White Cotton Cardigan - Finished!
I blinked. Nice, eh?
Finally done! I wore it to SNB tonight because what good is a handknit sweater if I can’t show it off to a bunch of knitters?
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Clean Camera Lens!
So close!
Close-up of the collar and button band
Fooling around with my camera settings and tripod
Button Band Time
I’ve done some knitting! The white cardigan is almost finished. Sleeves have been set-in, seams have been sewn, some ends have been woven-in, collar has been knitted. The only thing left is button bands, and those are going to be started today. In fact, in a few minutes I’ll be heading to Fabricland to look for the perfect big, wooden buttons.
I’ve also gotten some work done on my Must Have cardi. The front panel that I started so long ago has been completed, and I cast-on for the back. I’m about 4 inches in, and there are 12 more to go until I get to the armhole shaping. The original Must Have pattern wants you to knit only 13″ until the armholes. If I made my cardigan that short it would end up looking like a shrug. The upsized version (which is what I’m making) wants you to knit 15″, but that’s a bit too short as well. 16″ brings the sweater right to the top of my hipbone and when it comes to a winter, wool sweater, I must insist that I can raise my arms without it pulling up over my stomach. Call me crazy.
Pretty soon I have to cast on for a sweater for Alex…I promised him he’d have a new sweater to wear to school this fall. It shouldn’t take much longer than a couple of weeks…he may be tall for an 11-year-old but he’s still rather narrow, and the plan is to knit a raglan in the round as one piece which means that once it’s off the needles, it’ll be done (no seaming). I just haven’t decided if I’m going bottom-up or top-down.
My posts have been photoless lately because my camera lens is dirty and I’m terrified to clean it until I get a proper lens-cleaning kit. There’s a camera shop in the same strip mall as the Fabricland, so I’d like to take care of that today and finally take some pictures again.
I’m going to be buying some material today as well as buttons, to make this. It will be my first sewing project that isn’t hemming a tablecloth or curtains. If it turns out, i’ll make one for my sister for Christmas.
Home Stretch
Last night I reached the underarm of the back of my cardigan and I realized that there was no way I was going to have enough yarn to finish the thing. I had two balls left, and they just weren’t going to be enough to make it through the rest of the back, the collar and the buttonbands. I probably would have enough if I changed my design, but I really want the collar and buttonbands to be doubled to support large buttons. I did such a good job on this one, and the thought of ripping it all out and knitting a pullover instead was heartbreaking.
This morning Jeremy called the shop I bought the yarn from, and would you believe they still had some, same dyelot and everything? Amazing. I bought the yarn about six months ago. They’re holding three more skeins for me, and Jeremy’s going to pick them up tomorrow on his way to work. Awesome. The back is getting finished tonight (unless I pass out - I’m sick) and will be blocked tomorrow. We have a date for dinner with our newly engaged friends in a few weeks and I’ll get to wear it then.
On Tuesday on the way home from the doctor we stopped into my LYS (I guess I can’t consider it local anymore since it’s 45 minutes away) and I bought one skein of Crystal Palace cotton chenille for the Weekend Knitting flower washcloth. I also bought some Butterfly cotton in black and taupe to make Via Diagonale. I only bought one skein of each colour. I don’t suppose it’ll be enough, but the LYS will hold the rest for me.
In basement news, Jeremy is down there right now painting it with the foulest, stinkiest waterproof cement paint. I feel bad that I can’t really help him because I’m too sick, but I’m glad too because the fumes are insane. As it is, we’ll have to leave the basement door open all night to let it air out. We have two gallons of paint and they’re probably not going to be enough for one coat, let alone the required two. The stuff is thick and disgusting.
Getting Things Under Control
The dumpster is gone, the mould is gone, the mess from the ant room (office) is gone, and we’re almost ready to do the fun stuff. When the dumpster arrived it looked way too big and I thought perhaps we could have gone with the smaller size. As it turned out, we had to arrange everything tetris-style to get it all in without any overhang.
The basement is ready for a wash with diluted bleach and scrub brushes. After that we’ll be filling in chinks and cracks with hydraulic concrete filler and the final step in there before we insulate is giving it a couple of coats of this.
The ant wall in the office has been ripped back to its skeleton and dusted with diatomaceous earth, a powder that dessicates insects by cutting into their exoskeletons and drying them out. It’s great stuff; it doesn’t lose its effectiveness over time and continues to do its nasty damage for as long as it’s present. All we have to do in there is insulate and drywall, and then, FINALLY, we can begin decorating. I will have an office!
Today we’ve got to hit the mall for an outfit for Alex to wear to this lovely lady’s engagement party on Sunday. If I can find something relatively affordable in my size I may get something new as well. The dress I’ve got is a bit warm for the weather and since the party is outdoors I’m probably going to sweat to death.
We don’t have anything else planned for tonight, so I’m going to take advantage of the fact that my house is clean and my laundry is caught up to knit. I’m almost to the armpits of the white cardigan and I hope to get as much done as I can.
Did I Just Rent a Dumpster?
I didn’t finish the back of my cardigan after all, but I did knit for about 4 hours the other day and made some progress. It’s now taunting me from its bag. So close.
As far as mould goes, yesterday we got a lot done. The mould is in the basement, and the basement spans the two back rooms of our house. The rooms are an extension to the main house and this is the only part of the house with a basement beneath.
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Healthier
I haven’t mentioned much about my health in a while, not really since I spoke about it here. Since then I’ve lost 22 pounds and I’ve been following a healthy lifestyle more often than not. I’m still eating crap and I’m not getting in any exercise, mostly because up until not too long ago we’ve been so busy doing stuff around the house and that’s been my exercise. With this mould clean-up coming up next week and then taking care of the ant room I’ll still be getting in some activity. Once that’s done I’ll start going for walks every day and getting in some actual, planned exercise. I have 50 pounds left to lose and I have lots of time in which to lose it. It’s easier doing it this way without placing time constraints on my weight loss. My goals are long-term and because of that, I think of each pound as a success rather than being discouraged because I’m reaching a certain size by a certain time.
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Saturday Night Boredom
I actually did some knitting today. Remember this? Yes! I picked it up and knit a couple of inches. I’m on the back - the final piece before seaming - and I’m almost halfway to the underam. But for some reason I just wasn’t in the mood. I was restless and bored all day, and when I’m in a mood like that, I can’t really concentrate on anything. My son is spending tonight and tomorrow at his grandparents’ and Jeremy is at work until midnight. I think I’m going to sit on the deck and drink some wine until I puke.
But first I’ll mention the visit from the exterminator. He wants us to continue to rip the all the drywall from the wall and repair the studs. Then we’re to call him back to spray everything, including basement, crawlspace, attic and perimeter. Being the genius I am, I completely forgot to ask how much it would cost. I’ll have to call him to find out.
I think he wants us to rip it out because if we hired him to clean out the area it would be too costly. He seemed like a really nice man, and even asked if we could keep the stud with all the ant tunnels intact so he could take it with him when he goes to classrooms to talk to kids about insects. I thought that was really neat and I promised the piece was his.
On Tuesday afternoon we’re getting an estimate on new siding and repairs. I guess I’ll be ulcer-free until then, when I see exactly how much $$ we’re looking to lose.
Jeremy’s off tomorrow and so commences Operation Drywall and cross your fingers the damage is localized!
Catch Up
White Cardi: I’m almost finished the second sleeve of the white cotton cardi, which leaves me only with the back to do before seaming up. This sleeve is draining the life force out of me. Thankfully I’m about halfway through the cap shaping.
Socks: I have 3 pairs of socks on the go. I have completed one blue Cherry Tree Hill toe-up sock, and have since cast on twice for the second one. I can’t seem to get my yarn to stop pooling and mimic the pattern of the first sock. It should work out; the yarn for both comes from the same skein. I have determined that my gauge while knitting socks has since tightened up and that I’m just going to have to knit the second sock on larger needles.
In the meantime, I cast on and completed one Regia pink jubilee sock (like these), also toe-up. The second sock is well on its way to completion as well; I’m an inch past the completion of the toe.
The third pair I’ve only barely started. The yarn is a deep magenta Koigu. Since the colour is solid I figured I needed a pretty stitch pattern. I wanted to used the German Twisted cast-on because it looks pretty at the cuff of a sock. However, it just wasn’t working out. Even casting on with a 5mm needle didn’t produce a loose enough opening to get over my heel without too much strain so I went back to a regular, knit-on cast-on and knit the first couple of rounds with a larger needle before continuing with my US 1s. The pattern I settled on is Seaweed Socks. Pretty.
Shawl: I mentioned previously that I was going to knit the Perfect Pie Shawl from Weekend Knits. Well, I started with the mohair I bought. The pattern calls for Berroco Mohair Classic. I shopped for the yarn at Village Yarns. They didn’t carry the Berroco, but we figured I could sub with Naturally’s Mohair Plus because the gauge was the same. I started the shawl and determined the Mohair Plus was wrong, wrong, wrong. Horribly wrong. It’s just way too hairy. The fuzzies that sprout off from the spun yarn are just too long. By the time I had knit half of a pie section the shawl resembled a giant, furry animal rather than the delicate lace I was going for. I understand the virtues of blocking lace, but believe me, this was ridiculous. I now hate the Mohair Plus with fiery passion and gave the remaining 4 balls to my sister who can do with it whatever the hell she likes. I bought this to replace it, in Swamp. The yarn is much more delicate, evidenced by the fact that it is roughly half the weight in grams for the same yardage. We’ll see.
New Blocking Board
I got a blocking board! In order to save some money with UPS brokerage fees (the board is from the US - Sandee’s Kwik Knit - fabulous customer service) I had it shipped to an American friend and then she sent it to me. It was totally worth it. Thanks Freakgirl.
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