progress is being made

The 16th, being exactly in the middle of the month, seems like a great time to share progress on my January focus list.

So far I have worked on only three of the eight items on my January list. 

But I am happy with that, considering I had house guests until 9th January.

I have cast on another pair of socks -- these don't interfere with my Year of the Finished Project. Plain stocking stitch socks, single-coloured garter stitch squares, class samples/projects and rainbow scrap quilting blocks are exceptions and are not counted as new projects.

You will no doubt notice that the toe of the first sock has not yet been grafted. That's because it's easier to cast on for another sock while in the car than to try grafting while in a moving vehicle! 

Socks make great travel knitting: they are small and easily transported, they don't lie in my lap when the temperature outside is over 35°C (95°F), and because they are knit in the round on dpns are only ever sixteen stitches from the "end of the row"!

Many of you would have read that my first "finish" of the year was to "frog" (rip out) a baby sweater I started in November 2011 because I thought the head hole was too small after I knitted the collar on. That's one thing off my Focus list, even if not the way I originally intended.

My "big" knitting project is the Westall cardigan that I am making for myself. I planned to be up to the waist shaping a few days ago but had to extend that deadline to yesterday because the cotton/acrylic yarn, while knitting up into a nice soft fabric, is hard on my hands so I can only do a few rows before I have to take a break.

knitted from the top down, back and both fronts at the same time

I did reach yesterday's deadline and have started the waist shaping but I'm beginning to have my doubts about having this finished by the end of the month! Nevertheless, I will persevere, I will soon be up to the plain stocking stitch part of the body so it should go a little faster then!

And on the quilting front, I started thirty-two square-on-square blocks last Friday and finished them on Monday (I had no time for sewing over the weekend). I only needed thirty-one but it doesn't hurt to have one extra, just in case. Yesterday I sewed the blocks into rows and the rows into a flimsy, so I have met my goal for January for this project and need to turn my attention to other projects while I think about the borders for this one.

I think I'll use a thin blue solid inner border but I'm not sure about the outer border. Strips (piano keys) with corner stones?

Time to baste this baby, I think. Eight months in the waiting pile is long enough!

So, how about you? How are you going with your January goals?

Linking up with WIP Wednesday over at Freshly Pieced (hosted by Lee).

life doesn’t always go according to plan

Here we are, twelve days into January and things have not exactly been going to plan.

I decided to run my Linky party on the first Thursday of the month which was 3 January. I thought I'd have plenty of time to organise it because mum, who arrived on 27 December, was going home on 2 January, and my sister and nephew weren't arriving until 4 January. That gave me all day on 3 January to write the post and set up the Linky!

But....

Older Grandson wouldn't milk the cow but was happy to brush her

We visited Calmsley Hill City Farm on Sunday 30 December. Mum was helping WM carry the picnic lunch up from the car and therefore had her arms full and couldn’t see the ground immediately beneath her feet. She fell heavily on some uneven paving and twisted her ankle. We spent most of the afternoon in the emergency room after an ambulance took her from the farm.

Mum's okay now but she ended up staying here until 5 January when the doctor said she would be fit to travel. As you know, I managed to get my post written so everything worked out okay.

Then ....

While my guests were here, I decided it was time to finish the Sideways Striped Baby Jumper that I had started in November 2011. All it needed was a collar knitted on and the seams sewn up -- one evening's work (or so I thought)!

But ...

Knitting the collar wasn't as easy as I thought and after four attempts over two days to get the collar right, I gave up! In the end I frogged it because the head hole seemed too small to go over a baby's head easily. No worries, frogging is a "finish" for that project and the yarn will some day become a cardigan knitted sideways to retain that vertical striping that attracted me to the pattern in the first place.

this used to be a baby sweater

And then...

One of my top priorities for this month was to finish the Hearts and Squares quilt. I had finished all the blocks and just needed to trim the 6.5" four-patch blocks down to the same size as the 6" heart blocks. I hadn't been in my sewing room since well before Christmas but in my head the quilt top looked great!

It took a long time to settle on a layout for the four-patch blocks. I knew the finished layout had to be 9x7, because there is a particular size I have to make for our community quilting group (roughly 56" x 64"). I had a large number of blue blocks, and almost the same number of brown blocks, and a few others in green, red, pink and yellow. I finally came up with a layout that I was happy with and started to add the heart blocks.

But....

The layout was okay but the squares seemed too “hard” for the hearts which cry out for a “softer setting”. It occurred to me that the squares made an attractive layout for a "man quilt" (we have to work harder to make those because of all the floral scraps we are given). But that's okay, I have plenty of fabric (that belongs to Caring Hearts Community Quilters) and I'm not adverse to making two quilts.

The question was which quilt to make first because it's unlikely I'll get two finished this month (given the goals I've set for myself and the time remaining). I settled on the four-patch blocks; after all, the layout is already on my design wall.

Then the question became: what blocks to make to enhance the four patch blocks? I don't have enough of any one fabric to use plain 6.5" squares nor do I have the quilting skills to make a 6" block look interesting!

I settled on square on square blocks, the central square being the same size as one quarter of the four patch (that is three inches finished) with a light neutral border around it to make it up to the correct size.You might not have noticed, but I've made further changes to the layout of the four patch blocks.

I must make up my mind which way those four patch go!

So despite the fact that yesterday was forecast to be 41°C (106°F), I took myself to the garage to find some suitable fabric and then to my sewing room to re-introduce myself to my rotary cutter and sewing machine! I think it actually got to 37°C (98.6°F) but the air-conditioned kept things at a comfortable 24°C (75°F). I got slightly more than half the blocks made, pressed and trimmed.

I think it’s shaping up to be a good unisex quilt, don't you?

How are your plans for January shaping up?

Is frogging a finish?

In November 2011 I cast on and knitted the body of a sweater for a 12 month old child. It took me only a few days to knit but then I put it aside because I had to pick up stitches around the neckline to create a collar.

Cue 2013. This was the first project on my list of UFOs that I decided to finish.
(Having house guests makes it impossible to get into the sewing room but knitting and conversation go well together).

First I checked on the Internet for the correct way to pick up and knit stitches.

Attempt one
messy pick up, 80cm (32") circular needle too long for the job

Attempt two
The picking up of stitches was much neater but it was still difficult to get the same number of stitches down each side of the collar. Knitted this time on dpns -- dropping stitches was an issue. I had almost completed the collar and decided I had picked up stitches the wrong way (even though I had followed the pattern instructions). Frogged. (Then realised I had been right all along!)

Attempt three
This time I picked up the stitches using a tiny 2mm crochet hook. While still struggling with losing stitches from dpns, I managed to get the stocking stitch collar (as stated in the pattern) finished. No matter what I did, it would not lie flat. Of course not, stocking stitch curls! They must have severely blocked the sweater in the photos for the book to get the collar to stay like that! Of course, I could block but what happens when the new mother, unknown to me, washes the garment and doesn't know about blocking! Highly unsatisfactory; you guessed it - frogged!

Attempt four
I decided to knit a garter stitch collar. Still struggling with stitches falling off dpns, I didn't realise that I had created two slipped stitches, right in the centre back, on the right side of the collar.

I like the garter stitch, it lay perfectly, but I still didn't like my messy pick up of stitches.

By now I'm sure you can tell that I don't tutor on finishing knitting! I'm still working on that for myself!

I convinced myself that the two stitches weren't too bad and, once baby's head was in the jumper, they wouldn't be seen. Which brought me to the size of the head hole -- there is no way that either of my grandsons would have been able to get their head through that hole. Sure, the jumper could be given to someone with a small baby but how long would the child be able to wear it? Better a slightly oversized cardigan (and therefore no head hole) than a garment that a child grows out of long before it wears out!

It's a very long time since I've been defeated by a pattern but there it is.

And so we come to the crux of my post -- is frogging a finish?

still not blogging regularly

I have finished the course that kept me away from blogs and crafting for three and a half weeks. I know many of you out there won't believe me, but the course was life-changing and I will never be the same!

Now my DD has started the course, so for the next three weeks, except on weekends, I will be looking after my two grandsons while she has her life changed! Consequently, there may not be much time for blogging or crafting in the next twenty four days or so.

In between my course finishing on Tuesday and her course starting yesterday, I have managed to read all the blogs I follow – up to their posts of 3 August. Some blogs I have read beyond that but I am working through them slowly and systematically and, thanks to that wonder called iPad, I will get there eventually. 

I don't want to disappoint the followers of this blog. It's a craft blog and you come here to see some stitching - right? So stitching you shall see…

During the period of the Olympic Games I did manage to frog two items for the Ravellenic Games. However, I never got around to adding them to Ravelry, and it's too late now so I didn’t qualify for any medals.

Nevertheless, here are the before and after photos of the Infinity scarf which I frogged because I thought the yarn was too dark to show the lace pattern well and, being pure wool, it was a bit to scratchy for being worn around the neck. The picture on the left is the true colour.
 
And here are the before and after photos of the pilchers I knitted when DD was pregnant with Older Grandson (who is two and a half today -- where does time go?). She was sure that she would be using cloth nappies but convenience won in the end and she used, and still uses, disposables. Neither of my grandsons would have got their thighs into that tiny leg hole, now I think about it! The pilchers were frogged and the yarn will be dyed and made into something else –– some day. The picture on the right is a truer colour.
 
The eight pieces that were my bag are now just three pieces. I have to bind the corners and base of the bag (the hardest part of the job I believe), then I can sew on the last two pockets, one on each side and the bag will be done. Hopefully I will have it finished by the end of the month since I only ever seem to work on it in class.

Speaking of classes, last month I teased you with this and asked you to guess what it would become.

Here is the finished article. I love those little colonial knots!

It is part of a triptych. The second one was started last week. (I know it needs ironing but I don’t want to set that wash out pen!)
 
I'm sure I’ll have all three finished and bound in time to decorate our house this December. (What’s that? Christmas is less than nineteen weeks away? Get outta here!)

I’m off to prepare for the arrival of my grandsons (yes, I did remember to move that glass-topped coffee table out of the living room).

Catch you soon!

on and off the needles

Last month I didn’t do much sewing but I definitely knitted!

a black beanie ( no photos – sorry)

a cowl which I designed on a train while taking my mother to Strathfield to meet her country train – it’s hard to see but it has a textured zigzag pattern

a blanket for a local animal shelter (approximately one metre – 40 inches – “square”) – unblocked because I don’t think animals care!

a pair of socks for mum (Baby Mock Cable - which look so much better than this photo shows)

a pair of “plain vanilla” socks for me (Patonyle, purchased 2008)

four sample socks for the workshop I gave on 16th June

a single repeat on these socks (pattern: Ribbed Ribbon Socks from “Socks from the Toe Up” by Wendy D Johnson)

and 40 rows (8,000 stitches) on this blanket (not 80 rows - 16,000 stitches as stated on my progress report – I counted the ridges and doubled twice but some thing told me that couldn’t be right!). I have added another 26 rows (5,200 stitches) to that this week.

And to think I nearly frogged it when I was just past that pink stripe!

I frogged this blanket (which wasn’t working for me).

On Thursday night I cast on and knitted twelve repeats of Wendy D. Johnson’s Lacy Rib pattern on a bed sock for DD.

I think there are two problems:
1) the toe shaping isn’t quite right for DD’s narrow feet and there are too many stocking stitch rows before the pattern begins
2) I’m knitting DK weight on 2.75mm (US 2) needles; I think the fabric is too tight for bed socks and I need to go up to 3.25mm needles (which DD has and therefore I couldn’t use them in the first place)

What do you think?

Will you be in the Games?

The Ravellenic Games that is!



 Yesterday I signed up as part of Team Australia in the Games over on Ravelry.


I know that I have at least three items that qualify for the Frogging Trampoline event and another three for the WIPs Wrestling event.

With less than four weeks to go, it's time to consider any other events I might want to participate in.

 Come on, knitting friends, please join me in this bit of fun!

on gauge swatches

Someone, somewhere, at some time, worked out that before a knitter starts a project, he/she would be advised to knit a "tension square", the name Australians use for a "gauge swatch".

Most commercial patterns, especially those for articles where size matters, strongly recommend taking the time to knit a tension square.

As a knitting tutor, I wholeheartedly agree. Why spend hours knitting something only to find that after all that "work", the article is the wrong size!

Why then, did I spend five days knitting exclusively on my stealth project only to decide on Day 6 that it was too big? Because, as usual, I was in too much of a hurry to get started on my latest Great Idea. I had all the confidence of a New Project and the fumes of Pure Wool Yarn urging me to just get knitting! I did take the time to prepare a chart for my Great Idea. I knitted and ripped and knitted and ripped; sometimes it felt like I was taking two steps forward and one step back.

But, folks, it wasn't worth it. Late on Day 5 I weighed my yarn. I had 98g left of a 200g ball. What I had knitted was close to the right length I had hoped it to be at this point. At bed time I lay my knitting on the footstool. It was one of the first things I saw on Day 6. And I had to admit, it was just too wide! I wanted something narrower and much longer than I was going to be able to knit with the number of stitches I had!

And so I frogged. This is not the first time I have said it - a gauge swatch is Really. Important. (especially when designing your own knitting) *sigh*

sock story

I have knitted many socks.

I have tutored a workshop in knitting socks.

Why, then, can I not knit socks that actually fit me?

I have knitted four pairs of socks for myself.

The first were too big and were frogged.

Online Supersocke Cotton



The second were worn, but they were also too big and were frogged.

Tofutsies yarn













The third were knitted from the yarn from the first pair. The first sock fitted like a dream.



Waving Lace socks from "Favourite Socks"













The second sock, you may remember the saga, was knitted several months later on the same needles, with the same yarn, by the same knitter, and was Way. Too. Big.

The fourth pair of socks have languished for months waiting for the toes to be grafted.

Tidal Wave Socks from "South Seas Trading Company"













Why have they waited so long? I think the legs are too short and I'm not sure that the foot is long enough - it's snug, perhaps a little too snug!

I think I may have to frog back to the heel turning and add another pattern repeat.

As if that wasn't enough; last week I was cleaning up the knitting corner - it's the place where DD and I store UFOs, WIPs and hibernating projects. I found a small drawstring bag.

"What's in that?" I wondered, aloud, to myself.

You guessed it - a lone (knitted for charity) sock, waiting for its mate. *sigh*

I think I'm off to frog and/or knit socks.

in which I speak of hand-dyed yarn and frogged Waving Lace socks

In the week before mum arrived, I dyed some yarn. The acrylic that I dyed softened tremendously so I wondered if dyeing wool would do the same. DD and I bought a kilo (2.2 pounds) of white 8ply (DK) wool in Bendigo in 2008. I tried to knit with it but it was scratchy - certainly not soft enough to knit pilchers (soakers) for GS#1. It didn't really soften after being dyed and I am left with 200g of this. Wound up like that, I thought it looked like tartan so I'm calling it "Tartan Royale" (purple being the colour of royalty). On my monitor the colours are not as rich as they are in reality. The purple is very dark and the green not so bright. I think I'm going to knit a bag and felt it. Possibbly this one from my Ravelry queue. Of course, mine won't be striped like the one in the pattern. I'm just not sure what use I have for such a bag.

During that same week (the one where I visited the doctor because I had URTI again), I finally frogged those Waving Lace socks. You remember, the two socks I knitted several months apart when my gauge was completely different. Now they look like this:

Having already knitted this yarn twice (once into the socks shown here that were way too big) and the second time in two different gauges on the same needles, I am disinclined to cast on again. Maybe the onset of some cooler (less humid) weather will inspire me to knit socks! *sigh*

New Year, New old project

The lace stole continued apace on New Year's Day - I manged to complete four pattern repeats [total 48 rows]. I could see this project being finished on time.

Yesterday brought a whole new slant on the story. On New Year's Day I'd gotten cocky* - I waited 24 rows before inserting a lifeline. I knitted another six rows and whamo! I can't even remember now what happened, but I had to rip back to that lifeline! And guess what I discovered - lifelines don't always hold the stitches the way I knitted them - some of the K@ tog. had become two stitches. And when I tried to fix them [had to take the lifeline out to do so because it was understandably twisted in the stitches, I dropped some more stitches. I had to rip back to the previous lifeline 24 rows below [that's two pattern repeats folks!]

I heard that collective sigh but wait - there's more! Last night, having finally made up all the rows I'd lost, I looked down and, to my horror, found a huge hole just three inches from the start! At first, I thought the yarn must have broken but no, it was intact. It seems that sometimes have trouble with K2 tog. and one stitch doesn't get knit properly. Eventually, it drops and unravels - rows and rows! I was sitting looking at this enormous hole through tears, wondering if I could gather the errant stitches [now six from a secession of K2 tog.] with a crochet hook, re-knit them and secure them with a small sewn stitch when something caught my eyes - another gaping hole, another dropped K2 tog.!

Well, dear blogging friends, I tell you, I couldn't see any other way out - if it happened to those two stitches it could happen to any K2 tog. stitch and there are lots of them. It's for my daughter's wedding and I don't want a patched up mess! so, I did the only thing possible people - take a deep breath - I frogged the lot!!!

DD tried to talk me out of it - but I said I would do it and I've never been defeated a by knitting project yet! And I'm not about to start!!

Last night, at 10.30 I cast on a new old project - I am now six rows into the Myrtle Leaf shawl which I need to have completed and blocked in four weeks! I'm off to knit - if you don't hear from me for a while, I'm sure you know why!!

Happy "Long Lacy Summer" to everyone who's participating. See you in February!

*overly self-confident or self-assertive from Princeton Word Net Search

Knitted Lace - too scary!

I've been knitting for forty years and nothing much fazes me but knitting lace is the one experience that has almost made me give up on a project!

Firstly, let's all understand my terms. Lace knitting and knitted lace are two different things. Lace knitting I've done many times, though never with lace-weight. 3 ply baby yarn was used for my last lace knitting project. So what is lace knitting? And how is it different from knitted lace?

Lace Knitting has a pattern on only one side of the fabric; the reverse side is either simple knit or purl rows. This means that the holes created by yarn overs have two thread between them because they are two rows apart.

Knitted lace, on the other hand, has a pattern on both sides; thus there is only one thread between adjacent holes.

So, if I have so much experience and a modicum of knowledge - what's the problem? The problem is a combination of my aging eyesight and P2 tog in fine yarn. Let me give you an example:

Yesterday I dropped a stitch. Now that in itself is not usually a problem, I just pick up the stitch and carry on. Even if it unravels down a few rows I can fix the problem. But... the stitch I dropped was K2 tog in the previous row, and P2 tog the row before that, and K2 tog the row before that [you get the idea]. I saved that dropped stitch two rows back [while it was only four stitches!!] and now all I had to do was tink back 172 stitches [86 per row], right? No way, Jose! P2 tog has proved to be notoriously difficult for me to tink because a) the stitches are twisted around each other and b) the yarn is so fine I can't see where to insert the needle to tink! [I had my eyes tested two weeks ago but I'm still waiting for my new glasses. The optometrist said the prescription wasn't that much different!] So by the time I had tinked back one row I had dropped stitches which had unravelled way back - some three or four rows. Every K2 tog or P2 tog [there are fifteen per row] unravelled one way or another. Let me repeat, I am an expert tinker but this had me stumped.

So, close to tears, I put my knitting down and made my way to the computer. "What's a lifeline?" I wanted to know. So now I do know and I will use one every six rows for the rest of this stole - I have to knit it, it's DD's wedding stole and she really wants this one! Besides, no knitting will ever be allowed to defeat me!!

But first I had to unravel the whole thing; that had taken several hours of knitting because I knit the first eight rows three times - yes, my friends, I've had me some stinking tinking experience!

And another issue is I don't know how much knitting and unravelling this yarn can take - it's starting to look a little fuzzy!

One hint for those of you about to start on your first knitted lace: knit up a swatch in a thicker yarn first so you can see how the pattern works then you'll be able to understand what all those /, \ and O's do. You'll be able read your knitting and see if you are on the right track! Believe me, your knitting won't look like the graph! How can it? The graph has no way to show the results of knitting two stitches together.

Wish me luck in getting this finished by the end of January!

Sock continues...

Last night I decided to turn the heel on the second sock. I'm using a version of short row shaping and was almost back to my original number of stitches when I noticed a gaping hole. Well, maybe not gaping but a hole nonetheless - big enough for me to stick my pinky through; maybe even big enough to stick my index finger through.

So, what's a girl to do in this situation? My first thought was 'ignore it; darn it later'. No, I couldn't do that; I was brought up with the philosophy: "if a job's worth doing, it's worth doing well". Just because something's going to charity doesn't mean it's okay for it to be second rate [hope you're reading this, Pam; I know you'd be pleased].

So, yes, I ripped it out, but short row shaping won't rip back to the middle point will it? No! It has to be ripped right back to the beginning!! Two hours of work in the frogpond. :-(

The heel's finished now and I've done ten rounds of the foot. Only another million rounds to go! Well, maybe 80 rows before the toe shaping! I'm gonna finish that sock asap - there are other more interesting patterns waiting in my queue! [see sidebar]

Socks!

I have signed up again for Southern Summer of Socks. Last year I didn't finish a single pair in the six months the KAL ran due to being diagnosed with a frozen left shoulder in October [no knitting for eight weeks] and a frozen right shoulder in January [no knitting for five weeks]. Gripping those tiny needles [2.25mm] is still very difficult and causes me a great deal of pain if I knit for too long. People have suggested to me that I learn to knit without moving my shoulder - I can and do but most people are not aware that the shoulder is involved even if you think it's not. I can't, for example, roll my hand over to face palm upwards due to the restriction in my shoulder. One would think that involves only the elbow and the wrist but it doesn't. I'm much better now than I was at the beginning of the year, then it was almost impossible.

Enough of the frozen shoulder problems - as I said, I've signed up for Southern Summer of Socks. Socks are great for summer knitting, they're small and light for hot weather and easily portable for travelling. I just have to remember not to knit them for too long. My sock yarn stash seems to have multiplied greatly this year; I have enough yarn to knit at least twenty pairs of socks! Even at a sock a week I can't use it all this summer!! And a week to knit a sock seems reasonable given the stress to my shoulder and forearm from knitting with small needles.

On Saturday, I ripped out a sock that had been finished for several weeks [except for the toe grafting]. I had mistakenly used provisional cast-on instead of invisible cast-on and when I pulled out the waste yarn I lost several stitches [sock yarn is so fine!]. I couldn't remember the vital statistics [no I hadn't written them down; how often do others think "I'll remember that" and later find they don't?] so I pulled the whole sock out and started again with an invisible cast-on. My Fair Lady screened on television on Sunday afternoon [man, that’s a long, but enjoyable, movie - 3 ½ hours with ads] so I spent a leisurely day in front of the television knitting about half a sock. But I paid for it later; my left forearm was so sore I could knit no longer and since I'm left handed, I couldn’t crochet either [boo-hoo]. But, here it is - the first of my Moda Vera socks. They're charity knitting - possibly for the homeless, possibly for an Aboriginal community. It depends which charity comes up first on our 2009 calendar.

This afternoon, we are off to visit the parents in Bingara [north-west NSW]. We are staying in Nundle tonight and spending the morning there tomorrow which includes a trip to the Woollen Mill [my second in six months]. Last time we went, it was only DD and I; she wants to spend more time looking around the town with her dad before she gets married in January [one last family break, so to speak]. My dad turns 80 this Friday but is having a low-key celebration. There are some jobs that need doing around their place so my WM has taken a couple of days off work to do them - that's one reason why he's a Wonderful Man!

See you when we get back!

Can't knit but I can frog!

I went to the Knitters' Guild meeting on Saturday. I took knitting but all I did was sew in some ends on a cardigan I knitted last November. :-(

Yesterday, I frogged [with DD's help] a scarf I knitted months ago in novelty yarn [a very long eyelash yarn] - I must have dropped a stitch because there was a gaping hole about 20cm [8 inches] from the end. Couldn't figure out if it was the cast on or cast off end, so started at the hole and worked out in both directions. DD frogged the longer piece, back to the cast on, I unravelled in the other direction [slower going of course]. I don't like knitting with novelty yarns and won't buy them again but I need to use up what I have!

Then, being on a roll, I frogged two socks [UFOs - well, the second one was] back to the heel shaping - they're toe up socks and I had knitted the foot way too long for my foot. Still enthusiastic [a girl's gotta do something knit-related, eh?] I asked WM to try on a pair of socks I made several months ago and hated wearing [ooh-ah, am I allowed to say that?]; now I know why - they were too big and thus slid around on my foot while being worn! They didn't fit WM [too small] so I frogged them completely. The Tofutsies yarn is now soaking and will be hung out to to dry when I get home from work [and hopefully it will lose all those little Shirley Temple-like curls].

I also balled [by hand] and reskeined 200g of hand-dyed yarn [i.e. approx. 620m]; today my forearm is a little sore. It's obviously any repetitive activity, especially the twisting action of balling yarn, that aggravates my wrist and elbow. Maybe knitting would be kinder [she says hopefully]!