Finishing

Finishing takes an unexpectedly long time to get through. Since Lawrence was out last night, I stayed up till 1am finishing some projects. I starched my doily and set it to dry on some plastic wrap. I wove in the ends at the center of the Sahara sweater, where you seam up the neckline, and I let it soak in water. It's drying on a cut open trash bag on the ground (thankfully I have concrete floors). I still need to seam my 2nd Noro entrelac wrist warmer, weave in the ends to a pair of socks, soak/block and attach ribbons to my Butterfly Wrap (yeah, that one has been sitting around for a LONG time).

I was going to organize my yarn and dig out the stuff I'll never use...but that didn't happen. Finishing stuff took way too long. Well, then again I was chatting online. Heh. I considered getting a lap loom so I could use up those random yarns by weaving them together. It sounds like a quick & dirty way to get rid of large quantities of different colored & textured yarns. Then I can make things like pillows, placemats, etc.

GAHHHH

I'm on the last 2 rows of my Sahara sweater, and I ran out of yarn. I thought I had more skeins, but I couldn't find any in the box!!! In a fit of exasperation, I bought a skein from Lavendar & Peonies. The O-Wool Balance was on sale for $4.74 but shipping was $6.00. I was just thinking I may have enough in scraps that I can spit slice together for the last 2 rows...but I really don't know if I'll have enough!

Progress Update

Sahara - I'm about 3/4 of the way through the 2nd sleeve. I've finished the 2 stitch increases, and one of the 4 stitch increases. Three more sets of 4 stitch increases at 7 rows a set, plus 2 repeats of the diamond rib for the cuff, and I can finish it off! :D Last night, despite a dull headache and lack of sleep, I pushed my way through a quarter of the sleeve. If I concentrate on it tonight, I can probably get it done today. I don't know if that will be possible though, as Lawrence and I have to go to his parents' place for dinner...meaning no knitting for however long we're there.

Rona Lace Shawl - This is coming along slowly...mostly when I don't feel like working on the sweater. It's difficult doing the KB, so it goes very slowly even when I do work on it. I can't wait to see how it turns out but it may very well take until Christmas to finish the thing.

Leyburn Socks - I started these socks over the weekend. Given all the sock yarn I bought through other peoples' destashes on Ravelry, I wanted to actually start working on socks again. I decided to try out the Hill Country Alpaca (in Purple Mountain) because all the socks I've made so far have been with Cherry Tree Hill yarns. I really wanted to try the Leyburn socks to see how the lattice quilt stitch works up. I think it would work very well for a more brightly contrasting variegated yarn. It still looks nice in the Purple Mountain colorway (purple, blue, brown), and actually looks more formal than any pair of hand knitted socks I've ever seen. They're like business socks....for when it's business time. Hah, Flight of the Conchords reference there. They're songs are hilarious. :D

Entrelac Wristwarmers - The entrelac wristwarmers in the Japanese book I bought, "Nordic Knitting. Ten fabulous techniques," caught my eye the first time I saw them. It's a perfect project for a skein of Noro. I can try out both knitting entrelac and knitting with Noro while producing a useful and cool looking product, all at the same time. It works up really quickly, but I think I perhaps should have used size 7 needles or made the wristwarmers only 4 repeats wide instead of 5. They seem like they may be a little loose on my wrists when I expected them to be more snug. However, I do still have to wash/block them and seam them up. The entrelac is surprisingly fun and interesting to knit up. I think it's because the knitting is being modularized into small blocks at a time. You feel like you're flying through the knitting every time you finish a connecting row, and then every time you finish a block. The changing colors help too because you're not staring at the same uniform color the entire way.

Technique Note:
I ran into a problem with the diamond rib lace in Sahara. I've seen the same problem mentioned by other knitters. Lace patterns often have sections that call for knitting or purling several stitches together, creating a little bump of gathered stitches. This technique is used in creating "nupps" like those found on the Swallowtail Shawl. This troublesome stitch is compounded when the stitch calls for knitting or purling the stitches together through the back loop. So, after using a crochet hook and wondering at how anyone would have the patience to put up with the trouble, I tried to work out a better solution.

The idea basically follow the same strategy as a skp stitch, or s1, k1, psso. You slip 1 stitch, you knit the next, then you pass the slipped stitch over the stitch you just knit. It was like an epiphany when I realized that passing slipped stitches over accomplishes the same decrease as if you just knit the 2 stitches together, except you only ever need to stick your needle into 1 stitch at a time. The only thing you have to work out is the orientation of your stitches.

For the p3togtbl stitch, I basically looked at the orientation of my needles in relation to the yarn, and how the orientation of the yarn changes after the stitch. If you try to make a p3togtbl, you start off by trying to put your right needle into the back of the 3rd stitch on your left needle while both needles are pointing in the same direction. Assuming you were able to successfully make the stitch, what you would be doing is pulling up a loop of working yarn through 3 stitches, from the stitch closest to the tip of your left needle, left through 3 stitches. You would get the same result if you ptbl of the first stitch, then pulled the resulting stitch straight on through the next 2 stitches on your left needle. So, you ptbl - 2 stitches remain on the left needle while you have 1 worked stitch on the right needle. Slip the worked stitch back to the left needle without changing its orientation. Use your right needle to slip the 2 following stitches over the worked stitch. Slip that stitch back to your right needle without changing orientation.

This would also work if you slip the first 2 stitches to the right needle, then ptbl on the 3rd stitch of the left needle. This leaves all 3 of your stitches on the right needle. You then only need to pass each of those first 2 slipped stitches over your 3rd worked stitch. Instant, easy p3togtbl! :)

Sahara Sleeves Update

I've finished my left sleeve using increases to make it a bell sleeve. Starting at around the elbow, or roughly 18.5" from the under arm, I increased by (2, 2, 2, 2, 4, 4, 4, 4) stitches, every 7 rows. It looks rather nice, and not too big like I was afraid of. I was originally planning to do 6 stitches for the last 2 increases, but was already getting scared at how big it would be.

Sleeves take fricking forever! I'll be glad to finally get this sweater done, and in fact it actually will be my first real sweater! I was saying to people before that it was just a short-sleeved top. My boss said that because it's knitted, it was still a sweater, just a short-sleeved sweater. But, now that it's long-sleeved I can be comfortable either way. Even so, after this I am going to be so happy to do a top without sleeves. Maybe I'd actually be able to wear it NOW too! It is soooo hot in my office right now because the air conditioner is broken and I have no hair tie for my long hair. Uck.

So, as for the next project, I'm planning to make the Lelah Top, halter top version; Coachella once I get my Berocco Suede; and the Pink Sundae Camisole found in Sensual Knits. I may end up frogging the start of my Demeter, if I need those needles.

I also plan to start up a pair of socks (Leyburn socks) using some of the variegated sock yarn I bought. Ahh, there's also the socks from Cat Bordhi's book, which I am waiting for to arrive. I have a lace shawl on the needles (Rona Lace Shawl) that I'm still working on right now too. That one, I may leave as a long term project to be finished by Christmas for presents. As soon as I get some suitable yarn though, I do want to start up either Lyra or another Herbert Niebling lace pattern (maybe a smaller one that Lawrence would agree to use as a table runner).

Wow, there's a ton of patterns I want to start working on immediately! :) I'll post a list later.

Edit: I found the page where I saw the instructions for the halter top variation of the Lelah Top [here]. That was actually the exact project I saw on Ravelry that made me want to knit the Lelah Top! :)

Japanese Cat Zakka Knitting Book

I saw pictures of this book several months ago, and I've been looking for it since! It's out of print and the only sources seem to be directly from Japan. Amazingly, Lacis is carrying it! I definitely want to buy it, but it will cost at least $30 what with s/h and tax since Lacis is in California. I'm going to look up the patterns first to make sure I want it, but there is a good chance I'll be placing an order tonight. :)

Meanwhile...ever since I realized that there is an *active* ISO/Destash board on Ravelry, I've been lurking there, reading ever FS (For Sale) post and update! I seriously refresh the page every few minutes. I've already spent...$450...buying magazines, books, and yarns. I've also been buying elsewhere too....eBay, Mochimochi Land, Interweave Knits, Lacis, Amazon, StitchDiva, KnitPicks, and Kinokuniya.

Lucky for me, I've got a new weekend job as a receptionist. It pays surprisingly well at $15/hr for doing practically nothing. >_> I should be able to make back the money I spent on knitting the last 2 months by the end of July, assuming I don't buy any more. That prospect does not look good as only today I've spent $45, potentially becoming $75 tonight. The good news is that once the yarn starts arriving, I will be actively matching the yarn to prospective projects (which I have also been browsing through). I will also be digging through all my pre-existing stash to weed out all the stuff I want to get rid of. Some yarns I may be able to use after I think about it and come up with something (NOTE: consider for potential gifts, aka babies, birthdays, Christmas). Then perhaps I will be too preoccupied - by actually knitting - to buy more yarn.

Sahara Sleeves

I originally planned to make Sahara with short sleeves. Since I'm using a wool/cotton blend and it's summer now, I figured I could make a nice top to wear. However, when I mentioned that to Lawrence, he complained that a short sleeved sweater in a bulky yarn would look weird! Although the yarn is worsted, not bulky, I admit it is bulky comparatively to a fingering weight yarn. I started to doubt myself and thought maybe it wouldn't work so well as a short sleeved sweater...maybe I'm just blinded as a knitter and because I look at knitted garments so much I don't realize that a short sleeved knitted sweater would look weird...? But dang, I want to be done with this thing! With short sleeves, I would have been done by now! I also wasn't sure if I even had enough yarn left!

Well, I checked and I had besides the 1 ball attached, I still have 3 skeins left. Considering I bought 9 balls total, I used 5 and a bit for the body of the sweater. Three skeins should definitely be enough for just the sleeves. Even though the yarn has cotton in it, it's also still half wool. Perhaps it wouldn't be as cool to wear in the summer as I imagined. It is also kind of bulky. I mean, it's not a tight fit. I didn't make it with much negative ease, if any at all. There may be some in the bust once I sew up the neckline, but that's fine. I feel like I should do that first, before I finish the sleeves just so it will look nice when I show it off.

Bleh...sleeves take too long cause the circumference is too small. I've had to pull out 2 loops of my circulars (as if I were using 3 dpns). It gets twisted too, so I have to alternate directions when I rotate. Oh, and also for some reason I thought the long-sleeved version was designed with bell sleeves! The pattern calls for knitting even all the way down after the upper arm decreases. Maybe it's the lace at the wrists make it flare out a bit? I'm thinking of increasing a little bit. Perhaps when I get to that point, I'll put it on waste yarn and start the other sleeve instead. That way I can look at it as a whole and get a better idea of how it will look. Or maybe I just shouldn't bother trying to modify the pattern... :P

Knitting Night

Annette from our Rose City Knitters group messaged me through Ravelry the other day asking when if I'd be coming back to the weekly meetings soon...awww! :D I haven't been going since nearly the beginning of the year. At first it was because Lawrence's mom was living at our apartment and she has a thing against knitting - she thinks it's a waste of time, is hazardous to our health, and contributes to bad air quality in our apartment. She stayed with us for several months (as in, we couldn't get rid of her), and it was tough for me to ever get out of the house without being questioned over what I was doing.

Then, we moved to a new apartment last month and even though Lawrence's mom wasn't there anymore, every Tuesday it seemed like there was just something or other we got caught up in that made me miss knitting night - like unpacking, Bed Bath & Beyond shopping, and furniture shopping.

So finally, nothing this week and just as I was getting apprehensive about going (did they still meet? was there still anyone I knew who went? would they still even remember me?), Annette messaged me! I had a fun time and I look forward to going every week again. I met 2 people I hadn't seen there before, although we were missing several people who used to be there.

Some things I need to remember to bring next time: the Herbert Niebling patterns and my Japanese knitting/crochet books.

p3togtbl

P3tog tbl, p3tbl, p3 sts tog tbl, purl 3 together through back loop...however you say it, this can be one nasty stitch to make. Lucky me, the Diamond Rib pattern in Sahara uses this stitch. K3togtbl, which was used in the diamond rib at the bottom hem was at least doable by slipping, knitting, then passing the slipped stitch(es) over. It took me a while to figure out how to easily do the p3togtbl, which is the same stitch from the other side. It was difficult to find information, but I did see a post mention a crochet hook being used.

1) Crochet Hook - The method I used was to stick the crochet hook through the stitches so the hook ends up where the point of my knitting needle would have been had I tried to purl through the back loops. This is the same direction the left hand needle is pointing, which is pointing to the right. After many awkward tries at it, I came up with a fairly quick system. Slip the 3 stitches off the left needle since it'll be nearly impossible to get the hook through the loops while they're on the needle. Take your crochet hook, and stick the butt end left through the loops. You don't have to bring your hook hook-first from left to right, if you stick the non-hook end from right to left, your hook still ends up in the correct orientation. Now, as if you were crocheting, wrap the yarn around the hook and pull through the 3 loops. Now you've got your final stitch coming out of the left and your working yarn coming out of the right. Flip the hook with the stitch around, clockwise as seen from above and put the stitch on the right needle. Similarly, move your working yarn clockwise, bringing it to the back for the following knit stitches.

2) Passing Over - I just realized there is probably a way to do this by passing stitches over. I haven't tried it yet, but my attempt at visualizing this would suggest the following: purl 1 stitch through the back loop. Slip this stitch back onto the left needle without twisting. Slip the next 2 stitches over the purled stitch. Slip back to the right needle. That might do it.

Sahara Progress

There hasn't been a significant amount since my last post, but I'm just SO excited! :D It's my first top! I've started on the increases, but it will take just as long as the decreases (the circumference of the hip is made to be the same as the bust). I compared it with my waist, and I think the narrowest part *should* fall at my waist.

I am actually kind of torn over what to do about the bottom portion of the top. I could just follow the directions and trust in their measurements...or I could measure myself and modify the length and the rate of increases to try to get it to fall where I want. I can't wait to do the diamond lace edgings too! :D BTW, here's a link to the top:

Sahara

Fitted top

I set out to knit myself a fitted top a few months ago. I was all excited about it and looking forward to making something out of Sensual Knits. I even ordered a bajillion balls of the fingering weight yarn, Palette, from KnitPicks. I started on the Demeter Camisole. Considering that it was in a fingering weight yarn, the same weight used for socks...I actually got pretty far before getting sidetracked. I got through all the decreases and am now at the point where the increases start. However, the pattern doesn't include any additional bust shaping, besides just the typical increases/decreases, so I wanted to add bust darts. I've never done it before, and I have to calculate the stitches based on my measurements.

As a result, I got lazy and ignored it. It's currently sitting in a bag somewhere in the apartment. However, just last week I read a thread about Sahara, from Stitchdiva.com, discussing it as an easily customizable top that allows room for the bust. The neckline is actually a knitted border added on to the top, and at the bust the 2 sides are seamed together. You can seam it up as high as you're comfortable, or keep it low if you want. You can make it in a sleeveless, short-sleeved, or long-sleeved version. Plus, the neckline makes a plunging 'V' that looks very flattering. It uses a worsted weight yarn which makes it work up a lot more quickly than fingering weight. I'm using the O-Wool Balance I bought from Organic Imaginings. One week in and I am over halfway through. I am just about ready to join the piece in the round, which happens near the waistline. It is currently at about 14" long, 8.5" away from the final length of 22.5". After that, the bottom is shaped for a shirt-tail hem. The sleeve stitches are picked up and knit (I'm making the short-sleeved version). The diamond rib neckline stitches are also picked up and knit. Finally, the center of the neckline is seamed together.

I would post pictures but I need a bigger memory card for my camera. :(