What is the deal with me and getting the correct gauge. I realize I knit tightly. Typically this means that I need to go up a needle size on most patterns to get the correct tension, but then there are the other times, like today. I was swatching for the first of 2 mittens made out of Lion Brand Wool Ease Chunky, which is exactly what the pattern is written for (not a common occurence in my knitting life). The recommended size is a 6, due to the fact that the mitten should be dense for warmth. I tried the 7, so not happening. I was a good inch off, so I go up to a 9. That gave me all of an additional 1/2 an inch. In the end I am working on 10 1/2s to reach the required gage of 4 stitches to the inch, which they wanted you to get with 6s! Damn am I glad I swatch.

I am also having huge issues with hats. I have made succesful, well fitting hats in the past, but lately they are all either too big or too small. I am trying to be a good girl and swatching in the round, but oddly enough that didn't answer any questions. Having swatched knitting straight I got 5 stitches to the inch. So I cast on using the Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns. It seemed way too big so I continued in stockinette for a few more rounds and measured my gauge, it seemed to be somewhere between 5 1/2 and 6 stitches per inch. Except of course that would mean I cast on too few, not too many. It gave me a headache. In the end I took 10 stitches off and it seems to be fine.

I have such issues with the diagonal Scarf pattern. As you'll remember from the last one I made I couldn't get the end piece quite right. This time I ran out of yarn before I got to the end piece! So I frogged back the entire last section on the train this morning and I will knit the end piece on the way home and see how it goes.

I really want to be done by the time I get home so I can work on one of the fun fur projects. Of course I will need to find a different project to take with me to Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow as the intended recipient will be there. I am just so damn thrilled I don't have to cook this year!!! My mother in law will be cooking in her house so there is no cleaning up required either.

Happy turkey day everyone!

I had a fairly productive weekend for a change. I finished the last square for the 1st baby blanket due here at work. Now I just have to wait for everyone else's squares so we can put them together. Of course the yarn just came in for the second blanket which is made up of smaller squares, Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino. Can't wait to start those but that is a post Christmas project. I finished the LB Homespun scarf to go with the mittens so that is one gift off my list, yay me!

I started the diagonal scarf this time in LB Homespun (yes, I really like that stuff). I really love how it is going so much faster than the cashmere one, though not as beautiful of course. It's in sort of a bizarre colorway called Prairie. When I bought it I thought it was a beige with red, blue and purple stranded through but in the florescents it actually looks more like a green. It works really well with the pattern though because the colors pool nicely in each shortrow section.

I am hoping to finish by Thursday and then start working on mittens for the long weekend. I have 2 more pairs to make, each mitt usually takes me a day so I think I can really get somewhere if I work at it. That will leave the fun fur experimental projects as well as 2 DNA scarves, a toddlet helmet, 2 chenille hats and 3 sweaters. Thankfully the sweaters do not have to be done exactly by christmas as the recipients all know they are in the works.

I was on a business trip to Chicago at the beginning of the week so I faced the always hot issue of if I would be allowed to knit on the plane. I decided to leave the homespun scarf (that matches the already completed mittens) home as it was on metal needles. So I dug out a plastic circular needle and decided cast on the DNA scarf. All went well, they didn't even blink in the security line. Unfortunately I didn't get much done, not even a full pattern repeat.

Since I've been home the only thing I've done is finish the homespun scarf. Now I'm trying to finish the last square for the baby blanket. I just got the yarn for the sweaters I am making for christmas so I need to get my ass in gear. I have about 4 gifts done so far with many more to go...

In case you haven't noticed up in the left hand corner there I now have a cool new button courtesy of Missa, who will make a button for you if you ask her nicely.

My experiment went well. Basically I did a swatch using fun fur and Jiffy, double knitted. I want to make some accessories to go with the scarf I made but I am afraid fun fur won't be warm enough. So I want the fur to go on the outside with the regular yarn on the inside for warmth.

I'm hoping to actually write a real pattern for the pieces I make, so stay tuned...

So tomorrow is a relative term.

I am interrupting my knitting commentary to say Matrix Revolutions WOW! Kick ass! It's all the action that was missing from the second one and then some. Plot wise- well who really sees these things for the story. I mean it had all the good religious underpinnings, issues of faith and the importance of free will but I'm sure many people will think it quite full of itself for all of that. But I loved it. Jada Pinckett-Smith is my new hero, she is awesome! And Keanu still looks good to me after all these years.

My final word is go see if you go to the movies looking for fun but don't use to much brain power on it. Just let it wash over you.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled knitting.

I finished both mittens and hope to sew them up tonight so I can begin on my secret project. I hope to be able to post about it on Monday.

Ok I am finally far less frustrated. I have finished 2 squares for the baby blanket that finally came out at the right gauge (I switched to 10s). Tisha's scarf was still a problem in the end because the decreases for the final piece didn't work out right for me it just kept going after the edge of the scarf, so I frogged back a bit and did double decreases to compensate and it is better. I may go back and do it one more time starting the double decreases earlier or I may try to block the irregularity out. I haven't decided yet. The London Beanie was coming out too small so I need to rework but I considered the first 20 rounds or so my gauge swatch so I wasn't devestated by this discovery.

I recently finished a scarf made of Lion Brand Fun Fur in Lilac for my goddaughter. I plan on making a couple of accessories to go along with it but as I am actually attempting to design something fun and different I am not going to say much about it until I have found them to be successful!

I currently am chugging away on the second of a pair of Homespun mittens for my friend Leslie ( I have 2 Leslies in my life this is the East coast version). It 's in a pretty blue and gold colorway and I was quite pleased with the first one. I am also going to make her a matching scarf in a simple rib.

Tomorrow I'll tell you all about Matrix Revolutions! No spoilers don't worry

I am in an extremely frustrated mood. I had to rip out the square I started for the group baby blanket because I was off gauge. Then I was working on Tisha's scarf and I had to keep ripping that out because I was either going in the wrong direction or I had dropped stitches. At one point I was so frustrated that when I pulled on the yarn for the next stitich I broke it (it is extremely fragile). So I put that aside. Then I discovered that my gauge was off on the sweater for my son, am I an idiot or what! Mind you it's not like I don't know better, I should have done a gauge swatch. But after a few inches I measured and I thought the gauge was fine, but I was wrong. It would probably still fit him since I had gone up a size but he wouldn't be able to wear it very long. So I will send it to the frog pond. I tried to go up a needle size but that swatch was too big. I am thinking of making the smaller size with the bigger needle. All to avoid math!

So I decided to re-do my husband's hat from last year. It was a too big and he's been asking me to fix it. So I pulled it out and have started the London Beanie pattern. It's actually going quite well. I started it on dpns which is usually a problem for me, but it's coming out quite well. I am on round 13, I have finished the ribbing and the increase row. I need some instant gratification to make me feel like I am a good knitter again.

Having calmed down quite a bit from my euphoria of yesterday, I had to find something new to excite me. I am completely obsessed with boogaj's Kureyon Felted Bag. I wish it was the beginning of the month so I could actually buy some Kureyon and start this bag (I only get paid once a month...it's a bitch let me tell ya). So I look at it a few times a day, dream of which colorway I will choose, send the link to all my friends and salivate when no one is looking. Maybe I'll find money in the street!

In the meantime our order from Herrschner's arrived. We got 8 skeins of Red Heart Baby Sport. Four of us here at work are going to do the Patchwork Baby Blanket from Knitting for Baby for a pregnant co-worker. We're going to have to double strand it, but the colors are gorgeous. We have 2 mint green skeins, 2 cream skeins, and for the main color 4 skeins of a varigated called seashore, which is blue, green , lavender and cream. There is some concern that it will be too boyish but we'll have to start knitting to really find out. The colors are all pretty soft though, and the lavender should balance the blue. Twelve 10x10 garter stitch squares, you want to talk about mindless, I'm thinking of bringing it to the gym at lunch time to do while I'm on the bike.

Ok I am really excited, my pictures were included in the Knitlist 2004 Calendar. Granted my life is somewhat pathetic if this is what I get excited about. Nonetheless I am excited. You can find it at CafeShops.com.
Check out September, I made the black and red Constant Companion bag and the liitle purple booties.

I think I really need to set aside a specific time to blog each day. Last week I kept meaning to do it but I just never did and suddenly the week was over. Oh well I'll try to do better this week. I finally got some links up to my favorite blogs thanks to Blog Rolling, yay!

I went to see Whale Rider this weekend, God that was a great movie! Everyone should see it...go now...don't worry it's out on video week after next so you don't have to rush out to a movie theater.

I'm feeling a little bored of my current projects. Tisha's scarf feels like it takes forever and it is very redundant in it's stitch pattern. My son's sweater is made with cotton thick 'n'quick so it is very, very thick. It feels like I am knitting with rope. That being said I have finished the back and I am halfway through a sleeve. I decided to do the front last because I want to try to add a kangaroo pocket and that will be the most complicated part of the project.

I took a break from them both over the weekend. I attempted a sock for my toddler with Bernat's Hot Sox yarn, but I got lost somewhere around the 6th round and started knitting on the wrong side. I guess I was paying too much attention to my son's soccer game (which they lost!). On Sunday I spent the entire day knitting a doll for my husband. Odd as that sounds, it was at his request. I adapted a garter stitch teddy bear pattern, into a superhero, Nightwing to be exact. For those who don't know Nightwing is Batman's first Robin, all grown up. He is my husband's favorite and he felt a need for a doll, but they don't make any plushes of this guy. It came out pretty well (I've given up on promising pictures one day they will be here, I just don't know when that will be!) just the head is a bit freaky. I may re-do it at a later time, but all in all for a day's knitting he was pretty impressive, and freehand at that.

Ok I've been a bit busy. I finished the basic bag. I am not overly thrilled with it. My seaming doesn't really work for it. I should have checked the page with Sally Melville's seaming suggestion but I was overly confident. Still it came out pretty well and once I sew in the lining and sew on the button I think it will be gift worthy.
Once I finished that on Saturday, I got out my beautiful handpainted cashmere hank to wind it into a ball. It was a nightmare. At first I had my husband hold it for me, that didn't work. Then I put around the back of a chair but it was too wrapped in itself so I just laid it down and started rolling the ball. It became a tangled mess. I was up until 2 in the morning working on it until I just couldn't do it anymore. When I woke up I went back to it. In total it took me 6 1/2 hours to finally get it into balls. To make matters worse it is so fragile that it kept breaking even with the slightest pressure.
Once I was done I cast on for the Short Rows Scarf. The cashmere is like knitting with air. I didn't get very far but I did get to the first short row section and it was really simple.
I decided for my travel knitting I should work on the hat and mitten set I want to make for the boys' baby cousin. I have a lycra merino blend in a beautiful rose variagated. The pattern for the hat said it could be done on circulars or dpns but once I cast on I saw there was no way that I could do it on the circular and unfortunately I don't have size 6 dpns so it will have to wait until payday.
So I needed another travel project, the scarf is portable but it's a gift for Tisha and we work together, and ride the train home together often so it would be hard keeping it a secret. I cast on for my eldest son's sweater. It is made with Lion Brand Cotton Thick and Quick so I am hoping it will go fast. It's a hooded sweater, in a blue varigated called denim. Of course being the trouble maker that I am I have already decided to add a kangaroo pocket, which it doesn't have and I didn't like the bottom edging. The pattern calls for 6 rows of stockinette and then 6 rows of 1 by 1 rib. I don't like the curling edge look especially not at the bottom of ribbing. So I did 12 rows of rib instead, it looks really good.

I haven't really done any knitting in the past couple days. On Monday I finished one side of the basic bag. I tried to pick up the stitches for the other side but I was just too sleepy. I somehow ended up about 10 stitches short so I pulled it out and went to bed. When I was getting ready for work yesterday I decided that I needed to take a break from it, plus I didn't really want to pick up the stitches on the subway. So I brought magazines that I needed to catch up on instead. I did spend lunch in a knitterly way as I was helping Tisha with her garter stitch baby sweater from Knitting For Baby which is coming out beautifully. She separated for the back and the sides yesterday, so she finished the back last night. I am quite impressed with it!

I picked up the cashmere this weekend to wind it into a ball, my eldest loves to sit and hold a hank for me, but I could not find the ends. I did find a knot in it so I am wondering if those ends that are knotted together are the actual ends of the hank. I couldn't get them apart and interestingly enough I could see white under the knot so I guess it was put there before the dyeing.

I should have gone back to the bag last night but I did laundry so that had me busy. I also exercised so I never even sat down to look at it. It's another reading catch up day. I will make sure I do it tonight. Her birthday is exactly one week from tomorrow. I need to get to work!

Finished my little guy's hat. It came out a bit larger than I planned so I decided to forgo the ear flaps and just add straps. I picked up 4 stitches on the inside of each side of the hat and then I did about 22 garter stitch ridges. It came out quite nicely.
The Mary Maxim Kashmere skein finally arrived today. I had ordered it about a month ago but after 3 weeks I called them to say it hadn't arrived. So they shipped another and it got here in 5 days. That's service! I wanted to test it for a sweater for my best friend Maribel. It's the Pebble Beach sweater from Interweave Knits Spring 2002. I haven't completely finished the swatch but I think it will work. It is pleasant to work with (especially for an acrylic), soft but not slippery. It also seems to have good memory. I suspect it would be great for cables.
Speaking of acrylic, I am working on the Basic Bag in Red Heart for my mother in law's birthday, which I just realized is in less than 2 weeks. The problem is I can't stand the feel of it anymore. I chose it on purpose because I wanted industrial strength durability, but since I bought it I have worked with merino and cashmere and who the hell wants to go back! But I refuse to become a yarn snob, it is exactly the yarn I want this bag to be made of so I just have to suck it up.

The booties are finished and they came out quite nicely. Now back to my Christmas knitting. I am taking a chance that my friend Tisha does not read my blog because I must tell you about the cashmere I bought on e-bay.

It's 100% handpainted cashmere, 350 yards of it. It is taupe, burgundy and blue. I am going to do a shortrow scarf for her. All of this is because of another blog that I read and she knits too. She tipped me off to the pattern and the yarn. All I can say is thanks!.

I will cast on as soon as I finish my little guy's hat. Which I ended up buying more yarn for instead of using the contrasting color. Hey I was in School Products they had it what was I supposed to do.

So I am really not very good at lace knitting. Where the hell did that come from you ask? Well I decided to make some booties for a friend's new granddaughter. I figured quick, easy get them done in a night etc. etc. So I found a cute pattern with lace cuffs pulled some baby yarn from my odd balls(baby soft by lion brand in twinkle very cute!) and started. I was doing ok until row 9 of the lace pattern, I was missing a stitch. I figured I was tired so I went to bed. This morning on the train I tried to tink back to find the mistake and what with the yarn overs and psso it was impossible. I ended up pulling the whole thing out and starting again very carefully. I was almost at my stop, I finish the 8th row and something's not right. I count my stitches and sure enough I am again 1 stitch short aargh!!!. I've decided to fudge it with a make 1 increase. I don't think it will be very noticeable.

I did a few rows on the basic bag last night while my son worked on his knitting. He finally seems to be getting it. He's up to 4 rows. I have him do 2 a night. I showed him the english way which is how all my friends do it, I for some odd reason knit continental. I also got to the color change on the baby's hat so I was quite prolific last night.

Hey I'm back. Work is finally calming down to a dull roar, so I have finally have a chance to breathe (and blog) again. I finished SFKB this weekend (up late watching Clerks on HBO). I am so not crazy about it. The armpits are way to low and I find the edgings way too unfinished looking, of course I haven't blocked it or even weaved in the ends yet so that may be a bit unfair. I am thinking I could pick up stitches around the bottom of the armhole and knit it higher but at this point I think I will put it away for awhile. It does fit great though so I am pleased about that.
I finished the mittens for my son which came out beautifully. I am now working on a hat for him with the same yarn but I think there is not enough to finish it. I decided to do a stripe with some merino that I have in a similiar (slightly darker) color. Then I will do the earflaps in the contrasting color and that should carry me through.
Having finished my sweater I have finally picked up stitches on the strap for my Basic Bag from Knitting Experience (still waiting for my Purl Stitch volume to arrive!). So I will work on that at home in the evenings and the hat on my commute. I am trying to cast on for a pair of socks to keep in the car (oops the car died this afternoon guess I don't really need that anymore!) but I am having a hell of a time getting them started, the stitches keep falling off or getting twisted. I don't mind working on dpns put I have a really hard time starting with them.

We have reached the insanity levels at work. This time of year is never fun but there comes a point where it is beyond all control and you just have to do your best to tread water. I don't know how often I will be able to post but I'll try to make it at least 3 times a week.
As for what's on my needles, I finished the scrub sack for the husband. It came out pretty cool, he seems to like it. I have cast on for mittens for my little one with the super yummy cotton cashmere blend I picked up at school products for a song. I haven't really done any work on my sweater but I have faith it will be done soon. I am doing the mittens for travel knitting and the sweater will be my evening knitting. It may take longer this way but it's the only way I can get moving on the Christmas stuff (the mittens and hat set are a present).
Speaking of presents, we have 3 babies expected at my job. We decided today that the knitters in the store will knit squares and we will put them together to make blankets (of course one of the expectant moms is one of the knitters lol). I have lot's of plans for baby stuff to make. They are all due in late winter early spring so I should have time after the holidays to make some nice sweater sets or something.

Blackout knitting...damn I didn't do any!!! We walked from my job in the Village up to 125th st, the streets were too crowded to pull out my needles. Then we crammed on a shuttle bus to take us across the bridge to the Bronx, definately not enough room to knit there. Then we crammed onto another bus and by the time I got a seat I was too exhausted to think. When we got home a little over 5 hours after we started I collapsed into a heap on the living room floor with the rest of my family (hey it was the coolest room in the house!) So I feel cheated.
On Friday I did some work on SFKB. Then we went to the park with the kids and my best friend, Bel came out to join us. She and I spent some time knitting on the bench. I was working on the honeycomb scrub sack for the husband, she was working on a scarf. That was fun. We got a pizza and made it a picnic.
Then we all came back up to the house where Bel and I drooled over the new Knit Picks catalog. We also checked out Mary Maxim where I had her pick out some yarn for her sweater (I'm not so good with the secret keeping). That was it. My ISP went out over the weekend, a day after the blackout so I couldn't work on getting my pictures up. All in all not a very productive weekend, but at least it was pretty relaxing.

So tired...must... stay... awake... to post on my blog...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz