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2009 Knit-alongs

How long before I succumb?

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Wednesday, May 27, 2009

You're getting a pictureless post again, but I'll add some links for your viewing pleasure.  Although I seem to have to type in the links by hand lately, so I'll do the best I can.

Grr.

My knitting has been fighting me lately.  Not just one or two projects that I can put in Time Out until they see the error of their ways whilst I knit happily away on something else, but ALL of my knitting is giving me fits.  I'm not sure what the problem is.  Am I choosing the wrong pattern/size/yarn/style/color?  Am I trying to tweak the pattern too much?  Have my tastes changed since I picked out the pattern or the yarn?  I think the answer is D) all of the above.  Or rather, all of the above in addition to an inability to concentrate on anything for more than five minutes.

Argh.

Example Number One:  The Skirt (#12) from the Spring/Summer 2008 issue of Knit.1 magazine, which you can see a beautiful example of here.  The photograph in the magazine is, in my humble opinion, not as nice.  A local knitter made a gorgeous one out of hemp (I think) which I coveted a LOT.  I found the back issue and purchased a couple cones of a pretty green (yes, I said green) linen.  See?

Don't worry -- I'll wear it with black, so people will still recognize me.

Since I'm taller and wider than Local Knitter, I wanted to make my skirt longer (and bigger around).  The pattern is written for the skirt to be knit from the hem to the waistband, but I wanted to knit it from the waistband down so I could make the skirt as long as I wanted.  I was stymied for a bit thanks to gores and bias knitting and directional decreases and what have you, but I finally conquered the math and knit about eight inches of skirt, until I realized that the first cone of yarn was disappearing a little too quickly in relation to the growth rate of the skirt.

Long story short (and yes, I made a gauge swatch and measured it after machine washing), the damn skirt was about eight inches too big around. 

Crap.

Guilty of making the wrong size.  Guilty of trying to tweak the pattern too much.  The jury is still out on whether the color is a bad choice.  The powers that be do not want me to make that skirt.  And honestly?  I was already tired of the pattern.

Solution?  After paging through Elise Duvekot's Knit One Below book for three days, trying to figure out which vest I wanted to make, I realized that what I'd really like to knit is the Belle Flare Skirt on page 61 (sorry, can't find a link).  I've seen the skirt in person, and it's stunning. 

What could go wrong?

Potential Issue Number One:  No one on Ravelry has admitted to trying it yet so I may be breaking new ground which, as another local knitter learned the hard way, is not always a good thing. 

Potential Issue Number Two:  I'm just going to use the one color of green linen instead of alternating a solid with a variegated as called for in the pattern, which means that I don't have quite enough yarn, but I don't even care.  The stitch pattern changes every four inches or so, so if I have to add a different dye lot at the end, it shouldn't show.

That's today's sob story.  I cast on for Belle Flare earlier this afternoon while listening to a torrential downpour complete with thunder and lightening.  Um . . . I was going to finish that sentence by saying that I had been waiting for Son Number Two's lacrosse game to be cancelled (it was), but I just realized that casting on during a storm is probably not an auspicious start to my new skirt.

Screw it.  I'll keep knitting, and get back to you.

Sarah

Friday, May 1, 2009

Hi!

I just wanted to let you know that I'm still here.  I feel like I've been out of town a LOT lately.  Stitches West (Santa Clara) in March, a guild retreat (I don't remember when, but it was in northern Michigan), Spring Break (New Jersey/New York) and Stitches South (Atlanta) in April.  May is an incredibly busy month with birthdays, lacrosse games, Mothers Day and graduations, and the busy-busy continues into the first half of June.  I'm going to TNNA in Columbus the second week of June, and after that I think I'm done until Stitches Midwest in September. 

In addition to all that, I've been knitting, designing, pattern writing (no -- really!), dieting (successfully!), sleeping, organizing, and mothering.  And all of that screeches to a halt every time I get the opportunity to have lunch with friends (i.e., maintain my sanity), so if you're in need of a lunch date, please let me know.  Distraction is most welcome!

More later . . .

Sarah

Please see the Archives for previous entries!