frogging and putting it off

have been taking a little break from knitting recently. partly this is because I have been too busy being on vacation in Colorado and attending two weddings in one weekend to knit too much lately. but mostly it is because all my "obligatory" projects (ones that are already started and really should get finished before I start new stuff) need some frogging and I am way too stubborn to give in to the frogging just yet. But here is the situation:
project 1, Sahara - I started to pull out the lace inset a couple weeks ago and gosh, I tied everything off really tight! what a stupid thing to do, even though I realized as I was binding off that I probably wouldn't like it the way that it was. so, I am afraid I will have to just cut my losses, literally, and cut through the lace inset and not worry about salvaging this bit of yarn. I can do it because I have a whole ball and a half left over with which to re-knit the inset, but it's more the principle of the thing.
project 2, Central Park Hoodie - you may recall that I was making good progress on this last fall until I had to stop and make Christmas presents, then I continued making good progress until it got hot and I put it away in favor of more weather appropriate projects, like Sahara. well, September is upon us, so it's time to get back into fall knitting. However, in the six or eight months or however long it's been since I put the cabled hoodie away, my tension has gotten looser (mostly, I think as a result of mom's shawl, which I intensionally held very loosely, and it carried over into my other projects). I made one sleeve last winter, but left the second one to do now and i am afraid that my second sleeve will be much bigger. I am afraid of this because: I started knitting Wes a pair of socks in March when I took the class from Lois. Even though I bought a huge skein of yarn, Wes has the biggest feet ever and I ran out of yarn halfway down the instep of the second sock. At the time, I had already made one sock for grandma out of the bittersweet yarn and was anxious to get the second one started, so I just put the stitches for Wes' blue sock on scrap yarn and started in on grandma's second sock right away. by the time I remembered to get more blue yarn, the heat made socks pretty far down on my priority list. But last week prior to our anniversary trip to Colorado, I decided I wanted to finish the socks for Wes, so I put the stitches back on needles, found the second ball of yarn and finished up Wes' blue socks. Now it is very obvious which sock was my second sock. not because you can see the join in the yarns (I actually have gotten pretty good at hiding the ends), but because half of the second sock has a noticeably looser gauge than the rest of the sock. since these socks are meant to be more like slippers for Wes, I don't think it will be a problem, but it has gotten me nervous for that second sleeve on the cabled hoodie. Especially because I am already using needles 2.5 sizes larger than the pattern instructs, thanks to my previous super-tight tension. I have half a mind to rip the whole thing out and start over on smaller needles (after doing a new gauge swatch, of course!). If I did start over, I would adapt my pattern to use some of the tips from the KAL, such as knitting the bottom in one piece and short rowing the shoulders.
project 3, knee socks - I cast on for these socks after I finished mom's shawl because I had been drooling over them since May, and had bought yarn and everything already, and needed a new easy-to-carry project. I cast on and had no problems adapting the dpn patterns for my two circulars and was making good progress on the complicated cable patterns. Once night after a long knitting session, I noticed that I had cabled the wrong way. Since the cables are so small, probably no one would notice if I left it, but I am trying to be a more conscientious knitter, so I started to un-knit my rows to re-do the project. Lois had shown me previously how to fix a wrong-turned cable without pulling out all the stitches after it, but I thought the twist was just one row down and it would be less of a hassle to just unknit one row. I realized too late that it was more like three rows down (darn tiny yarn is deceiving!), and I had royally screwed up the hourglass cable pattern in trying to get back to the one little cable that was twisted the wrong way. because the hourglass pattern is so complicated, it was very difficult to accurately pick up the stitches after I frogged back to before I made the mistake, so I ended up throwing a little tantrum and frogging the whole sock. After a week in Colorado, I was feeling better about it and cast on again on Thursday night, this time with no problems except I have misplaced my small cable needle, so have only been able to complete the top ribbing.
So now I am in protest. At least until Wednesday when Wes goes back to work for four nights in a row and I would rather knit cranky projects than vacuum.

in the meantime

even though I mostly love Sahara (except for the funky lace part) and am anxious to be able to wear it, I am still bummed that I have to rip the funky lace part out and do it over so I have been ignoring it this week and focusing more on mom's shawl and also going to bed earlier than I would if I was working on lace insets.
this weekend is Tia's bachelorette party and we're traveling a fair distance to celebrate. in my quest for an affordable way to get home on Sunday, I chose to take the train! Amanda completely called me on it when I told her how I was getting home and figured I was doing it for the twelve hours of uninterrupted knitting! though I don't know how productive I will be after getting up at 7am after going to bed at who knows when. But I bought new yarn and a pattern from Blue Sky Alpacas that I am hoping won't take too long due to the thicker yarn (color: azul) and cropped style of the cardigan. I will also bring along mom's shawl since I know I can't work twelve hours on the same pattern, so I'll try to mix it up. I am hoping for a west-facing window seat, though if I get that I might not do any knitting at all!

nevermind ...

wore my newly finished Sahara out last night to dinner and to see Transformers (oh my gosh, it was great. I would recommend it to most anyone.) and after wearing it for a couple hours, decided that I'm going to pull out the lace inset and re-do it. I didn't pick up the stitches evenly around the edges and one side is more bunched up than the other side. Probably no one would notice, but it bugged me enough to want to rip and start over, which I never do. so, I guess I'm not quite done yet ...

Finished Sahara!!!

Just finished Sahara! will try to get better pictures later but maybe its ok there isnt too much detail here. anyway, off to see TRANSFORMERS!

Sahara sleeves

Finished the sleeves tonight! Love that there is no finishing to do, just a couple ends to weave in

Sahara photo update

Sahara up until now!

so close to finished Sahara

been working really hard to get Sahara finished this week. Wes and I laid low for most of the day yesterday since he had to work at night, so while we were resting (Wes for work and me for the big BBQ at Margies that night) I finished up the diamond rib pattern on the bottom of the hem and bound off! I was able to try it on and am so pleased to announce that it fits, despite my lack of gauge swatch! whew! All I have left now is the lace inset at the chest and then a little edging on the sleeves. I'm not using beads as shown in the picture to the left (that's one of the official pictures that came with the pattern. click on it to see more pattern details since I am slacking on the photos of my own work.), so it should be pretty easy. Wes is back on night shift now through October, so I will have lots of knitting time ahead of me!

unrelaxing vacation

got back last night from a much-needed vacation to Las Vegas and Phoenix, but don't feel too rested after the week away. after working a full day in Carson on Monday, then almost missing our flight to Vegas (stopped to have a beer with mom and dad at the Long Beach Airport bar), we rushed from the airport to our hotel and changed in 15 minutes to be ready to catch the shuttle to the strip (we stayed at an off-strip resort). We had an hour to get to the Stratosphere for 10pm dinner reservations and just barely made it. I didn't feel like we were really on vacation until we were sitting down looking at the amazing view with a glass of wine in hand.
The next morning we got up and said NO to the timeshare schpiel and headed out to relax at the pool for the rest of the day. We had dinner that night with Kevin and Danielle Grant (Kevin and Wes were in academy together and served on the same squad until the Grants moved late last year), then headed to the Tropicana for a show at the Comedy Stop. We had big plans for Nine Fine Irishmen after the Trop show, but were exhausted from the day in the sun, so we wussed out and went to sleep.
However, Wednesday we got up and made it to the strip for a whole day of Vegasness. We had complimentary tickets to the aquarium at Mandalay Bay (good thing too, since the 30 minute tour was not really worth the $15 entry fee everyone else paid), then made our way north on the strip stopping for lunch at the Paris with view of the Bellagio fountains and made it as far north as Treasure Island. Luke and Clarissa (Luke played baseball with Wes' roommate Matt in college and Wes and I shared a cabin at Matt & Casey's wedding in Tahoe) and their son Coyt met us for the (slutty!) pirate show outside that evening. After visiting with them for a while, Wes and I headed back south and ended up on a gondola at the Venetian! Before heading back, we stopped to watch a few water shows at Bellagio, this time in the dark with the lights and were too pooped to party too late again after another day in the sun.
Plus, we had to get up early to catch a cab to the airport the next morning to fly to Phoenix. Wes' sister Whitney is living in AZ with her boyfriend and his family for the summer, so she picked us up at the airport and we met up with boyfriend Goo and headed to Chase Field for the Diamondbacks/Dodgers game. The Dodgers won and Wes and I went to Kristina and Andy's for the night. The next morning we woke up to Taylor chattering and got up to play with her and chat with Kristina. We missed seeing Andy, who was working hard to be able to take vacation this week! But I loved playing with Taylor, she is soooo big now! Kristina said she was saying our names, but I think she was calling Wes "bunny."
After we left Kristina's, Wes and I drove around the east valley looking at model homes for a few hours. Then we checked in at our hotel and had time for a quick dinner before Wes headed off for a ride-along. I was sad to see him go, but also grateful for the chance to knit finally! I pulled out Sahara since I had the time and attention it needs and started working the hip increases. I also ordered a slice of cheesecake and glass of wine from room service, so passed out before I could get too far along. I didn't hear Wes come in late, but he was there in the morning when we woke up for time in the gorgeous pool and then more driving around town. We went to P.B. Loco for lunch and I loooved the CinnyNilla sandwich. I highly recommended it :) That night Wes had another ride-along, but this one was much earlier in the evening, so I had made plans for dinner with Ashlee. After she dropped me back off at the hotel, I sat down for more knitting and finished the hip increases and was all ready to start on the short rows on the bottom few rows (to make it look like a shirt-tail hem), but next thing I knew, Wes was waking me up to put me to bed since I had fallen asleep in my knitting. Sunday Whit and Goo met us at our hotel pool for some more waterslide and water volleyball fun, then they dropped us back off at the airport!
So, not much knitting over the whole week, but really good progress when I did sit down to do it. Hoping to get the short rows done tonight, depending on what shape the apartment is in. Apparently we had a water leak while we were gone and there was some damage ... I was too tired last night by the time we got home (airline lost our bag for a while, so we got home way later than expected) to really check it out.

lazy = more knitting

had a mostly sit around the house and be lazy weekend (with some hockey! go Ducks!) so I got lots of knitting done on Sahara. the two sides of the front were knit with two different balls of yarn, so progress was often impeded by untangling of the yarn, but it is turning out really nice (looooooooove the smoothness of the yarn) and so far the gauge/fit seems to be right too ... I knit down the front to the arm shaping and attached the back to the front, but only on the sides under the armholes, and am now knitting flat (with only one ball of yarn!) for a few inches before waist decreases. after a few inches of decreases, I'll have to cast-on 20 stitches in the middle of the front and then attach to knit the rest of the top in the round.
on the picture to the right, I blacked out the stuff I haven't done yet. doesn't look like I've gotten very far, but the back is being completed at the same time, so it is really twice as much as is showing. the trim on the sleeves and neckline will be added after the rest of top is knit. the amount of cleavage showing is customizable too, just sew the center seam higher up or lower, I guess! ha.

inviting Murphy and his laws

after dinner last night Wes settled down in front of the NBA Eastern Conference finals and so I took the opportunity to get back to work on Sahara! picking up stitches from the preliminary crochet cast on was pleasantly easy and I was able to make good progress on the two halves of the front. the game went into double OT so I had even more knitting time ... I was hoping to get far enough along to attach the back to the fronts and start knitting in the round (only one ball of yarn attached instead of the current two for two sides of the front), but that would have taken a marathon knitting night, and I only do that when Wes is on night shift. he switches again July 2, so give it a few more weeks and I'll be back to my old habits :)
this pattern offers measurements in inches as well as row counts, so since I didn't do a gauge swatch (what! did I learn nothing in all of the AFY classes!), I have been measuring and counting very carefully as I go along. The gauge was the same as Mom's pink shell ... although it is different yarn, the yarn thickness is the same for both. The pattern for the pink shell suggested size 6 needles, but when I did my gauge swatches for that project I ended up using size 8 to get gauge, so I just picked up my size 8s for Sahara too and so far all my measurements have been exact to the pattern and gauge is right too. Now that I have gotten all cocky and braggy about perfection without a swatch, something is sure to go wrong ...

m1 on the back

Sahara back done! Well, top of the back done. Hopefully will have time to get the front started tonite! I'm anxious to get at those preliminary cast on stitches and see if it will be as easy as Lois made it look ...

knitting with Keith

while sitting upstairs on the lunchroom porch knitting on Sahara (finally started it last weekend! more on that in a minute ...) and listening to a mix of Keith Urban tunes in preparation for the concert in a few weeks, I discovered it takes all of "God's Been Good To Me" to knit one row, but I can get a whole lap done (knit one row, purl the next) before "Somebody Like You" finishes up. That's even with the inevitable daydreaming that comes with "Somebody Like You" ... since I walked down the isle to marry my sweet Wesley to that song.
so, back to the knitting: Sahara had a tricky start that caused me to put it off for a while (I bought the pattern and yarn back in February!). finally I went to see Lois at AFY last week to learn how to crochet cast-on. The instructions that came with the pattern said to incorporate the knitting needle into the single-crochet row so the stitches end up on the knitting needle, but that confused me! Lois then showed how she would do it: just knit a chain of however many stitches it says to cast on, then thread the knitting needle through the back loops. This sounded hard to me too (my ventures into crochet have been less than successful), but a trip to visit Grandma crocheter extrordinaire was already on the schedule for the following weekend, so I asked her to make the chain for me. It took a couple tries to get the tension right (loose enough so I could pick up the stitches), but we got it in the end. This week has been busy at work and at home (got the new Giada De Laurentiis and have been cooking up a storm! also, discovered the best cookie recipe ever ...) but after my lunchtime date with Keith, I am down to the arm shaping on the back. yes, I said "down" and not "up" to the arm shaping ... this sweater is knit from the top down, so I have the back of the shoulders finished now. After the arm shaping is finished on the back, I'll put these live stitches on a holder, pull out the crochet chain and pick up the stitches on the top and knit down the front. I was overwhelmed when I first bought the pattern, but looking at it one step at a time, it seems a lot easier. So for now, I am just thinking about m1 stitches that I'll do tonight if I can resist picking up my other new book (the only thing that got me to put it down yesterday was an afternoon of Pirates and Hockey.)

reprieve

took a little break from knitting the last couple weeks because Wes switched to day shift and he's been home every night. yay! also, Tia and I have ramped up our running program in preparation for the Santa Ynez Wine Country half-marathon on May 12 and by the time I get home from running most nights I just want to eat and then pass out. Blogging has also been on hold because work has been totally insane ... However, I have a couple of projects still going and this weekend when Wes and I flew to Arizona for Taylor's adoption party I got back on track and work today is slow, so I'm playing catch-up on lots of things!
Mom came up to visit a couple weeks ago after we went to see Wicked at the Pantages Theatre in LA. She'd been talking about wanting a shawl for a while, so I took her with me to AFY to pick out the yarn herself. I am glad I did because I never would have picked out what she picked (Louisa Harding: Impressions. click here to see Mom's color choice - it's #1), but it has been really fun to work with and I think it will be gorgeous and go with lots of items she already has in her closet. No real pattern for a shawl (sort of patterned after this one but with different yarn, larger needles and no buttons); I did a swatch to figure out how many stitches I would get per inch and figured out the cast-on from there. Now I just have to knit (in moss stitch on 10.5 needles) until it is long enough. Hopefully we have enough yarn already - it was kind of pricey!
I am also working on finishing up my first two pairs of socks. I got some more navy yarn to finish up Wes' socks when Mom and I made our AFY trek and in the interim I have been working on the great bittersweet socks for Grandma, although I've only been getting in a few rows at a time on lunch breaks lately. Hope to finish them soon because it's starting to warm up around here and the need for socks to wear to bed won't be as urgent.
On Friday I joined a KAL (knit-a-long) with the Sexy Knitters Club to motivate me to cast on for Sahara. I've had the yarn for this since the Super Bowl Sunday sale at AFY, but I am a little intimidated by the crochet cast-on and mostly haven't had the time. the KAL officially starts April 1, so I'm going to try and finish up the socks before then, but no promises since we're packing packing packing to move to a more affordable apartment next week (yay for saving money for a real house!). Knitting has always been more of a leisurely, relaxing project for me, so I am not going to kill myself trying to get projects finished instead of packing, but I do need a break from boxes and sorting every once in a while.
p.s. after the party on Saturday I had my first attempt at teaching when Renee asked me to help her get started on a scarf. Her girls came to her asking if they could all knit together, which is awesome, except first Renee has to learn how! She was a fast learner, I just had to help with the cast-on mostly! I love new knitters :)

my own personal "one with the jam"

Saturday Wes and I drove down to the Staples Center with a buy-one-get-one-free coupon in hand for the Kings game vs. the Nashville Predators. The coupon (and a low-attendance due to an afternoon game the same weekend as the LA Marathon and the Kings general suckyness) enabled us to get ice-level tickets behind the Kings home goal. From this vantage point we had a great view of seven of the nine goals scored in the game (6 from Nashville, yeah!) including two awesome goals from Paul Kariya to make my stalker trip complete and happy. I also realized that Peter Forsberg is one scary Swede when he's skating full speed towards his opponents goal. He already scared me, but seeing him from that angle brought new levels of terror.
I brought along Wes' second navy sock to work on during the 65 mile trip and made significant progress, I also knit on the way home and my 130 miles of knitting produced a too-tall top of sock. oops. When I sat down yesterday to do the heel and gusset, I realized I had knit an extra half-inch on the top of the sock. I have some more heel decreases left to do before I knit a jillion rounds for his huge foot, but I was anxious to move on to another project last night. I couldn't take any more of the plain blue on tiny (size 4) needles so I cast on Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted weight (color bittersweet) on two size 8 circulars to knit myself a hat with seed stitch edging and ear flaps ... soo cute. the color is the same I am making my second pair of socks out of too. I am almost to the decreases on the hat, so hopefully with a couple good nights of knitting tonight and tomorrow while Wes is at work (only FOUR more night shifts left!) I can get his socks and my hat done this week and get on to finish that second pair of socks too. I have half decided to shelve my brown sweater until after summer as it is getting warmer here and I have two other spring/summer sweaters I want to make. I checked out Wendy Bernard's blog this morning and I swear she lives here in town. I already thought she lived somewhere in the county due to comments about local places (Ronald Regan Library in Simi, Santa Barbara Zoo, pictures of the Ventura pier, etc) but in yesterday's post there was a picture of an AFY shopping bag full of yarn! I feel like a bit of a stalker realizing this (too much stalking for one weekend!), but mostly I am soo anxious to knit up my Sahara now. She had pictures of more finished Saharas from other knitters and I want mine! I already decided I am going to do the sleeveless style and have bought (more than) enough yarn to complete it. Now I just need to cast on and get started once I finish the socks and hats and more socks I have planned ... better do it soon or I will be shelving Sahara to go back to the brown hoodie in September!

need some help navigating SAHARA

I know I still have a ton of work to do on my brown hoodie, but I can't help getting excited about a new project (the fact that there is a an-anti Super Bowl event at AFY this Sunday with a card sale up to 50% off doesn't help either). I have already decided that my next project for myself will be SAHARA, designed by Wendy Bernard. I am very excited to make one of Wendy's patterns. I read her blog regularly and have been dying to try one of her patterns from The Garter Belt for months now (specifically sizzle and fad classic, can you tell I'm getting anxious for warmer weather too?). My problem is I don't know what color to make my new Sahara top. I have decided on the sleeveless and think the white that the sample is knit in looks great. I also thought about black, since the beading on the trim makes it seem like a fancy-pants top, but if I used black, the stitches wouldn't show up very clearly and if I am going to spend hours making all those little stitches, I want them to show! Also, I have been in a neutral clothing rut lately and can't seem to see past the whites, blacks, browns and navys. Please help! Check out these colors and let me know what you think would look best. The accent yarns for neck, sleeve and bottom edging will probably come from one of these, depending on how much this yarn costs (of course they don't put that on the website) and how high a card I pull on Sunday.