Thursday, December 25, 2008

A Very Merry...

Well today was a lovely day. The Wee ones seemed to enjoy their gifts. Sky was extremely diplomatic and played with all the toys, often to the exclusion of A-D. I spoke to my dear father, my good friend/neighbor and my dearest friend in California. From what they all said they all received some lovely gifts.

This Christmas seemed very quiet to me. The kind that just kind of sneaks up on you, and I'm okay about that. I seem to be more anxious about what the new year will bring. Actually I can never remember being interested in the beginning of a new year. They all seem the same. But this year, I dearly and truly hope holds better things for us. I wish and hope that we get the chance and opportunity to relocate in a positive manner ( a diplomatic way of saying my DH can find a decent paying job so that we can move the hell out of Dodge) We will just have to see what happens.

On the knitting front....I'm still finishing up Kate Park's pattern Tulip. I have named the one I knitted Lulu O'Day. I'm not sure why, it just seem to come to me. I had planned on having her with red hair and green eyes, but I did not have the right color felt for her hair. I have had a heck of time trying to find the right color for her dress. I finally ended up over dyeing some gray wool yarn. I wanted a muted color, not a clear tone. It seem to work okay.Her face came out well, even if she does look a little sad or at least somber.
She is a modest wee lass, and a good sport considering she has had to sit around in her all-togethers. I'm hoping to have her things done by tomorrow evening. I also hope that her good mood lasts a little longer. I would hate to see her get mad. No really I would....

And for anyone that is out there I truly hope you have had a lovely warm holiday and will have a wonderful new year.

Saturday, December 13, 2008

Slow going

Ok so now I have the stitches all figured out for the body of my sweater. Now it's just straight knitting and purling. I'm using a size 6 needle. I'm beginning to remember why I really never completed any large projects. It takes F-o-r-e-v-e-r-r-r-r-r. Well maybe not that bad. I will be working on a row, watching the telly, look down and realize that I'm still on the same side.

So.....I've started on working on a quicker gratification project. (smile) I started on Tulip doll by Katie Park (caffaknitted) I completed the body and am working on the head now. I'm a little concerned that the color I'm using for her skin is to pinky. I purchased some destash yarn for a fellow Ravely-er. Cascade 220. Of course I love the yarn itself, just a little iffy on the color. So I figure I'll just make her a red head, maybe with bright green eyes. I also have not decided on whether to knit her a dress or make her a fabric one. Decisions, decisions.

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Knit in Chunks....

Oh my gosh, you could definitely say that.

This is an example of my "tweaking"a pattern.

I discovered Miss Twiss' pattern Knit in Chunks on Ravelry. I did not feel that I had enough yarn to create all the cables on the body of the sweater. I decided that I wanted a different cable on the yoke. Well that was easy enough to switch. I used a Saxon Braid cable. I knit the yoke first, as the pattern states. Then I used a garter stitch for the upper yoke/neckline. So far so good...(smile) Then I picked up stitches for the sleeve and body of the sweater. Of course by this time I had completely abandoned Miss Twiss pattern guidelines. I started to plan for the sleeves and holding stitches aside for them. Ah yes and that's when I made the discovery. It was too small...(sigh).

I had to frog everything except the cabled yoke. I simply had to undo the bind off edge and make the yoke longer. I did this and re-knit the upper yoke, again in garter stitch. This time I made sure to pick up every stitch for the body. I am having to lengthen the body of the sweater before I join the sides. The underarm cuts. I have had more yarn ends on this project than I have had on any other. Since I am lengthening the body in three sections I have had to have three balls of yarn going at one time. Then with having to add more to the cabled yoke, and finding that the yarn has had weak spots and has actually broken while knitting. This requires me to either tie the yarn together, something I don't like doing, or just have a new tail going. I finally got so wrapped up in all these loose ends that I had to weave in some of the ends. Right now I seem to be doing fairly well on it. Maybe I will actually be able to wear this while it's still cold (wink).

Seems like....

Seems like every time I start a knitting project I either end up tinking or frogging. (Hence the name of the blog) Of course it probably has a lot to do with the fact that I'm always slightly (grin grin) tweaking the pattern.

I see the bones of a pattern and feel for my ample figure it would fit me better if it was fleshed out ever so slightly different. I guess I get this from my partner and teacher in this craft, my Mum. She and I will discuss patterns and eventually one of us ends up using the fateful phrase " I think I'll just change this" Yeah right and then that's when it all begins. The tinking and frogging...