One Row Forward…

Then rip it all back.

The Whisper Lace socks. Those beautiful, damned whisper lace socks. The bane of my existence for the last two days. I actually made progress today. Good progress! I was almost done with the first round of the lace pattern. 13 rows for the picot edging, and 9 rows out of 15 in the lace pattern. And you know why I am starting from square one all over again? Because I made a dumb, dumb, stupid newbie mistake! At some point I decided that I would just weave in the cast on tail, rather than weaving it in later (because that's so much easier, right?). But instead of just carrying the tail, I knit it along with the working yarn. And the strands were two different colors. Orange and blue. And I didn't realize until I started the lace pattern that there was this odd row of blue stitches, right in the middle of the orange at the tail end of the picot cuff. And it was only on one side. So it wasn't the striping gone wacky. It was me. But I was much further in before I realized that it really was me, and that I needed to fix it. As you can imagine, I really wasn't in the mood to start ripping. Again. So I took a small crochet hook and just began teasing the strand from the row. And it was working! For awhile. Then I came across this tangle of blue and orange that I, for the life of me, couldn't undo. So I grabbed my scissors and began snipping. And wouldn't you know it? I snipped a real stitch.

Damn.

So, my "practice skein" is done for. I'm not ripping all that back again. I have plenty of yarn so it just feels better to cut off the dead weight and start with the actual skein.

I will make these socks. And they will be worth all the effort because they're so beautiful, but man, it certainly hasn't been easy so far.

I suppose that's what happens when you don't think things through.

When I've made real progress and the pattern starts to emerge, I'll be sure to post a pic. But it may take awhile!

Oh, The Futility!

You see, it started out with this beautiful skein of sock yarn for 50% off. Opal Feelings in color 1702 (I bought two other colors, but this is the one I'm starting with). For once, I am making something for myself.

At first, I was making these Go With The Flow socks from Interweave Knits Favorite Socks. I cast on, did the body of the sock, got all the way to the heel, and then decided that I was going to frog it, and start all over on a different sock pattern. But rather than ripping it back, I just cut it off, then ripped it, and began using that yarn to start a different pair of socks. It has now become my practice skein.

Enter baby fern socks from More Sensational Knitted Socks by Charlene Schurch. But I had to adjust the number of stitches and it wasn't turning out right.
Rip, rip, rip.

Then yesterday I came across the Whisper Lace socks pattern. I cast on, finished the cuff and slipped it over my foot. It was too loose. My gauge was off. Bummer.

And once again- Rip, rip, rip.

So, here my goodies sit. My two US2 circular needles, my ripped portion of Opal Feelings sock yarn, and the pattern. Dare I try it again? Just so that I'll rip it back. Again?

Yeah, I think I will. Because the satisfaction of finally getting it right and having a super cute pair of socks that I made by myself and for myself will be fantastic!

I have also been knitting the socks on two circular needles. Harnessing the fabulous power of google, I found a great tutorial from Washington KnitWit, and also this awesome video tutorial on youtube to fill in the gaps.

The actual knitting in the round is going quite well. The one thing that I tend to find frustrating is that when I turn my work I have to sort through this tangle of hanging needles and yarn to get it situated for knitting the next row. Maybe it will get better with practice?

Seriously, pictures soon, because what is a knitting blog without pictures?

Long Time No Post

Gosh, it's been so long since I last posted! Not that I haven't knit anything since July, I have. I just haven't gotten around to updating this blog.

I got my invitation to Ravelry today! yay! I'm lw1977, if anyone wants to look me up!

Right now I'm casting on a pair of socks- I'm actually making something for myself for once! They're the baby fern socks from the book More Sensational Knitted Socks, and I'm using opal feelings yarn color 1702 which I got for 50% off at littleknits.com.

I already have a few projects I need to photograph and post, and I'll do that soon, I promise.

Until then, everyone have a Happy Holidays!

Sit and stitch

Today was a much better day for the girls and I. We went to see a movie (Willie Wonka and the chocolate factory- the Johnny Depp version) then had lunch. I've never taken them out to eat at a sit-down place of any sort by myself where some sort of play land wasn't involved but I wanted to try La Salsa, so that's where we went and they did quite well. It was a pretty enjoyable afternoon.

I tried to get some knitting done in the movie theater. I figured the light from the movie screen would be enough for me to see my stitches... it didn't work out that way. And I was doing seed stitch, too. About 15 minutes into the movie I gave up and put my knitting away. When we went to the restroom I took it out and took a look at the damage- it looked like some wierd kind of rib stitch. I wondered if those knit lights you put on your needles were flexible and would work with circulars. The next time I'm at Joann's craft store, I'm going to have to take a closer look. But all was not lost- I was only two rows into the back side of the baby sweater I'm working on, so it was no big deal to frog it and start over again. Tonight was sit n stitch night at my LYS, so I took this opportunity to get out of the house by myself and get some knitting done in the company of like-minded folk. Turns out tonights sit n stitch also coincided with the monthly sock club- I was the ONLY person there for sit n stitch. So one of the owners invited me to sit with the sock knitters and work on what I'm doing while they learned how to make the sock pattern of the month. I got to meet a few people as I sat and knit. It was a very pleasant atmosphere, and it was nice to be somewhere without worrying about kids getting into things, abducted or run over by cars.

So I made some pretty good progress on the baby sweater. Last night I finished the front. The directions were a little wierd in spots, I thought, so I made a few minor adjustments and things still look like they're supposed to, so that's a good thing. And today I cast on the back. A few more inches and I'll begin shaping the arm holes. I haven't made a pull over yet that fit over the intendees' head, but this might just be my first. Of course we won't know that until the baby is born- next year. But I have faith, and that's all that counts, right? The faith of a mustard seed...

DH has been working very early all week, which means that he's been going to bed very early. And it seems that within minutes of him going to the room the girls get buggy and start running around the house sqealing and talking in their outside voices. I try to get them to stop without yelling myself- hard to do when they're screaming and talking loudly. It seems like they get infinately louder on those nights DH has gone to bed early, but maybe it just feels that way because I'm more concious about keeping the noise down. I don't even think they get this loud and obnoxious during the day- usually. So my good afternoon has segued into this- another stressful evening of keeping the girls at a reasonable volume. Oh well, you can't win them all.

One of those days

So far it's been one of those days- where you feel semi-motivated to get up and complete housework, but an overwhelming sense of laziness comes over you and you eventually succumb. I was finally coaxed off the couch after my two year old, S., spilled milk (out of her sippy cup, even) onto the floor. At that point I figured it was probably a good time to get up and be about something- anything. So I did dishes, next is laundry, and in between those two tasks I will be working on a baby sweater I'm making for a friend of mine. The pattern is from the book "Chic knits for stylish babies" by Patricia Wagner- super cute baby patterns! I'll post a pic when I get further along, I've just gotten to shaping the armholes for the front. I'm also working on a pair of socks for my sister. I've got a few inches left on the first sock to go, so it should be done in a few days and then I can get working on the second one. At some point today I'll get the girls out of the house, to stave off cabin fever. But right now I don't think they mind being stuck in the house. They're watching Flushed Away, which I surprisingly thought was actually a very cute movie. The one they're watching is a rental, but we may just have to buy it.