Friday, April 04, 2008

Sleeve issues - bugging me.

The sleeve so far. The more I knit of it, the more dissatisfied I become. It's starting to bug me.
For starters: it bugs me that the colours change so slowly on the sleeves because of the far smaller circumference. It also bugs me that I picked these two colours to start with, largely because I had started the sleeve before in purple and red and i just ripped back to two rows of the purple and picked up the stitches again - I couldn't be bothered doing all the picking up around the armhole again, and I was impatient to finish. It bugs me that i began the sleeve with 3 rounds of plain purple - why???? Nowhere else is this part of the pattern! It bugs me that I've only just realised after laboriously knitting seven repeats of the sleeve pattern that my tension has changed hugely from the body... I think I must be using very different needles, but I knitted the body so long ago I can't remember what I used. It bugs me that the different tension causes the arm to pull in against the body where the stitches are picked up and spoils the look of the cardi. It bugs me that I don't know if blocking will sort out any of these issues, and that I won't find out until I finish this and another sleeve! It bugs me that it bugs me this much and yet I have continued knitting, making more and more fabric that will have to be unravelled if I decide I can't live with it. It bugs me that I am unable to make a decision, and that I can sense this project getting close to being flung back into the UFO box for another six months because I've got cross with it. It bugs me that even if I finish it without undoing bits, it'll probably be too warm to wear it!
It just bugs me, you know?
So in my infinite wisdom I'm going to take my mother's usual advice and sleep on it, and offer you the opportunity to guide me... what do you think?

Thursday, April 03, 2008

(don't say it out loud but) I think spring's on the way at last...

It was so sunny and warm when I got home from work today that Willow, the kauni and I went for a play in the garden.
I think she got a bit annoyed with me and the camera though...
' What do you want? I'm trying to sunbathe here!'
More sleeve has been knitted this evening as I've sat about lazily watching DVD after DVD (It's the last day of term tomorrow, I'm shattered, need a holiday and just can't be bothered any more. Cut me some slack), but I'm not going to show you it till tomorrow. Then it might look like I'm actually getting somewhere!

Wednesday, April 02, 2008

Distraction tactics

There has been progress on the kauni. There has. A whole inch, at least. On one sleeve. Yes, I know I unravelled at least two inches last night, but it was in the wrong colour combinations. I'm not going backwards at all. I'm not. No. See? Progress. It is. I won't hear otherwise. Ahem. So to make up for the lack of progress there, I thought I'd show you some pictures of things I found whilst rummaging in the stash to find a fifth 3mm DPN. Behold! The first sock I ever knitted. It was based on a scaled-up version of a half-remembered baby booty pattern, knitted in Noro (silk garden, I think) whilst I was on holiday in the Canary Isles almost exactly 4 years ago. I'm not quite sure where the curly toe came from, it just sort of evolved, then it seemed right to put a tassel on it. You can tell how happy I was with it: I never made it a pair. The second attempt, same yarn different colourway, knitted on the same holiday, with an attmpt to make the toe less pointy. These were both knitted flat, with a seam up the back of the ankle and under the foot. Despite getting a leather sole (for grip, these were supposed to be slipper socks), this never received a twin either. They've languished in the stash ever since, and never been worn. An important moment: my first handspun handknit sock. The wool is so stiff and scratchy you could never wear it , and it too is a sad single sock, destined never to get a friend. But it's a landmark, so I can't part with it. Again knit flat, this time with a seam up the front and the top of the foot. This one was a few months later: much better spinning, lovely soft merino, and a better shaped sock. Sadly it's never been worn as I didn't dye enough roving to spin two socks' worth of yarn! It's navajo-plied and I love the citrussy stripeyness.

A slightly strange mitten from handspun, again I liked this one but couldn't repeat the dyelot! I have a drawer full of odd coloured roving from the attempts. I was really patient with the ribbing on this and made it extra-long to stop that gap between coat and glove - sadly I've never repeated this on a finished pair!
A similar lone glove made from handspun silk/merino mix I bought from ebay soon after I learned to spin, before I could dye, I think. It's 3-ply, two plies of the raspberry-coloured merino/silk and one ply of white merino. This was quite a fancy glove, with short fingers and a mitten flap, the fingers being knitted in a much finer-spun version of the same yarn.
This is the saddest case of all... there is a second glove, with one finger and a thumb, but I've lost the rest of the yarn to finish it!
So there you are... these are some of the sad abandoned knits lurking amongst my stash. What's lurking in yours? Any forgotten treasures?

Tuesday, April 01, 2008

Buttons it is!

I love it when a plan comes together. On to the sleeves!

To toggle or to button? That is the question...

What do you think? Buttons?
Or toggles? I've started the second front band, but I'll need to know which I'm going to use before I get to halfway, so I know what size to make the buttonholes! Decisions, decisions...

I think I'm leaning towards the buttons. Maybe. Although toggles are nice too....