The sucker FELTED. I gave the sweater one last soak to block out the collar, and then I spun it in my machine. I usually have absolutely no trouble spinning wool but this time when I pulled it out, it seemed thicker somehow. I laid it out on my blocking board and smoothed it out and it was obvious that it had felted somewhat. It didn't shrink in width, but I lost about an inch in each sleeve and the total length of the sweater. I couldn't believe it. I guess next time it needs a bath I'm going to have to squeeze it out in towels instead. While I'm disappointed I can't trust the spin cycle for this yarn, I'm happy with the result of a little bit of felting.

Continue reading "Starsky Photos"

Okay, right after I wrote my last post I ripped the collar right back to the beginning of the short-row shaping, and started again. The way I was going I definitely wasn't going to have enough yarn and I thought the short-rows were too far apart anyway. I started the shaping 5 stitches before each marker instead of 7 stitches past, and I made the turns every 5 stitches instead of every 7. This saved me a lot of yarn, gave me the same depth of collar and slightly shorter lapels. I was going to steam block the collar with the iron but I decided to just wet block the whole thing again. I figure it'll be easier than fiddling. Pictures tomorrow! (Rochelle, thanks for the offer of the use of some longer needles, but I just couldn't wait until Tuesday.) I have some yarn left, but I don't think it's enough for the belt and loops.

In the meantime, I've been working on my Peace Fleece cardi. I had some trouble with my sleeve cap, but now that's all sorted out and I think it should fit the armscye just fine. So far I've completed the back and one sleeve, and I expect to get the second sleeve done by tomorrow night. Wish me luck!

Yeah, so whoever invented the short-row shawl collar needs to rot immediately in a thousand hells.

What a deceptive, evil collar. I may or may not be halfway done, I don't know. All I know is that I've been knitting it for an eternity and nothing is happening. My circular is too small for the number of stitches on there, and pushing the stitches around while I shift the weight of the entire sweater in my lap is making me want to apply poison ivy directly to my eyeballs. It's eating up way more yarn than I originally thought and now I know that not only will I not have enough yarn left to make a belt, I may not have enough to finish the collar. And I thought I'd be done yesterday afternoon. HA HA HA HA HA! Kill me.

On the other hand, I put the stitches on a bunch of circulars and tried the thing on. It looks pretty damn good, and I'm already planning a project in which I knit another collar in a similar fashion. You heard me.

Picking up stitches for a collar like the one on Starsky should not be done at night when you're kind of tired and your reading comprehension is lacking. I took a look at the pattern and saw that I was to pick up at the usual ratio of 3 stitches to every 4 rows, ending up with a number that is a multiple of 6 plus 3 extra stitches. I wanted to have a multiple of 6 plus 5 extra stitches, so that I could slip the first stitch of every row for a smooth bottom edge and have it not interfere with the 3x3 ribbing. I picked up stitches on both sides equally, at the same time, using waste yarn on the other side as a placeholder just to make sure I was picking up in the exact same spots. I picked up all around, counting as I went, and ended up with a perfect number. That is a lot of stitches. I worked two rows around. Then I read the pattern again.

[...] pick up and k 3 sts for every 4 rows along lower front edge to bottom of neckline shaping (marked with safety pin), 1 st for each row along right neckline edge [...]

FUCK.

I maintained the 3-to-4 ratio all the way around the neckline, picking up in every stitch only for the back neck. I thought about it, and realized that this would mean that I would have too few stitches at the neckline edge for the collar to lay flat at the sides when it was folded back. I ripped it all back to the first neckline edge and picked up again.

Instead of picking up in every row, I used the ratio of 5 stitches for every 6. Because my row gauge is tighter than the pattern's, I figured picking up in every stitch could cause the collar to ruffle a bit. I made it around to the other side where I realized I had picked up 7 stitches more on the left neckline edging than the right. Why did I suddenly have so many more stitches on the left edge than the right? I know when I knit the front pieces I knit them both with the same number of rows. I looked closely and realized I had marked the beginning of the neck edge too high on the right side. Rip. Rinse. Repeat.

Finally, on my third try, I got it right. I've got 275 stitches around. Before I went to bed I got halfway through the short-row shaping and with any luck I'll finish the collar this afternoon, when I'll be able to steam block it with the iron.

The good news is that it looks like I'll have enough yarn for both collar AND belt. Whew.

Seaming Starsky is taking me a bit longer than I thought. Well, only in terms of the sleeve caps. The sleeves and sides will be a snap, but after all that knitting I'm determined to set the sleeves in right, and I'm not rushing it. Last night I started and after seaming the shoulders, I set in the first sleeve. It took me a bit of fiddling; sewing and picking out, sewing and picking out. Finally I got it right. The calculations for knitting the caps were bang on and the sleeve fit perfectly, but I had to fiddle to make sure it lined up. By the time that was done, I put it away for the evening because I'd had enough. Today I'm doing the other sleeve and I hope I can get it in the same way as the first.

I draped the sweater over myself once the sleeve was in and tried to hold it together at the open seams to see if the shaping and fit were correct. I think it's working out! Apparently I added some waist shaping to the sweater (something I don't actually remember doing since I knit the body of the sweater in March and April) and it seems to be in the right place.

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that I had finished another pair of socks at my SNB, and that I was unhappy with the fact that they didn't turn out matched up stripe-wise in the toe. I finally tried on the second sock and realized I had knit it too short. It's just short enough in the foot that I can feel the discrepancy when I put both socks on, so I'm going to have to rip back to before the toe shaping and add about 4 or 5 rounds. Highly annoying. The few rounds that I need to add won't be enough to match up the the final toe stripe, though.

In between seaming and sock fixing, I'm going to fish out all my single, unpaired socks and take an inventory. I think I have three left to knit mates for.

Remember Starsky? Well, we're going to Jersey in exactly three weeks and I want to bring a new sweater with me. Last night I finally worked out my adjusted sleeve cap shaping and finished knitting the first sleeve. All that's left to do now is knit the cap for the other sleeve, which I can do in about an hour and a half. While I'm doing that I'll have the fronts and back blocking, and hopefully tomorrow I can start the seaming process. Then it's shawl collar time, and I'll give myself two days for that. I've got three weeks, so why the rush? Because I want to also finish my Peace Fleece Cardi. I've knit the back and half of one sleeve so far.

I'm a little bit worried about not having enough yarn to complete Starsky. I just couldn't achieve row gauge. I'm knitting more rows to the inch than the pattern calls for and used up more yarn. I'm positive I'll have enough for the shawl collar, but I might not have enough for the belt. If that's the case, I'll just use some kind of pin to close the cardi in the meantime, and order another skein for the belt. I'm not worried about matching dyelots for something like the belt, I doubt it'll be obvious if the colour is slightly off.

I guess I'd better get cracking. I'm doing dinner in the crockpot tonight and I have to get that set up before I can wash and block anything, because I have to wash my knits in the kitchen sink. I really miss the huge utility sink that my mom has in her basement. It made washing large knits very easy.

School started today! Alex is now in grade seven. Even though it's been over twelve years, sometimes I look at Alex and think, I have a kid? It's still a mindfuck. And now he's in grade seven and wears giant, size-11 shoes.

I spent most of Sunday knitting swatches for an afghan. I have to work from stash, and I've got twelve balls of Patons Classic Wool in natural. At first I thought I'd knit a big Cozy, but I couldn't make the stitch pattern look good. Then I tried about seven different stitch patterns that I found online and hated them all. I don't know if it was because I was frustrated or because the Patons just knits up like shit. Maybe I just need to go down a needle size or two. I'm going to try again this afternoon.

I've also been working on some plain stockinette Fleece Artist socks. I just finished the gusset on the second sock. The second same sock in a row! I'll have a new pair of socks with a photo soon.

Remember Starsky? I'm almost finished. All I have left to knit before blocking and seaming are the sleevecaps for each sleeve. Because I couldn't get proper row gauge and because I needed to widen the tops of the sleeves, I have to redesign the caps to fit properly. Afterward, I'll just have the collar and belt to go. I may run out of yarn. Hopefully I can finish the collar with what I've got and will only need to use a different dyelot for the belt.

I haven't posted a picture of the cats lately. Here is Pippa. I took this a few weeks ago. This is how she likes to sleep.

What have I been doing lately? I've been disillusioned with my knitting. The last time I picked up the baby blanket for Astra, it looked a bit funny. I folded it over and realized I had loosened up in my gauge so much that the width of the blanket was almost 2" wider than at the cast-on edge. I was horrified. I argued with myself about letting it go and working it out in the blocking, but in the end I just couldn't continue. So I'll be ripping about half of it out and reknitting. Sorry Astra! I swear Sebastian will get this blanket before he goes to university.

Starsky went swimmingly along until I got to the plain stockinette sleeves. I knit the back and two fronts in record time but for some reason, when I started working the sleeve, I just couldn't keep gauge. What is wrong with me? I ripped out the sleeve back to the ribbing twice. I think I need a smaller needle to get gauge with the stockinette. I was using a 4.5 mm for the rest of the sweater, and I'm going to try again with a 4 mm for the sleeves. Believe it or not, the pattern calls for a 6 mm. How tightly do you people knit?

In the meantime I have almost finished a pair of socks. I made the second one a bit too short, so I have to rip back the toe and add about 4 rows before I reknit the toe. Not only can I not keep gauge, I also cannot measure. I have just been so frustrated!

Jeremy had the last couple of days off, so we decided to get something done around here. We used a gift card from Christmas for Home Depot to buy a new door for Alex's bedroom. We have plans to replace all the doors because they are awful, but Alex's came first because it was hung the wrong way. It opened into the centre of his room instead of toward the corner; when the room in question is so small this is awkward and stupid. Particularly awkward was the fact that the door, when opened, obscured the lightswitch. You had to enter the room and close the door in the dark before you could turn on the light.

We've never hung a door and jamb before, but lack of experience doesn't stop us. We tore off the trim, ripped out the old jamb and started shimming. On the top and left side it was easy to get the jamb plumb. The other side was a nightmare because the framing for the door was way too big. The new door is exactly the same size as the old door, and we discovered only after ripping out the old jamb (which was shimmed in the most creative manner!) that we were going to have to get creative as well. What we ended up doing is screwing the old jamb directly to the 2x4 of the frame, and then shimming the new jamb from there. It sounds confusing but I took some pictures and it'll all make sense when I post them later on.

Anyway, with some struggle we managed just fine, and that jamb is perfectly square! We are awesome. It's probably the only square thing in our house. Right before we went to hang the actual door, we decided to read the instructions.

Now, we used some vague directions we found online. That combined with watching countless doors hung in countless frames on countless home reno shows gave me the confidence that we knew how to do this. When we looked at the instructions that came with the door, they said we should hang the door before we shimmed the jamb. Wha? I guess that would work when your jamb actually fits into the frame with millimetres to spare, but we were working in a space that was about 3" too wide. Anyway, the door hangs correctly, but it doesn't swing because the bottom needs to be trimmed about a half-inch to allow for the bedroom carpet. Jeremy's going to saw it off this morning, and tonight Alex can have his room back!

The back of Starsky isn't much to look at yet because the pattern draws in a lot and needs to be blocked out. I'll do that when the fronts are done so I can block them at the same time to get it as even as possible.

Continue reading "Starsky Photos"

The back of Starsky is done but there is no photo today because eh, I just couldn't be fucking bothered. I cast on for one of the front pieces last night, but didn't get far. I think I'm burned out on the Banana Tree pattern, as lovely as it is. At least the pattern finally sank into my skull and I barely need the chart anymore which means knitting is going much faster now.

I was torn about which size to make. The designer has intended the garment to have 8 inches of ease around the bust for a loose, oversize fit. Being big, I'm most comfortable hiding inside a loose, oversize fit but the reality is that I just end up looking much bigger than I really am. I've got a huge chest and my upper arms are big so going oversize can end up making me look more round than I'd like. Also, since I've lost some weight and I'm still gearing up to lose a little bit more, I would like the sweater to become oversize rather than end up way too big. In the end, I chose the XL which gives me about 3.5 inches of ease, and once blocked I think it'll drape the way I want.

I also added a tiny bit of waist shaping. Despite the giant breasts, I'm not an hourglass sort of person and my waist-to-hip ratio is rather small. I only decreased 2 stitches at each edge, reducing the waist circumference by two inches at the narrowest point. I also made the sweater a half-inch longer from underarm to hem, and have increased the armscye by a half-inch to allow a bit more ease for my upper arms. If you remember, my row gauge is tighter than the pattern calls for and so when I knit the sleeve caps I'm going to have to change the shaping a bit to make it work both with my larger armscye and gauge discrepancy. I'm just going to wing it, following the shaping at underarm as written and then adding more height as I go. I'll have to take careful notes so I can replicate it for the second sleeve.

I'm hoping the wrap nature of this cardigan will allow for extra room where I need it in the front, and will fit me well in the back. It should be loose enough to wear over long sleeves.

Today is my dad's birthday. He's 62. Happy birthday, Dad!

Continue reading "Lookit"

Jeremy got a new gig working on a tv pilot, which means for the next two weeks I'll barely see him. He's got shifts at his day job to cover on the weekends as well as 12-hour days on the show. It's a good thing because this is what he loves to do and the money ain't bad (financially we are a bit behind so we need this) but it's long hours away from home and we won't be spending much time together. I've got lots to do in the meantime (spring cleaning - the excitement never ends) but I'll miss him.

I am a big liar to myself when it comes to knitting, which I'm sure you already know. I cast on for Starsky even though I said I wouldn't and am now six inches up the back. The cable pattern is surprisingly tricky! I thought it would be simple. Physically it is quite simple since you're only switching around two stitches at a time so there is no wrestling. But the pattern isn't easily memorizable so I have to actually read the damn chart. Now that I've passed a complete pattern repeat I can read my knitting (at least on the RS), so I can see what comes next and don't have to refer to the chart as often.

The kitties are doing well, but we're worried about Cuba. She caught Jonah's cold and was gagging/coughing. We got meds for her from the vet and she improved immediately. The meds are long finished and she was absolutely fine but late last night she started gagging again. What the hell? This time the gagging is different so I thought she might be ready to send out a hairball, but nothing's come out. We'll be calling the vet tomorrow to see what we should do. Both cats are due to go back at some point next week for boosters. It turned out Jonah had giardia (a parasite); the shelter obviously dropped the ball here because he should not have been adoption-ready. We got meds for both cats from the vet and they've got two doses to go before the giardia is cleared up. Once their poop is tested again and found clear, they'll get their boosters.

Now, I don't want to play games with the health of my kitties but we've already forked over a bunch in vet bills that we didn't expect and we're very tight with the money. I'm hoping we can wait until the booster visit to see about Cuba's gagging. Of course, if the vet thinks she needs to be seen we won't wait but in between the short gagging spells she is okay and active and happy. Maybe the giardia medication is causing it? The cats take pills very easily but this stuff is liquid and must taste so foul, they really struggle to get it down and are quite upset for a few minutes afterward. Only two more doses. I am scratched up, yo.

Tonight I am roasting a chicken and potatoes with lemon, garlic and rosemary. It's been a while since I roasted a whole chicken, I think this is my third? I originally wanted to do stuffing and gravy with it, but Natalie and my mom are coming over for dinner on Tuesday and I've got a turkey breast in the freezer. I'll save the stuffing and gravy for them. They're coming to take Alex for a couple of days during March Break. Because of Jeremy's hours I'll be alone most of those days, and I'm kind of looking forward to it. Quiet time with my knitting and the tv.

My Knitpicks order for Starsky arrived this morning. I wasn't going to actually place the order until my birthday since I'm using my mom's gift to pay for it but I was drunk and I didn't know what I was doing! Okay, I was impatient. But I could have just as easily been drunk. Don't judge me.

Anyway, the yarn is here so I swatched it up. I can't get row gauge. The pattern calls for 16 stitches and 18 rows to 4 inches and I can't get any closer than 16/22. I'm getting a full row per inch more than I should but to be honest, I don't see how you could. If anyone can achieve 16/18 with Knitpicks Sierra I wanna know about it! It's not that big a deal, I'll just work to my own row gauge and slightly alter the sleeve caps to fit. I still haven't decided on which size to knit, nor whether or not I want waist shaping.

The needles I need for Starsky are in the baby blanket right now (I pulled them out to swatch) and that's making me knit a little bit faster. The blanket seemed to show no progress no matter how much I knit until this afternoon; now it's suddenly so big! I've got about a third left to knit before blocking and a crochet edging. It's just a simple basketweave but it's so, so pretty. I want to make a bigger one as a throw for my living room.

I also spent some time working on Durrow. I read about Ken's neckline being too big, looked at what I had so far and realized that the neckline would be too wide for Alex, too. As yet I've only knit the back and one sleeve, so I ripped the back down to the underarm bind-off, calculated an appropriate raglan shaping and reknit from there. I must have used the wrong needle because it looked like shit. Rip. Reknit. Wrong needle again. Rip. Reknit. Fuck. Anyway, now I'm pissed off so I shoved it back in its bag and I'll give it another try tomorrow. I can't believe I couldn't remember what needle I was using. I've got to get better at keeping notes.