Think before you speak

A poem by Smooth E, aka Eric Shwartz.
I sit when i pee.
I pee when i Sit.
I sit when i pee.
But i stand when i......Shave.

Hump Day

I've realized that I am in a slump. I have so many different projects going on right now and I have done bupkis. I am working on a quilt which was supposed to be started at a baby shower and nothing got done so I am left working on it myself. I have a scarf (which should be easy) and a sleeve...yes, you read correctly, a sleeve!...left to go on DD's February lady sweater and it's only a 3/4 sleeve not full! I am in the pit of despair! No, I'm really not. I guess I've been caught up reading. Something I don't do very often. Pick and choose my battles. That's what I'm doing. I think I'm losing.

Note to Self...

I have been busy with many projects as of late. I have just completed a humanitarian project which required lots and lots of baby booties. Needless to say...I am all bootied out. I also completed "Global Warming" by Suvi S. for my DD. It came out very cute. I used recycled cotton in red for her charter school colors. Very simple pattern. I don't know that I even looked at it except for the math and the puffed sleeve part of the pattern. I find it odd that when I use the smallest numbers for the pattern and generally a US 7 needle I end up taking an adult sweater down to fit my prepubescent elementary school aged child. I guess if it works...stick with it. I have passed that "technique" if you will, on to my next project which happens to be the February Lady Sweater. I think that's what it's called. This one is in a light, almost ice blue also for school. DD seems to be cleaning up on sweaters this year. This being my first lace project I had to knit and frog quite a few times because I kept losing my place. I think I did the first rotation of the pattern 4 times until I realized...DUH! It's lace! The holes are supposed to be there! And then frog again. For as simple a pattern as this is, it is taking me quite a long time to complete. Seriously!

The Lazy Days of Summer

Once again the heat and my children have prevailed upon my time thus enticing me to procrastinate my latest project. But alas, my deadline has prevailed. The lazy days of summer are coming to a close and I am excited! Who knew.
It has been a long time coming but I have just finished sewing on buttons to my most recent FO. I haven't done this toggle button thingy before and I think it shows. I patterned this baby hoodie after one from the Drops website but I made some changes. Firstly, I knit this in the round from the bottom up instead of in pieces. Why sew the pieces together when it is a raglan top? Useless. Secondly, I dropped the garter stitch trim and used a ribbed bottom and trim for the sleeves. I also dropped the single row of purl st on both the body and the sleeves and got lazy about the pockets. Who knows, maybe I'll add them later if I get a wild hair. It is knit in Bernat cotton which I got for a smokin' deal at Joann's. The colorway is kind of a celery. I used US 10's even though the yarn label called for 7's. I thought that might be too dense and the 10's made the FO a bit softer. Knit for a baby boy due next weekend. I hope mom likes it. That, however, remains to be seen.

Babies, babies, and more babies!

It is that time of year again when people are trying to be skinny to no avail. Some of them have excuses...I, for one, do not. I am in the process of making another baby gift for a friend. She is due at the end of August and so I have put it off too long. This will be her first child and it will be a boy. Boy gifts are a lot harder for me than girl gifts because there is so much to choose from in the way of patterns for girls and even some of the patterns for boys look too girlish to make for a boy. Perhaps that is my own view. My dear husband has deemed himself very much a "manly man" and cannot be bothered with things that would threaten his man card. His answer to all my questions is "fine." What does that mean?!!! Fine is his way of saying "I'm not really paying attention but I'm sure you won't leave me alone unless I give you some kind of answer so I'll give you the most noncommital answer that won't evoke any further conversation." Who knew so much could be in one word. So I knit on...I am making "Tom" from Rowan's archives. It's a little vest and so far I'm a little confused as to how it will turn out. I guess we'll see. I have two more gifts to get started on and finish by December. I suppose that doesn't sound like a lot but at the rate I knit or find the time to knit, it might just take me that long. My biggest problem is in picking out the pattern for the gift. Every time I look at patterns I find something that I'm sure would look so cute on me. I guess I'll have to stop that.

AUSTIN

This is my first pattern so it may be a little sketchy. My wonderful test knitters at Ravelry Chra and SLOrnamentals have been a great help in this process. This pattern is for personal use and not for resale. Please do not copy this pattern or its pictures in any way.

This hat is an oversized hat not meant to be fitted to the head as a proper hat would be. The sizing can easily be adjusted by adding or subtracting 5 sts from the band. It is knit in the round and on DPN's in US size 7 needles with the exception of the brim which was knit with US size 5 needles. It is a very tight knit except for the band so as to give it form and not be too floppy. Should you find any errata please let me know. Thanks

AUSTIN

An oversized newsboy cap. (21 ¾”)

Materials: Worsted weight yarn. Size US 5 straights, size US 7 DPNs, and 16 “ US 7 circs. Yarn needle. 5 markers one different. One safety pin

Gauge: The only gauge I measured was sts per inch because as the type of hat it is, row count should not really matter. 17 sts per 4” single strand st st with size US 7

Band
CO 95(105) one strand with size US 7 16” circ.
PM Join being careful not to twist sts. Knit st st 1 ¾ “. Purl one row then knit st st 1 ¾” and BO leaving 24” tail. Fold, purl side (WS) in tucking loose end in and sew purl sts from RS together. Folded edge or purl row is top.

Hat
Yarn doubled. Pick up 95(105) sts on folded edge and knit 1 row. PM at beg of round. PM every 19(21) or evenly distribute sts between markers..
Row 2: *K2, P to marker . RPT from * 4 more times. Continue for 2”
P2tog on each side of k sts every other row until one or no sts remain between k sts switching to DPNs when necessary. K2tog each set of two knit sts. Cut yarn for finishing. With yarn needle pull yarn end through all sts tightly and finish.

Brim
Size US 5 needles yarn doubled.
Fold hat in half and mark center with pin. Pick up and knit 43(48) sts
Row 1: P 26(29) w&t
Row 2: K 9(10) w&t
Row 3: P 12(13) w&t
Row 4: K 15(16) w&t
Row 5: P 18(20) w&t
Row 6: K 21(24) w&t
Row 7: P 24(28) w&t
Row 8: K 27(32) w&t
Row 9: P 31(36) w&t
Row 10:K 35(40) w&t
Row 11: P 39(44)
Row 12: K 43(48)
Pick up st next to band onto R ndl. P first st from left ndl and pass picked up st over. (first BO st)
Continue BO to end purlwise. Sew end into next st on band

-For personal use only. Not for resale. Do not reproduce.-

Almost there

Yesterday I checked my pm's on Ravelry to find a great surprise...one of my testers had finished! Yay!!! I know for those of you who write patterns all the time this is probably nothing but I was excited nonetheless. It is a pretty basic pattern but I was worried that what I thought was basic would end up being wonky. I'm glad to know that I'm not as entirely demented as I had previously thought. The testing process has been an interesting first. I have learned a few things. First and foremost, put everything up front for your testers. For example, I gave them the list of techniques they would need to know, I also discussed that I couldn't pay them for their help as this would be a free pattern. One thing I forgot to mention, however was a time frame. I wished that I had done that but since I didn't I thought it better that I not add that in all of a sudden and so I wait. Patience is another thing that I have learned. I think it a great thing that my testers have different abilities because then I get the whole spectrum of problems that may arise. I consider myself a moderately advanced beginner so seeing what other people think and how they interpret my explanations was very helpful. Gauge is another thing I didn't consider too much but now I see that it does make a difference even with an oversized hat. My gauge was apparently really tight because some of the problems with sizing or holes etc. didn't seem to affect my finished project as much as it did to my testers. They have been a great help in my own learning process and I thank them. Kudos to Chra and SLOrnamentals on Ravelry.

Austin unraveled

I have finally figured out what I did for seaming on my project Austin. I know that sounds stupid but I liked the fact that the seaming didn't look like seaming but it wasn't all one piece either. Since figuring this out I can now finish up a pattern and send it off to my lovely testers at Ravelry. And when the testing is complete I can post my first pattern. Yea!

Quick Baby Gift

It is nearing the end of May and I realized that I have a baby gift due in June. So I ran off to Ravelry to find a quick gift for a girl. I thought about trying Blossom which is a wrap dress by Melissa Wastney but for some reason the sizing wasn't coming out right. It seemed very small even though I used bigger yarn and a bigger needle and used the largest size the pattern had. Though I didn't go through the whole pattern, it said it was knit in one piece and I only CO 72 sts for the bottom. I will probably try that pattern again when I have more time to think about the pattern and make the necessary adjustments. As for now, I just wanted to do a mindless project that I could complete easily with the hopes that it would be useful. I decided on a seamless kimono by Jacki Kelly which I got off Ravelry and it turned out to be very simple. I added ruffled sleeves and a ruffled edge on the bottom only because I didn't feel like doing a garter stitch edging. I really need to expand my horizons and get a book on edgings. I had eyed a book at my LCS but I didn't buy it. I hadn't figured on needing it. But now I am changing my tune. The Kimono was easy enough that I just wrote down some notes from the pattern and went to work. I am not so sure about the ruffles, I have never done ruffles before so they might have turned out more "ruffley" than I had intended but overall I guess it is okay. The only problem I had with the pattern was I had one too many eyelet holes for the I cord. I used Bernat Soy Naturals in Celery and Rice. I did two toned because I ran out of yarn and I got them on clearance.

Another FO

FO seems almost vulgar to use but I have completed my Starsky Jr finally. It sat on the back burner for quite some time. This took less than 4 skeins of Bernat softee chunky which was a thicker yarn than the project called for. I didn't do any adjustments to the pattern to compensate. Overall it worked. If I were to do it again I would make the neckline deeper in the back because the collar comes up too close and I have to situate the sweater just right to make it look right. I think my seaming skills could use some help but that's only because the shoulders weren't quite right. I made one mod and that was to not make the sleeves folded up. I made them a bit long so DD would have room to grow. The length was fine. The actual color of the sweater, though you wouldn't know from the pictures, is navy blue...or dark blue as the yarn label says. I have only buttons left to find and sew on to it but other than that it is complete. Hooray! I have a pattern to write up for Austin and then start on my design project for a jacket. I'm really excited about the jacket. I have in mind what I am going to do and I just need to find yarn and then do it. I have not written my own patterns before so this will be interesting. But thanks to the wonderful peeps at Ravelry I will have willing volunteers to test it out to see if my mind is completely wonky. As far a the Starsky Jr project went, it was fairly simple considering the fact that it was only my second sweater to date. It was also my first attempt at blocking and I think it went horribly. I don't think I took the time to really understand the concept of blocking because we were on our way out of town. I think I'll need more practice. But at the very least...it's done.

Almost done...maybe

I have completed all the pieces for my Starsky Jr however I have reached the point that I have to block. For some reason that just doesn't appeal to me and I just want to go ahead and seam the beast then knit the collar. I have read so many articles touting the importance of blocking but it still doesn't click in my head that I can do it. I think that the best time for me to do it undisturbed would be when we take a trip so maybe it'll have to wait until then so that nothing will "disturb" it. On a side note, I saw a scary spider today that was big, black, and furry with a large white dot on its back. Needless to say, I leaned down to look at it and in the back of my mind I was thinking, "there is no way that this spider will jump." I rushed into the house and looked it up on the internet and lo and behold it was a jumping spider! EEEK! Nature never ceases to scare...amaze me!

Update Starsky Jr

Lately I've been starting projects and then not finishing them. I think I have 3 WIP's on the needles and...oh make that 4 on the needles and probably 2-100 projects in my queue. I have just started working on DD's Starsky Jr again. I have finished what would equate to a vest so far and am currently working on the sleeves. I am doing both at the same time so that they are the same length but sometimes I get confused so I wonder if they really will end up the same length or perhaps maybe a row or two off. Here's hoping. This will be my first project that I will have to block and I read on Knitty's website that you shouldn't use heat with acrylic. I thought I'd go cheap and use Bernat softee chunky for the cardi. I guess we'll see if it really turns out cheaper than what I could buy at the store. I think right now I have only used and will probably only use about 4 skeins of yarn for this project. I don't know what possessed me to think that I needed 7 and yet I bought 8. I guess I can make a few other things with the excess yarn...perhaps another sweater. I have contemplated making the ballet top in Loop-D-Loop but I haven't looked at it yet. I think for right now I better stick to the project at hand or else DD will have grown too much or will no longer need the sweater because she has graduated college. Why is it sometimes so hard to finish what we start? I guess it really is the journey and not the destination. Weird...I would have thought otherwise.

FIBER!!! Mmmmm

I've always heard that we all need more fiber in our diets. I just got some but I don't think it's what they meant. I bought some yarn from someone's stash on Ravelry and I forgot to ask if she or anyone smoked. Oops! My bad. Other than that it all worked out great but note to self... ask next time.

Irritation!

Irritation thy name is mine! Or something like that. I am thoroughly irritated as I have just started my irregular rib pullover for DS and had only the sleeves and collar left to do. As I have never pieced together a sweater in this manner. I tried to guess while adjusting sizing for DS. The sweater in the picture is large and not fitted while my WIP fits tightly. I wonder if by some chance after finishing the sleeves and collar if the sweater will somehow stay stretched out. As for now the ribs all cling together tightly. Would blocking the sweater have any effect? AAAAARGH!!!! Though it has only been a week or so since I began this WIP I suppose I should not be so frustrated. I suppose I could frog the whole thing and start over. I have suspicions that my sleeve holes are not large enough. CAN ANYTHING ELSE GO WRONG?!!! Maybe I'll just finish it and should it not fit my cutest little one than I shall give it to the next best person who would be my nephew. Though, he would not look so cute in it because it is neither his style nor his demeanor. I hope it works out. I suppose this is one of those growing moments where I say I learned a lesson or something and I'm the better for it. That epiphany will hit in about 6 years when next I attempt to adjust a sweater size so drastically. Or, perhaps never!!!

New WIP

I started a new WIP this weekend. I don't know why...I have seen other people's blogs and Rav pages with five or six WIP's and I think...Why? But now I have become one of those people. I am understanding the reason why people have multiple WIP's. I got bored with the sweater pattern I was making for DD and started to thumb through my library book. I have found that some of the patterns on my queue I have been able to acquire from the library. Who knew? I recently checked out Teva Durham's Loop-D-Loop and so I started a sweater for DS who is very smallish so I thought I could finish it this weekend. I realize yet again that I am very fond of instant gratification and so since the pattern was only for a one size fits most men or boyfriend sloppy on the girl size...I have had to size down the pattern and make notes so that the sleeves are the same. Not instant gratification. The pattern is irregular rib raglan with toggle and it is a cute sweater which will look adorable on my DS however resizing it has been challenging as I am very linear and need too many instructions. The sweater in itself is simple, the problem I am having is with the sleeves...and the fact that I will shortly run out of yarn so I may have to frog a bag I made earlier to finish it in dye lot. Somehow the sleeves don't transfer sizes in my mind. Oh, well, the book is full of strange looking hairstyles and some very severe looking models but the patterns are interesting. Though I like many of the patterns I think I am put off by the weird hair and "deer in the headlights" facial expressions so that I don't want to make them. I would probably only consider four of the patterns to make. The others are not my style or just plain ugly. As for my WIP, I am about 70% finished with only the sleeves, collar, and construction left. I hope it looks as cute on DS as I envisioned.

Progress...I think

I have been working on my WIP Starsky Jr and found that about midway through the back in the sleeve shaping I failed to do one decrease. I certainly didn't feel like frogging seven inches of work and then trying to find my place. Forget that! So, I guess I'll see what happens when I finish the front panels. I am trying to figure out how to dec the front so that the pattern matches up. I am new to this so I am keeping my fingers crossed. I also read ahead in the pattern as is suggested and found myself totally confused. The kind of confused when you just glance at something and it looks like advanced physics. That was me last night but it could have been lack of sleep. So far I have finished the back panel and am working on the left front panel of which I am about eight or nine inches into. I hope it works out.

Starsky Jr

I have begun a new WIP this week...two days ago in fact. I recently found that my DD's school has posted the dress code requirements which include sweaters or cardigans. I was fearful that the cardigan in question would look somewhat like it did on a certain television icon who used puppets in his show had I found one at say...Target. Though there is nothing wrong with simple cardi's I preferred to find something more...ummm...feminine in it's construction. Though I am not the one wearing it, I do hope my DD appreciates that I did not want to dress her like an old man that I used to watch on TV when I was a child. Even though fashion recycles itself, some things are better left to those who wore them when they wore them. No offense Mr Hammer. So off to Ravelry to find a cute pattern for a sweater or cardi. My DD decided to go with the Starsky Jr cardi because, frankly, the model in the picture was green which happens to be DD's fav color though my FO will not be green. Alas, the color of choice has been a very bland and mundane navy blue. Oh well, hopefully the style and construction will make up for the lack of vibrancy. I began my WIP on wednesday night. I chose Bernat's softee chunky because it was cheap ($1.87/skein) and the LCS had it in dark blue which I figured was close enough. Plus I could wash it without having to do a special load for delicates (which I never have enough to equate a load). I am currently 3/4 of the way through my 1st skein and about 9.5 inches on the back. So far, so good I guess. I have noticed a few mistakes but they are not noticeable unless you really pay attention to the pattern. I hope nobody does. I don't think the pattern called for chunky yarn so we'll see how this works out considering the fact that thus far I have never swatched anything. I should change that. Someday. I am using a US 7 needle even though the yarn recommends a US 10. Will post later to see how it affects sizing.

FO AUSTIN

Since I have started blogging I have had trouble finishing any project. I have started so many and frogged them or left them hibernating. But...finally I have finished a project! To all of you who knit frequently this will probably be just another day for you but I am a slow, and I mean slow, knitter. I knit English style and it takes me much longer than those of you who knit continental I'm sure. I have been intrigued at the different projects I have found on Ravelry. (I love that site.) There is a vast amount of talent floating about the world from everyday people and much of their talents have been showcased on that site. However, there are always things we picture in our minds that others have not whether the differences be slight or vast. This was such the case for me. I made a newsboy cap knit style that most had made similarly only in crochet. This is an adult size hat but DD made a better model than my ugmug. I was wary of making my own pattern being such a novice knitter that I thought it would not turn out. It may also have to do with the fact that I never swatch. Though that may have to change soon. Anyway, I knit this out of Caron simply soft because I had it on hand in a good color. I don't know the yardage because it was a 1 lb skein that was on sale for $5 so I would have to weigh it to get an idea of what I used. I used probably less than half of the skein. It was a simple enough pattern with no extra notions except knitting needles and a tapestry needle so not much is required for this project. Overall very inexpensive. Enough chatter. Here is Austin.

So Silly

I was reading my sis-in-law's blog this morning and found something silly. I haven't told her about my blog yet because it's mostly about knitting and not about my family. Anyway, I was reading her blog and she had this silly little blurb. I don't know where she got it so I cannot attribute it to anyone.


BOYFRIEND 5.0 vs. HUSBAND 1.0


Dear Tech Support ,
Last year I upgraded from Boyfriend 5.0 to Husband 1.0 and noticed a distinct slow down in overall system performance, particularly in the flower and jewelry applications, which operated flawlessly under Boyfriend 5.0. In addition, Husband 1.0 uninstalled many other valuable programs, such as Romance 9.5 and Personal Attention 6.5 and then installed undesirable programs such as NBA 5.0, NFL 3.0 and Golf Clubs 4.1. Conversation 8.0 no longer runs, and Housecleaning 2.6 simply crashes the system. I've tried running Nagging 5.3 to fix these problems, but to no avail.What can I do?
Signed,Desperate.
DEAR DESPERATE,First keep in mind, Boyfriend 5.0 is an Entertainment Package, while Husband 1.0 is an operating system. Please enter command: ithoughtyoulovedme.html and try to download Tears 6.2 and don't forget to install the Guilt 3.0 update. If that application works as designed, Husband 1.0 should then automatically run the applications Jewelry 2.0 and Flowers 3.5. But remember, overuse of the above application can cause Husband 1.0 to default to Grumpy Silence 2.5, Happy Hour 7.0 or Beer 6.1. Please note that Beer 6.1 is a very bad program that will download the Snoring Loudly Beta. Whatever you do, DO NOT install Mother-In-Law 1.0 (it runs a virus in the background that will eventually seize control of all your system resources.)Also do not attempt to reinstall Boyfriend 5.0 program. These are unsupported applications and will crash Husband 1.0. In summary, Husband 1.0 is a great program, but it does have limited memory and cannot learn new applications quickly. You might consider buying additional software to improve memory and performance. We recommend Cooking 3.0 and Hot Lingerie 7.7.
Good Luck,Tech Support

I just had to share that with...myself because I'm probably the only one reading this because in all my time on the internet (mostly on ravelry) I have not taken the time to read the instructions on how to put anything on my blog. And at the same time, I get frustrated with my sis for not reading the instructions on how to use her cell phone. How dumb am I?

It's official!!!

This evening I did something I never thought I'd do. My DH took me out to dinner and as I walked into the restaurant I saw a girl with a knit newsboy cap and I almost...almost asked her about it. I stared at it trying to be inconspicuous but I'm sure that I wasn't. I guess it's official. I am most definitely a knitiot.

Hooray!!!

I just received my invite from ravelry yesterday and have been on there since trying to figure out how to navigate the site. I find that I am overly excited to have received this invite. Does that make me weird? Oh well. Off to ravelry!!!

Done!

So this weekend I finished my capecho. The only adjustments I made was to make the smallest size and to drop my needle size drastically. The pattern calls for a size 9 and I used a 5. At first I had used a 7 because I am new to knitting and that is what I had but the pentagon looked so huge that I frogged it and started over with the 5. I'm wishing now that I had used the 7's because I think it would have fit me. I probably should have made a medium according to the pattern but I did the xs and changed needle size because of all the posts I read about sizing issues. I am glad that other people blog about their projects because I never would have known. As for erata, I didn't see too much but that could be due to the fact that my brain works funny. Some of the instructions I had to guess what they meant but it was only minor and I figured it out. I'd post pic's but I ended up giving the FO to my very petite sis-in-law. I guess it all worked out in the end. She gave me one of her FO's, she makes jewelry. Not really my thing but I liked it.

Getting There

I have 8 pentagons completed and I am now working on my 9th. I am excited to see the finished project to see how the arms work out. So far the only mods I have made was to use a smaller needle than specified and to work the xs pattern. It seems like it might fit and I'm no xs. I guess we'll see...

Behind the times

As I have only recently taking up knitting, I am unfamiliar with all the projects that others have done. I have been knitting on and off now for probably a year now and have only recently been brave enough to make a sweater; simple, though it may have been. I taught myself how to knit so I think I was scared to take the leap. I am also the only person I know personally who knits so I don't have anyone to bounce ideas off of or ask questions. Hooray for youtube and all you lovely knitters who post your videos on that forum. Thanks a million. That being said, I have taken it upon myself to branch out and try new things knitwise. I am just starting the vogue winter 2006/2007 cover project as I am sure many of you have already attempted or completed. The capecho, as Norah Gaughan calls it, caught my attention. Though I feel behind the times in making this project I am trying it anyway. I have done my research and found all the posts and helps that my mind can handle and I am taking all of them into account. I decided to try using cotton and US 5 needles. My first pentagon was with US 7 needles and it was huge, or so I thought, so I decided to go down a few sizes with regards to my needles. I am also doing the pattern for xs per most of the posts I found about sizing issues. I hope it works. For right now I've decided to make it my only WIP because then I don't do housework.

Therapy

I decided that before I become an old fart I better start keeping up on the times. It would seem that things are moving in this direction and now so am I. I have been reading other peoples blogs on knitting and they have been a great help to me so now I guess this is the best way to get in the game. I am weary of putting too much of myself out there for all the world to see because doing that has brought much heartache before. I guess this is therapy.