Finally, I managed to limp this cardigan over the finish line! Last week I:
Sewed the buttons on
Sewed the underarms shut and darmed those ends in (no picture, also I was a muppet and didn’t sew the ends of the button band in at the same time for some weird reason)
Steeked it! No idea why everyone thinks this is terrifying, (maybe because I used a very sticky yarn, my stitches weren’t going anywhere!)
And worn it!
(Yes, I still have 4 ends to weave in. So?)
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again I’m sure: it’s amazing how quickly things grow when one…works on them!!!!!!
Therefore, I have reached the button bands part of Stars 🙂 This necessitated another gauge swatch, because I don’t follow instructions, and therefore can’t use the numbers given to me!!! I’m doing a garter stitch button band, to match the cuffs, hem and neckband. Therefore, I can’t use the numbers for the ribbing (which I couldn’t use anyway, since I lengthened the whole thing). A quick gauge swatch (after it finished lying to me) said 6 stitches an inch, so I prompted cast on 126 stitches for my 21.5inch long body. Which worked perfectly so yay me 😀
So now, audience members, my question to you: how many buttons???
I was planning on starting up the monthly goals again, but since we’re so near the end of January, it isn’t really worth it. I will briefly mention my current projects though, so I can get into it next week when I talk about my February goals…
My main piece is the ‘breathe’ embroidery. I had hoped to have it done by the beginning of January, but hey ho…I’m now hoping to get it done by the end of January. Fingers crossed this happens…
My other piece with a definite time limit is the cross stitch wedding sampler.
Sometime next week I will work out how fast I need to work on this to have it done by the end of June (I think the wedding is happening in August and it will need framing as well).
Finally, my current big knitting project is still cockatoo brae. I’ve fixed the neckline, and now am procrastinating over picking up the stitches for the button-band, so I will try to make a swatch to see how many stitches I need to pick up. That probably won’t happen until February, but we shall see…
Wow so apparently when you pour lots of time into kntting things, things actually get done! Who could possibly have guessed???
Anyway, that’s probably enough of the sarcasm! I finished knitting my Stars! Well, when I say finished…I finished the body, and it’s now ready for a bath, which it will get today. Then it has a week to dry while I’m in Paris (yarn crawl!!!!!!), and when I come back I can do the button bands, steek and generally finish it. Very exciting stuff!
It doesn’t fit perfectly around the neckline, but I’m going to chalk that up to the colourwork needing a wash and relax and not stress about it. I can also do something clever with the buttonban if necessary (maybe???)
I also feel like I should’ve put in more short rows because the front keeps riding up, but again, that’ll come out in the block, right??? I love the length of the body and sleeves, so score for adding the extra length!
Well I haven’t been doing the Breathe embroidary, but I have been putting in many hours in Stars. Turns out that if I’m knitting, my parents stop hassling me to do something with them. Who knew??? And it keeps me calmer around them, which is another win really.
I (finally) reached the colourwork section. Very excited!
And then I always find the colourwork just whizzes along.
And I’m now on the second half, with all the decreases. It’s such an addictive pattern!
I would say I want to do more colourwork, but this year is jumpers, blankets and baby clothes (and baby is totally getting a small version of this cardigan 😀 ) and I’m not sure how many colourwork jumpers I really need…
Gah!!! How did July fly by??? (Don’t answer that, I know the answer). Life got crazy busy then for a while, and it’s going to stay busy in August too. Blah. Anyway. July’s goals were (slightly optimistic)
(Yes, this is wildly late. Life has been throwing a ton of stuff my way. Unfortunately, none of it is going anywhere until September. Then normal service can resume!)
Ok, onto August goals. Easy, tame and relatively mindless are the words of this month. I have lots of train rides coming up, so yay for socks I guess!
Ok, hopefully they’re all easy enough to do. Unfortunately, I can’t take cockatoo brae on the train trips, I don’t have much space for yarny things in my luggage on each of them.
Ooh, remind me to do a blog post about my sponsored cycle ride…(preferably before I do the damn ride…)
Ok, so, phew, I survived my three weeks of slight insanity. Umm. Crafting kinda fell by the wayside, with the result of it all wanting attention NOW. Unfortunately, my holiday is now over and therefore I have to do the work thing…
Anyway, what has been happening? Well, I was in York at the weekend for Pride, so much knitting was accomplished on cockatoo brae (long train trips are made longer by delays…amusingly, the train ticket I had was a complimentary one due to the delays I had coming back from York from my viva…this makes claiming compensation rather awkward…) Anyway, cockatoo brae is coming along well ahead of schedule! As well as all the rows I planned to do this month, I have started the increases as well 🙂
(Isn’t all the brown lovely. Find the sarcasm in the last sentence…)
This weekend I will be teaching my aunt how to crochet jellyfish for premature babies. Naturally, this means I a) need more yarn(and crochet hooks), and b) need to crochet one in the first instance so I know what’s going on. 4ply yarn and a 2mm crochet hook are fun! Fiddly, but fun.
My mother’s socks have been started…just. I really need to get on with these, but I can’t take them home this weekend, since I’m visiting her…These will become my priority when I finish Mildred’s socks.
Speaking of Mildred’s socks, I have one finished and the other one past the toe. Before Pride at the weekend there were three members of knitsoc in a cafe, all knitting socks, all from the toe up, (two on circular, one on DPNS), in various colours and patterns. It was rather surreal to be sat there, and have someone ask what we were knitting, and all three of us saying ‘socks’ in unison. Anyway, these socks need finishing soonish. 🙂 They’ll be coming with me at the weekend.
Finally, the cross stitch wedding sampler has been ignored. But you can have a picture on what was done before but not photographed. Hopefully I’ll come back to this after the weekend (it’s probably a little bit optimistic to think it might happen before the weekend, given how it’s all going!)
Right, that’s me pretty much caught up I think (except for what I’ve been spinning/knitting but that should end up being a blog post by itself sooner rather than later…)
I have been…rather busy, and I have a lot to tell you about in my end of the month post, which I will attach to a FO Friday post. Which means that I’m going to be talking about other things today, and in particular I will be focussing on 4 ply yarn (aka sock yarn).
But not socks. Well, there is a pair of socks but they’re at work and I’m not, so…
Instead, two things. Thing the first: an update on Kita’s pillowcase. Apparently I haven’t talked about this recently on here, so this has come along quite a lot since the last time you all saw it! In fact, it’s nearly finished!!! In fact, the little bit on the top left takes it as high as it needs to go (I think!) I will check when that’s done, but I think it’s just these last two and a bit rows and then sew it together. Very exciting!!!
And the second thing: the sleeves on cockatoo brae. Much less exciting! I have done 11 of the planned 18 increases (I reserve the right to do more if necessary!) *lesigh* The solution to these is to put something on my laptop to watch and just mindlessly knit (with the odd increase round added in!)
Right, that’s all from me for now. Bigger post to come on Friday!
So I guess this might have been better off as a Start-it Sunday post but I think I introduced it a while ago when I started it before and didn’t get gauge *mutter mutter*. At the weekend I started it again, this time on 2.75 mm needles I bought specifically for this project (and I get gauge on it!). So far it’s just a lot of rather boring stocking stitch, with some increases every 7th row. Which is just often enough to not let me get into the swing of things, which is wonderful!
A recap of my gauge issues for those who have joined us late: the gauge for this pattern is 7 stitches an inch, and suggests 2.75mm needles. I *never* get gauge on suggested needle sizes, I always have to go down a size or two. So I happily check gauge (knitting flat rather than in the round, but my gauge is pretty much the same in both of these things), and then leave it long enough that I can’t remember what needles I used to do my swatch *facepalm*. I need to work out a better system for that, but later. I assume that I get gauge on 2,5mm needles, and so I happily cast on for a size on 2mm needles for the ribbing(I forget which. I have later been told that the sleeves are tight and not going downa needle size for the ribbing is a good idea). These sleeves end up comically too short. This happens while I’m up in York for my viva, therefore forcing me to buy yarn for a new sweater (this was my viva jumper, and we’re not going to get into the issues I had getting home…)
Therefore, I use those cuffs for new gauge swatches, this time in a round an on a decent number of stitches (yes, my old gauge might have been a bit too small…). 2.5mm neeldes gives 8 stitches an inch (this is also the gauge I get on 2mm needles for socks…), 3mm needles gives 6 stitches an inch. Guess what I need??? I don’t own any 2.75mm needles, so I order a circular needle (150cm long), figuring that if this doesn’t get me gauge I’ll need to sacrifice to the knitting Gods, and getting a needle this long will allow me to try it on as I go. Luckily, I do get gauge on these needles (yes, it was washed and blocked as I intend to do the finished thing), so we’re good to go. Well, as good as I an be now at any rate. Gauge shall be checked again when the sleeves have been finished. I also decided to do a garter stitch cuff rather than ribbing, as I’ve found that I much prefer sleeves to not be tight. (After knitting 3 of the things…)
But anywhere, here are the sleeves so far:
(One of them has been washed and blocked to check gauge, so it had better not have been lying to me…*squints angrily at the sleeves*)
I’m knitting the third size, with longer sleeves and maybe some attempt at a longer body (and then probably some issues with dye lots as I’m not convinced I have enough brown for the body…we shall see). I also have plans of putting in afterthought pockets- I’m going to repeat the star motif around the neckline twice for the inside of each pocket, so you get a surprise whenever you look in them! I love this idea 😀 (I just need to remember when I reach a convenient point for putting in the knitting in another strand of yarn for the live stitches…
So, firstly, the WIP Saturday potion of events- I actually did some on the wolf!!!!! Go me!!!! Not as much as I’d’ve liked for an afternoon spent solidly stitching, but I’m biased because some of that was backstitching, and some was stitching so I could do more backstitching (which I think I hate more than getting on with the backstitching), and some of it was not progress because in my mind I was further along than I actually was and so I had to catch up…
But! I have (nearly) reached the top left corner, so I’ll call that a win. Technically I haven’t stitched the top left corner, but that’s only a technicality, I’ve stitches all around it!
It is officially more than 50% done now- all the to-bestitched stitches are on the left of the centre line (and quite a bit further over on the top, but eh).
I’ve also started the sleeves (a.k.a. two gauge swatches) for cockatoo brase, but one of them is currently washing so I can’t show you that.
So, onto a recap of my January goals:
Score! 4 for 4 this time around! Oh, and I also swatched for cockatoo brae. Still don’t have gauge (I’ve got 8 stitches an inch on 2.5mm needles, and 6 stitches an inch on 3mm needles. The pattern calls for 7 stitches an inch…I’ve ordered 2.75mm needles at 150cm long so I should be able to try it on as I go- assuming that I’ll get gauge on this size!)
So, cookies for me! What’s the plan for next month, I hear you ask? (Well, I don’t, but I’ll assume you asked!).
This…all kinda feels adventurous. We’ll see how we go I guess. And I’m still learning how much I can do in a month. I think February’s goals felt adventurous, but I still managed to hit all of them (amazing what you can do when you actually WORK ON WHAT YOU’RE MEANT TO BE WORKING ON isn’t it?)!
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