11/23/2005
I have completed my first colorwork piece. Okay, so technically it is only half of a project. But, I did it! I’m soooo excited and I *love* it! It even fits my semi-man-hands (of the things I got from my dad, it was his hands and his depression - thanks Dad!). It seems my floats were tensioned well as there is still some give to the fabric. I did run into a little trouble though…
The book recommends using k2tog and ssk for the decreases at the tops of the mittens. However, some of the ssk decreases threw off the pattern a bit. From what I can tell of the photos of the mittens in the book this was not a problem for that pair of mittens.
It isn’t drastic and I certainly won’t be ripping back this mitten. But I’d like to know for the other mitten and perhaps any future colorwork projects (yes, Ashley, I’ve been bitten and there will be more in my future) I’m wondering if there is a better left-leaning decrease to use or some manner in which to reduce this problem?
Oh, and it didn’t give directions on what to do for the final round when you decrease to one stitch between the 3 “seam” stitches on each side of the hand. So, I did a centered decrease as described in some of the patterns in Stahman’s book. So, I slipped two sts together as if to knit to the right hand needle, knit the last stitch and passed both slipped stitches over that one together. It looks great! I’m proud of myself for remembering that somewhat more subtle centered decrease.
Also, thanks to all of you who have signed my Frappr map! Some of you I knew were out there reading, but many of you I did not know. So, I have several new blogs added to my “test drives” folder in Sage. I look forward to watching your knitting and spinning over the coming weeks and months.
I hope all of those celebrating Thanksgiving tomorrow have a pleasant and safe holiday!
11/11/2005
Well, I’m sloooooow at stranded knitting. But, it’s not going too bad. I ended up going with to the write-in and knitting while listening to a book on my Nano. They did a 30 minute challenge to see how many words they could each write and my smart ass husband asked me how many stitches I made. I seriously didn’t keep track, but I’d say at most, I probably completed 3 rows, but probably more like only 2. That’s only 100-150 stitches per 30 minutes… Slooooooow….
But, I’m new to it more or less. I’m liking this pattern because aside from the initial block you rarely have more than three stitches of one color in a row so you are fine just floating over three stitches. It doesn’t catch on my rings or anything. I’m also spot on gauge-wise, though I’m not positive if my floats are quite loose enough or not. Though I was able to pull the cuff over my hand onto my wrist so I suspect I’m okay. Plus, it should loosen up a tad when I block it I guess.
I have the initials done as well…
I think I’ll follow Heather’s example and put them on the inside of the wrist instead, as I love the design on the cuffs and think that is better for showing off to the public than my initials. Especially considering my initials suck for making 5 sts high by 3 sts wide letters - KRS! It sucks! I’ll do the date on the other mitten though I will probably just do either 2005 or 1105. I’m leaning towards 1105 since it’ll be easier to squish the ones in there and not have to expand the box. Plus, the 2 has got to be nearly as sucky as the K!
I’m glad I found a project that I’m looking forward to working on. Almost to the point that it is the only thing I want to work on today. That said, there is a pair of flannel PJs that I really want from Target but ours doesn’t have my size (well, I might be able to wear the size they have in, but I like oversized PJs) so I’m going to Loveland to check out their Target. And, yes, I checked online and they are out and it says nothing about being backordered or restocked etc. And, I *must* have these PJs. Mom and Amber say so! :-)
