December 19, 2005
Unbelievable
You all might want to sit down. I have some shocking news and I don't want anyone getting hurt here. Seven months after I cast on, I finally finished Ronnie.
Ronnie is a gift for my sister, so the sizing isn't right for me, but all in all I think it's a really cute, basic sweater.
It has some nice waste shaping and the pattern is really simple, if a bit boring.
Project Specs:
Pattern - Jaeger Book 34
Yarn - Jo Sharp Soho Summer DK Cotton in #221 Carmen
Needles - US size 5 Addi Natura Circulars for the body, although it was knit in pieces and seamed and US 4 Holz & Stein ebony circulars for the hems and neckline.
Modifications/Thoughts - I didn't do the stripes because my sister isn't a big stripe fan. That left me with 3 extra balls of yarn - not sure why or what I'm going to do with 3 balls of cotton, but... I seamed the sweater and then knit the neck in the round. The pattern had you knit it flat and seam it, but I couldn't see a benefit to that. I was initially going to use a 3-needle bind off on the shoulders, but ended up casting off and seaming. The shoulders have some shaping, which made a three-needle bind off kind of pointless and I decided that the cotton could use all the structure it could get. I deliberately chose a cotton for my sister's sweater because she isn't a big fan of wool (gasp!) and she claims to always be hot. However, the next sweater I make for her will be wool, even if it's a fine gauge. I consider it my mission in life to educate Stacy on the benefits of fine wool.
So, I wove in the 500 ends. By the way, thanks Purly for the link to the Knitty article. I think I finally figured out how to do it right. And then I wrapped it up and sent it off this morning. Guaranteed delivery by Wednesday.
Yay for one finished Christmas gift. Travis and I had a successful day of shopping and I spent Saturday night and a good portion of yesterday wrapping gifts - I got everything I needed to mail sent out this morning, so no one should have to be without Christmas gifts. I finished my Christmas cards and put up the rest of my Christmas decorations. I didn't bake a thing, but I don't plan too. No cookies at our house this year! Call me Scrooge if you must, but I have two gifts still to work on. Have a great day.
Posted by Stephanie at 11:34 AM | Comments (16)November 28, 2005
I Love Long Weekends
I'm feeling rather smug this morning. This is indeed a big deal because it is -30 with the wind chill this morning. Smugness in the face of such crappy weather conditions can only be sustained for amazing feats. And the amazing feat? It is a finished Ronnie!
I finished knitting the second sleeve yesterday afternoon and did a happy dance right there in my living room. I still need to block it, seam it together, and knit the couple of rows for the neck, but I'm done with the knitting of the pieces. And pretty darn happy about that. I finished the first sleeve on Thursday and cast on for the second after Thanksgiving dinner. I worked on it over the weekend a bit and decided yesterday that I might actually be able to finish the second sleeve with some quality knitting time, which just happened to be Home Alone on the television.
So, I didn't work on Ombre except for a little bit last night and I'm still on the 5th stripe, but I only have 10 rows left on that one, and Thrum didn't see much action either. But, one Christmas gift is almost done, so I think it was a successful weekend. At least in my book.
I hope you all had a lovely weekend and made it home safely from your travels. Twenty-six days until Christmas (27 if you actually count Christmas)!
Posted by Stephanie at 8:46 AM | Comments (11)September 12, 2005
Whirlwind Weekend
What a crazy weekend. We went to Travis' parents house to help them build fence. Not exactly my idea of a great time, but they do so much for us that we always like to help them with their projects. Fence building went as well as to be expected when you're building fence right next to a river - lots. of. rocks.
Aside from fence building, my mother-in-law and I picked out new carpet for her house (that's my idea of fun!) and rearranged her living room (again, fun!). I got in two runs while we were there and they went pretty well. I also finished the back of Ronnie - I knit on the drive up - about half of which was in the dark, but you gotta love stockinette stitch for travel knitting. I had a couple of row to finish up when we got there and managed to finish a piece of knitting! And Christmas knitting at that. I kept the stitches live because I want to do a 3 needle bind off for the shoulders and I don't really know why I'd bind off the neck stitches just to pick the same number back up later - so they're live too.
Pretty exciting stuff isn't it? Yeah, not really, but I'm on my way to being able to start on Frieda, which is exciting. Backyard Leaves came back out to play yesterday on the way home and we seem to be getting along famously again. I am on the eighth of eleven repeats and things are coming along nicely - this is a fun pattern, even though I can't memorize the pattern - my brain can't handle a 20 row repeat.
Have a great week.
Posted by Stephanie at 8:39 AM | Comments (9)May 23, 2005
Where Did The Weekend Go?
Another weekend has passed us by. I'm not sure what I did all weekend, but it was gone before I knew what happened. On Friday my mom found out that she got her house - thanks for all of your thoughts. She's just over the moon, and she should be because it's a really cute house and I know she'll be happy there. I treated myself Friday after work and got a pedicure. It was long over due and now my feet look (and feel) great.
I finished blocking the SSS and I'm quite happy with it. Now if only it fits the recipient. Keep your fingers crossed.
I couldn't resist and cast on for the Zip Cardi over the weekend. I really like the licorne and the teal color is good - something different for me, but I really like it. The licorne is so soft and silky and I'm doing better with my gauge with this yarn. I'm excited about this cardigan because I think I'll be able to wear it a lot this summer (if I ever get it finished). Ronnie is still coming along. I worked on it on Saturday at the eye doctor and on our drive to pick up trees. I'm almost to the armhole shaping on the back. I think I'll try to finish the back and then dedicate myself to the Zip Cardi until it's finished. I just don't do well with more than one project (not counting a sock in progress) - I'm too easily distracted and need to be able to just focus on one thing at a time.
I finally found something for the center of my dining room table. I really struggled with this because I didn't want anything too impractical and silk flowers aren't really my thing, but anyway, here's what I settled on.
The runner is from Target and the sugar mold is from a little specialty store in town. What do you think?
Have a good Monday.
Posted by Stephanie at 8:19 AMMay 19, 2005
Blocking
The SSS has been completed and is now blocking. Here it is in its pre-blocking state:
Sorry for the bad picture, but I'll hopefully have a better one for you in a day or so. I decided to block it by laying a damp tea towel over it and then lightly steaming it with the iron. It looks like it worked, but I left the towels on today. I'll see how it looks when I get home tonight. I had to be careful when I did the crochet for the armholes because the first one I did turned out too tight. Since this isn't for me, I thought I ought to err on the side of caution and redo the armhole so the crochet was a bit looser. It seemed to work because the second time I tried it on, the armhole was much more comfortable.
After the SSS was completed, I picked Ronnie back up and am working on the back again, and I'm using my fabulous new Lantern Moon needles - love them. I think I'll cast on for the Zip Cardi this weekend because the endless miles of stockinette stitch on Ronnie is going to get really old. I think I'll definitely need a little something to break up the monotony.
I went for my second run last night, and it was harder than the first. Maybe because my legs were sore (still are by the way) or maybe it was just because I'm a wimp. Who knows?
Last night was a full night of tv watching for me too - Lost and then 2 hours of Alias. It was like tv heaven. I'm sad that both shows are ending their seasons next week, but I guess that's the cycle of things.
Have a great day - it's Thursday.
Posted by Stephanie at 8:37 AMMay 17, 2005
Ramblings
I'm shaping the neck on the front of the SSS. I should be able to finish it over lunch today and maybe even start seaming. I received my package from Knit Happens with the 2 extra balls of Jo Sharp SoHo Summer I need for Ronnie and some lovely rosewood Lantern Moon size 5 needles. I also went last night and picked up some pearl gray silk/merino lace weight yarn for my fist attempt at a shawl (from the lady that I met that sells yarn out of her house - nice stuff and great prices). I meant to take some pictures last night, but ran out of time. Why you ask? Well because I had my first run in my 5K training program (1 1/2 miles, which I ran all of) and then I went to help Travis with the new roping steers. So, I really got my exercise last night - running and then riding for about 2 1/2 hours. We didn't get into the house until almost 9:00. By the time we ate dinner and I knit a bit, there was no time for pictures and fighting with my computer.
Now I have to shamelessly plug a new cd. This is a county music cd, so if you don't like country music, just skip ahead to the last paragraph. If you do, you might want to check out The Great Divide. The guys in this band are friends of a friend (actually my college roommate) and can mostly be heard in Texas and Oklahoma. They have a good sound and some of their songs are great (at least in my opinion). Check it out and let me know what you think. And if you live down that direction, you should go see them live, I hear they put on a great show.
Have a great day.
Posted by Stephanie at 8:28 AMMay 9, 2005
New Project
I finished my socks on Friday night.
And then I wore them on Saturday. I love them. Super comfy and cute too. So, since the socks were completed I had to start another project. The package in the mail wasn't the Goa (which, according to the UPS tracking number I got from Knitting Garden, will be arriving on Wednesday) so I was left with the dilemma of what to start next. Since I also don't have the Phildar Licorne for the zip cardi, I cast on Ronnie in red Jo Sharp SoHo Summer. This is my first Christmas project for the year. I made some progress over the weekend, but not as much as I would have liked.
So far the stitches have been fairly even, but I'm working with metal needles because the rosewood ones I ordered from Knit Happens aren't here yet. Hopefully today. The only bummer is that since I've started this and I will need to cast on the seed stitch shell as soon as I get the Goa, the zip cardi is going to have to wait until I finish one of these projects. Oh well, I guess there's lots of summer yet and I shouldn't get too impatient.
The knitting guild meeting didn't happen. Apparently you were supposed to rsvp, but I went back and looked at the e-mail and can't find that direction anywhere. Oh well, I ended up spending some time with the lady who had planned to host. She sells yarn out of her house. Stuff that she gets directly from manufacturers and mills. She has some yummy stuff. I wish I'd known about her before Jenn and I had ordered the alpaca for the ombre blanket (from Last Minute Knitted Gifts) because she had lots of yummy alpaca and could have gotten us what we needed for less than we paid. Oh well, there's always next time! :) Anyway, she seems like a good source for yarn.
My in-laws were in town for my brother-in-law's college graduation, which made for a busy weekend. We had a good time, but I don't know where the weekend went. Back to the grind and to top it off, I have to go to the dentist this morning. Routine cleaning, but I never enjoy the dentist. Yuck.
Have a great day.
Posted by Stephanie at 8:10 AM
