Disappointments

Rambling Rose is dry, and I tried it on only to find out that, alas, my fears have been realized. The yoke is about 4-5 inches too long, which means that the arm holes fall at my waist and the whole thing is way, way, way, way too long. Can't even post a picture because I'm so upset. There's too much work tied up in it to just say screw it, but at the same time, I don't really want to frog the button bands, neck band, and entire yoke. The yoke alone took about 2 weeks - endless rows. And what's more, I don't really know how to fix it. I have to think about it.

Not to mention re-blocking it....

Whoops

Um, yeah. So I mistook the pattern for Butterfly, which was mentioned in the last post. Instead of Classic Elite Wool Bam Boo, I need Classic Elite Bam Boo, and let me tell you, it's not easy to find. So off went the lovely Wool Bam Boo back to Webs (it's way too expensive to keep in the stash without a plan for it). I managed to locate some Bam Boo at Let's Knit (http://www.letsknit.com (gonna going to have to remember how to use html sometime soon)) so it should be coming this week. In the mean time, I'm still knitting in green.

Knit Picks Shamrock in Dougherty left over from my brother's and dad's Christmas socks. I ordered once again based on a suggestions in the Knit Picks catalog, which resulted in them saying I was going to need twice as much yarn as I actually was going to need. I've got about 5 3/4 skeins left, so I'm making the same socks, slightly modified for a girl, that I made for the guys. The pattern is "Woodsman's Thick Socks" from Elizabeth Zimmerman's Knitting Around. I used US8 for the boys, and I'm hoping that a simple switch to US6 will sufficiently size down the circumfrence for me.

In other news, Rambling... Leaf is off the needles for good. Finished it during the Oscars, and now it's blocking (and smelling like a wet sheep). The inital try-on showed promise, but the yoke was all messed up from hanging off the needles. I'm hoping that blocking will even out all the lumps. The buttons (which I once again forgot to take a picture of) are really cool. They're a kind of mottled brown-green and khaki with leaves stamped on them. The leaves are very sketchy and look almost like fossils, so they're not cutesy.

The weather here is nasty, so I'm looking forward to finally wearing this in a few days!

Green

I like green. A lot. Which is as good thing, because there's a whole lot of green in my future. Rambling Rose is off the needles! At least initially. There's still the neckband and the buttonbands. And the buttons. Crap. Meant to take a picture of the buttons. Next time. Well, Rambling Rose in this case is more of a rambling.... leaf. Which since the lace panels are a leaf motif, I think is more appropriate. The pattern is by Laura Zukaite from Interweave Winter 2006 (Arwen is too. Sorry for the typo). A lot of people on the blogsphere were seriously bashing this sweater. Mostly they were complaining because it only comes in two sizes - 30" and 43". "My chest isn't 30" but it's certainly not 43"" one person was bitching. Frankly, I don't care because my chest is 43". Well, 42 technically. What I didn't like was the color scheme. Red and pink are not my colors. Hence, green and green.

I have one sleeve seamed and the ends tied in. Let's face facts, tying in all those ends is going to be a big project. And knitting up that edging was no fun either. Knitting with 15 balls of yarn only results in a gigantic mess. I've seen this sweater knit without the two colors, but I really think that a large part of the charm of this sweater is in the color changes. The picture below is also a fairly accurate representation of the colors, too.

And here's a close up the the center back lace panel. Pretty, no?

More work to come tonight, and I'm hoping to get it finished during the Oscars tomorrow. And then blocking. Because it really needs it.

And look what I got in the mail today:

11 balls of Classic Elite Wool Bam Boo to make this:

Butterfly from KnitScene Spring 2007. I'm making it for my adventure in Chicago, and then for Easter. I just love the drape of the fabric, and it's a cut that should flatter me. But not being a bustless Asian model, I'm going to need to find an appropriate cami to wear underneath... Suggestions?

There just this one thing...

The tam is off the needles! Which would be exciting except for this one thing.... Well, first, let's take a moment to properly appreciate faire isle knitting. I mean, it really came out spiffy even though it bares only a passing resemblance to the tam I wanted to make in the first place. From the side:

From the top:

And now that we have properly appreciated, let us move on to that one tiny little, baby little detail. I have a gigantic head. Which, incidently, I knew.

I knew I had a gigantic head. I measured it, knowing that the patterns were for a 21 inch head. I have a 22 3/4 inch head. And, see, the thing about having a giant head is that no amount of going the the gym is going to fix that. If you have a gigantic butt, you can do something to help that problem. Sure, it's probably always going to be big in relation to the rest of you, but improvements can be made. Not so much with a gigantic head. There were all kinds of ways to customize your tam in this book, and the first and easiest alteration addressed was that of head size. Super easy. Just multiply head size in inches by gauge, then divide by .80, knit up in 2x2 rib, increase to the appropriate number of stitches, and continue on your merry tam way.

And because I knew my head was gigantic, I took the time to figure out what the circumfrence of the tam was supposed to be, just so I knew whether or not it would be tam-y on my gigantic head. Two thumbs up. Signs say yes.

And in the end, I have a beautiful stocking cap with an unusual (and slightly flat) top.

Sigh.

I'll probably wear it. I like hats. And isn't that sad for a person with a gigantic head?

But it's going to take me a really long time to weave in all those ends.

Warning! Actual knitting content ahead!

Well, frankly, I'm still figuring out this whole blog thing, so the knitting content is just going to have to wait until I complain for a minute about my lack of knowledge about technological things. I honestly don't know why I thought that this blog was going to be a good idea, except that it seemed like the thing to do..... my whole thought process was "Hey, I like reading knitting blogs. I don't have a local knitting community or even know anyone who likes to knit. I will join the online community and then everything will be bunnies and rainbows!" Except. Except I forgot that I'm kinda stupid when it comes to computers. You'd have thought that for the amount of time I spent coming up with a title, somewhere along the way Self 2 would have said, "You know, I think you'd be better off fumbling around the internet, reading about other people's fabulous knitting exploits." Alas, Self 2 was conspicuously absent funnily enough, because normally Self 2 likes to masquerade as Self 1 and.... I'm kind of assuming that any of you out there who might be reading this blog at this point have no I idea what I'm talking about. Right. No more sports psychology. On to the knitting content:

A Cardigan for Arwen

Designer: Kate Gilbert

Interweave Fall 2006

Yarn: Classic Elite "Wings" in Lavender Frost

Needles: Bamboo size 7 and 8

Modifications: Added 1 inch to length

This is Arwen. She is BEAUTIFUL. She is my first attempt at a sweater since I finally figured out what I'm doing. (It only took 4 years. But I make a mean mitten. Ask anyone.) I would have used the Debbie Bliss Cashmerino, but I am poor, and Webs had Wings going for cheap during their annual end of the year blowout. Nice yarn, and very silky, but I'm not sure that I would use it again. It's very hairy. I walked around looking like I had a white long-haired cat for about a month. As it is, I would never wear it with the black tank I have on in the pic. It just happened to be what I was wearing when I decided to take the pic.

This is the tam I'm making for myself. I've kind of wanted a beret for a while, but was never inspired enough to try one until I got the latest edition of the Knitpicks catalog. All those gorgeous colors, expertly blended into a completely organic, seasonally-appropriate hat! I was sold, and immediately bought Mary Rowe's book and the kit for the "Falling Leaves" tam. Only, the book does not have instructions on how to make the "Falling Leaves" tam. It has plently of instructions on how to make tams - all the ins and outs and ups and downs of hypothetically making a tam. But no instructions for recreating "Falling Leaves." Which I think is the point of the book, but NOT what I had signed on for. I wanted "Falling Leaves", dammit! Nor, I must say is the pic in the catalog accurate enough to reproduce it from sight alone. So I'm going solo here. After discarding a couple of the colors (it was starting to look like the 70s) and ripping out a couple of times, I'm on my way to a slightly less subtle, but ever so much less frustrating tam. It's kind of liberating, "designing" your own color scheme, changing a will. But at the same time, it's as if you'd joined a book club only to find out that instead of reading books, you were going to be writing them. Not quite what you bargined for.

first blog ever

Well, I finally did it. Joined the world of knitblogs. Honestly, I think I did it because I've got so much free time this semester, so we'll have to see how it goes.