No more knitting

Finishing time:

I've been concentrating on this sweater in anticipation of delivery of it to my daughter, as a belated birthday gift.

It requires some assembly...

I'm making two sweaters.  Below is mine, which will take a rest while I am away.

I had yarn only for two sleeves and two bodies, so only one could be finished.

Here's the leftovers.  Modeling to follow.

...until I finish the finishing!

At last!

How satisfying to sew by machine.  After years of hand sewing, not continually but in spurts, I think this is the end.  I don't know what happened to my plan to machine quilt the borders.  I'm glad I rejected it.  

I love this quilt.  Created by my daughter in 2004, as a project to keep her sanity between countries and education degrees, and discovered by me on an island off the west coast of Norway.  I scooped it up, and over the past years, as I spent a month or two a year visiting, I became obsessed 

...determined that it would finished in my lifetime, and NOT cross the Atlantic a second time.

Success it IS!  

I have to admit that it is not perfection.  The piecing design is lovely, but there are flaws everywhere.  I got so frustrated with the last border puckering that I had the scissors wrestled from me by my daughter, who insisted that it deserved to live.  So, people of the future, do NOT judge me by this beauty.  I used to make much neater stitches and measure more carefully.

I rest... until I finish here and pick up my knitting. 

The cutest EVER!

I "needed" to make something for my granddaughter... these days, I feel I'm slacking if I don't have something in progress for my daughter, and my granddaughter, and a sock or two.  

This one has been a delight... though finding the right flower has been a challenge.  

First I was inspired by a pattern with pansies, but the pansy chart was for a smaller gauge, and would be enormous for this little dress.  I adapted by shrinking the pattern into a smaller chart, with this result--which I think looks like a space alien.  

So I went to my "go to" rose pattern that I've duplicate stitched onto several garments, and I came this close to pulling it out...

Then I realized what was missing...

Pattern: Cha Cha  by Louisa Harding,  from Louisa Harding #05, The Magical World According to Miss Millie 

Yarn:  Bamboo by Be Sweet, DK / 8 ply, 100% Bamboo, 110 yards / 50 grams

Finishing the hoodie

And there's a winner!  Here's the winning entry:

Hi fellow knitter and blogger,
it's a fun guessing game you invented! After taking a good look at your project page and thinking about what would I do... I'm still not sure but I will try my best. So, I suppose you first finished the front, then embroidered the flower on the right shoulder area, next you finished the back (possibly kitchenered it to the front), then made the hood and reknit the sleeves to be wider. My guess may be far from the truth, but one thing I know for sure; you did an excellent job with this hoodie, it's very pretty.
Enjoy the last few days of your visit and have a safe trip home!

 Mimi (Serbia)

And the finished hoodie:

Done with two days to spare!  Like Brenda, a rare occurrence.

As Mimi observed, I needed to finish the back, make a front, knit the hood, knit a border around the front opening, sew in the sleeves, and embroider the final heart/flower.   Why did I have 2 days to spare?  Probably because I did NOT reknit the sleeves.  It is a miracle!  They fit!!

Yarn goes in the post today… Congratulations Mimi, and thanks to all the others who read my blog.

Update on Knitting

Here's the most recent progress, however, (spoiler alert) I just bound off!  Yay!  Two days to go, and I'm SOOOO close.

I don't know why it is sideways… It wasn't when I imported it...

And speaking of close, I want to let you know that no one is CLOSE to winning the prize from January 16!  You can go back there and review, but here's a refresher and hint:
When I asked for 5 things I needed to do to complete this project, two of them are (in no particular order) finish the back, and knit the front edging.  If you have trouble seeing the image, click on the photo and it should open up in an enlarged format.  If you want to see the pattern, you can probably get to it through my Ravelry page.
Ok, Marija!  It's up to you, and you have 24 hours from … NOW!
Good luck!  (There were more than 5 things, so don't worry if you can't get them all in 5!)
And go ahead and write them in comments… or email me.  I don't care if you spoil it for others.

The Fair

I'm proudly admiring my handiwork that I submitted to the San Juan County Fair, 2013.  Last year there was an abundance of rosettes given out.  Best of Show in EVERY category.  I guess nothing measured up this year, since I saw only one and it was given to a crocheted afghan.  (All you who know my opinion of crochet should collectively gasp, however, I looked closely at it--it was Gorgeous (except for the texture of the fiber: Ah ah ahcrylic) and I was truly amazed that the stitching had been created by crochet.) I digress...

Next I carefully put away my wares and took the ribbons (there are 6 Blues, my friends) and detached the little paper tags, and wrote names and dates on the backs.  Imagine my surprise when I saw one that had, "lovely" written on the back!  How nice!  It was a comment on my striped vest!  And sure enough, on the next tag there was a long diatribe that stated that I got Blue as a sympathy award, and next time I had better clean up my loose ends on the inside...  I was aghast!  What?? Loose ends on the inside?  All neatly blocked and... I looked.

Gasp!

Sure enough:  One shoulder seam tacked down, and the other NOT!  Plus, well... you can see.  And the yarn there was enough for a full side seam... how I didn't notice, or thought to turn it inside out...?

I thought it was finished.  Very embarrassing...  probably could have gotten a Rosette.

After I took the first picture above, I neatly folded my Red Bird Pullover and put it on the shelf for my 4 year old's impending visit!  Now I have something else to do...

Effect Vest

I would like to say I'm finished with another project, but let's face it:  It probably has some work to be done, and yet I'm SO excited because it really seems to be "my" creation with borrowed ideas ...blocked...

And tried on:

and found it's a bit TOO minimal for me.  No closures/ties/loops... yet.  So, I've decided to pass this on to a smaller body and do a requested closure method.  (Maybe nothing, maybe "Knot Closure", ...loop and button... too many to choose.)
The pattern is a combination of Sandi Rosner's Vest from a book called Not Just Socks, with a pattern around the middle from cookie a's Bex sock pattern (found in Sock innovation).  It was fun, even though it has seen many Atlantic Ocean flights.  That's the problem when you don't have a clear destination for the project.  LOVE the yarn:

 Hand-dye Effect by RegiaLight Fingering / 3 ply
70% Wool, 25% Nylon, 5% Acrylic
459 yards / 100 grams (used 2 skeins)

The colors in that series are beautiful, but with such long color repeats, I find it isn't suitable for the kinds of socks I knit.  

The edging is attached I-cord per Rosner's instructions.  Makes a nice finish, yet I'm wondering if it will stay blocked, and not roll... It may need an iron touch-up.

Yesterday, April Fool!

Spring Cleaning!

NOT!  Spring Knitting, or trying to finish up a few items.  Not much for blogging this month, and I promise there will be less in April, ... and May,.... and... we'll see.  It seems a busy time for me, and I would rather be... outside knitting!
Funny story:  Years ago I saw this beautiful tee at Yarn (Durango), hanging there on a stick or something, catching the light just so that it called out, "Touch me, and you'll be forever mine."   I touched, and it has been mine, forever, or at least for almost FIVE years.  I felt the luxury of bamboo, and I bought the yarn and pattern in the summer of 2008.  I knitted it up in a flash, but never found the right buttons for the front tab.  Instead I found stupid buttons, and I wore it.  I loved the feel, but it didn't love my figure back, so I put it away.  I should have just handed it over to my daughter, who would look gorgeous in it, and have replaced the buttons with something stunning, ... but I didn't.  It languished in my closet, on a shelf.  Then THREE years ago, I decided that was silly.  I'll make something else, like a little dress for my Juju.  I frogged some of it, and used extra balls and completed my little dress.  And it stretched like crazy!  I don't know if that little dress ever got worn, but then a few years later, I looked at the cannibalized tee and decided I wanted it again.  All I had left was the boring stockinette of the body.  (Top down = exciting start, boring finish)  A few weeks ago, I decided to "JUST DO IT", and now I have... a finished tee, NO buttons, and it might be a bit short, but maybe someone with an attractive belly button will wear it.  It still feels YUMMY soft.

Charybdis Blocking Storm

Finished my shawl... but not without teeth gnashing, nail biting, and several shout-outs to fellow Ravelry Charybdis knitters.  Everyone assured me it would be all right!
But first, the bind off:

To bind off, this very neat edging was created.  Five stitches and turn, five stitches back for 2 stitches bound off.  It took several sessions, including knit nite.
Then to the end, and the scary part:  Dropping two stitches along each end.

The six middle stitches get kitchenered together 3x3 to form the point of the shawl.  Then the unraveling:

It looks a mess, and is meant to be a picot-type edging.  But not without a little help...

One hundred zillion loops first pinned with my 20 pins, then transferred to blocking wires, painfully teased out of wherever they tried to hide.  I ignored the inner circle edge--it has loops, too, but I was tired positive that they would disappear when I wrapped it around me after much hard work.
Next... drying... modeling...

"What's this?!!"

One of my favorite phrases, so my knitter friends say... "What's this?"  Usually interpreted to mean, "I found a mistake," and not a happy surprise.
Last night I finished up my Stricken socks.  Though they've been on needles since July doesn't mean that I haven't loved the anticipation of putting them on my feet... The Berroco Ultra Alpaca and twisty lines of the pattern have been a joy to work with.  And I didn't need to use a cable needle to twist the stitches so it moved right along if there weren't other projects in the way.  

As I neared the toe of the first sock, I discovered that I was running out of yarn, so I started number two with some vague idea of finding another yarn for the toe.  When I actually ran out I found a suitable partner:  DROPS Alpaca Silk in a non-threatening shade. (By the way, the silky texture made me run for my cable needle!) THEN my fingers flew because it's SOOOO yummy soft that I wanted my toes in it immediately!
Last night, finished, put them on, my toes wriggling in Alpaca luxury, took pictures, almost wore them to bed, then I thought I would give them a little rest and pulled them off.  Just as I put them down something caught my eye... What's THIS???

 A funny little dimple above the gusset...

Dang... dropped stitch.  (It's a bit depressing to find how many times I've labeled a post "dropped stitch", isn't it?)
A minor set back. They ARE lovely though....

Pattern:  Stricken by Cookie A  from Knit. Sock. Love.

Less than perfect

The maximizer in me just won't let it go.  The continuing saga of "Sojourner."
First, you can see what happens when I re-knit with yarn that has been kinked from blocking. And it "almost" looks like I twisted the stitches I picked when continuing the stockinette.  (I don't think I did...) The stitches have a different shape. Fingers crossed that will resolve itself with a second blocking.

By the way, you are seeing the back neck edge with seed stitch continuing from the front button bands. Big question:  How do you make a decent, discrete join where they meet?  (It's not in the instructions, my friends!)
I took a tip from Nancie Wiseman.  She wrote in The Knitter's Book of Finishing Techniques which is my go-to source of "how-to's".  She doesn't address seed stitch, but there was a kitchener method of using waste yarn that I thought might be helpful.  I added an extra row to both ends using waste yarn, and attempted to duplicate stitch over it.  Here's what it looked like (not a pretty sight)!

Loose ends EVERYWHERE!  And what I got? That's in the first picture.  It looks OK at the top edge, but I must have missed something at the first few stitches.  (Yes, lavender is difficult to photograph... every picture is a different color.  Really, it's all the same.)

Here I am, modeling my sweater, which is totally wearable, and feels YUMMY WONDERFUL on this chilly day, and I don't WANT to take it off (WAAAHHH!) to undo the "messed up kitchener"... (pout).

Perfection, I guess...

In February, my daughter presented me with a pattern and yarn, we shopped for beads, I bought extra yarn, just in case, and I cast on:  Mademoiselle.
I stalled, I put it away, I knit numerous other things, and then as September approached I realized that winter weather and sweaters are inseparable, and I got out the whip sleeves and started again in earnest.  The impending season AND a visit by my daughter looming was enough to get me focused, but little did I know that it would take me up to the final day that I could put it in her hands.
It was a good thing I had her body with me, because there's no better way to get a fit and a "look" than to see it modeled.

 I did the sleeves first.  It was earlier agreed upon that they would be 3/4 length.  Then the body turned out to be overly "hour glass" shaped.  C thought that was great;  she likes a close fit.  Then came the collar in contrasting color, pattern, and with beads.

 It traveled from New Mexico, to Canada, visiting Niagara Falls, drove to South Carolina where I was watched by dogs, and it grew, grudgingly it seemed!

 Finally it was "sew the sleeves in" time, and when modeled...  it definitely needed more at the neckline.  I picked up stitches and made a raglan decrease to keep it from falling off the shoulders. (The weight of the beaded collar would surely drag it down.)  This extra neckline I knitted and ripped four times until I finally had it right.  With a stockinette finish, the collar would still pull it outward... so

 In the end I finally had a reverse-stockinette, and not too tight, not too loose bind-off.  Whew!  (I imagined that it was going to be a Christmas present after all!)

Nice hems on the cuffs, and the same for the bottom edge of the body, but at the (almost) last modeling, it definitely needed a few more inches of overall length!

 I unraveled the hem and added 3 inches, a new hem, and voilá!  Finé!
Never blocked.  North Carolina humidity would mean that C would have to take it wet, and NC weather ... Well, there's NO excuse that I didn't snap a picture when it was finished and modeled... Shame on me.  Someday, I'll surprise you!

 By the way, the sweater can be worn backwards or forwards.  C prefers the split of the collar to the back.  It is the YUMMIEST of yarn.  I loved the feel in my hands.

 Lucky me!  I WAY over-estimated the amount and have plenty left for another project.  (Not exactly stash-busting, is it! LOL)

I thought... I was finished

Thursday, I was blocking my mock smock dress.  Usually our "DRY" heat in the SW makes this a short process, but we've been having T-storms every afternoon, and the humidity has been up to 60%, so I let it rest overnight.  Friday morning, I turned it over, and ... ... a dropped stitch.

Look at that little bugger, almost too far down to catch.  I guess that's the "good news".  I trapped it (thinking: "Remember when you got to the top and one of the panels had fewer stitches? And you shrugged your shoulders and decreased one less there? Stoopid.) and

took out a crochet hook...

and there it is.  I haven't yet, but in the near future I'll pull it to the back side and sew it down.  Heart palpitations just went up a bit... but it will be all right.  My mantra:  A Three-year-old doesn't stand still very long!

How do you knit in the heat?

I feel very sorry for all of you, especially last week when the country was HOT HOT HOT, and for some crazy reason, NM wasn't.  We've been having rain almost every afternoon, and enjoying mountain-like temperatures.  I'm not complaining!  And I've been knitting.
A little of this and a little of that...
And here's what I finished today, though it could use a little blocking, tomorrow!

 It's a cute dress in size 4T, that will be perfect for Fall (which means for folks in Norway - August).  It's a "mock smock" stitch, and I like!

The neckline as written was too stretchy and just down-right big, so I ripped it out and decreased like crazy... More another day, with a full length photo.  No model until September!

Summer Knitting!

It's not really summer, but I'm happy to say, "I'm ahead of the game!"
Not only do I have the next 2 months totally planned, with a trip west, a trip east, and a wedding in between (north), I finished a tank top... Yes!  Something that can actually be used in a few months.  Not for me, but for my daughter, so it's going in a suitcase at the end of May.
I love Elsebeth Lavold patterns.  Yes, they are not very user friendly, but once you've done a few, you catch on.  First off, she doesn't explain details in her patterns, so you HAVE to read her general instructions tucked away in the back of her booklets.  (I have several of the Viking Series.)  The one thing that makes it work is using the correct yarn--her yarn products.  They are pricey and aren't always available, but ... worth it!

It's nicer on bare skin, but the white helps to show off the lace leaf pattern.  The front and back are the same with "interrupted" ribbing.

I was unsure about the length for the straps so I was generous.  The needles show where I had to rip back which brings me to one of those head-scratching directions.  At the top shoulder bind off, there are instructions to make short rows.  I nodded and accepted the need to possibly slope the shoulders from arm to neck, but when I knitted as told, it looked and felt like I was knitting an upside-down U.  Oh well, I say as I blindly follow directions.
It wasn't until I ripped back that I found the reason:

The lace was creating a concave shape (left) and needed filling in to be straight (right).  Brilliant, I tell you!! I didn't discover it until this point.  In fact, as I contemplated "sewing" the tops, I had thought that I'd do a 3-needle bind off without the short rows. When I started ripping out and saw what it looked like, the short rows made sense.
One general modification of the pattern:  I knitted in the round up to the armholes.  And added a faux seam (1 purl stitch) on each side.  
Me LIKE!

Hey!  This may be my first "sweater set!  It's the same yarn as Pas de Valse.

Pattern: Audrey by Elsebeth Lavold from Book Four: The Sophisticated Lady Collection  Yarn: Silky Wool by Elsebeth Lavold, DK / 8 ply 45% Wool, 35% Silk, 20% Nylon, 192 yards / 50 grams

Surprise!

Something finished!
Remember my moaning and groaning about the sweater that won't fit, hangs funny, should go back in the stash...?  Well, here it is.
Before blocking:

The Penguin

Needs a pull down

Blocking:

Don't worry, I fixed the jog on the left.

After blocking:

Do I look happy?  Well, yes I am!!!!!  Such a relief after months of angst.  
On top of the worries of how it will fit, I came home last night to my blocked sweater covered by a blanket on the kitchen counter. (!!!)  I knew exactly what had happened.  A few weeks ago, from another room I could hear a popping sound in the kitchen.  After a few moments of deciding it was worth putting down my knitting and going to investigate, I found my yellow cat on top of my pinned shawl, on the same counter where I do all of my blocking.  He was behaving like he was high on catnip and exercising his claws in the plastic blocking pads.  I was furious, of course, and he took off like a shot.  I examined the shawl and found NO pulls.  THAT was totally unexpected.  When the shawl was removed, there were several punctures to the blocks, but no real damage.  Last night, I assumed there had been a repeat performance... and my hub described the same thing, plus there WERE pulls in the sweater.  And I was furious again.  This is one giant snag, plus a second lesser one, and somehow the cat had arranged the wire rod to be poking through...

I assured my hub that I could fix it, and with a pin, I pulled the snag back into stitches, and then... I put it on.  Nice.  (The block underneath have more damage.)
Below was an alternate ending to this story.  I wrote it 2 days ago.  I retract it!   This Dahlia is mine, ALL mine... :D

I have another option:  Giving it up for adoption OR trade!  There is another one of my sweaters out there that I really kind of liked, and I hoped that this one would replace.  Maybe someone (ahem C) would like this one...??