Monday, February 18, 2008

back on track

after re-reading the hourglass pattern for the 10th, 11th, 12th, and 13th time, i finally figured out that i did not have 10 stitches too many. i'm right on track. huzzah!

the first sleeve is now attached to the sweater (after reading and re-reading that section 16 times), and the second sleeve is cast on. i'm in the home stretch!

Saturday, February 16, 2008

ack

i missed my blog-aversary (blog birthday?). anyway, it was a couple days ago. trixie, unraveled is one year old. i feel i've been a rather poor blogger. i'm still struggling with the publishing details about my life into the great beyond (i don't like it), while using this tool to stay in touch with a couple friends (hi hk! hi beckstar!). i can't seem to find a middle ground, nor do i have much time to knit so posts are sparse.

on to the updates!

the hourglass sweater: loving it. can't wait to finish it. counted the stitched on my sleeve last night, which is almost done, and i have 10 stitches too many. i really have no idea how i managed to do that. there's some decreasing and some increasing. perhaps i didn't decrease enough and have increased more than i meant to. i need to sit down in some good light with no distractions and figure out where i went off the rails. the good light and no distractions thing may take a good long time to come around so i'm miffed that my progress is no longer progressing.

question to the knitters: when a pattern specifies how many stitches you should have at the end of a round, do you ever count them? i rarely count. obviously or else i'd noticed i had more stitches than i needed quite some time ago. i figure that i know how to read a pattern so...i should just have the right number of stitches. damn it all.

a pattern note, i do hate the way this pattern is written. i feel like i need to read things 9 times before i understand it and am constantly assuring myself that no, it makes sense if i just think about it long enough. in my professional opinion (as a technical writer), this pattern is bunk. and i'm not just saying that because i have 10 extra stitches.

my mom: doing fantastic. her sister is visiting and the two of them are having a grand old time. we were just over there for some risotto and frittata. i'm still full and it had been a good 3 hours since we ate.

my wee man: just darling. i know parents dote on their kids and are biased but mine is rather cute and clever and charming. he doesn't sit still at all, ever. he stresses us out because he doesn't eat all that much. his words are coming fast and furious. he can mimic sounds really well and surprises us daily with new sounds and sentences. he's cuddly and friendly and has the most wonderful laugh.

Sunday, February 3, 2008

frenzy

i'm in a knitting frenzy lately. i'm onto the increases on the hourglass sweater. and today i took a course on beaded knitting. so fun! i think i am going to beads on everything. the wee monkey is going to be staggering around under the weight of beaded sweaters and hats and scarves and mitts and oh my!

3 hours and lots of fun later, i have 1/2 of a knitted cuff. you can go to susanna's site to see more examples of the real deal (courses > descriptions > off the cuff).

i used 2.5 mm needles with koigu and i think i'll have to go down a size or two to get really dense fabric. and i'm heading back to the bead shop to find smaller beads. but all in all, not a bad first attempt.

mom update: she was discharged on saturday, a day early, which is a good sign. she's taking it easy at home today and tomorrow i'm heading over to knit, watch tv, cook her meals, do her laundry, whatever she needs.