Still Learning

 My mistake fix on the inside of my Fair Isle Vest (second crochet reinforcement and weaving ends still need to be done.  With slippery yarn you can never be too careful right?)

My mistake fix from the outside of my Fair Isle Vest.

I was having one of "those" moments with my son.  We were doing a simple writing exercise to work on his printing and he made a mistake.  I said not to worry there are erasers for such moments and that is why we use pencils.  He was angry at himself, me, the situation.  I got frustrated and angry myself at what I thought was blowing out of proportion a minor slip of the pencil.  He rewrote the lowercase "a" over a dozen times never quite happy with it.  I sat losing my patience until I realized he was having a perfectionist moment.  You know those moments when you can see in your mind what you want to happen and just can't seem to make your body do it the "right" way?  Well, I have had quite a few of those in my time.  In fact, they used to completely immobilize me until I learned that not doing something you wanted was worse than trying.  I needed to help him learn that lesson too.  So after calming myself down and finding my reasonable voice again I told him a story.  I asked him if he could remember a time when I didn't knit.  He said he couldn't.  I said you would think with all that time and practice knitting I would no longer make mistakes right?  He said yes.  And I followed with the following example of a big mistake I just made.  

My Fair Isle Vest that I am knitting is too big in circumference.  I did all the right things.  My substitute yarn weighed the same as the original for the same amount of yardage.  I knit a swatch in the round as I would be knitting the sweater.  I carefully measured over a large area and averaged the stitch count.  I got gauge.  But the gauge my sweater was coming out as was a 1/2 a stitch off.  How much difference can half a stitch make?  Try 5 inches difference.  Yup, too big by a lot.  What to do?  Well, I contemplated the options of 1) frogging it all and starting over.  2) finishing it as is and give it to someone.  3) cutting out the extra inches and seaming to the right size.  I chose option number three.  I went through the cast on stitch amounts for each size dividing by my gauge of 6 stitches to the inch to see which one was closest to my chest size.  I then took the difference between the stitches I cast on and the stitches for the size that would fit at my gauge and marked off the 32 stitches that I needed to remove.  By consulting the charts for this new size I would be knitting I was able to pick where to take these stitches out so the patterning would match up.  I then did a crocheted steek, cut out the extra inches and used a mattress stitch to seam the two sides back together.  On the right side of the vest it is very hard to see the seam, but on the inside it's a bit bulky with the steek salvages on each side of the seam.  So, it's a trade off, but tearing out all that knitting would have been just too difficult emotionally for me, not to mention the fact that I diligently wove in all the ends already.  

So, I closed my story with saying that by making the mistake I learned something new.  I learned how to make a repair in my knitting that I've never done before, and that maybe a "quick" in the round swatch is not the same as a true in the round swatch, at least for me.  That really I needed to slow down even more.  I needed to knit the tube swatch or hat , measure gauge, wash it, measure gauge, repeat if adjustments are needed and finally start my project.  I told my son slowing down is ok, there is no deadline and rushing is not necessary.  Mistakes will happen, but what we do with our mistakes is what's important, not the mistake itself.  As always, I don't know what he will take from this little exchange, but hopefully he'll stop worrying about being perfect and simply try.  

Joining in with Nicole for Keep Calm Craft On and Ginny for Yarn Along.

Shetland - Yes Please!

First off, a wholehearted "Thank YOU!" to all you commented on my last post.  I usually respond to each comment, but there were so many I thought I'd thank you all at once.  You all made my day with your sweet kind words.  I read them all aloud to my husband who commented "Knitters are so cool."  How right he is!

Speaking of my husband, he brought home one of his knitted vests (he keeps them at work so they're on hand when he inevitably gets cold) that he stopped wearing because it was too short.  It's knit out of the first yarn I ever spun.  I used MN Shetland fiber as the Scots in me loves the heritage connection we have and well, it's super easy to spin too.  Needless to say I did not want to frog this sweater vest, but it was knit from the bottom up making me unsure on how to lengthen it.  The internet came to my rescue and with a video no less!  Seriously, the internet is wonderful for all the knitting information and videos you can find.  Following the Knitting Daily video I picked up a row of stitches just above the ribbing of the vest and then, gulp, cut the row just below and removed the ribbing.  It was very slick, not messy and I was able to save the handspun yarn from the ribbing to reuse.  Yay!  So, I've knit the 2 inches that was the ribbing in stockinette and just started on the new ribbing thankful that I had extra of this handspun yarn on hand.  I'm thinking I will finish it today and block it over the weekend.  There is a bit of a "ridge" from the old to the new knitting, but hopefully that will block right out.

In the Shetland theme of today's post I'm showing you the latest (and probably last for quite a while) addition to my stash - Clara Yarn Shetland 1.0.  Have you heard of this company?  They have a great story which I found so compelling that I bought a sweater's worth amount of yarn.  It came in the mail yesterday and man I am in LOVE!  The color, texture, feel it's just all so perfect for my taste and it's destiny is this sweater.  In my knitting schedule for the rest of the year (don't you have one of those?) I have it blocked off for December for a from me to me Christmas gift.  Thus, all the Christmas knitting I'm planning on has to be done by the end of November, which works on paper, but we'll have to see if I'm biting off more than I can chew as the saying goes.

Joining in with Amanda for Fibre Arts Friday and Linda for Creative Friday.

The Stash Situation and Progress

Small portion of the out of control stash.  And yes, those are each 2 gallon sized Ziploc bags or in other words a sweater each!

Dan's sweater vest.

So, it's happened again.  While my back was turned my yarn stash added to it ranks.  I was down to 1 1/2 Rubbermaid large tubs of yarn and now suddenly it's doubled in size and I have three.  How does this happen you may ask?  Well, definitely with some stealth, forgetfulness, impetuousness and excitement of new possibilities (because that's what yarn is after all - new possibilities.)   That and well...maybe a yarn sale or two and a couple of fiber events might of pushed me over the edge.  But, this of course is not the real reason why I purchased so much yarn.  The real underlying reason, I figured out recently, is that I'm lonely and when I'm lonely I shop.  

Now, don't get me wrong I have friends and a loving family, but what I don't have is knitting friends.  Only one of my friends knit and she has 3 kids with one on the way so you can just imagine how much knitting time she has on her hands (let alone time to visit.)  Knitting has become my passion and fills much of my waking hours.  And not having anyone to talk to about it (besides you lovely people, but let's face it it's a bit one sided on a blog) is really getting me down.  

To remedy this situation I turned to Ravelry and started looking for a local knitting group to join.  It seems the obvious answer and I just haven't done it yet out of shyness and my hermit like tendencies.  Well, there is one other reason I have yet to find a group.  I knit kinda weird.  My mom taught me and she taught herself from a book which wasn't very clear with it's directions.  It works fine.  I make knitted things as you've seen, but sometimes I look rather fumbly and awkward (at least I feel that way.)  It's very silly of me I know to be concerned with how I look knitting, but I do so that's that.  But, I think I really need people to talk to in person about knitting so I'm making the leap to join a group.

Now, back to our regularly scheduled programming of knitting.  I've made decent progress on Dan's Wall Street Cables vest and will definitely finish it in time for Father's Day.  The yarn is a nice soft merino, but I'm thinking I might not have quite enough or it will be tight to say the least.  I started this project 3 years ago when I was still rather new to knitting and didn't know to estimate more yarn then suggested by the pattern.  I think I will have enough to finish the front panel thanks to the deep v-neck so the worst outcome would be a contrasting neck and arm edgings.  Which, let's face it wouldn't be too terrible.  The frustrating thing is I think this sweater is going to be big on my Hubbie and I probably could've knitted one size down eliminating my yarn shortage issues.  Agh!  I am determined to finish though and well, Dan likes loose clothing so all this wringing of hands might be for naught.  At least that's what I hoping.

Joining in with Nicole for Keep Calm Craft On and Ginny for Yarn Along.

Revisiting an Old Project

No, I've not finished the second mitten, or the navy and white summer top, but yes, I have moved on to another project.  I think I have a knitting specific ADD.  Well really, it occurred to me the other day that Father's day is about a month after mother's day and maybe I should make something special for my husband (especially after not knitting him anything for his birthday - for shame Ann.)  When given the option of this spiffy hat or another sweater vest he opted for the vest (he gets very cold at work even in the summer as he doesn't care for AC.)  It just so happens I have one halfway knitted from over 3 years ago.  Yup, you heard me right 3 years ago I started this vest, finishing the backside only to then panic that I would not have enough yarn to complete it so I promptly stopped knitting.  Because if you don't knit you won't run out of yarn and everything will be fine right?  Fine, but no sweater vest to wear.  Sigh.  So, I decided to get back to it for Father's Day and it seems to me I'll have enough yarn and if not, well then there's always contrasting trim right? 

The only bummer is a mistake I made in the middle of the back all those years ago - can you see it?  I made one whole grouping of cables tighter than the rest all the way across.  It's right smack dab in the middle of the back too.  Now, my quandary is do I replicate this mistake on the front panel so the seams match as they should or do I knit it correctly for the front and side seams be damned?  Notice how I don't mention re-knitting the back to fix said mistake?  It's just too much for this faint heart to unravel that much knitting.  What do you think?

Joining in with Linda for Creative Friday and Amanda for Fibre Arts Fridays. 

Cold Sheep and Stash Update - June

Well, it's the end of the month and time for a Cold Sheep and Stash update.  It was a busy knitting month for me with a Father's Day and a graduation gift to knit.  Knitting with deadlines is both easy and hard I find.  Easy as you know what to knit, but hard as you have no choice as to what to knit.  I got a little cocky and after finishing Dan's Alberta Vest for Father's Day I rewarded myself by finishing two nearly completed pairs of socks (you might remember the blue pair from this post and the rainbow pair you can find here,) spinning up some roving and knitting a 3rd pair of socks for myself along with another Grrlfriend Market Bag for my friend Christmas gifts.  This cockiness made completing the graduation gift for my eldest niece, a superman themed hat and scarf, come down to the wire of my frantically finishing the night before the party.  So frantic that I forgot to take a photo of them - whoops! This was WAY to close for my comfort level.

I also made the decision this month to sell my undyed yarn from my stash as dyeing, while fun, has more of a learning curve than I have patience for at this time in my life.  Also, it completely takes over our tiny kitchen, which makes making meals and getting snacks quite difficult.  They all went to Judy of Mamajudes on Etsy who dyes all my yarn for my toy shop Simple Playing. So, 9 skeins of undyed yarn are gone, 2 sock WIPs are completed, 1 vest WIP is completed, 1 roving is spun and knit and 1 skein of my indigo dyed yarn is gone.  Pretty good for one month don't you think?  I've also decided to sell some more yarn, skeins that I don't just love that feel more burdensome than exciting to knit.  Retaking my stash photos to reflect all these changes I believe is in order, as being able see all my yarn at once is helpful in choosing what to knit next.

On the Cold Sheep front I went 136 days, before I made a purchase of some lovely wool/silk yarn to make this summer top.  I caved due to a huge amount of stress that's currently happening in my life.  You see my mother, who lives with us, is moving out and it isn't under the best of circumstances.  It's a really stressful and emotional time for me and when I feel this way I either eat or buy yarn/fiber online.  So, while I'm disappointed that the Cold Sheep process has been reset, I don't feel guilty or bad about it as it is pretty understandable, at least too me.  I will start Cold Sheeping afresh and my new total is 4 days :)

Joining in with Nicole for Keep Calm Craft On.

Keeping My Hubbie Warm For Valentine's

It's cold here in Minnesota in the winter and it's even colder in the office building basement where my husband Dan works.  They always stick IT guys in the basement with no windows, fluorescent lighting and lots of computer equipment.  Dan nicknames it "The Bat Cave" after Batman's less than hospitable surroundings.  All this is "normal" in the career of an IT guy, but the problem lies in the fact that Dan is half Filipino and taking after his Filipino mother, he needs it warm, almost hot, to be comfortable.  Seriously, we struggle all the time with the thermostat as I like it cool, Scots as I am, and would love the house at 65 degrees Fahrenheit so I can wear all my wool sweaters and mitts.  On the other hand, he would love the house at 75 degrees or warmer.  We compromise at 70 degrees with me in bare feet and t-shirts and him wearing at least 4 layers - not ideal but marriage is after all a series of compromises right?

Oddly enough my prone to chills hubbie does not like sweaters as he finds them restricting of his arm movements,  Seriously I find this most annoying being a knitter, but I persevered and got him to at least like sweater vests.  My first vest for him was too casual for his work, my second was a tweedy green button down which is a little too noticeable if he wore it everyday as he wants to, so I am on to my third attempt.

I'm knitting the pattern Sal Paradise Vest by Nikol Lohr from her new book Literary Knits.  I wanted a fast knit and Aran weight yarn says fast to me.  The fact that it took US size 9 needles to get gauge also helps make it a speedy knit.  Dan requested black which I hate to knit with as it can be so hard to see your stitches.  But, I got around that problem with using a beautiful hand dyed yarn from Fleece Artist which is variegated enough to actually see what I'm knitting.  It's their Blue Face Leicester Aran in the colorway Ebony - beautiful no?

 

I'm finishing the bottom ribbing today along with the weaving in of ends and then will block it tomorrow.  A post with pics will then be next.  This vest is Dan's Valentine gift and the fact that it will actually be complete and ready to wear on Valentine's Day makes me exceptional happy.  So, I'm bringing my hubbie warmth on Valentine's Day to show my love and concern for his comfort.  What are you making for V day?

WIP Wednesday - Mobius Vest

Have you heard of Elizabeth Zimmermann?  It really is hard not to in the knitting world.  So much so that people just refer to her as EZ.  Well, I am going through an EZ phase where I'm reading all her books and making a few sweaters as well.  Her way of constructing a sweater is fascinating to me and how easily she makes the math work out to customize it just for you.  What I'm showing you today is her Mobius Vest from her book Knitting Around.  It's just two long rectangular pieces of garter stitch knitting (with a bit of short row shaping half way through) made into a vest by twisting the rectangles a 180 degrees and seaming up the sides.  That twist gives you the lapels for the front of this cardigan style vest.  It's really that simple.

Now, this vest isn't going to win any current fashion shows, but it's practical, comfy and warm.  Basically, I just had to knit it because I was curious to see how it would turn out.  The I -cord as you go edging, short row shaping, and "afterthought pockets" kept me interested and the garter stitch knitting made it a perfect sweater to knit while visiting with friends.  All I have left is to tack down the second pocket lining and put in a zipper closure.  Of course this has been sitting in my WIP basket for over a month with only these two little things to complete, but I will finish really I will.

The funny thing is I knit this sweater with 3 strikingly different dye lots of the same color Malabrigo worsted weight yarn.  The story goes like this - I bought 3 skeins on Etsy for cheap to knit this vest, but it looked HORRIBLE on me (really I can't say enough bad things about it, it was that awful) so it was frogged and laid in wait for another project.  Then I couldn't find any other garment to knit with that little yarn (yes I know, hats and scarves abound, but I wanted a vest I tell you.)  I thought I could buy a few more skeins of the same color thinking "I can blend the dye lots so no one will know." Well, they were so different blending would look striped so I knit blocks of color intentionally showing off the difference in hue.  When I was just about done I ran out of yarn and ordered 1 more skein.  Ack!  At that point I thought so what and went with it.  All in all I think it looks alright, but it's destiny will probably be a homeward bound sweater. 

 

I tried showing you a few shots on how it fits, but without photographic help tonight you only get a couple of glimpses.  The upper one shows how the lapel and "cap' sleeve look and the lower one shows how the pieces are twisted inward making a V in the back.  After it's finished and blocked I will post again and you can let me know whether I was successful or not with my different dye lots.

What's on your needles this week?

WIP Wednesday - A Vest

Well, I ran out of yarn for my Hobo Bag strap so it has to be put on hold until I get more in the mail from Knit Picks.  Oh well.  After digging through my WIPs I decided it's back to work on the Wall Street Cables Vest I'm knitting for my husband.  It actually was supposed to be a wedding anniversary gift last year, but my fear of cables and making a man's garment in DK weight yarn stopped me.  

 Please excuse the quality of this picture as it's a photo of a Xerox copy from a book.

Meanwhile, Dan's wearing his only vest everyday, (yes, even in the summer as the A/C at his work makes it quite chilly for my tropical blooded hubbie) and he's getting a little bored of it, not to mention it could use a wash.  So, I jumped in and guess what?  The pattern is pretty simple actually, and the cables not a problem.  Yes, the DK weight yarn still means this will take me a while, but I have about 2 months to finish before this year's wedding anniversary.

 

Above is my progress so far and I am pleased with the definition this merino yarn is giving to the cables.  Why was I so afraid of them?  Seems rather silly now. What projects are you working on this WIP Wednesday?