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Knitting Up A Storm!Wednesday, May 31, 2006 I always wonder how we can put a man on the moon but we can't invent a deodorant that doesn't leave white stains on our clothes! I need to use it, but really freaking hate the white residue. There are so many that claim it won't leave the white stuff, but believe me, I've used every single kind and NOT one of them lives up to this claim. Just saying. No knitting to report - it is too freaking hot and I am too freaking tired at night to pick it up. Stay cool people.
posted by Lisa @ 11:11 a.m.
Tuesday, May 30, 2006 I think I have finished the body of Something Red, but for some reason I am holding back on binding off. I might make it a 3/4 length jacket, which is a lot longer than what the pattern calls for, but it just might work. I am meeting Katherine for lunch today so I'll get her opinion and update this post after lunch with the big decision. Here is where I am now:
It looks kind of small, but I'm not worried because I need to block the crap out of the ribbing to accommodate my biggish hips and I don't like the look of the squishy ribbing. I want the ribs to be far apart so we can see them! I wonder how Alpaca blocks? Ah, another question for Katherine. She has a wealth of knowledge about knitting - and frankly about everything else you can possibly imagine. I doubt there is a question you could ask her and she doesn't know the answer. Yeah, she is THAT smart. ETA - When I asked Katherine if she thought I should make the sweater long, long, long - she kind of screwed up her face, which gave me the answer I wanted. Thank God I don't have to knit K2P4 rib any longer!
posted by Lisa @ 10:32 a.m.
Monday, May 29, 2006
I didn't knit much this weekend, which is normally the case because there is so much to do - cleaning, laundry, grocery shopping etc, but not this weekend. This weekend was spent here:  After 6 years of living in this house, we finally decided to install a pool! The grounds, pool house and fence still need to be completed, however this hasn't stopped us from enjoying the water. My poor husband has so much work left to do, but it makes it all worth while when you see the smile on the kids' faces:
It was nice to finally have great weather to be able to spend most of the weekend outdoors and have my girls' friends over. They loved it. Couldn't ask for a better weekend. Have a good one folks.
posted by Lisa @ 9:40 a.m.
Friday, May 26, 2006 For lack of knitting content - because who the hell wants to hear about boring ribbing, not I. So, this is the short conversation that took place between my husband and 4 year old daughter last night: M: "Look daddy, mommy bought me new pink sandals" Chris: "They are nice" M: "I came out here to show them to you and remind you that mommy said it was okay to wear them to school tomorrow" Chris:" I see" Doesn't sound like an interested conversation - so let me put it into context for you. From the moment the weather turned slightly warm, M realized she could potentially start wearing sandals or flip flops, in the morning it is a huge fight between the two of them as to what she should put on her feet. EVERY freaking morning!!!! She even snuck flip flops into her bag so she could change into them at school. OMG - can you imagine what she is going to be like as a teenager? I guess she didn't want to have the usual fight in the morning over foot wear.
posted by Lisa @ 9:28 a.m.
Thursday, May 25, 2006 Woo freaking Hoo - I am about to start the ribbing section of the Something Red Sweater. Yeah! I knit a good part of it last night watching the season finale of Lost - I think I forgot I was knitting because even I am surprised how far I have reached in this sweater. The only problem, slight as it might be, is that I think I made the sleeves a tad small. Quick fix - add about 5 stitches =1" and all will be well in sweaterville. If I can accomplish knitting one ball of yarn a day, there is a possibility I might have a FO in 7-8 days! But the sad thing is, even IF I finish it, I won't be able to wear it until fall/winter hits. Ah, the dilemmas I get myself into! Have a good one folks.
posted by Lisa @ 12:40 p.m.
Wednesday, May 24, 2006 As I said in my last post, I am loving my current projects. Here they are in no particular order: Orangina, all bumpy and lumpy, but I'm sure it will look fantastic once it is all blocked out. I LOVE this knit.  Next up - Something Red - almost finished increasing. Woohoo!
Have a great day folks.
posted by Lisa @ 10:03 a.m.
Tuesday, May 23, 2006 I have to wonder why the weather is so freaking miserable this time of year! I went camping this past weekend for one day - one day people. Why? Because it was so cold, staying outside was not an option. My girls and I headed up on Saturday morning, packed up on Sunday morning and we were home at 2:30pm. The good news about coming home early is I had a chance to weave in the ends and steam block Cutaway:  (Click here for a clearer picture) I used 8 and a bit of GGH Bali in Orange and made the 39" size. The sleeves are a tad too wide, but considering this is my first sweater I knit with cap sleeves, it totally turned out better than I thought. The seaming wasn't too bad, once I understood how to put them in. Even then, my cap sleeve seams could use a bit more work, but practice makes perfect. I am planning to make another Cutaway with some alpaca I bought at MW&SF this year in a Burgundy/wine colour. Next time though, I will knit the sleeves a tad slimmer. All in all, I am quite a happy girl - thanks Bonne Marie for such a great pattern! This is the third pattern I knit from Bonne Marie. First was the Chickami, next was the Ribby Cardi and now Cutaway. Can't go wrong with her patterns. Have a great day!
posted by Lisa @ 9:12 a.m.
Thursday, May 18, 2006 For the longest time I have not felt like knitting, especially with all the sizing issues I had with Green Gable, but now I love what I have on the needles. I think I got gauge with 3.5mm needles for the Something Red sweater and now I am on my way! I love knitting with Alpaca. Oh My God - this stuff is like knitting with clouds, or maybe I am on a cloud when I am knitting. Either way, this stuff is quite addictive and I find it hard to put it down. I am glad I got my knitting mojo back - just in time too, because I will have plenty of time to knit this long weekend on the campsite. Yes folks, cold as it will be, we go camping every May 24 weekend. As long as it is dry we don't care about the temperature. It is just so nice to be out and about in the fresh air. The kids have a blast when we go camping. They are the type of kids that are much better when they are outside, so camping is one of their favourite things to do. Who could blame them? It is amazing though our experiences with them at the provincial park over the years. We took both girls when they were relatively young (6 months old) and considering the trouble we went through then, I am quite surprised we keep going year after year. For example, my younger daughter decided to butt crawl - yep she got around on her butt! We took her camping and she butt crawled through the dirt, mud, etc. We took them when they were in diapers, had to sterilize their bottles and warm up their milk. (BTW - we brought a little microwave to warm up the bottles in the middle of the night!) And now, my kids can go off on their own to explore. Not too far, but just far enough. This year I am sure they will want to venture off a bit further than last year, but that is okay, exploration is fun, fun, fun! The only negative thing about the first weekend of camping, is all the stuff we need to bring up. After the first camping weekend is over, the following times we go up, everything will be there. When I return I hope to have a good portion of the Something Red sweater done. But that all depends on how far and how long my girls want to explore on their own. I'm off till next Tuesday folks. Have a great long weekend for those readers in Canada!
posted by Lisa @ 1:41 p.m.
Wednesday, May 17, 2006 Now that Green Gable is off the needles, I can move on to my other knits. I started Something Red with the plum colour Alpaca I bought at MW&SF, and am loving knitting with this Alpaca. However I think I am using too big needles, so I will have to rip what I have and re-start using 4mm. Which is not such a bad thing because I get to use my brand spanking new Addi Turbo I bought at MW&SF! I also have Orangina on the go as well using Sockatta sock yarn. It is a lovely and easily memorized pattern, but takes forever to complete a row because of how tiny the needles I am using are. Hopefully I will finish it to wear during the summer months. I can hope you know. I want to start a pair of socks using the Koigu I bought at MW&SF so I have something easy to work on at camping this weekend. I am SO looking forward to knitting with Koigu. So many people praise this yarn and now I finally get a chance to try it. The first skein is currently sitting on my swift waiting to be turned into a nice neat little cake - and touching it in this state is heavenly! I can just imagine how wondering it will be to knit with. Hopefully tonight I will have a chance to find out. BTW - I seamed one side of Cutaway and hope (I've done a lot of that is this post) I can finish the other side soon. I want to wear this sweater! Have a good one folks.
posted by Lisa @ 10:22 a.m.
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
 My finished Green, er Pink Gable. I used Cotton Fleece in Victorian Pink, size 36" and used a little under 3 balls. This pattern didn't offer much in the way of shaping, so I incorporated them. Once the increases for the yoke and 4" of straight rounds were done, I decreased 4 stitches every 8 rows, 3 times. Then I knit til the tee was 8.5" long, increased 4 stitches every 8 rounds 3 times, then knit the rib and bound off.On the sleeves I knit 3 rounds, then the rib and bound off. All in all, I think I am happy with the tee, but time will tell. If CF stretches throughout the day I am a goner because it is a tad loose on me, but if not, I think I'll end up wearing it a lot.
posted by Lisa @ 6:10 p.m.
Thursday, May 11, 2006 I ripped Green Gable back to the lace part to start over for the 3 freaking time. I am not built like the model in the pattern (pretty much the same measurements from shoulder to hip) so that is the problem. I have a 36"-37" (depending on the bra I'm wearing), from my rib cage to hips I am 33" and the hips are about 38" around. So with my shape, the pattern size options and lack of shaping, this pattern does not work for me. Therefore I will need to figure out a way to strategically integrate decreases and increase to have this tee work well for me. Sounds like work, however for future knits I will already have the pattern down pat and other tee/sweaters will work out well. Time spent now will be beneficial for future projects. In good news I received this in mail yesterday:
I haven't had a chance to browse through it, but I am sure it will be useful in the future.
posted by Lisa @ 9:28 a.m.
Wednesday, May 10, 2006 My wonderful SIL and her husband took my kids to Canada's Wonderland and this is what the oldest won playing the ring toss game:
This thing is so freaking HUGE. I can't believe she won this thing on one of the harder games, or should I say one of the games you need a huge amount of luck to win. She was so proud of herself and man, I don't blame her. BTW I am almost finished Green Gable! Do I think it will fit? Nope, but I'm still going ahead and casting off.
posted by Lisa @ 1:41 p.m.
Tuesday, May 09, 2006 I am back from Maryland and oh what a great relaxing trip I had. I didn't meet any bloggers, but that might be due to the fact we arrived at 8:15am and left at 12:30pm. Maybe a lot of them arrived later, or I was just too enamored by all the yarn/roving/books/etc to notice anything else. I bought four bags of roving in a multitude of colours which I didn't take pictures of. I'm not that big into spinning - i.e. really suck at it, so I'm not that keen to upload the pics. If you are interested, I will though. Here are my purchases. First up - 3 Lantern Moon bags:
posted by Lisa @ 9:04 a.m.
Thursday, May 04, 2006
Good God, Green Gable is kicking my ass SLOWLY. I ripped back to the arm holes, decreased 16 stitches and the thing is still too big. Holy crap - someone, anyone give me a stiff drink! I will have to rip back a hellave (sp?) lot more than just to the arm holes to make the thing smaller. This makes me wonder if I think my girls are smaller than I think they are. Double damn - that really sucks. Not only is the tee too big my girls are too small. What a way to start my road trip to MARYLAND WOOL & SHEEP FESTIVAL. Ahhhh. There won't be any time to fix her up before I hit the road tonight, but since I drive to Buffalo it won't matter because unfortunately I can't knit and drive. But Friday I just might have a chance. I so wanted to wear this on Saturday - but it appears that ain't happening folks. Regular blogging resumes on Tuesday! Have a great weekend folks.
posted by Lisa @ 8:39 a.m.
Wednesday, May 03, 2006 Thanks for your nice comments on Clapotis. I wore it yesterday and I think that will be the one and only time I wear it. I can not believe how much it freaking sheds. Wow. This thing sheds more than any long haired cat. Really, I can't believe it. The stuff was just flying off the shawl onto me and anyone that dared get too close. It was going up my nose, attaching itself to my eyeballs and driving me insane. The yarn I used is Brooks Farm Yarn, Harmony which is lovely to look at, knit with and touch. However, the end result is not so lovely. Do you think a good bath in Euclan will help with the flying fiber? If not, I'll be forced to keep it till winter to wear on top of my leather coat, which kind of defeats the purpose of this shawl. I wanted to wear it to the movies, on a pub patio and strolling on the beach under a moonlit sky. Alright, the last one is a bit mushy, but you get the idea. Knitting on Green Gable is a pain in the ass as well. It is a shame the designers didn't incorporate some kind of shaping as the tube it creates will be like wearing a huge sack. Potato race anyone? I've ripped back to the armholes and will decrease 16 stitches gradually, knit the body and then increase back to the original number to accommodate my hips. Really, it is not that bad having to figure this out, but I think when you are paying for a pattern - 5 bucks US to be exact - you'd think it would be thought out better. When you look at the model wearing the tee, it appears there is waist shaping because the tee doesn't look like a tube/sack on her - it is a bit deceiving with how she is standing. Maybe it is too small for her and that is why it is clinging giving the impression it will turn out somewhat shapely. I guess my hopes of wearing it to MW&SF are now dashed - I'll be knitting it on the way down which I am sure I will run out of yarn and can't get anymore until I return on to Toronto. The tee better turn out that is all I have to say. Have a good one folks.
posted by Lisa @ 8:48 a.m.
Tuesday, May 02, 2006 A modeled shot of Clapotis:
I only have 4 skeins of 9 purchased left from last year's MW&SF purchases - not bad folks, not bad. Of the 4 remaining, 3 are for a vest and 1 is for a pair of socks. So really, only two projects left to do from yarn I bought last year. Green Gable update - I think it is slightly larger than I first hoped, so I am going to rip back a bit and integrate the same shaping I did on my chickami. I think this will make the tee that much more flattering. I am a bit nervous Cotton Fleece will stretch out - is my fear justified or does the 20% merino wool help keep it's shape? Anyone know? Well that is all for now.
posted by Lisa @ 10:32 a.m.
Monday, May 01, 2006 Whew I'm back. It is always nice to take a break especially when one is so freaking busy. This week will be nutso crazy until I leave on Thursday evening to head out to the Maryland Wool & Sheep festival. My older daughter is turning 7 on Friday so I need to prepare her family b-day party which includes buying gifts, food, etc. You would think 3 days is enough time to prepare however I need to pack my bags for the weekend, the girls' bags to sleep over at their aunt and uncle's, buy everything and take the eldest to two nights of Sparks/Brownies events. Man, what horrible timing Brownies has - the nerve of that organization. On to knitting - I finished Clapotis this weekend and in the process of dropping the final stitches. Now dropping those stitches are a big pain in the ass let me tell you. Why is it when you don't want the stitch to drop it flies faster than ever, but when you do, the stitch grabs every single fiber and doesn't let go on the way down? I only have about 3 more stitches to drop, weave in the ends and block it - so it will be ready for MW&SF. Woo Hoo. Now that the Clap is done I can set my eyes on Green Gable. Here is a progress shot:
I have passed the increase rounds and now I am merrily knitting until desired length. I must be in a very pink mode because I cast on for the Hourglass sweater from the Last Minute Knits book:
This is the knit I want to take with me on the drive down to MW&SF, I think. I haven't totally made up my mind what I will bring, but this is a pretty good option. I also want to try and seam my Cutaway before I go, but highly doubt I will accomplish that. I'll try, that is all I can say.
posted by Lisa @ 8:59 a.m.
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