April 11, 2005

New Colors

I've decided to try a new color scheme.  What do you all think?  I thought this was a bit more subdued, but still pretty.  Pink and green or khaki and purple? 

I seamed Rebecca on Friday night and then on Saturday crocheted the edge stitches on the bottom and the sleeves - it gave it a nice finished look.  I then picked up and knit the ties.  I got worried on the long tie (which I did second) that I was going to run out of yarn, especially since I still hadn't completed the finishing for the neck.  As it turned out, I had enough and moved on to the neck finishing, which caused lots of problems.  I hated it every time I did it.  The pattern indicates that you are supposed to pick up stitches around the sides and the neck and purl one ws row and then bind off knitwise.  I did it once and bound off and it pulled so I ripped it out and picked up more stitches.  I then tried a suspended bind off, hoping that it would be looser and not pull.  It worked out fine, but I just didn't like how it fit with the neck finished like that - too inflexible.  So, now I'm debating about adding a crocheted edge or just leaving it as it is.  What do you think?  I had Travis take the picture and he's not very camera savvy (even with my super simple point and shoot), but you get the idea.  I had hoped to finish it earlier yesterday so I could take some natural light pictures, but with the neck trauma, it didn't work out. 

Next on my list is to finish the socks I've been working on.  I opened my knitting bag this morning on the commute and found a broken ebony Lantern Moon needle.  I was pissed.  There's no other word that expresses my anger.  I think the reason it broke was because it was seriously warped to start with - so crooked that I could only knit with one end of the needle - is this normal for Lantern Moons?  My size 5s aren't like that, but these are a size 1.  It was in my knitting bag all weekend and I can't imagine what would have happened to make it break, just one of those mysteries.  I went to the store across the street from my office and bought some super glue and glued it back together.  It probably won't hold for long, but long enough for me to order another pair from Knit Happens when I order yarn for the Phildar cardigan tomorrow.  I'm excited to get the yarn for that sweater and get started.  In reading the pattern, it seems a bit complicated - it's knit in lots of pieced and then sewed together.  We'll have to see how it goes. 

Riley was in rare form this weekend.  I had to go to the feed store and get vet supplies to doctor Fritz, and of course had to get Riley a pig ear.  I gave it to him yesterday and he probably spent 30 minutes looking for somewhere in the house to hide it.  Here he is in the guest bedroom (which clearly is in need of some attention).  He considered under the bed, but his favorite hiding spot is under the pillows (a nice little surprise when you get into bed).  But for some reason he wasn't happy with his usual spots.  After his hunt around the house (it was actually about 3 laps of looking in the same places) he decided he'd just eat it.  The entire process only took him about 30 minutes.  When he starts eating (after the hiding and then the licking) he goes right to town.  At some points it is even necessary to put his foot on it so that he can get a better grip.

I painted sample sheets of 4 colors of green for the kitchen on Saturday and hung them on the walls.  I've narrowed it down to 2 - one medium and one dark color.  I'm going to live with them for a few days and see which one stands out.  I may be on the home stretch on the kitchen color selection (thank God, it's been a month long process) and could be painting in a couple of weeks.  Keep your fingers crossed.

I have nothing else to report.  It's cold and snowy here.  Although we didn't get as much snow as Denver.  It appears that the edge of the storm brushed us and then settled into the Denver area.  The moisture would have been welcome, as would a day off of work, but maybe it will just rain later in the week.

Have a great day.

Posted by Stephanie at 10:12 AM

April 4, 2005

Physical Activity

There is no doubt that my body is revolting.  It's times like this when it is abundantly clear that I do very little physical activity at my desk job.  Why has this come to light?  Because my whole body hurts after my weekend of helping Mom paint SO's house.  Holy crap, my legs and butt hurt like I ran a marathon (which let me assure you will never happen) or maybe climbed stairs for 18 hours (which I think is more accurate because I must have gone up and down that stupid latter a couple hundred times).  Anyway, it looks really nice and everyone is quite pleased with the new look.  I took in-progress pictures, but was too tired last night to upload them to my computer, and I wanted to have a nice after picture to show you and nothing was back together yesterday when I left.  Maybe I can take a good picture this weekend and post a during and after (I didn't take a before because by the time I arrived with my camera everything was ready for the painting).

In knitting news:  I completed one sleeve this weekend, which is quite good considering I didn't have much time to work on it.  The sleeve went quickly, even though I had to rip it out when I was about 10 rows in because I messed up the eyelet pattern.  The lesson I learned was that you should not try to knit when you're so tired you can't concentrate because you will mess things up.  I hate to say it, but I actually fell asleep while I was knitting on Friday and Saturday night (maybe I was a bit too tired???).  I would not recommend this, you find stupid mistakes later.  Tonight is my first Knitting Guild meeting.  I hope I can work on the second sleeve and not make mistakes on it, but I may have to resign myself to frogging when I get home.  I'm kind of nervous because I don't know any of the other ladies and I know a couple of them are really talented knitters (one is a master knitter who used to own a yarn shop in town).  I don't want them to think I'm stupid or a bad knitter.  Oh well, so far the president has been really nice in her e-mails, so I'm hoping for the best.  I'll let you know tomorrow.

It's the Monday after day light savings time and I'm dragging.  My body's sure that I got up at 4:30 this morning and so I'm having a hard time getting motivated to do anything productive.  I'm just hoping to get through the day.

Posted by Stephanie at 9:42 AM

March 31, 2005

Mail Delivery

USPS must have heard my gripe because my Tendances finally arrived, 3 weeks after it was shipped from Canada.  Does that seem like a reasonable shipping time to you?  It doesn't really to me, but it's here now and I'm happy.  There are a couple of really cute things that I think I may have to make from this magazine.  First, of course, is the zip cardigan.  In furtherance of that goal, I also got yarn from Knit Happens all in something close to the gauge I need.  I'm just going to have to swatch them all (as well as the previously purchased Jo Sharp) and see which one comes the closest because they're all yummy - Rowan Cotton Glace, Rowan 4 ply Cotton, and Jaeger Aqua.  I also got a set of size 1 Lantern Moon dpn for my next sock project.  I think I'll start them as soon as I finish Rebecca (while I'm waiting for the zip cardigan yarn to arrive). 

I got paint samples from Citron Paint yesterday.  A couple of greens with a lot of potential and a more questionable eggplant and merlot color.  I'll have to paint them onto watercolor paper this weekend and see how they look.

I finished the left side of Rebecca yesterday at lunch and cast on for the right side.  I got quite a bit done on it last night during my tv watching, although I cannot knit while Alias is on because I'm terribly afraid I'll miss something).  I have just started the increases for the shaping and it should proceed quickly (assuming I have no other stupid moments - hopefully I got all of those out of my system on the left side).  Maybe keep your fingers crossed for me.

Posted by Stephanie at 9:38 AM

March 30, 2005

Feelin' Froggy

But not by choice.  It's times like this that I seriously worry about my mental acuity.  How I ever made it through college and law school is beyond me at this point.  In case you haven't guessed, Rebecca and I had another disagreement.  The problem arose when it came time to do the armhole shaping on the left front.  The directions say "At the same time work side and armhole shaping at right edge as for back."  This does not mean that you should do the exact same armhole shaping as you did for the back.  Why?  Because you shape two armholes for the back (one for each arm) and only one for the left side (for your left arm - that's why it's the left side).  Duh.  Such binding off will leave you with too few stitches, a very strangely shaped armhole, and will result in frogging six rows of mohair.  Which, quite frankly, sucks.  There's no other word for it - it sucks.  The little mohairs gets all wrapped around their nearest neighbor and you literally have to rip them apart.  I was so mad at myself last night that I stayed up late to rip it out and made myself do the correct bind offs and surprise, surprise, when you actually follow the directions things work a whole heck of a lot better.  Besides that little moment of stupidity, the left front of Rebecca is almost finished - maybe over lunch, but definitely by tonight.

I have made no progress on selecting paint colors aside from ordering more samples.  One of these days I'm going to have an epiphany and all will be well, but until that day I will continue to struggle through the many greens and wheats that are out there and hope for clarity and decisiveness.

I still have not received my Tendances (you'll have to click on the link twice to get to the French page with the pictures because it automatically sends you to the US page, which doesn't have pictures) from Knit N Tyme, but she assures me she's sending another because I should have had it by now.  I hate the US Postal Service, they are always messing things up.  Jeez, how hard is to deliver a package?  I should also be receiving the yarn and needles I ordered from Knit Happens - yarn to try for the Phildar pattern and dpns for my next sock project - and my blocking board from Memphis Vintage.  It'll be like Christmas if everything ever gets here.

Have a great day.

Posted by Stephanie at 9:08 AM

March 29, 2005

Knitting Guild

I found a knitting guild!  I e-mailed the president and she e-mailed me right back.  Their monthly meeting is Saturday, and they meet every Monday night for 2 hours.  I can't go on Saturday because I promised my mom I'd help her paint her SO's living and dining room, but I'm definitely going to go to next week's Monday night group and see how it is.  The lady who hosts the Monday night group is a master knitter and she used to own a yarn store downtown (which has since closed).  This group should be a good source of knowledge and expertise.

Rebecca is coming along nicely.  I finished the back yesterday over lunch and am quite pleased with the outcome.  I cast on for the left front and have about 20 cm completed and just started binding off for the front shaping - sloped bind off again because I wasn't sure how else to do it.  I've only done 2 rows of bind offs, but so far it looks right.  ??  I'm keeping my fingers crossed.  If it can be screwed up in mohair, I'll do it.  I definitely wouldn't want to have to rip the bind offs out in this yarn, soft but nasty stuff to take out.  I'll have emotional scarring for years!  The front is moving a bit faster than the back, partly because it's fewer stitches and I think partly because I've figured out that I need to use stitch markers for every repeat and I have the pattern memorized now (although I still look at it to make sure I am doing what I'm supposed to do)  :)  It's a lot easier to figure out if you've messed up when you only have 7 stitches between markers than when you're 6 rows up and realize you've forgotten a stupid yarn over.  Believe me, I know this for a fact.

I forgot to tell you (and this is important, so I'm a little upset by my mental lapse) - Stacy loves her socks!  She was very skeptical about the pointy toes, which I assured her I was in total agreement on, but when she put them on they fit perfectly.  Woo Hoo.  I was completely over the moon.  The best thing about giving Stacy something is that she will honestly tell you if she likes it (or if she doesn't) and you can totally believe her because she's brutally honest, which I appreciate immensely.  Not only did I make a pair of socks, but they fit and are loved.  It doesn't get much better than that for me.  She's supposed to take a picture of them on her pretty feet (I didn't say pretty little feet because her feet aren't so little, but than neither are mine) and I will post that as soon as I get it.  I ordered a set of size 2 dpn for the Lorna's Lace that I have and am going to try Wendy's Toe-Up Sock Pattern, which include directions for a short row toe.  Scary, but should be fun anyway.  Wendy's directions seem to be fabulous so I should be able to make it through them.

I hope you all have a great day.

Posted by Stephanie at 8:53 AM

March 28, 2005

Whirlwind Weekend

What a busy weekend.  My in-laws were in town for the weekend and my college roommate was at her parents' house for Easter.  We drove to Ft. Collins Friday night to have dinner with Stacey and her parents (my college roommate and my sister have the same first name, but different spellings).  We had a great time, but I didn't get to talk to her as much as I would have liked because my father-in-law talked to her most of the evening about her job.  Must be fascinating stuff!  She brought me a huge bag of pecans from Texas and I have to figure out what I'm going to do with them.  All suggestions would be greatly appreciated :)

My in-laws brought their dog with them and Riley had fun torturing him all weekend.  Aren't they cute?  Riley (my corgi) won't ever let Dually (the in-laws' schnauzer) have a toy and takes it away so Dually will chase him.  They can do this for hours.  You'd think that they'd eventually get tired of the game (and Dually kind of does), but Riley is relentless and makes the game go for hours.  The good news is that he's usually tired when it's time for bed and he sleeps all night with no 4 am bathroom excursions!

My mother-in-law and I went back to Ft. Collins on Saturday to visit the yarn store and the cooking store.  We had a great time.  Lambspun is a great place.  We ate lunch at the restaurant and spent a long time just looking around at all the wonderful yarns.  Debbie ended up with yarn for two projects - a scarf for her great niece and a sweater for herself (her first sweater project!) and I was good and didn't buy any yarn because I have yarn for another pair of socks (toe up this time) and the zipper cardigan (well depending on what I decide on the Jo Sharp) - all after the Rebecca wrap of course.  We sat and knit and and Debbie did a gauge swatch for her new sweater project - a pretty purple Rowan Summer Tweed and a little sparkle to go with it in a fun yarn (I can't remember the name of that one).  It's an easy T-shirt style sweater and I think she'll really enjoy the project.  She's a little apprehensive, but I have faith!

The cooking store wasn't nearly as much fun as the yarn store - can you tell where my true enthusiasm lies?  After that we went to Whole Foods - the busiest grocery store I've ever been in in my entire life!  It was packed, but very cool - we had lots of fun there too, but were exhausted when we got out of there.  Shopping is not for sissies!

I did lots of knitting on my Rebecca wrap this weekend.  I bound off the neck stitches this morning on the commute.  I should be finished with the back today.  It's turning out to be a great project (I choose not to remember the many times I've had to rip back because I have forgotten a yarn over or some such nonsense) and I'm excited to finish it so I can wear it.  I tried the sloped bind-off for the armhole shaping after Adele raved about it, and I am a believer.  It is great.  It is smooth and there are no funny little steps from the bind offs.  I'm going to use it on the neck shaping too.  What a fabulous technique (I took a close-up picture, but it was blurry and I didn't have time to take another one - sorry - you'll just have to trust me that it's awesome).  By the way, those really awesome stitch markers are from my Secret Pal - aren't they the coolest!  I got lots of compliments on them at the yarn store too.

Posted by Stephanie at 9:21 AM

February 23, 2005

My First Knitalong

I am now back to 2 1/4 inches on the lovely legwarmers.  I just switched to the size 5 needles after 2 inches of K1P1 ribbing.  I had a difficult time figuring out how to decrease in a K1P1 pattern - your pattern gets messed up.  I posted a question on KR, and ended up just using k2tog or p2tog and it worked out just fine.  Now I'm on to stockinette stitch so the decreases won't be an issue.  I should have enough length to try them on tonight so we'll see how they're fitting.

I joined my first Knitalong and I'm excited.  It is a wrap cardigan from Rebecca 29.

I need to decide on a color and order the yarn and needles (it only takes 4 balls of yarn!) I have to finish the legwarmers and probably the superskinny scarf (it's a super quick knit - maybe a day) and I should do the Koigu socks, but I might not be able to wait on the cardigan.  Hmmm, we'll have to see how long the legwarmers take and how anxious I get to start.  I'm excited to have a summer sweater that I'll actually be able to wear to work.  What color do you think?  I'm thinking a pink or maybe even this green would be nice.

I got lots of good ideas from my pals at HGTV and comments here for paint colors for my bedroom.  I'll be working on deciding in the next couple of weeks.  I'll keep you posted of my progress.

Have a great day!

Posted by Stephanie at 8:38 AM