater, goes up along the body, completely around the hood, and down the left hand side of the sweater.  It's knit and folded over and sewn, so that's some serious sewing to do.  

 

You can see where I managed to sew about 4 inches of the button band.  Now only 94 inches to go (OK - I exaggerate).  Unfortunately, I didn't bring any extra yarn with me, so instead I knit the lattice cable strip for the cuff.

Since this size pattern didn't have any instructions for the sleeves, I'm winging it.  I also decided that without a pattern, it would be easier for me to knit the sleeves from the top down, in the round, so that once I'm done, I'm done.  No sewing.  You know how much I HATE sewing!  But this creative process means that there will most definitly be some bumps in the road.  My first attempt at the knit-on cuff was a disaster.

 

Look at the perpendicular join to the sleeve.  It's horrendous!  This cuff is getting ripped out!

I think this will work.  I think I can do it.  I just hope I'll have some quiet time to sit at home in front of the TV and work on this.  It's getting too big to be portable!

 

To Knit, or Not to Knit

Or better yet, WHAT to knit.

I need to be inspired by my current WIP queue and I'm not really sure which one is calling to me the loudest.

Here they are in the order they were cast on:

1. Appalachian Trail Birch socks (these don't really count - I always have socks on the needles!)
2. Aidez - cast on 9/10/2011 - I only got as far as the waist band.
3. Eco Quilt & Cable Blanket - cast on 8/1/2011.  I was confused about the wrap, but now I got it.  Personally, this one is pretty high on the list… mostly because Lisa just got her yarn, and I know she'll be done with her entire blanket before I even pick mine up again.  Not that I'm competitive or anything!
4. Alhambra - cast on 9/21/2011 - I like this one - but it's lace, so I have to give it 100% of my focus.
5. Faery Ring - cast on 11/01/2009 - I'm very, very, very close to being done with this one.  If I could just pick it up and focus on it for about one week, it would be done.
6. Floral Jacket - cast on 6/18/2008.  This one has been sitting for a very long time.  I can't put it in the ZZzzz pile because I'm afraid if I do that I will never, ever, ever pick it up again.

Leather and Lace

When I knit lace, this old Stevie Nicks song comes to mind.  I probably shouldn't have a song running around my mind when I'm trying to pay attention to two-sided lace knitting.  Really, I need to concentrate 100% when knitting lace - so it's perfect knitting for fall football games.  I really couldn't care less about football, but I like to sit with BF while he watches, so we sit and he watches while I knit my complicated lace.

This is Anne Hanson's Alhambra and I'm using some old metal Bates needles which are absolutely perfect for lace.  I intended to use some Signature Stilettos, but truth-be-told, these Bates needles are ideal.  Stay tuned for the next 90% of this scarf.  I should probably throw in a life line about now.  

I Get By With a Little Help From My Friends

Thank goodness for talented knitting buddies.  Today we met for knitting and Michelle - aka the Mattress Stitch Master - helped me pin my Ribby Cardi sleeves and showed me how to professionally mattress stitch them in place.

So now, my Ribby Cardi is *this* close to being done.  All that is left is to weave in the loose ends; pick up and sew the collar; and finally, sew the zipper in place.  I've already tried it on and it's going to be a "Go To" sweater for the fall.  I can hardly wait.  

Thank you Michelle!

NGH* --- (*Not Gonna Happen)

at least not now.

I should learn that I can never put down a lace project and expect to be able to revisit it later and simply pick up where I left off.  It's just not going to happen for me.  My post-it-note place marker lost its sticktuitiveness and fell off the pattern's chart so I had to try to figure out which row I was on all by lonesome.  I can read lace charts and I can read my knitting.  I guess I just haven't quite achieved the ability to read my lace knitting!  So I'm going to frog this one and I'll decide if I want to start over with this same yarn or on another day begin with the lovely red/black yarn I originally purchased for this.  

The silver lining on this epic failure? I only have five WIPs/UFOs in my queue.  Woot!