First Outing

I like to go away but I hate leaving. Does this make any sense? Tonight I leave for the NENA show in Sturbridge, MA. A trade show where we get to talk to lots of knitting store owners and see lots of knitting products. We'll see what the initial reaction is to our Need A Hat? booklet. First time out of the box, oh my.

I'm also teaching a Top Down class at The Fiberloft store in Harvard, MA on Saturday afternoon. I'm looking forward to that a lot. It's going to be fun. But before I start my mad dash around the house collecting bits of clothing and my 5 knitting projects which I won't even work on and the 2 books I won't have time to read, I did get some more done on the little pink sweater.

I'm calling this the Tuxedo shaping. You get to decorate the shirt front with whatever pattern you like. I'm going to try the broken rib pattern next because that would look like a shirt with pleats.

A nice wide panel across the centre back to play with, which is of course not tuxedo-like but I'm trying not to get too caught up with that one. I have some alterations to do on this and then a reknit. I'm going to think about it over the weekend. See you next week.
-Deb

P.S. Commenters
Thanks for the kind comments. It's always a little nerve racking taking a new project to it's first outing. You have given me a boost.

Need A Hat?

Yes, it's here! Hot Off the Press!!

After a fair bit of technical hair-pulling the booklets arrived Thursday afternoon and Sophy and I immediately packed them up and shipped them to Sturbridge, MA, for me to sell at the trade show next week (and hopefully for Deb to show and sell when she does her classes at Reba's store The Fiber Loft in Harvard, MA). On Friday we sent off our first store shipment to Diane of Georgetown Knitting & Crafts. Karen, of SheepStrings in Dwight ON, stopped to pick up copies to take to the Knitters Frolic Show in Toronto and for Miko and Jennifer at The Purple Purl.

As an interesting aside, Karen stopped by my house on the way home from doing the show (mainly to get fed I think) and told me that people had trouble believing that they could use ANY yarn for ANY hat in the booklet as much as Karen assured them they could (Karen is one of the designers in the book, see page 45, hat #10 so she knew this was true, lol). They bought the booklet on faith ... and hope. I think they'll be pleased.

I've put more detail and bigger pictures on the Cabin Fever web site if you want to go have a look!

-Lynda

Just wanted to update with an email comment from Diane:

Hi Lynda and Debbie,
Seeing I am the first store to receive your new hat book - I will be the first to comment - What a great book!!! I think there is a hat there for everyone!! Good job!! I bet you do not ever want to knit another hat for a long time!!
Diane
Diane & Bob CrawfordGeorgetown Yarn & Crafts

170 Guelph St.Georgetown,

ON L7G 4A7Phone: 905-877-1521

Fax: 905-877-3614

knitting@cogeco.ca

http://www.canknit.com/members/dcrawford.html

Pink

This one's pretty in pink.It's time to play. This is a top down with the increases put in different places. At least different than the standard raglan formation which we are familiar with.

This is the set-up at the neck and the lines are where the Markers are set up. It's fun to mix it up and see what happens. I think that is my design approach - what would happen if . . . ? I have no idea how this will work out. I've put seed stitch in the back panel and in the front 2 panels including the buttonbands. The sleeves are a bit of a mystery at the moment. And I have some idea what the bottom edge will look like but the reality may be different when I get there. It's definitely interesting to knit and see what's happening.

-Deb

Pink

It seems like it's really spring now. And what does a girl's fancy turn to in spring? Yes, you got it . . .home renovations. This was the temporary solution to putting out 7 buckets to catch all the rain which all of a sudden seemed to be falling inside the house as the thaw set in. I did contemplate just leaving it there or maybe putting a big umbrella over my whole house, could be festive looking don't you think?Better looking than this, for sure. Yuck, old places never look nice underneath. As you can see the rain has probably been coming in for some time. And denial can only last so long, in my case 7 buckets was the breaking point. But doesn't it look lovely in pink? If you are a carpenter of any type, do not torture yourself by looking at this picture with it's irratic stud distances. It will only cause you distress. My whole house looks like this under it's skin. Weirdness everywhere. As my father says it give me licence to do anything I want, anyway I want. So I do. That was today's job. Friday's job was to shingle the roof (how sore was I??). Now it's raining and I keep running in to see if there is any water coming in. So far, so good. Come on rain, give me all you got !!

And I did do some knitting too (although not on shingling day - do you know what that stuff does to your hands, it's like handling giant sand paper, ow, ow, ow). I'm on my second swirl sock. Yes, eat your heart out 'Samm from the comments'. Second sock, right there, almost done. Hurrah.
I feel the need to start something new to celebrate. Something in pink I think. Ha, ha.

-Deb

How long

How long can you go without knitting?

My own record is only one day. Even when I'm looking for a break, one day seems to be as long as I can manage without picking up my needles at some point or reading a knitting magazine or at least talking to someone about knitting. So despite wanting a bit of a break I did finish my first sock with the swirl.I have wound up the second ball and have got the ribbing going for the second sock. Yes, you got that right. The second sock. I'm excited again. This weekend we are out and about and now that I'm prepared I'm all set for car knitting and concert knitting and knitting in my class on Sunday. Have knitting, will travel.

-Deb

Meanwhile

I'm making some headway on the redo of my sock foot.

But otherwise everything is kind of at a stand still. The hat booklet has gone to the printers where we have run into some sort of misfit between our computer software and theirs. But fortunately it seems to be resolving itself (Lynda and the tech guys there are working on it). There will be a booklet shortly. Yay! Otherwise I am in that no man's land between finishing a big project and not being able to get any energy together to start anything new. This too will pass. Meanwhile I guess I could always work on the second sock.
-Deb

P.S. Commenters:
Elizabeth, the blue sweater is in http://www.briggsandlittle.com/ Soft Spun. I like using it a lot. It knits to 4.5 or 4 sts = 1" which is a nice quick knit.
Thanks for your comments, Valerie and Jed. I've worked on one sleeve but had to rip it out again, too tight. But I'll be starting it again soon.

Reworking

This sock is no longer working. I've done the heel and put all the 'top of foot' stitches on one needle. As I work the gusset and top of the foot the pattern is starting to skew off to one side. Hmm, more experimentation is needed but not now. I think the heel is headed for frogging and a plain foot is called for here. I will have to cogitate on this some more but at some other time.

Speaking of reworking. I've redone the back of the Cut-Away cardigan.
I dropped all of the P2 parts of the ribbing,
and hooked them all back up again so that portion of the back is now stocking stitch.
And decided to make a diamond out of the ribbing at the small of the back,
because the whole cardigan needed to be longer. This is the before . . .
and the after. And the Front before . . .and after.
About 3" longer, and now 21" long from the bottom of the collar. Still a shortish jacket.

I suppose I should put some sleeves on it.
-Deb

Spiralling

I was trying to catch up and do some test knitting of some projects which came up while I was busy with the hat booklet but . . . I can't keep my head engaged. I am trying not to lose focus on the hats. It's difficult to stay with a long term project right to the end especially when it's been out of my hands for several days. Lynda is getting the cover and inside pages of photographs done. I'm waiting to do the final edit which depends on which particular photos are chosen. So I have decided to keep playing and thinking about hats and my new sweater.And what's more fun than a new sock. I thought I might try the swirl. It mimics my state of mind, except if it was a truer rendition of that it would have breaks in the pattern, like static. That beer glass is not anything like my leg either. Ha.



Hanging in there 'til the end,

-Deb



P.S. Commenters

Thanks for the kind words about the sweater. I'm still thinking things through on it.
Gigi, I can't believe you are feeling this weather in Texas.
Samm, I sympathize with trying to fix something and finding out it didn't need fixing. Don't you hate that! I'm trying to decide what needs fixing on my sweater and what doesn't. May take some trial and error to decide. Crocheting is a good idea, I might do that with my prototype so that I can wear it later.

Cut-away

Put your hand up if you woke up this morning to lots of snow. Someone on the radio yesterday said, can't remember who, that April is all four seasons rolled into one, a day at a time. Yes, today it's winter again. The smudge is snow on the lens, it's still coming down.

My car is under a couple of inches of snow. And here I was thinking I wasn't going to have to scrape if off for a couple of months. Where is that scraper anyway?

But yesterday it was lovely and sunny so I took some pictures of my cut-away cardigan.

This is a prototype. The sleeves aren't done yet but I'll probably finish them when I figure out the changes for the body. I don't think that well, or at least I can't get see all the details clearly, off of the needles. So I work the long route of knitting and reknitting. This is an idea I have had for a while and it was fun to knit up.

I have a couple of areas to think about.

Does it need to be edged at the front. The pattern lays flat but makes an uneven edge. What kind of edging? I don't want to introduce another pattern so maybe some of the K2, P2 rib continuing down the outside edge.

The pattern on the Front is a type of basketweave with 8 rows + 4 rows = 12 row pattern repeat. In the prototype I started right away with the full 12 row pattern. But when I was writing it up I realized that if I started the Front pattern with the 4 row section of the pattern first I could use those 4 rows to write out the pattern and the raglan increases row by row (I could then put in numbers to assure the knitter they did it correctly) and then put the full 12 row pattern written out to repeat for the rest of the yoke. Much better. So that alone means I have to reknit it.
I like the back. It pulls it in nicely. The ribs start right after the Divide Row where the sleeves are put on spare yarn to be held until later, when I decide what the sleeves should look like that is. It comes to my waist. I think that's long enough because the points at the front are longer.

Hmm. I'm still thinking about the sleeves. Long, short, 3/4 length. I am leaning towards the 3/4 length, knit in stocking stitch to just below the elbow, with a 3" ribbed cuff (knit with larger needles so it's not tight) stopping mid-forearm which could be extended the full length to the wrist if desired. But I'm waffling. It could just be spring which has not sprung which is influencing my decision for shorter sleeves. This is my first sweater without buttonholes. And I LOVE IT. The stick is by AlanaB and we have them in our shop but I hadn't made any sweaters where I could use it. I love putting my sweater together with this. It's great. I can see doing more like this.

I have, as you can see, lots to mull over. Any suggestions?

-Deb

P.S. Commenters:

Yes, I am feeling better, Jed. Thanks. And I'm coming Tuesday.

Samm, I think wearing mismatched sox is a great idea. Just think, no second sock to knit and from one 100g ball you get to try two different socks in the same colour and see how they turn out. You wouldn't even have to turn on the light in your bedroom first thing in the morning, just put your hand in the sock drawer, pull out 2 socks and go.

Stupor

I've been struck down with a cold. In a drug induced stupor I kept knitting but had to rip most of it out again. Although I have made some progress.I have put the sleeve stitches on spare yarn so you can sort of see where I am going here. I have some decisions to make now because I have to decrease somewhere and haven't decided where yet - at the side seams, down the centre back, inside the pattern, outside of the pattern? Hmm, choices, choices. It's too late in the day for decisions now but I wanted to let you know that I hadn't deserted my blog. Just need a bit of time to recuperate and get 'my little gray cells' as Poirot would say, back into working order.

-Deb

Samm, you may have an idea there. There has to be a solution to the 'seconds' problem.