I've been bad

I've been so addicted to getting through the endless amount of boring knitting rounds of Wicked that I've been knitting when I shouldn't be. It's really bad. I broke it out during my commute to and from work. During my 45 min-1 hr commute each way, my car doesn't move much - at least 20 min of idling. I'm not proud of it but I put my time to good use. Then at work I have Wicked out on my desk or I hide it in my lap and I start knitting as soon as my co-worker across the way leaves her area...normally for a smoke. That gives me 10-15 minutes to get through a round. I know. Bad. It hasn't been so busy at work so it's ok. Right? Shut up. I don't have a problem.

In between my knitting spurts and pretending to work, I found a site that had this pattern:

Isn't that totally adorable? I want to nibble on those little legs cuz these booties make them so cute!!! They almost look like Uggs...but for indoor use. I have to make these, but in adult size. I Googled for the adult size pattern and BAM! I found it:

Another project to add to my list of things to knit.

And for giggles, I found this too:

Don't you knitters agree?

Wicked Progress and Stitches West

I took this picture of my Wicked sweater 2 days ago. I've knitted a bit more since then, maybe 15 rows away from forming the sleeves. I'm hoping by tomorrow I'll have that done. It's a bit monotonous knitting in the round repeatedly right now so that's why I'm excited about the sleeves. I can't help but be excited, it's my first sweater. I still wasn't sure about my gauge and I didn't want to invest more time in such a big project if I'm using the wrong needles size so I went to the yarn shop to ask for help. The lady who looked at my swatches confirmed I had the right size. YAY! You have no idea how relieved I was. I would be in a shit mood right now if I had to start over. I'm still anxious about how it's going to fit though.

Erin and I attended Stitches West, a huge knitting expo. I think my eyes popped out of my head the moment I saw all the yarn. I was like a kid in a candy store! My grocery list didn't have any yarn though. I wanted other things: knitting bag, metal interchangeable needle kit, and ball winder. I found them but not exacatly what I wanted it. What's funny is that I did end up buying some yarn. I can never pass up a good deal. Imagiknit, my favorite yarn store located in San Francisco (parking is a bitch!) participated at the expo and I'm so glad they did. Everything was 10% off and they carried Lorna's Laces Lion and Lamb in the colors I like. I bought 2 skeins of the Mineshaft colorway. I think I'm going to make a mini-version of Clapotis out of it. We'll see. I'm sorta over Clapotis but the Lion and Lamb is what I really wanted to make out of it. It's sooo freakin' soft and would feel so nice wrapped around my neck. Considering it'll be a small version it wouldn't take too long to make.

Wicked is effing right

Wicked is officially cast on successfully. This project is seriously kicking my ass. It shouldn't be but it is. I'll have a lot of knitting "firsts" making my first sweater. I was having a hell of a time measuring out how much yarn was needed for the long tail cast on - another first. After the 3rd or 4th try I finally got it. About 3 rounds into the pattern I notice that the part where I joined the round is separating. WTF?! I couldn't figure out what happened but I decided to frog and start fresh. Bad vibes out...good vibes in. *breathe*

I re-cast and by the 2nd round in I see it loosening up and separating again. At this point I wanted to scream. I was sick of casting on, I didn't know how to prevent the stupid part that joins from separating, and all this frogging and re-casting was taking it's toll on the yarn strands. I put it down, walked away and did a little research online for tips. I even contemplated going to the yarn shop for help but didn't want to because it's so out of my way and too much of a drive from home. I'm also a bit stubborn and like to figure things out on my own. I don't like to ask for help until I admit defeat.

In better spirits last night I picked up Wicked again keeping those tips in mind. The big tip was to tighten the first stitch really well at the join so it won't loosen while knitting. It worked and so far so good. Phew. Can't wait till my next work break so I can work on it some more.

Swatching frustration

Knitting up swatches is painless. Yes, a little tedious when all you want to do is dive in and start knitting your project, but look at these two swatches:

I made these two swatches with the same amount of rows and the same amount of stitches. Only difference is the top swatch was made with size 7 addi circulars and the bottom swatch is with size 8 addi circulars. There's a HUGE difference!!!

My pattern calls for 18 stitches & 26 rows in St st = 4" on size 7's. The swatches totally tell me I'm a tight knitter. My gauge was pretty off. I had too many stitches/inch using 7's so I felt that going up to size 8's would be better. I'm still a little off but it's better than 7's. I dunno...I think I know what I'm doing and maybe I'm figuring my gauge wrong. I'm going to start knitting Wicked and my gut feeling is telling me it's ok to use size 8's and not have an anxiety attack if it doesn't work. I also like how the size 8 swatch feels...it's drapey just like the sweater should be. I can always start over, get some help at an LYS, and get on with it. I know it's only yarn, but it's my first sweater. I'd like to do it right the first time without crying. Uh oh. Maybe this is a bad week to start this. PMS is going to hit soon.

More Blocking

The weather has been so awesome that I decided to wear shorts today (*gasp* first time since end of summer!) and hang out in my backyard with my laptop. My boss hasn't been sending me any work so I figured I'd make good use of my time and block Clapotis. It's really an excuse to be outside and get some sun. Since I finished it a month ago it's been sitting under a pile of magazines so I wouldn't have to look at it. I dug it out and here it is now enjoying the sun too...

Here's the finished product:

I've decided I'm not a shawl wearing chick. I can use this as a scarf but I am an increase short and it doesn't look right to me. I tried to stretch it as much as I could when blocked it. When I find the red shade of silk garden that I originally wanted, I will make the mini-clapotis version.

I'm done with scarves for now until I am done making the Wicked top that I love so. My first 3 attempts to get it on my needles was a complete mess. I took it as a sign to not skip making a gauge swatch. I'm a gauge swatch virgin. =P Wish me luck.

2007 FO No. 2: Argosy finished!

Done: February 15, 2007

I got my butt in gear and finally finished so Mana could stop using Argosy as a pillow.


It's off the needles but not completely done. I attempted my first try at blocking. Tedious but well worth the effort to get a nice finished product. I pinned it down on a towel and spray blocked. I'm crossing my fingers that it'll turn out well.

Here's a closer look...

SOOOO much better than the blah Clapotis color.

It's like Christmas!

Lookie what I got in the mail today!! 7 skeins of ArtYarns Supermerino and 2 new circular Addis. Now I have everything to get started on my sweater but I don't want to start it until I finish my Argosy scarf. :( I must fight the urge... I can't give in...

Much bettah!

I finally got the pattern down and understand what's going on...on my 3rd try! I royally screwed it up on my second try. The holes in the pattern weren't lining up. So I frogged it all again. On my 3rd try I found the holes not lining up again right about where the light green started. I frogged it back to where I could salvage it. I was going to cry if I had to re-do the entire thing again. I fudged the pattern enough to make it look nice enough. Whatever I did, it worked. I've probably jinxed myself posting this.



I ordered my yarn and needles over the weekend to make this:



I am extremely nervous about this project. I have to actually swatch the yarn and find my gauge so I won't waste time on knitting this all wrong. I chose a pretty green color and I'm going to make this with short sleeves so I can wear this in the winter or spring. I won't be done with this till spring time anyway.

Afternoon Update:

I jinxed myself. What did I effing tell you?! I brought it to work so I can work on my scarf during my breaks/lunch. I was happily knitting along at lunch. I count my stitches and *gasp!* I somehow lost 8 stitches. I realized my mistake and the only way to fix it is to undo 4 rows of stupidness and pure idiocy. This pattern is working my nerves. I swear. I want this stupid thing done and over with already. No more posting of Argosy until I'm done. UGH!

The Plan

I must knit. A lot. This weekend. I have to. I need to. Why? See the title of my blog. UGH.