Hats.

That last post was post #350! What I forgot to mention--and the reason for the title--was that I was also wearing wool socks, my fuzzy poop jacket, scarf, and gloves that match the hat, while walking to school. Perhaps a little TOO much knitting at once?


Anyway. I'm forever on the quest for the perfect hat. Or, at the least, a wearable hat. I still have hope that I will find a hat that doesn't make me feel/look dorky, keeps my ears warm, and goes with EVERY coat. LOL.

It's not very cold yet, and I thought I'd knit up another little lace cap, similiar to the pink one, from www.knitpicks.com. This one, I got gauge, knit the recommended amount, and it was pretty much perfect. Except that it's a little itchy and I'm not sure about the long hair with these caps.

Last year I started noticing patterns for berets and slouchy hats. I can't say that I saw many in real life though. But this fall, I'm seeing them on the young high school girls in the neighbourhood. I thought I should at least try one. I found a popular free pattern on Ravelry.com (Meret). I couldn't decide on the yarn. It called for standard worsted weight, and suggested 100% wool so it could be blocked. Well, I didn't want to use my Classic Merino on a pattern I wasn't sure I would like. I had a ball of an unknown white yarn (feels like LionBrand Jiffy, I think), and it seemed acrylic, but I went ahead anyway. I'm not sure why.
There were instructions to make a regular beret, a slouchy one, or an extra slouchy. I started with the regular beret because I thought the picture was the 'extra slouchy' model and I wasn't sure of my yarn amount. Ripped back and added another pattern repeat so it's now slouchy. Except that it's not really slouchy.
I did 'block' it to dry, but it wasn't really stretched at all. When I put it on, I suddenly felt like the Sweedish Chef (Muppets) or the pizza guy from Curious George books. I DON'T think it's supposed to be pouffy like that! LOL. I can push it around, and make it droop to the side, or the back, but I'm so unfamiliar with this style that I just don't know how to wear it.

However, I popped it on Meg's head, and she looks totally darling. Figures. My hats always look better on her than on me. Do I give the pattern another try in a better yarn? Another pattern?

Walking Advertisement for Wool

Last fall I made the pink tipless gloves, and have been wanting a cool weather hat to go with them. I really wanted to make a Koolhaas but I didn't think I'd have enough yarn; I wanted it to be for cool weather, not cold weather; and I didn't want to buy a pattern. Recently I was looking for a free pattern on Knitpicks.com that I had seen in an older catalogue (however, that pattern was no longer a free pattern!) and came across a couple lacey hats that I thought would be fun to quickly knit up. Haa Haa.


I started this October 5 and knit it 3 1/2 times before being done finally on October 12. I didn't do a gauge swatch, LOL. It still felt a little tight and short--and kept riding up, so I've wetted it, and am now wet blocking it on my head. LOL. The wool instantly relaxed and I could pull it down a bit more. We'll see if it sproings back up.
The gloves faded a bit, and pilled a bit after being washed a few times last winter, but I guess that's the sacrifice for super soft wool!

Shawl!

On October 27, 2006, "Danis" (www.danis.org; he has since died and I'm not sure about his website) posted a pattern in the Yahoo Knitting Machines group, for a "Basic Triangle Shawl" made by making 4 triangles. I wasn't sure how 4 triangles could turn into one, LOL, but I've wanted to try it ever since.

Another technique I've wanted to try is Debbie New's "Scribble Lace". Basically, you knit with large needles (6mm or bigger), and a very fine yarn and a very thick or textured yarn (choose the needle size to suit the larger yarn). You knit a few rows in the fine yarn, then one row with the thick yarn. On circular needles, you'd then slide the sts back to the other end of the needle so you can pick up the fine yarn again. On the knitting machine, you take the carriage off and put it back at the other end.

I've been wanting a blue shawl for a long time, but have no blue laceweight yarn (well, I do, but it's been designated for a sheer sweater). What I do have is a large cone of a very fine navy, and a bag full of Patons Divine. The perfect combo for scribble lace!

This thing came out huge! Although I thought I understood how to figure the size, it was still rather abstract, and hard to guess while on the machine.

Having to move the carriage from end to end is easy on the machine, however, combined with this shawl pattern, took a little bit of brain power. Till I realized that I was actually doing a 4 row pattern and it shouldn't be too complicated to combine a 4 row pattern and a 2 row pattern. Even so, the middle of the shawl didn't turn out quite as nice as it could have.

Here it is, spread out on my 2 seater, Ektorp Loveseat. The shawl is huge. I took just over 1 skein of the Divine, and I don't know how much of the fine yarn. A surprising amount actually. But to use up left over cones, this would be a great project! I used KP 45 on the KnitSmart machine, and increased out to about 68 sts. I should be able to make another, much smaller one, using the rest of the second ball of Divine. I think this large one is going in the Christmas gift box!

Verdict: Shawl Pattern--great!

Scribble Lace on the Machine--doable! Use lots of weight, particularly on the first fine row after the thick row, or the sts of the thick yarn will twist around the needles. My thick yarn was very lightweight; this might not be such an issue with a heavier yarn.

Why I Can't Get Ahead

I get one pair of socks finished, and another pair becomes finished. These are the first socks I ever knit. I started them in March 1999. They were the first thing I knit with dpn, and the first things I knit with 'real' yarn. It was Schoeller-Esslinger "Fortissima" 6ply (a little thick for my tastes now); I chose the colours because they reminded me of the cedar trees we could see out the window of the Dufferin Country Museum where I took the sock knitting class. It's surprising that these are my oldest--and I assume most worn--socks, and are only now getting a hole. There is actually a fine nylon thread holding the stitches together. I don't know if I have more of the green; I'm not even sure I want to darn them. If I darn them, they won't then be my 'first' socks anymore.

And these below are my new socks. Used www.elann.com Esprit. Started them in the spring, for my mindless travelling project for during swim lessons and house hunting. Did them two at a time, magic loop, toe up. Increased a few on the way up the foot, then a short row heel. I don't like short row heels, but I used it because I thought the stretch in the yarn would give a better fit, and I also added short rows at the TOP of the heel wedge; I think it's a total of 6 extra rows across the upper heel back. Maybe not that many actually. Oh, I think I did a couple in the bottom of the leg ribbing too, at the back.

I look at my socks alot, especially the ones that have leg slouch issues. There are lots of remedies out there--decrease sts, use ribbing, carry ribbing down the foot. But when I look, I see that the front of the ankle crease bulges--because of too many rows there. Maybe this happens only with heel flap socks (I like long flaps). A few extra short rows on the back side and a bit shorter heel flap is my next experiment.

They are cushy! Much longer than I expected; but I found the Zaftig cups I had knit and never had the courage to finish, and I didn't want any left over yarn. I had originally planned for anklets like the blueish ones I made, LOL. Not warm like my wool socks, but a good summer sock (which is why I wanted them short). But I might just have to make more with this yarn now. I've got a few plans!

The Pattern

Jennifer asked for the source of the round lace blanket, but I can't access her profile to email her directly. So I hope you've come back! I found the original webpage for the blanket. She has a great site. My other tip for it is if you use a non-blocking yarn, don't knit it too tight. I made one version and it was very ruffly in the middle.
The "Rotten Blankie" is now donut shaped, LOL, and the new one has opened up in the center circle, even though I was sure I had pulled it tight!

Fuzzy Poop

I love Patons Divine yarn. It's fuzzy, soft, squishy, not solid coloured, but a gently tone on tone. For the two years prior to this year's Spinrite Tent Sale, I stocked up on Divine--it's sold by the bagful, I think 8 balls. I had visions of afghans, soft cozy sweaters, scarves...In 2008 I also got a free booklet "Brilliantly Divine" which has some beautiful sweaters in it, some paired with Patons Brilliant.
Christmas 2009, I couldn't find my favourite brown fair isle zip up cardigan. I decided this would be a perfect time to make the simple cardigan in the booklet "Creme Caramel Cardigan".
It was nice to work a pattern with the recommended yarn, and I even did a gauge swatch :) I changed it up a little by using two sets of circulars, and doing the two fronts on one and the back on another. I didn't want to do it seamless because I thought it might benefit from the support and structure of side seams. It's a short sweater on the models, and I'm not short, but I definately wanted it longer, so I added two rows. Not sure why only two rows--3 rows is one inch. It went along quick, but then got set down for awhile for some reason.
I grafted the shoulders, and for the sleeves, I decided to pick up the sts and work the sleeve downwards, following the instructions backwards. The sleeve cap got a bit puckered, and I had a terrible time figuring out how much to knit straight after the bottom of the arm hole and had to rip back several times to get the sleeves long enough without getting too tight.
For the 'buttonband' I didn't know what I wanted. I wanted a cozy sweater and the V neck seemed 'not cozy'. I had major indecision as to what size to make--my bust has increased, and I didn't want the back of the sweater to be all baggy. I also didn't want to sew the band on like the instructions said. So I picked up the sts and worked it around, and make it wider to give me a bit more front width. I also short rowed the V neck a bit. But for some reason I didn't do buttonholes. I think once I remembered I needed them, I had the width I wanted and didn't want to rip back. I thought briefly about a zipper, but didn't want to sew one in and thought it might be too heavy for the fabric. I could sew on some large snaps. I thought about putting a ribbon at the bottom of the V neck--that look with buttons only on the chest portion is popular.


But I think the real reason I haven't done anything permanent is that I'm just not happy with it. I don't usually cut my head off in blog pictures, but my 3 year old took the picture, so the angle is just not flattering! I just feel so wide in the upper arms/chest when I wear this. I'd also like it longer. It's cozy, and not as warm inside the house as I thought it'd be. But I feel so frumpy and fuzzy and boring...a big fuzzy blah blob. I did pull it tighter later on, double breasted like, and felt better, but that doesn't change the overall width of my upper. It is a stretchy, fluid fabric, but I didn't think negative ease would be the way to go.

Any suggestions? I'm really tempted now to sew in snaps and ribbon to make it double breasted. I'd still love to have more of these sweaters, in the Divine, but what do I do differently to be happier? It seems it needs to either be snug or greatly oversized to be flattering. I don't often wear sweaters anymore (hard to wear a coat over and often too warm in my house), but I love cardigans. I just don't know!

Knitting!

I'm still dealing with the swollen jaw issue. The facial swelling is much better, I can open my mouth again, but there is still a lot of swelling inside. I had an ultrasound done this morning, on my salviary glands, but after looking at pictures on the internet last week, I don't think that's the problem. Unless I'm a freak and my submandibular salviary gland is not where it should be. The ultrasound was interesting; I wish the tech was more chatty. I hadn't thought about getting the goop on my face! He didn't actually do much right over the sore spot, but did have to press down on my windpipe! I'm seeing my dentist this afternoon.

Meg started junior kindergarten on Monday afternoon, and I'm not getting as much done around the house as I should, LOL, but I feel I earned a bit of a break! I'm having a terrible pain in my shoulder and can barely turn my neck. So even though I stopped taking the Naproxen for my jaw, I'm taking it for my shoulder. I seem to be immune to ibuprophen. Is that possible.

I am doing some knitting though, on the Moonlight Sonata shawl.

It was a toss up between this one, the Gold Nugget Shawl, and the Forget Me Not shawl. Even after the first repeat, I still wasn't quite sure about this one. I ripped back to the garter stitch band and tried smaller needles, and I like it much better. It's moving along nicely, and while I do not find the pattern intuitive, it's not hard to memorize. It is hard, however, to remember if I'm doing row 7 or row 9 because they are very similiar. The return rows are not plain purl, and a few return rows even have some action on them. So, it's not a mindless knit, and I have to keep the chart handy, but it's not too terribly bad either. I am, however, itching to start something else! I have quite a few things hibernating or just on pause....you know, I have to try one thing on, I have to block that thing....

So, there probably won't be any finished objects for a while! LOL!

One Thing After Another

Just when I thought I was going to get into a routine, get the rest of the unpacking done, etc, I woke up with this: I had a lot of dental issues for the first 5 months this year, with no definitive cause...TMJ caused by clenching, caused a tooth to change position, exacerbating jaw pain and numbness....a big circle of pain and possibilities. Then, I discovered a lump inside, where the lower jaw meets the cheek--couldn't tell if it was on the jaw, or on the cheek. An x-ray showed some imflammation, but the pain went away before I scheduled an appointment with an endodentist...with Rob changing jobs, it was too much hassle and possible expense. I took my chances that it would be fine for awhile, but I guess not. I went to a walk-in clinic and got amoxicillin and naproxen with hopes that I can get some pain relief--Tylenol #3 did nothing but upset my stomach.

Anyway, I said I'd write today, so I am!
This is what Meg's blankie looked like when we moved in. It looks even worse now, the holes are so big, adults can put their heads through. And due to the structure of it, it's just not simple to fix.

The yarn is very thin in many places, and breaks easily. Not to mention it is a hideous grey colour now, instead of snow white.
I was able to get the KnitSmart machine unpacked quickly, and set up on the bar in the basement rec room. I could get the same yarn at Zellers, and got going on it. Keyplate 30, I used a pattern posted by an incredible member of the Yahoo IncredibleSweaterMachine group. The blankie is so thick, and white, and clean! Meg calls the old one "The rotten blankie" but still loves it. It's about the same size as the old one too.

That's all folks, I need to go lay down and 'enjoy' the quiet as I try to figure out what I can eat!

Nice To See You Again

Today, my 'baby' started Junior Kindergarten. She goes this afternoon, and Thursday afternoon, and then starting next week, she will go every afternoon! I first created a blog shortly after she was born (end of 2005) but couldn't remember the password, so I created a new one just before middle girl, Lucy, started JK, August 2006. So, it's been just over three years of sporadic posting, especially once I split the blog into two separate blogs, and also when Megan stopped napping. But I'm back!!

So...This is the SweetSheep superwash BFL I bought at the K-W Knitter's Fair, 2008 (didn't get to go this year, only the 2nd time I've missed in all the years I've been going, and I started going their 3rd or 4th year!). If you scroll back to last September, you can see what it looked like before I wound it. Totally different!!
It looked so bright and contrasty in the skein. The above picture is with flash, the below picture is without flash. There was a very obvious knot 1/2 way through the 800 yds, so I have two balls. I knew I needed a pattern that either had a very simple repeating design, to blend the colours, or large patches of no design, to show the colours. I was intrigued by the "Sweet Lily" shawl in Interweave Knits awhile ago. It's a half circle, made with short row wedges. Something that's very popular with machine knitting. I knew the short row section would be fine for this yarn as it would blend the colours nicely.

However, the two edgings at the outer bottom....Not so great. The lace design was quite hidden. I also found that the lace didn't need much stretching open, and doing so tended to make the solid bits open up too much. I was using 5mm or maybe 5.5mm.

So I ripped! Then I lost one of the balls. Got sidetracked with moving. Blah, blah, blah. Then I found the second ball and started a different shawl. Moonlight Sonata from www.elann.com. That's going pretty good....now. Rough start. But let's save that for another day, because I can blog on a regular basis now!!!!

Annual Pilgrimmage

Every year I try to go to the Spinrite Factory Outlet tent sale, in Listowel. It's just under an hour from Orangeville, but a very boring drive. This year, I took my niece Allie who was staying with us while we got ready to move. Heading out from Orangeville, she saw the LONG, straight road ahead and asked if we have to go all the way to the end. "Further" I replied. Everyone groaned. LOL. We've been going to Listowel every summer (almost), since Huey was a wee infant, so small he got weighed in the old-fashioned scale they use in the store for the mill ends that are sold by the ounce. There is a really nice park/playground/wading pool, and we had a great time this year. I don't know how I'm going to get there next year :(

Since I've been going for so many years (gasp), I've gotten very picky on what I buy. My stash has reached the point that I don't need to buy yarn 'just because' it's a good deal. I passed by all the bagged yarns and headed straight for the 'tangled skeins' bins at the back. They are $5 each, and buy 3, get one free. I didn't really see 3 or 4 that I wanted desperately...some were okay but I wasn't excited about the colours, or they wouldn't work on the knitting machine.

These skeins are great for the knitting machine because I can wind HUGE balls and have very few ends to weave in. Also, with having huge balls (LOL!!!!!) I don't want to carry them around with me when I take my knitting places. The three skeins going counter clockwise from the top left are worsted weight yarns, not cotton, probably Bernat Satin or other. I didn't recognize the colours of the two on the left. There were also many skeins of Handicrafter Cotton, which I can use for making dishcloths on the machine, but I didn't want 500 dishcloths of one colour, LOL. The cone in the middle is possibly a wool or wool blend. Spinrite also spins yarns for the garment industry, and these are great for the standard gauge machine.

The pink/yellow skein is poorly dyed, so it will be interesting to see how it works up. The green/blue/purplish one also had some dye issues.

I almost missed this skein. It was hanging between the bins, and was the only one like it. It's huge! There is some colouring on it, like it was set against a wet skein, or maybe it's dirt. Won't know till it's washed. Wonder if I can wash it gently like it is? What worries me about it though, is that it appears to be 'over energized single' ply yarn. The yarn curls back on itself and kinks. This usually causes the knitting to bias. I wonder if I knit it with two strands...one going in each direction...if that would cancel out any biasing?

I got to work winding the first skein. It wasn't nearly as tangled as some in the past. In fact, it was a piece of cake, although I got a little dizzy going round and round the two chairs I used to stretch/hold the skein.

But then. Disaster. "Someone" wanted one of the chairs. Without warning, I was left with this:

Yup. Uh huh.

At first, it still wasn't too bad. It wasn't knotted, I just had to keep flipping it over and over.

But gradually it got worse and worse. I started winding from the other end as the kids needed a ball of yarn for a craft and all my yarn was packed. I hoped it would take some of the tightness off, but I hadn't gotten enough wound from that end to do so. I cut that ball off, and shortly after the main ball came to a break in the yarn where it looked like the yarn had gotten caught in a greasy machine. So I had to start a new ball, which is fine, because it's easier to pull through the tangles. Eventually though, the ball got too big, and the tangles too tight to allow the ball to pass through, so I had to cut it. Then it was smooth sailing. I ended up with 5 balls, including the small one I cut off for the kids, that they ended up not using. I still need to weigh it, but no matter, for $5 (or less, taking into account the free skein), it's still a great deal!

W

Remember this, from two years ago? Go back and read the full story please. I really like the design of this tank, although I still question the use of a bulky yarn (wool). Bulky, textured yarn, and garter stitch all add up to unflattering addition to my girth, LOL. I don't think I ever wore it in public. I kept saying I'll get around to dyeing it again. I really wanted it to be shades of brown like I had intended. I got some brown dye, but it really didn't make a difference (think I had too little dye for the amount of fabric; I was also dyeing pants).

So I bit the bullet and tried some green dye.

The feel of the yarn is a little funny now (wasn't great to begin with). It's better, for sure, but I don't have anything to wear it with, and a heavy, knitted top doesn't seem right in the summer, even if it is part rayon and a tank top. And I don't care for it over a shirt (did that 25 years ago, don't need to do it again). So, it's still sitting in my closet, LOL. I did get some info on how to re-work the pattern with lighter yarn though!

Idle Hands...

I feel like I've had a good run of matching patterns to the yarn lately. Even when I worked on something that DIDN'T work out, I could accept it, rip it, and move on. So, once I finished Gail, I wanted to start another shawl. There are a few patterns that I've wanted to make for awhile, and always new patterns showing up. Trying to match up patterns with a suitable yarn (and my lace yarn stash is not very abundant) has been a challenge. What a yarn looks like when you knit it, is sometimes nothing like what you imagine from the ball!

To start the process, I laid out all the lace yarns and took a picture.

Clockwise rom top left--Wellington Fibers, SweetSheep BFL, Merino Lace, GrandRiverYarns, Elann Baby Merino Lace (?), SeaSilk (that I used for Gail), Headwaters Wool, KnitPicks Shadow (?).
For some reason, the SweetSheep BFL won. I bought this at the K-W Knitter's Fair last September, for $20, because it had some dark purple dye spots that shouldn't have been there. As I wound it up, I also found some flubs, some tiny knots, and then the yarn broke. There might have been a loose knot that came apart as the swift spun and I pulled. After winding the second half, I decided that the two balls were small enough for my electric ball winder.

Well, the first one was a little too big :(

Without flash, above, and with flash, below. There was still a lot of the yarn to handwind onto the ball, spoiling the pretty ballwinder look.

This yarn looks SO different wound up then in the skein!! Much more subtle! I have started a swatch, and even blocked it, sort of, LOL. I'm looking forward to the shawl, although I'm still not sure what I'll do when I get to the purple bits. I'm not sure they'll even show up!

For more pictures of this yarn, go back to last September when I posted about it. I don't seem to have those pictures anymore.

You Knew I Would!

When I mentioned a little while ago that I wanted to cast on for a shawl, I had a couple in mind. One of them, I even had the suggested yarn and had been YEARNING for the perfect pattern to do it justice. It was just what I was looking for in my next shawl--a large motif that is repeated, instead of a main panel and edging, or a repeating small motif.

But let's back up a little and take a look at that beautiful yarn!

Purchased at the Kitchener-Waterloo Knitter's Fair, September 2007, when I went with Cindy. I really wanted to try HandMaiden SeaSilk and thought, at that time, that I could make a delightful nightie to wear on our cruise. For which we were leaving in under a month. LOL. I had some bikini top patterns and tried repeatedly to crochet a bikini top, while at the same time, search for a matching fabric to provide some body coverage. Nothing was working, there was too much else to do...

Then along came the Montego Bay scarf. Once I realized that I had the suggested yarn for that, I decided to go ahead with it, even though I was not enamored with the pattern, knew it would drive me crazy, and that I probably wouldn't wear a 'scarf'.

That's how far I got. I put in the life line and tried to morph it into another scarf pattern that goes the other direction and has 'medallions'. Didn't work. It sat for awhile...that picture was taken July 28 2008. So, about a year. I ripped it out awhile ago.

And here is the new shawl in its early stages. Shortly after this, I made an error by forgetting to start another repeat in the center. I didn't notice it till much later and had to rip out quite a bit!

This is the shawl, all done, getting ready to have a soak. There is seven repeats of the motif, and for the edging, I think I did one repeat plus one row or so. There is a mistake in the edging chart, and it is NOT the lack of a double YO at the center. On row 3 (I think) there are YOs missing; it's pretty obvious how every right side row has yarn overs at the edges where the edge pattern meets the tip of the last leaf, but this row was missing the YOs. The next row won't work without the stitch created by the YO. You can see the small ball of yarn I had left. I could have done a few more edging rows, but I didn't want too much edging.

This picture should have been rotated! It's the center column, showing how the leaves branch off from a double YO.

There she is, being blocked on my floor. Of course, I'd like her a little bigger, it's more scarf than shawl (although at these times, being short helps). But man, what a stunner for under 500 yards and, get this....July 18 to August 1!!!!! That's like, two weeks?! Once I got those charts drawn up, and understood how it all worked, it actually became quite intuitive, despite being a large motif. Of course, it helped that we've had a lot of driving time lately, LOL. When I made the Heartland Shawl last year, I thought I might make it again, and I haven't, but this one, I think I will, only even bigger!!

Just a Little Thing

It hasn't been much of a summer for sun hats. But I wore my 'new' one on the weekend and realized I STILL hadn't blogged about it! I had it finished back in May!


It's from the old Family Circle Easy Knitting and Crochet, Summer 2005. I had tried it back then, but just couldn't seem to get it to work out. Blame it on pregnancy brain.

I just could not get a nice picture!

I don't really like the two shades of beige. Looked better in my dim living room than outside.

I made mine pretty much perfect on the first try. It was a little big on Meg, so I made her one, had a few attempts, but it ended up too small. Try to make one for Lucy and it ended up too big (fits me, but it's purple and pink).
It's a nice enough hat, but I don't care for the construction of it. You have to start with a chain of about 95 sts, then work the shell sts upwards, and then the decreases to the top. Then go back to the chain and work the brim downwards. The increases in the brim are offset on each row so it was harder to keep track of where to put them. I think I'll stick with my other pattern that just starts at the top and goes down, all in one pattern. I couldn't find it this spring, but I've found it now.

Oooohhh My Brain

Math....graphing...geometry...don't know where this falls in. Figuring out a lace knitting chart.

I can read charts. I can knit lace; I can knit lace from charts. I don't create my own lace, but I have taken lace from stitch dictionaries to use in items like socks and even a fancy baby blanket or two.

But this? Trying to figure out someone else's lace chart for a shawl. Many knitters on Ravelry have said the original chart is misleading and hard to read. Some provided their own solutions. Nothing was 'clicking' for me. I got up to row 33 and just could not figure out what to do next. The repeat is 33 rows, but a new repeat starts on row 17 as well. That wasn't hard the first time, but trying to start the new repeat once the first one ends? That's where the chart leaves off.

I printed out some knitting graph paper, got some coloured pens, and got to work. Drew in the first 33 row repeat, then the off-set one on either side. Now, I had to go fill in the second repeat above the first full one. It ended with a YO, K3tog, YO, which results in 3 sts. The repeat starts with a YO. But there was something cryptic in the instructions about only the first and the edge repeats starting with the YO. And, according to my chart, I'd start a new repeat on the outer edge on row 17 of the off-set one, but the 'inside' repeat (the next one to start over the original full repeat) still wasn't finished.
Coupled with this the designer's instruction to repeat rows 3-33.....

Then I realized it! At the top of the first repeat, don't do the YO (not quite sure of this, have to see how it fits in with the repeat to the sides), which leaves one stitch (the K3tog)....which is technically the same as the outer repeat starting with row 1 which is a YO. Basically row 33 of the first, and central repeats, IS row 1 of the next motif heading north!

Just got to see about those YOs, they might be needed for the dec on the edges of the edge motifs. Just like the designer says, it's only the outer repeats that start row 1 with a YO, basically, once in the interior, you just start again at row 3.

Now, if only I could knit it like intarsia, each repeat a different colour like my chart, LOL.


And Marie, to add to my last post....the second group "In Waiting" are the things hidden in the bottom drawer, in the basement, etc. I still know they're there....and there's probably a few things I've forgotten...I have good intentions, especially regarding sewing on buttons and purse handles...but I'd just rather knit most of the time, LOL!

Song Sung Blue...

...weeping like a willow...

Can't get that out of my head these days. I seem to be in a blue streak lately. One of my current 'projects' is re-knitting the foot of an old pair of blue socks that I love. I originally knit them around the time of Huey's birth. They were still in the early days of my sock knitting, and they were knit perhaps a tad too small and too tight of gauge. I replaced the foot on one a while ago, and knit it slightly different than the original, LOL. Now it's its mate's turn. I was halfway down the foot when I decided last night that it was too tight. So I ripped. I also went up a needle size. Might as well be happy!

I also have a felted slipper in the works that a blue/green striping yarn. And I've got some blue fingering weight yarn that I really want to work up, maybe into a loose sweater.

I really want to start a shawl, but I don't think this is a good time for it. Too much going on.

Right now, on the needles:
1) "Fixation" socks; two at a time, toe up, on one circular. Not to the heel yet.
2) Old blue sock foot re-knit
3) Felted slippers
4) Chenille teddy bear
5) Fiddlesticks "Enchanting" shirt

Is that it? Also waiting:
1) tree skirt
2) mohair sweater--likely going to get ripped
3) assorted squares for bunny assembly
4) three purses needing handles; some are older than Meg
5) Mom's Whirling Stars cardigan that needs a style overhaul
6) several BSJ that need sewing/buttons

And now, the "want" list:
1) shawl. Actually, about 3-5 shawls
2) dishcloths (machine knit)
3) Noro/Peace Fleece Sweater
4) a couple more Celestine star balls
5) some Cookie A. socks
6) afghan for a gift
7) crocheted hoody
8) crocheted cardi
9) crocheted pullover

I did finish a cardigan in Patons Divine that I'm not totally thrilled with. It still needs some sort of closure, but I think it's too close fitting for such a textured yarn. My shoulders look huge! LOL. I'm sure there's other things for these lists that I'm forgetting. Did I post about the sun hats I crocheted? Oh yeah, a couple more things for the 'want' list....

Rolling Right Along...

Back to the Blues, LOL.


I'm trying to finish up projects as my project drawer was getting a little full (okay, there's a few things in there that are older than Meg...).

Back awhile ago, someone on a blog I read posted a picture of items she got in a swap. Included was a card with a picture of a really neat knitted many-pointed star. Immediately I knew I had to knit it! The first place I looked for a pattern was the website of a childhood schoolmate. I didn't see it there, so I sent her a message on Ravelry. Indeed, she knew what it was, and was even working on one at that very moment! LOL.

The Ravelry link, and the actual source. According to my Ravelry message book, I had already started by April 28. I used some Bernat Lollipop and Bernat Baby Sparkle from my stash--leftovers from Huey's baby blanket!! At first I thought I'd alternate each point, one light, one dark, blue...but there's 5 points going around a center point. So, alternating doesn't exactly work.

I did the first point fine. The second point was fine. But the third point? The instructions tell you to cast on X sts, then pick up along the left side of point 2. Well, these are five sided shapes. How can there be a single left side? There's a top left, and a bottom left....finally, with the help of my old friends at about.com I was able to figure it out and keep on going. Till I got to the 6th point. I am certain there is an error in the pattern. I tried what they said, and it created a very odd shape. I tried it my way, making the 6th point fill in the 5th side of the ring going around the center point, and it worked. But, then I got working on other things as I set it aside to wait for me to read how to make the second half. LOL.

Had a hiccup on the second half when I wasn't paying attention. But, got this half finished quickly. It takes me about an hour to make one point. So, 12 hours for the knitting. Then, I used the yarn tails and tightened up the corners where the points meet. I didn't weave any ends in--it's a stuffed toy! LOL. The kids loved it, and don't want it to go in the gift box. I whipped up the ball, alternating the two blues, so it looked intentional, LOL. I might make another shaped toy or two, to make it a more substantial gift--but as there are no babies expected in my family/friends, I'm not in a rush :)