A Stitch Called Wanda

The knitting gods are angry...

2008-08-20T11:23:00.000-07:00

Ever have one of those weeks?

So, I have three "active" projects right now:
1. A Noro Stiped scarf ala Brooklyn Tweed. (Great for working while on public transportation or in waiting rooms when I might get inturrputed)
2. The Fabulous Retro Cardigan I mentioned earlier that's ready for assembly; and
3. The "Cable Guy" sweather from Son of Stich 'n' Bitch. Knit in the round, I'm just at 6-7 rows in.

And here's what's happened that makes me think I'm under a knitting curse right now:

Sunday: lightly block all the pieces of the cardigan and sit down with my tutors/friends. I re-learn the three needle bind off and (after much help from Nell and Steve, voila!) the fronts are attached to the back! Miracle. I then learn how to pick up stiches evenly along the collar and setup for the ribbing so it will now be splayed out or bunched. A feat of knitting learning not to be believed! I'm on cloud nine. I go to rehearsal and then home to bed--dreaming of crisp autum nights in my stylish black cardi.

Monday: I knit the first two rows of K2 P2 ribbing for the collar and then realize, whoops! It's supposed to be K1P1 ribbing! Oh, explitive! (breathe: ever onward) practice frogging (as if I need to practice that!). By then, it's it's too dim on the restaurant patio to pick up black stitches throught black fabric, so I reach for the the "Cable Guy" sweater. I knit contentedly for a few rounds, right up until it's time to grab that cable needle. I stop to take a bite of Kelly's dessert (Toffee pudding--I LOVE burnt sugar!) and I look carefully at my beautifully even stitching. I look really carefully and realize (wait for it!......) it's twisted. M-F-ing TWISTED!!!! More practice frogging. Go home to bed and dream of freezing to death this winter.

Tuesday: (See how persistant I am?) Another round of picking up stitches later, and I'm all set to go. I hold up the piece to get started and look at the waistband (which is supposed to match the collar) and what do I see? Apparently I knitted the back with a k1p1 rib (as is caled for) and the fronts with a k2p2 rib! I will confess that at this point I had to very deliberately fold and place the sweater in my bag rather than hurl it across Starbucks. (I did double check and the sleeves are k1p1, so I'm okay there).

I spent the rest of the evening working on the scarf. Back and forth, back and forth. Nothing more challengeing that alternating colors. Soothing color changes in Noro Silk garden..... very Zen. Totally needed, but NOT what I wanted to be working on.

So, now I "get" (read F**king have to) learn kitchener stitch so I can remove the wrong waistband, kint the proper one and graft the parts together before I can do the rest of the assembly and finish work. I also "get" to practice casting on 280 stitches again and triple checking that they aren't twsited before I join in the round for the "Cable Guy".
I'm thrilled. You can tell, can't you? ... ... I thought you could. *sigh*

Over a month and no posting... bad blogger!

2008-08-16T15:22:00.000-07:00

Oh well, I never said I was perfect. Anyway the never ending sleeve for my SAFF sweater is finished and the sleeves are the same length! (it's the little things, really). This despite the fact that I would swear my tension was going up. Now it's ready for assembly, which means I'm ready for a lesson with Nell. I hope we can coordinate schedules soon! I've spent this afternoon being lazy (other than finishing that sleeve). I put some books away and rearranged two bookshelves in the laundry room to hold my ever-growing stash. (I desperately need to go on a yarn diet.)

Hope to see many of you at Knitch tomorrow. I'll have the pieces of the sweater with me!

I've been tagged for a Meme

2008-07-02T12:51:00.000-07:00

So I finally checked my blog and forund that not one, but TWO people had tagged me with this Meme! Yikes, I'm behind. FamousSteve and GotStash tagged me, so here goes:

The Rules: Rules are posted at the beginning. At the end of the post, the player tags 5 people and posts their names. Then the player goes to each of the “named” people’s blogs and leaves a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. If you’ve been tagged, you do the same, letting the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer. Your answer, of course, is the answer to the following questions. Here we go!

1. What was I doing 10 years ago? I had just graduated from Indiana University (Indianapolis) with my Bachelor's in French (10 years after graduating high school!) and was preparing to move to West Lafayette, IN for grad School in Speech Pathology at Purdue.

2. What are 5 things on my to-do list today?
1. Transfer some funds at the bank. (DONE!)
2. Fold Laundry.
3. Post this meme on my blog.
4. Get two missing screws for the manifold cover on my scooter.
5. Do some journalling.

3. Snacks I enjoy: (Is Diet Coke considered a snack?) Cheezits, Granola, Yogurt, Vanilla Oreos, Smoothies, almost any kind of cheese.

4. Places I’ve lived: Houston TX, LaPorte TX, Bloomington IN, Indianapolis IN, Dijon France (summer 1995), Lafayette IN, London England (summer 1999), Atlanta GA.

5. Things I would do if I were a billionaire: Travel in a small private jet all over the world. Have faboo apartments in New York and London. Build an ultra modern, custom designed home somewhere in intown Atlatna.

The rules say tag five people. I've got to go if I'm gonna catch the scoter shop open, so I'll do it later!

OMG Knitting Machine!!!

2008-06-09T12:43:00.000-07:00

I received my new knitting machine this weekend!!! It's wonderful! I will admit to many many many screwed up trials with it, but steady progress is being made. I actually got a swatch finished for a sweater! I don't have the right gauge yet, but I'm SO close... It's a pretty simple cardigan I had bought yarn for last winter hoping to have something by this fall. I can't wait to try out some of the pattern stitches I'm learning about, too. I may modify the pattern to include some simple patterning. What fun!!!

I don't think machine knitting is for everyone, and I KNOW that it won't replace hand knitting for me, but I love having an outlet for my obsessive side.

More as I keep playing!
Stuart

knitting on the couch for hours!

2008-05-18T08:34:00.000-07:00

I have re-learned what I knew before... There is NOTHING worth watching on television during the day! So i've been knitting in silence or with some inane drivel on TV. I've gotten about two thirds of a scarf done for an exchange, which sets me up to beat the deadline of the 26th, thank God! I really like the scarf, and I may make another for myself with a few adjustments to the pattern! I think I'll make it my usual knit-in's for the rest of my recuperation time. I'm ready to get out of the house a bit more. I have managed t go to the movies (Prince Caspian--very good!) and to dinner with friends a few nights this week, but I am beginning to feel a little cabin fever (condo fever?) See y'all soon!

On the mend!

2008-05-13T18:47:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm finally blogging after a day of rest and moving slowly. I had surgery this moring to remove some excess tissue from losing a LOT of weight a few years ago. I'm feeling surprisingly well and I'm hoping to get out to one or more of m usual knit ins this week. I'll try to keep updates here. Send me good thoughts!

Frogged part deux

2008-04-15T09:45:00.000-07:00

Well, now I've frogged the Baby Surprise Jacket, too. I dropped a couple stiches, which is not normally a big deal, but I could not for the life of me figure out how to pick them up the six or so rows in garter stitch. What was worse was that the really cute yarn with the multi-colored bumps on it splits and snags like crazy!!! It's not so bad when I'm knitting with it, but trying to frog or tink is next to impossible without ripping into other rows below.

AAAAUUUUGGGGGGHHHHH!!!!
(Primal scream of frustration and sigh of regret.)

Now I have a week and a half to get this finished and I'm starting over. I think I'll keep it simpler with less of the offending "fun" yarn (maybe avoiding it altogether!). Luckily, I've got LOTS of down time in Marriage of Figaro to sit and knit bewteen my scenes.

This is supposed to be fun, right? >:-(

Frogged!

2008-03-21T06:03:00.000-07:00

Well, I succumbed to frustration and boredom and frogged the 2 inches of baby blanket I was working on. It's a beautifully simple stitch pattern that some call linen stitch (though B. Walker's Treasury calls it fabric stitch), but it was on my last nerve from the start of the f***ing project. Now I'm on a hunt for something that will a) knit faster, and b) not make me crazy! I think I may have found a good candidate in Treasury Vol 1. called "Indian Cross Stitch".

Oh, and in frogging the original work, I discovered several places where I'd split the yarn, making re-use of it impossible. Yeah, I was ripping pretty hard. Grrrrr.

Ah, well.... that's life, right?

Making new friends in Knitting

2008-03-13T06:10:00.000-07:00

I was having a rough day yesterday. I was emotional and feeling lonely. I had come to a realization that I was in a transitional period in which I have lots of acquatinences and people I'm friendly with, but not very many close friends. It's a difficult thing to admit. Luckily, when I got to the Knit-in at Needle Nook last night, some of my favorite people were there! I was able to see that I have so many opportunities for new friends among my Knitting pals and a light appeared at the end of that tunnel. So, thank you friends!

Scarf Exchange Mania!

2008-03-11T08:35:00.000-07:00

I'm excited that I've been able to join the international scarf exchage 6! (ISE6) I'll get matched up with someone this weekend and then commence a project! I got so inspired by the idea, that I proposed on to Men Who Knit . com and it looks promising that we'll do one there, too. I really like the idea of knitting for someone i don't know, based only on a little information about their likes and dislikes. What a hoot!

Welcome to my Knitting World!

2008-03-10T07:41:00.000-07:00

Well, now I've gone and done it... I've started a blog about my knitting. This means I am (along with all my knitting friends) completely crazy. I don't have a lot of time as it is, so God alone knows how often I'll post, but we'll see how it goes!

Welcome to Wanda!

Stuart