Molasses Sweater

Just when I think I am making progress on my Locke Street Cardigan by Glenna C in Baby Alpaca DK, I take out the measuring tape and measure. Only 5 inches. Yikes!!

Each row is taking 20 minutes to knit because of all the cabling and the DK yarn knitted on size US 5 needles. I have been using Addi Lace Clicks. They are so slippery that the stitches keep falling off the needles. Also the join is so rough, that the stitches are getting hung up on it. Not the greatest knitting experience. I have made a vow to myself to knit two rows a day, because I really want to finish this sweater. It is so pretty. But . . .

The sweater is creeping. Soooooo..... While visiting our son and his family in Pennsylvania, I dragged Tom to the Knitter’s Edge in Bethlehem. What a knitting nirvana!  So many yarns, so many books, so many needles, great displays, and lovely, friendly, helpful people working at the store. I could have stayed all day.  I bought new bamboo needles for the Locke Street Cardigan. We’ll see if these work better and . . .

. . . . . I bought a sweater’s quantity of worsted weight cotton yarn in a warm beige to make a summer pullover. I searched Ravelry and found a fun, quick, neck down beach sweater. In five hours, I am to the sleeve separation.  Yippeee!

Yeah, Yeah, Yeah  . . . . . I knit two rows of the Locke St also.

Until next time . . . . .

Inch by Inch

The last couple weeks have seen little knitting and even less weaving. I am dealing with kidney stones as a result of a drug side effect. It has been quite painful. The only position that is even remotely comfortable is standing and/or walking. Hard to sleep that way.  I think the sinus infection would have been easier to live with.

I did finish the second sleeve of the Locke Street Cardigan by Glenna C. The pattern is actually pretty easy, but it is cabled on size US 5 (3.75mm) needles. So it is knitting up slowly. I am knitting the sweater out of Baby Alpaca DK by Plymouth Yarns in a beautiful dark green.

Of course, it would have been faster if I actually knit on it in a consistent manner. I started the sweater on March 13, 2012, with both sleeves on one needle. I remembered very quickly why I hate knitting projects two at a time. Tangled yarn and interminably slow!

On February 16 of this year, I pulled the project out of hibernation. The first sleeve was finished in about 4 days. The second sleeve was finished on March 13, 2013. Can you believe it? A year to knit two sleeves! Yikes!

I have cast on the body of the sweater. Instead of knitting the back and two fronts separately, I have cast on all 225 stitches and have 1-3/4 inches of the 1 x 1 ribbing completed. Still have another half inch to go. Then I will pull out every stitch marker I own and begin the cables. Haven’t worked on it in 4 days because of the pain. Hope to get back to it soon. Going to doctor tomorrow morning.

I tried to convince myself to speed up the knitting by making the back plain stockinette, but it didn’t work. The arguing with myself wasn’t pretty. So, I am going to continue as the pattern is written. It is such a beautiful sweater that I don’t think I would be happy with a plain back. Now after I finish the hundred-million cables and crossed stitches, we will see. Maybe my happiness could have been bought with a few thousand stockinette stitches. Hmmmmm.

Until next time. . . . . .

A New Love

Lucy is Finished!  What a delightful knit. She has had a bath, lovingly squeezed and is drying on her yoga mat. The pattern directions were very clearly written. I am pleased with the colorwork and plan to use the alternation of variegated and solid yarns on future projects. Great design feature. Cudos to c2knits!

I tried on Lucy before her bath. She feels like a luxurious bathrobe. She fits well. Unfortunately, I am finding that while I like knitting raglan sleeve sweaters, I don’t like the way they look on me.  I think I need more structure in the shoulder and sleeve join.

I plan to wear Lucy and show her off. She will be a great sweater to grab when the air conditioning gets too cold to bear. She will be warm and cozy.  

Since my needles were lonely, I cast on and finished a 7 inch by 7 inch lace acrylic square for our guild blanket project. Each month someone teaches a new skill that we adapt to a square. One brave soul in the guild is sewing the squares together. Thank goodness, it is not me!

A few mistakes - Realized I needed stitch markers!

My small needles were also  lonely, so I cast on and finished one very tiny baby sock in watermelon pink Pediwick sock yarn using my Fingering Weight Baby Sock Pattern. The project made for an enjoyable evening. The needles are calling to me to finish the other one. Maybe, I can ignore them for a few days.

Another sweater has become my new love. I picked up the Locke Street Cardigan by Glenna C. and looked it over. I am about 5 inches into the sleeves working them two at a time. The reason for my straying from this sweater is not the cables, is not the small needles (US 5 (3.5 mm)), and is not the dark forest green alpaca yarn. The issue is two at a time. Constantly untangling the yarn. Just not fun. So slow!!!! I know many knitters like the technique, but I hate it.

So, I put one sleeve on hold and am only working with one sleeve. In 30 minutes, I have completed two pattern repeats. Yeah!  The knitting seems to be flying by. This sweater also has set in sleeves which should be a better fit for me.  So far, delightful. Like we are dancing smoothly together. 

Don’t tell Lucy!

Until next time . . . . 

Blocking Day

Today, I took the time to soak and block all the projects that I have finished lately,  I use baby shampoo to gently soak the items in lukewarm water.  After rinsing in clean water, I squeeze as much water as I can from them and lay the items on my blocking mats. My pads are yoga mats from Target.  They are 24 inches by 24 inches and four come in a package for $20.  I have two sets since it usually takes four to block a sweater and I tend to save up items and block them all on the same day. 

I lay the mats on our pool table in the sun room with fans blowing on them. It usually still will take several days for large items. Baby clothing might be finished in one day depending on the weather.

Today’s blocking includes: My Alpaca Yoke Colorwork Sweater, the Baby Yoke Sweater with chicken buttons, a blue baby hat, my La Vie de Bois socks, my Seedless Slice Sock shop sample for my LYS, a green cowl, the Aberdeen Ave cabled hat and a gauge swatch for my next sweater.  The Preppy Baby Blanket is in the dryer.

My next sweater is going to be the Locke St. Cardigan by Glenna C. from her Urban Collection, Winter-to-Spring 2012.  It looks to be a great pattern made in pieces with three cable patterns. I will be making it in dark green alpaca from Plymouth Yarn. I am using the Baby Alpaca D. K. in colorway 1440.  This should be a very lightweight sweater that will be great to throw on in air conditioning and to move into the fall.  Who knows, in South Carolina, it may be a great sweater for our mild winters also.

My only concern with the sweater are the sleeves. They appear to be snug. I may modify the pattern and add the next size sleeve to the body of the sweater, making adjustments in the arm hole of the body.  I also like a little extra length to my sleeves, so I may also add an inch or so. This may allow me to add another increase in the top of the sleeve, so I may not need to go up a whole size. I will decide while my swatch is drying. 

Before blocking, the swatch measured 21 stitches and 26 rows to the inch on a size US 6 needle. Since this is a little larger than Glenna’s pattern calls for I will make the medium size. I fall between the medium and large anyway, so it should fit. But, we all know that swatches lie. I’ll remeasure once the swatch has dried.

Tom and I have been traveling all over the state lately.  It is tiring but at least I get to spend time with him and a little knitting time in.  We will be walking in a St. Patrick Day parade on Saturday morning in one part of the state and attending a formal dinner at the other end of the state on Saturday evening. Maybe I will get a sleeve finished on the sweater. We’ll see.  I hear the dryer beeping.

Until next time . . . . 

Rain-y Day ..... Sweeping the Heat Away

Okay, so I can't sing. :~{

Finally, the rain has come! The gutters are overflowing! We received four inches in less than 24 hours.  Yippee!  It is currently 77 degrees F at 3:45 pm. Ahhhh!  .....  and still raining.

After a long day of traipsing through the rain, getting my biweekly allergy shots, visiting a second doctor to review blood work to find out if I have rheumatoid arthritis (he doesn’t think so) and having more blood work taken, there has been only a little knitting done on the Red Summer Cardigan. I did, however, find buttons at Jo-Ann's. Yeah!

Did I forget to say, that I am mostly a monogamous knitter. I might have two projects going -- one small and one large.  So there will be a few more reports on the cardigan, before there is much news on the mittens or marble bag. Then again, socks may sneak onto my US size 1 needles when I’m not looking. Has been known to happen.

Back to the sweater -- The bottom ribbing is completed, but not without travails. :-(  After completing the six rows of 1 x 1 ribbing, I looked at it and looked at it. Something was wrong. It finally dawned on me that I had knitted it on the wrong size needles. I didn’t change to the smaller needles. Ugh!!  

I began to tink back and then decided to use Franklin Habit’s suggestion of threading a US size 1 needle where you needed to frog back to, then frog away. Well, you may remember that this yarn is a bouclé yarn. Threading through the stitches was not fun. Neither was frogging as the nubs would catch in the stitches. Arrrrrg!  After a few hours of threading, frogging, picking up dropped stitches and finally knitting a clean row, I put the sweater in time out and went to bed.

Now using US size 5 needles (not 7), the ribbing is done, bound off and the end woven in.  Yoohoo!  I, then, began to pick up the sleeve stitches that had been waiting on waste yarn. Not one to finish a pattern exactly as written, I am making this cardigan long sleeved. After much arithmetic, measuring and sketching (I do have a degree in Mathematics after all, I might as well use it.) I started on the first sleeve. This would be going greatly, except I like to knit sleeves with two circular needles. I have one 24 inch size 7 and one 40 inch size 7. Talk about too much needle for the job!  

After wrestling with the needles for half a day, I traipsed back out into the pouring rain (beautifully needed, but very wet) to my LYS and bought two 16 inch size 7 needles. After supper I will change them out and it should be smooth sailing from here. 

Get it? ....rain .....lots of rain....sailing!  LOL