But where are the pictures?!?! August 5, 2008

They don’t exist.  Well, that’s not true.  A few weeks ago I attempted to take pictures of my wip’s, but they didn’t turn out very good.  I think later today I will only stretch out a little bit of my Little Birds blanket and snap a few shots so you can get a feel for what I’m doing.  Then with the pointelle shawl, well, that may have to wait ’til it’s finished because it’s terrible trying to showcase the intricacies of it.  *sigh*

On a good note though I’ve decided what to do concerning the rest of my Little Birds blanket.  At KnitPicks I found a few different shades of green that I can add into what I’ve started already.  The only bad thing is that the color I would do next isn’t available until the beginning of September.  But then at least I could buy some yarn to quick knit up the new knitting bag and I’d come full circle by September’s start to keep truckin’ on my blanket.

The other thing I’ve been working on but not real whole-heartedly is a cloche hat designed by Cirilia Rose.  I’m thinking it’s me and my utter lack of being able to read through ALL of the instructions, but so far my hat does not seem as if it will be big enough for my head.  Which is funny because usually hats that end up in my wardrobe are slightly too big.  Hm.  Maybe I will have to let out some of the hot air and then it’ll fit.  😀  Or I could just add it to the box of goodies that is becoming more and more fun stuff for my cousin Fiona than any birthday presents for Carter.  Speaking of which (I know, I’m jumping ALL over the place today), the socks I started for Carter are pretty much a lost cause.  I think I’m just going to knit him a toy lobster like Jax’s (except all the same color) and maybe another toy.

I hope to get a lot more done next week.  This week my husband is working overtime (he didn’t get home ’til 7 last night!) so I’m not seeing a whole lot of knitting in my future.  But starting this Friday (I think) I’m going to become a semi-permanent fixture on my friend’s couch watching the Olympics and knitting my heart away.

What’s on the needles? July 16, 2008

Lots!  I am obviously one of those people that don’t stick to one project indefinitely.  The pointelle shawl is still in the works.  My plan is to do one round per day.  On Monday I began my green blanket using the Little Birds stitch from “The Harmony Guides knit & purl” guide.  It’s going along swimmingly although I will need to buy more yarn if I want it to measure more than 6″ long.  I’m 20 rounds away from being finished with my doll’s 2nd leg and then tonight I will either start her arms or work some more on one of my other two projects.

What I’ve discovered I don’t like about knitting this doll is how boring the limbs are to knit!  Seriously, 50 rows of knitting before anything exciting happens?  *sigh*  I was looking over the directions for the arms and it reads “Rounds 1-44, knit”.  Oh goodness.  Perhaps I should have scanned the directions and then scaled back the size!  No, I am proud of what I’ve accomplished so far and definitely want to knit this again!  There’s nothing so satisfying as finishing up an arduous piece of work.

I am so peeved June 17, 2008

I started working on something finally.  It’s taken me a week or two to knit through some swatches (of which only 1 survived) and I discovered one that works well and looks cool.  I was using US 8 needles and a baby blue colored yarn to knit this pattern and I intended to make it a blanket.  On Saturday I casted on 120 stitches and went to work.  By tonight I had completed the first 16 rows (it took me forever because I pretended I was 21 again over the weekend and didn’t do much else besides eat a lot and tend to a hangover) and managed to take a few pictures to prove my triumph.  Good thing I did that because as I worked the next 3 rows, I notice that somehow things had gotten flip flopped.  Instead of my stitches continuing in the same pattern, they were now reversed.

This happened to me time and time again as I knitted the brown purse for a girlfriend.  So I’m not really surprised, just really annoyed.  But I knew that I could carefully rip out my stitches and save my project.  Carefully I pulled out 3 rows and began to slip my needle through the orphaned stitches.  12 stitches in I completely botched it and lost countless stitches that I am honestly in no mood to hunt for.

I do intend to try again.  Except this next time I will use smaller needles and try very hard to keep my tension the same.  This happens to me with cable knit, that each row of cables is uniquely different and you can’t always see the pattern as clearly.  I’m hoping that using smaller needles will help.

I know, looks nothing like the picture from Lion Brand Yarn, right?  *sigh*  Some days I really want to give up knitting because I feel like I’m absolutely no good at it.  But then that feisty part of me that refuses to be dragged down and declared a failure (by myself) jumps right back up again and ferociously attacks a new project with my pointy sticks.  Still doesn’t change the fact that half the time my creations look nothing like the picture, but I always just feel relieved I finished something that doesn’t look like a cat barfed it up.