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Rhymes With Mango
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| Try again |
| 08.30.04 (2:38 pm) [edit] |
I think I might have found something that surprisingly no one else has mentioned. I'm just hoping there isn't a reason that it's never been mentioned. Jacquard acid dyes can be used to dye yarn and other protein fabrics/materials.. I found this at Pearl Paint which has a few stores near me. I still haven't found any Wiltons but, the guy at the counter told me there's a place in the city that sells baking supplies mostly to a cooking school here. So I might dig them up and ask them if they have what I want.
In the meantime.. I've already dyed some more Patons fuschia, and am currently waiting on a pot of blue! I'll have pics of those once they're hung to dry.. I'm a little nervous about using this kind of dye tho.. as far as I can see there doesn't seem to be much talk of the dye exhausting the way Kool Aid does. The fuschia I just did didn't exhaust, and I don't know if it's supposed to or not. I put less in the blue one, so maybe(hopefully) this color will exhaust after a while. I dread the bathtub being all sorts of colors as the yarn drips dry. The dye powder is touted as being washfast, so perhaps after a good wash/rinse it won't bleed while drying anyway. Hmmmm :?
I've cast on for some sort of sock-thing with some left over Cascade I used to make the Fruity FMB. I have NO idea what I'm doing; it's my first time making a sock with WW yarn, and it's also the first time I make a sock with ribbing down the front. Hey, if it doesn't make sense by the time it's done I can always frog it!
Edit to add: these are the fuschia and blue I just finished!
the colors are brighter than they look, the blue being a lot closer to royal than just bright blue. Definitely more like what I've been wanting.
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| I just wound up 6 balls of yarn... |
| 08.30.04 (2:10 am) [edit] |
and boy are my arms tired! *clash bang boom* :roll: :lol:
Whoooooo the purple sure gave me a hard time.. I think what happens sometimes is.. when dyeing the yarns, some spots do felt a tiny bit.. so when you go to wind, the yarn where the ties were has felted a little and the yarn gets knotted; not the true tangles due to miswinding that I used to have. Seeing as I've been hanking yarns myself lately I've become a little bit better at determining which end to lead on with. Otherwise you'll get that horrid tangling business that'll make you take to your yarn with scissors...
So this is it:
from left to right you have the :
fuschia-red(Cascade),red, orange-red, greyish orange, yellow, lime green, light aqua, greyish aqua, purple, deep purple
that's 10 colors not including the black I might use to frame each color and I am still thinking something is missing. Should I try for a true blue? Should I really attempt to use them in spectral order??? hmmmmm :?:
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| Progress report |
| 08.29.04 (3:10 pm) [edit] |
Truthfully I haven't really knitted much except a test swatch for my sweater.. I've decided upon a pattern to emulate, as well as figured out how many rows of each color I'll use. Some of the yarns I dyed are still kinda damp so it could be another day before I get to wind them. I don't have space to leave my swift and winder up all the time so I try to wind when I get a bunch of hanks ready at one time. I might leave them like that until I get my blue done...
Speaking of blue, I finally found a way to get the kind of blue I want. I will need to use cake decorating dye in order to get a crisp, bright, obvious blue. Kool Aid just isn't going to do it.
Seriously, they need to put a Joann's or Michaels within the five boroughs.. I mean REALLY. This is getting to be TOO much.. Bad as it is the nearest Walmart is like 18 miles away.. took me two buses and a train to reach that sucker!!
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| Please don't hate me |
| 08.28.04 (9:19 am) [edit] |
I know this will be the second project I've dashed but it just dawned on me: I am NOT going to be able to finish the Shapely Tee/Tank. I simply do NOT have enough yarn! I don't know what possessed me to think I would.I'm not even HALF way up the front and I've already finished one ball. I only have 3 left and I'm NOT exactly a size 2. Not to mention at the rate I'm going it won't be warm enough to wear the bloody thing and I'll want the sleeves and I most CERTAINLY won't have enough for sleeves. Unless I make them another color and well, yelch...
So I'll just use the yarn the way I intended to use it when I bought it. For dishcloths. Honestly this yarn isn't the softest around and I don't know what made me think I could WEAR it. When it dries it's all hard and whatnot. Maybe for Valentines day next year I can get hubby to buy me the yarns that the pattern ask for and then I can do it and have it ready for spring.. hmmm. AND have sleeves.. :D. On to other news...
I've turned the heel on that Opal sock I'm doing. And I'm going to overdye that darker blue skein of yarn to see if I can get a clearer blue. I've already used the food dye(blue and red to make purple) to overdye the purple one and it's working so far. Soon I'll have all the colors I want for this thing.. Then.. we're off!!!
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| Yarn O Rama!! |
| 08.27.04 (4:10 pm) [edit] |
These are all the yarns I've dyed the last few days.. the red, yellow, and greyish aqua(food coloring ONLY on that one...and a grey/beige yarn to start with.. bad idea) were all done today and are still drying.. the other two were done the other day and yesterday...
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| Toe up some more |
| 08.27.04 (12:56 am) [edit] |
A la This, I have finally gotten around to starting the mates and this
is the result. The purple-ish sock with the eyelets will have to be done cuff down because of the pattern stitch. I guess I could do it toe up but hey, do I have to?
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| Am I Blue? |
| 08.26.04 (5:46 pm) [edit] |
I finally found some Ice Blue Raspberry Lemonade kool aid. It's not the blue I was hoping for, but it will do.. This is the yarn after cooking...
It's drying now. and when that's done I'll ball up that and the lavender I made the other day and that'll be it for my sweater!! 6 balls at 220 yards each should be enough, right? :D I sure hope so!
No real progress on Shapely... been running around doing errands and such. Ugh. I just found out I can renew my license online, BUT the bloody doc wrote his license number out illegibly and I can't seem to get the site to accept his number as it looks to me.. I bet if I went down there in person and stood on that line the person at the window will tell me the same thing... :twisted:
So much for that!!
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| Lorna's Finished!! |
| 08.25.04 (8:13 am) [edit] |
Well it was an uphill battle but I finally got the lorna's socks done. And would you believe it, it only took one ball.. and I STILL have some of that ball left. Of course, it's more than likely due to the fact that these socks aren't as tall as I usually make them. Honestly with the first sock(cuff-down) I was so disenchanted with the patterning that I just said to hell with it and went for the heel flap.. So naturally, to have a 'matching' sock, I had to make the second one a low top as well..
The cuff down is on my right foot, the toe up, on the left. The left sock is on 64 stitches, the right, 56. I'm not sure which number I like better. I think next time I'll try the toe up on 56 stitches and see how that goes. I noticed major patterning difference with the left one. I don't know if it's a result of having been done toe-up or if that's just how the patterning is near the end of a ball. I suspect it's a little of both.. While I don't think toe up is going to be my 'new' way to make socks,I'm not so afraid of doing them now. There are, though, other ways to start off a toe up that I haven't really done and I suppose that will be another challenge for me. I still have to work on making the toe increases less holey.. I don't know what happened there. I probably used the wrong kind of increase; most of these patterns don't even tell you what kind to use.
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| Progress pics!! |
| 08.24.04 (1:31 am) [edit] |
I promised a pic of Shapely Tank/Tee's progress so this is it:
Finally got that onto a long enough size 7. Funny though, I ordered a long Denise needle cord but that will come in handy for when I make that bulky-yarn poncho. In the meantime, here's the first sock completely with Lorna's in Lorikeet
Again, I guess the pattern will grow on mebut I never expected it to come out like this. I'm guessing there are specific patterns made just for Lorna's yarn so that they pool a little. (yes, I said a LITTLE).
And finally!! I've attempted a toe-up sock again. I started out using a cute little rectangular toe cast-on where you knit stocking stitch on 8-12 stitches and pick up stitches in the round and increase from there. I was going good til I realized it was just an instruction on an alternative toe cast on. I have no prior experience with the workings of the gusset and heel in reverse. Just as with cuff-downs, once I learn how to work socks generally in a toe-up fashion, I'll be able to adapt that toe cast-on and then go from there. Here is what I have so far:
Only two things bother me about this sock right now: the increases seem kinda holey.. I'll have to get some help with that. And.. ugh.. I have trouble knitting the wraps along with the stitch when purling. I think I read to pick up the wraps from the back of them and then... I'm lost.. I've been throwing the wraps onto the needle and purling the whole thing, but it comes out kinda.. lumpy.. I wonder what I'm doing wrong...
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| Change ups Galore! |
| 08.23.04 (11:59 am) [edit] |
I've been thinking again.. and I don't know that I want to do a poncho in worsted weight for someone my size. That'd take forever. Well, ok, not FOREVER but by the time I finish the darn thing it'll be too cold to just go out with a poncho.
So I've been looking into some other project options. It looks like I might have a sweater coming out of Sally Melville's "The Knit Stitch" with the dyed yarns.. Not really sure tho.. There's also a nice poncho in there that I probably COULD make before it gets too cold. And I do have enough yarn because it will be made in a bulky yarn. I've got those 8 skeins of Thick N Quick I almost made Sonnet out of.. Hmmm Ideas just floating around aimlessly.. How to focus?
I'm almost done with the first of the Lorna's sock. Unless I see some other colorways knit up first.. I don't think I'll be buying anymore that brand. You know you're sad when you look at the Watermelon-Kiwi Twist Koolaid you bought for DYEING and decide you wanna drink it! (well, it IS my favorite flavor :lol:)
And Guess WHAT??! I finally got my size 7 40" circ and can transfer my Shapely Tank project to it! So, I think I'll get around to that tonight.. and I can start the other sock.
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| Yarn thoughts.. |
| 08.22.04 (10:42 am) [edit] |
I've finished the gusset decreases on that LL sock. After some thought I think it's an ok knit-up. I still wish I had seen it worked up before purchasing. I will give though, that Lorna's Laces feels REALLY good on the hands.. it comes in solids.. but the stuff is expensive!
Still dyeing yarn like a fiend. I'll take pics of the newest dyed yarns when I'm done dyeing this next batch. I still need this and another color before I can do the Poncho-Eula that I want to try. I still haven't decided how I want this striped.
Nope, still not touching Box Steps. I might just box up all the yarns I'm supposed to use for it, and keep it separate in case I give the project to someone else to finish.
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| Confessions.. |
| 08.20.04 (9:28 pm) [edit] |
I honestly am NOT all that thrilled with the Lorikeet colorway of Lorna's Laces. When I first saw that yarn on a web site it was not accompanied by a swatch. So I really didn't have much idea of how it would knit up. I just fell in love with the colors in the skein. I hear people rave about LL like it's nirvana. And while it IS really buttery soft, I'm not going gaga over the way the pattern develops. If you can call it that. I don't know for sure if I want to frog this sock or not. I'll have to let it stew while I search for a pattern that might do the colors some justice.
I admit, after much trouble and several false starts, that Box Steps is an utter waste of my mental health! A web search has yet to reveal ANYONE who has actually finished this piece(except for the model sweater in Knitters). I've given it some thought and I've decided I'd rather find a better way to use my scraps. This is just too much for me. All the constant changing and remembering to keep to pattern, too many colors to work with, and I STILL haven't found anybody willing to show me how to properly add in new colors at the regular twist areas... Geez...
So Box Steps is going on a permanent vacation. I've got some nerve, I've only been knitting since Feb and I thought I was hot stuff!
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| Picture Time!!! |
| 08.20.04 (3:07 pm) [edit] |
I promised you I'd put up some pics of my progress on some WIP's so here they are...
This is Box Steps(again) before the armholes..
This is my newest sock WIP... Lorna's Laces.. no pattern in particular.. just making a sock!
And finally, without further adieu... is.. the Knee Sock!!
Enjoy :)
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| Crapple |
| 08.20.04 (7:29 am) [edit] |
Does this 
look purple to you? It doesn't to me.. And it's almost dry... :cry: Oh well back to the drawing board...
This is the other yarn I dyed.. finally rolled into pull-skeins
Yummy, isn't it?
It will probably become part of a Poncho I want to make...
I've started a pair of socks in Lorna's Laces as a filler project. I know, I know...I should be making the mates to the other socks I've already done.. Bad Bean, Bad!! I just couldn't help myself. and I was anxious to try a toe up method of sock-making but it wasn't happening. I might need to do a provisional cast-on method instead of the figure 8..
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| "Fingering Yarn" |
| 08.19.04 (12:14 am) [edit] |
I think I've added new meaning to 'fingering yarn'. I got up in the middle of the night and went to check my dyed Cascade for complete dryness. Almost there! I notice the dye didn't get all the way through. Even on the burgundy which I dyed on the stove. Of course, I didn't use my big stew pot as I couldn't FIND the bloody thing.. so I used my chicken pan and well, that just wasn't deep enough. Plus I'll be needing a new pair of rubber gloves, the ones I have already are full of holes :cry: . I was a bit squeamish about really mashing the dye in for two reasons.. I didn't have the gloves ON... and my roll of plastic rap just wasn't wide enough. I'm thinking maybe I should lay two swaths of the stuff out overlapping themand then a third for safe keeping..
I need to rehank the patons. I have 6 packets of each color this time: Lemonade(yellow) Pink Lemonade(pink) and Grape(purple)! I'm wondering what order I should put them on in.. hmmmmm
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| Dyed and gone to heaven(almost) |
| 08.18.04 (2:14 pm) [edit] |
I've finally dyed my first skeins of yarn!! I used 2 skeins of Cascade in grey(color 8011). I picked up 2 packets each of Strawberry watermelon twist, tropical punch, orange, and raspberry something or other.. One skein is just the tropical punch, and the other is a combo of the other three.. I'll take pics when both skeins are hung to dry, and then again once they're thoroughly dried.
Wow I've been so busy dying and other stuff I haven't actually knitted yet today!! I guess I'll do it while I'm waiting for the yarn to dry..
What should I knit with it?? hmmmm :?:
Edit to add:
These are the pics of the yarn while wet..
On the left is the orange, red, green, with little bits of red in the green(gee, how'd that happen?) and on the right is the burgundy/red... OOOh they smell good too!!
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| Again... why do I bother? |
| 08.18.04 (5:26 am) [edit] |
You know I screwed up right? I bought what I THOUGHT was a size 7 needle.. Nope, it's a 7cm needle, which is a 10.5.. GOT DAMMIT :evil: UGH.. I swear this is getting out of hand.. so I'm back to not being able to work on two projects at once until I get the right needles.. Thankfully I have elann.com for that :lol:
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| 3 things I've learned today. |
| 08.17.04 (6:19 pm) [edit] |
1) Light and Lofty yarn... is NOT for knitting... either THAT or I was using the wrong size needles or something(size 8 ). I mean ugh.. it was like pulling teeth to knit with the stuff. I was gonna have another go at the Multidirectional Scarf with it.. NOPE. So rip that back...
2) Illiteracy is a four-letter word. What's so bad about it? That some people can't READ four-letter words(or 3-letter words, either :(. I think I will be getting the opportunity to help tutor illiterate adults.. I sat with a teacher today and watched and it made me REALLY sad that there are people out there who made it through school and can't read 'this'....
3) I'm a slacker... yep, I broke my yarn diet.. Crashed and Burned.. I went to another LYS looking for those darned needles and fell off the wagon and knocked myself out cold as I walked by some Cascade 220 in grey. When I came to, I was standing at the register paying for it and the needles... I'm shameless :lol:
In better news the knee socks are HISTORY! Done.. Finite!! Caput! or something like that :) But since I have the extra size 7 needle... I can do Box Steps AND my Shapely Tank/Tee... so I don't need to work socks right now as a filler-project. (is that a bad thing? did I just say a cuss-word? :lol:)
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| Eureka!! We have Swift!! |
| 08.17.04 (9:17 am) [edit] |
I finally got my yarn swift. I got it half price at Joann with their occasional 50% off coupon deals.. Too bad I couldn't use it to buy a knitting machine :lol:
So I've wound up my two hanks of Lorna's, and the Koigu I bought months ago, including that nasty Hank that wouldn't behave.. took a while to get him to act right but he finally gave in. Alas, I must finish off the other sock-pairs I haven't completed before I can touch that yarn.. :oops:
still working on the knee sock foot. I haven't tried it on DD as yet, but I'm planning on it later this evening. I have to go in and apply to tutor adults learning to read. Of course I'll bring a small project or two to keep me busy while I travel.
what have I been swatching lately? Nothing really but I did try that Multidirectional Scarf and well, It's ok, but I think I'd rather do it with a way thicker yarn... I think I might have a use for that extra Noro yet! hmmmm :twisted:
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| Why do I bother? |
| 08.16.04 (5:45 pm) [edit] |
I went by one of my usual(but not necessarily favorite) LYS to get a few needles.. I asked for bamboo circulars.. They don't carry them.. They showed me some Addi turbos.. I was mildly interested so I said Ok.. I'd like size 5 and 7, 40 inches.. Oh we don't have those sizes that long... we have 32, and 16.. I said never mind and left.. I'll take my business elsewhere.. I will only go there for Koigu PPPM or Kersti.. if I ever get around to buying more yarn :lol:
I went by another store not too far away and they were closed!:evil: Farkers!! don't these people know customers have lives??
Geez what does a person have to do to get 40" bamboo circulars around here?? I'm using a size 7 for Box Steps and my Shapely Tank also uses size 7... I could order extra Denise parts but I don't wanna do that..
In other knitting news, I've just about finished the second Knee sock. Actually I was on the home stretch and went overboard and had to rip back to do the toe decreases(:oops: whoopsie)
But that's mostly out of the way now.. I'll have to get a move on wit Box Steps if I want to use those 7 tips!!
Edit to add:
I also would like to try dyeing yarn. I have this one ball of Patons Classic wool in a deep gray.. I'm wondering how that would look with Kool Aid dye... hey, if people can dye dark hair with it and get bright-ass colors.. I should be able to dye grey wool! :o: So, tomorrow I should be getting some kool aid and awayyyyyyyyyyy we go!
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| Weekend Knitting... |
| 08.14.04 (2:06 pm) [edit] |
Well, as usual, I'm going to need to move a project from straights to circulars. After a while the work just gets heavy. I don't regret buying the straights tho. They're good for when you make baby items and other lightweight projects.. So I've got to move the Log Cabin Squares off the Denise needle that I'm using so I can use the cord with the size 7 tips to complete the Shapely Tank/Tee.
The knee sock had to be ripped because somehow I messedup the decreases.. so.. I started over.. At least I documented any pattern changes so I won't have to go through figuring out how to fix it again..
Box Steps is still going..
I know I promised pics but I've been too busy knitting to stop and upload any :twisted:
WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
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| Cold Feet... |
| 08.12.04 (6:26 pm) [edit] |
Yep. I'm getting cold feet about doing the armholes on Box Steps. I have, however, cast on for the Shapely Tank I'd been thinking about.. pics tomorrow of the progress so far.. This Sugar N Cream(actually Peaches N Cream but it's basically the same now) isn't half bad as far as knitting is concerned. Of course we have to wait til the FO is washed and dried before we can say it's going to be a good thing!
I've already learned this yarn will shrink a bit. So I'm making the next size up, and making it a bit longer so that it's not a bra by the time it's done in the dryer :D. My swatch has proven that it shrinks more lengthwise and widthwise. Not to mention I'm not that shapely so it's not like I want it to FIT me tight anyway. As I also said, if there's enough yarn left I'll make sleeves. Hell, I've already used two different colors.. Potpourri Ombre and Shaded Denims.. Maybe I'll prolly just use the Potpourri as an edging type thing...
Ooh! And I learned short rows! I'd been reading instructions here and there for them, but I never used a pattern that called for them. I'm done with some of them, but i'll need to do them again when it comes to the bust area.
:wink:
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| Ohhhhhhhhh to hell with it |
| 08.10.04 (6:09 pm) [edit] |
Quick and Easy shell my eye.. YOU try casting on 281 stitches in the round without them twisting :x :evil: Ugh.. nightmare . so Scrap that sucker. And the pattern looks so simple and pretty. Heck no.. I think I'll try that Shapely Tee from White Lies.. If I have extra yarn I might get crazy enough to do sleeves.
I just can't imagine what kind of DRUG induced stupor I was in to even contemplate that shell..
I'm closing in on the armholes of Box Steps.. I'm getting nervous :( *breathe Deep... slowwwwwwwwww*
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| Almost there |
| 08.09.04 (3:51 pm) [edit] |
Box Steps is almost to the arm holes.. I finally got some ideas/help on how to join new yarn when you have to twist the yarns to close the gap like you're supposed to with Intarsia. I'm getting the funny feeling people aren't understanding what I mean when I ask for help. So I've come up with my own way of dealing with it.
Also, someone kindly reminded me of the million and one ends I've have to be weaving in.. OMG WHAT??? Ugh.. So I've 'learned' a little technique to 'weave' in the ends as I knit.. then all I have to do is snip the excess. I still have to sew in the ends of the part I DIDN'T already weave in.. but hey, at least I won't have to for the rest of the sweater!
No pics of the sweater but I do have some of the Dominican Parade I went to yesterday. Man, it was stressful trying to decide if I should take some small project(like the other knee sock) with me or not. Now you KNOW you're addicted when it comes to that. In the end I left my knitting home and I'm glad I did. After the festivities I had to find a bathroom. Looking for one, I ran into Coliseum Books, which had moved from Columbus Circle to Times Square. So after I took care of that, I got a copy of Family Circle Easy Sweaters. I didn't realize some of them would be crochet, I thought the whole book was knitting. Gee, I guess I should learn to READ the cover huh? :lol:
here's the parade pic!! Enjoy!
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| Up the steps... |
| 08.07.04 (6:05 pm) [edit] |
This is the Box Steps again.. the second row of boxes is almost done! One more row before I do the armholes :shock:
[image]ladybean_375029592 .jpg[/image] I think I can I think I can I think I can... Yeah yeah yeah I know. I was supposed to finish off the blankets.. Curses! Why can't I just get them done!!
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| Saturday... |
| 08.07.04 (7:16 am) [edit] |
Today I plan to get some projects finished and off to their recipient. I have that big Granny Square Blanket 
I've been working on since February(shame on me :oops:) and the Log Cabin blanket which I just started last month. I have about 6 more squares to make and then I can sew them together.
I've closed up the toe of the infamous knee sock and I'll probably cast on for the second tomorrow.. I'm just too excited about this Box Steps sweater to really work on anything else. Which is why I have to FORCE myself to do the other two blankets...
Oh well.. Off we go:!:
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| More Box Steps |
| 08.06.04 (4:13 pm) [edit] |
This project is really exciting!! I'm about a third of the way up the back portion.. Intarsia is easier for me and that helps motivate me. But boy is it slow going!! Part of me is wishing I could have gotten size 7 bamboo circulars to do this project. The weight of the garment is becoming evident on those skinny needles. Of course, laying the project out in my lap while in bed helps.
All thats left of the first knee sock is to close the toe..but I have to try it one last time to make sure it's going to fit... Then it's on to the second sock *sigh*..
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| Box Steps begun |
| 08.06.04 (3:27 am) [edit] |
Woohoo!! By Jove(thanx Helen!) I think I've got it! So far, anyway.. This is my progress with Box Steps, which is on the cover of this Summer's Knitter's Magazine. It was rough beginnings seeing as I didn't really understand how to get intarsia to look right, and then once I got the hang of that I had to remember NOT to twist the yarns at certain points, to get the desired effect... So, where you see holes, is where you're supposed to. This is the bottom of the back.. I think I've got the hang of it.. the armhole area will be another story :lol:
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| I told you I was nuts!! |
| 08.05.04 (7:14 am) [edit] |
Due to circumstance beyond my control(read: I'm broke again!) both cotton shells will have to wait until I can get size 5 and 6 and 7 bamboo circular needles. The UCan2 is actually done flat but the Quick N Easy is done in the round and I really haven't decided just which I will do. I'd hate to start one and it's not working out and I can't start the other because I don't have the needles I need. That, and I'm really edgy about wasting more yarn in a swatch for the UCan2.
So, I've decided to take on that Box Steps sweater in the summer issue of Knitter's Magazine. With a little tinkering I've managed to work out how to get the item to be big enough to fit me comfortably without really fudging the numbers.
And the really cool part about it is.. I don't have to follow the color scheme as it is in the magazine. I can go to the Knitter's mag website and input my own colors based on what's in my stash, and it will allow me to print out my schematic :)) Then I can just follow the chart!! WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EE Very Happy
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| Growing pains.. and Thanx |
| 08.05.04 (12:25 am) [edit] |
I know a lot of people who first started out watching my blog have long since stopped. That said, I'd like to thank those who've continued to keep an eye on my wild rants. All of you have watched this blog go from general non-sense to well, knitting.
I'm sure you can tell I've discovered in myself a passion for knitting which soothes me, while allowing me to release tension into something beautiful and creative, unique and inspired. That's why I love knitting and have fully decided this is what my blog will be about from here on. Occasionally I may interject a blog here and there about whatever else is on my mind, but lately, knitting is what's on my mind.
So, will I change my blog name? No, and for good reasons. First of all, I've joined several blog rings and have already submitted/joined them with this blog name so I'm not exactly in a position to change it. Also, last night I came upon the idea that well, knitting involves a little insanity.
Yeah we knitters are all a little... nutty. Nutty about knitting, yarn shopping, buying needles, trying new things..
For instance: When I first started making socks, I'd been reading up on the process as much as possible and learned that the price of needles being what they are, I might be better off just buying a few long circular needles in the common sock-making sizes so I could use them to make socks with the Magic Loop method. Well, I tried that and it worked nicely. That and the fact that back then, the thought of actually using dpn's scared me. So I was content with my ML and swore I'd never pick up a dpn as long as I lived.
Then somewhere along the line I decided to do a second French Market Bag and actually wanted to try doing the rounded bottom(which would ACK, require dpn's). Ok I [b]tried [/b]the ML with the rounded bottom and got lost as hell, so I knew I had to do something about learning to use dpn's.
Once I got the dpn's down.. I've been using them almost exclusively for small-circumference, circular items, namely socks. Now that I make socks the old-fashioned way I better understand the sock-making process and am able to actually follow patterns written the way the vast majority of sock pattern are written: in terms of dpn's.
My knitting has come a long way. And so has this blog, with thousands of views, and comments. Then I went and joined lots of blogs and that just gave me more blogs to keep track of! :shock: :lol:
But I will get to them, I promise.
Oh, back to the reason why Daily Insanity fits this blog so well... Knitting requires it! You have to go out of the box to create, to learn, to hold onto a passion a lot of others might think worthless. That in itself takes an almost insane love for your craft. I was nuts along time ago so I guess it was only a matter of time before I found something I'd feel really at home with. Knitting insanity can happen when you try to clean out your stash and you find a yarn that has so much potential you can't even decide what project to use it for. Such is the case with that Sugar N Cream cotton I've balled up. I'm stuck between the UCan2 Shell and the Quick and Easy Shell.
Yeah I've already tried the UCan2 with another yarn and that didn't go over too well. I'm also thinking about reusing that yarn for another attempt at the UCan2 since I've learned I might need to use WAY smaller needles than called for when working with cotton. True, Reynolds Saucy is mercerized and SnC isn't. But I'm going to give the Saucy another shot with the same needles I swatched the SnC and see how that turns out..
So I'm in the planning stages of two projects. And I feel good; I have no shame....
I just LOVE this!!
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| Swatch update |
| 08.04.04 (6:17 pm) [edit] |
I've washed and dried the cotton swatch. It didn't shrunk much but any shrinkage could be bad when you're talkin cotton garments.. I'll have to get a larger circular to accomplish this project. I need a size 5 and I don't have it..
Also i've been digging in my Knitter's Magazine again.. (bad me I know..) and well, I think I might try that 'untarsia' sweater called Box Steps. I can make it with a bunch of different acrylic colors and I got guage on the required needles.. Ok truthfully I kinda didn't, but I'm using a yarn that's slightly larger than what is needed. Seeing as the largest size is a tad too small for me.. following the instructions as is should make the sweater come out just right!!
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| Fashionable Torture Device! |
| 08.04.04 (12:58 pm) [edit] |
This is the first sock.. almost done... I thought I'd stick it up here now since I just took a pic of the progress..
Don't worry, everybody's got on shorts :lol:
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| Swatching hell |
| 08.04.04 (9:44 am) [edit] |
I was gonna swatch for the UCan2 shell until I found this Quick & Easy Shell and decided against it. I'm still having nightmares about that thing. I even pulled out the part I'd already done and just about cried at all the gaps in it. It's like you have to go down 10 needle sizes to get guage with cotton yarn..
So that's just what I did! This pattern calls for a size 8..for 5 sts/inch. I couldn't get guage with an 8, so I tried a 6, and that didn't work either. I'm now swatching with a 4. If that don't work I don't know what will.
As always the torture sock is coming along. I'm on the home stretch, so to speak. A few more inches and I'll be ready to decrease for the toes.. It's so cool making socks for smaller feet(as long as you have a pattern you don't have to tweak 80 million times...
And awayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy we go! :lol:
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| Excitement!! |
| 08.03.04 (6:07 pm) [edit] |
I think I'm crazy.. I'm seriously thinking of trying that UCan2 Shell again.. Only this time, it'll be with this yarn:
This is Sugar N Cream cotton and it's not mercerized. I'll probably still have to consult the schematic of the project to make sure it's on target.
I ripped out the baby's 'Umbilical Cord' hat, and tried it again.. still too big!! Then I learned that switching to a circular from dpn's changes your guage.. so why the HELL don't the instructions say to go to a needle one or two sizes smaller when switching over??? Ugh.. So that's in the frog pond...
Then there's the torture sock.. that knee sock I've been working on for a few weeks. I've had to manipulate the pattern(which by the way was generated by an online sock pattern maker, go figure) at least 3 times since I started! I think I've got it this time around.. I'm on the foot after the gusset decreases.. Pics of that when it's done..
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| Yarnholics Unite! |
| 08.01.04 (12:47 pm) [edit] |
These pictures are of the majority of each bin of yarn that I have.. Everything in these pics is Worsted Weight by either Bernat or Red Heart, except for the ones marked soft/sport which are sportweight/soft variety by Red Heart.
Bin 1
Bin 2
Bin 3
Bin 4
And this is just the tip of the iceberg! I have some Cascade 220, a bit of Patons Classic wool, and little odds and ends I know I can just make into kid slippers or something.. What would YOU make with all this??? :lol:
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| Yay! It's been a week! |
| 08.01.04 (7:27 am) [edit] |
Since my yarn diet started... I haven't really diminished my stash but at least I didn't enlarge it any..
I did get two new books to give me ideas on how to use up the stash... Sally Melville's The Knit Stitch, and a little knitting journal I can jot down info on my current projects...
:lol:
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Hi there! I'm LadyBean and this is my journal home on the web. Hope you like my blog!
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