3/23/2004
Last night I cast on and did the garter stitch edging for the tank. I stopped there partially because DH wanted to go to bed and also because I thought I’d try figuring out the short row shaping at the knitting tea at my LYS today where there was a good chance that someone there had done them before and could help if I got stuck. But, I did it all by myself! I’ve now just completed the two rows of picking up the wrapped stitches.
This is where I’m at right now…
Here is a close up of the BEAUTIFUL short rows! :-)
I cannot express how excited I am to have done this! I know it sounds silly. But I was really, really concerned that I was going in over my head on this to have my first garment ever include techniques that many more experienced knitters than I had never done before. I actually raised my arms and announced that I did at the knitting tea, LOL! Everyone is so wonderful there though so they celebrated with me :-)
No more knitting for me today even though I really just want to keep going on the tank. But, my right index finger is thanking me. I have to get work done this afternoon and then DH and I are going to see Rent tonight! I’m also *very* excited about that.
November 1997 (I think that was the year) I drove down from Grand Forks and met up with Mom, Dad and Amber in St. Cloud and the next day we went into Minneapolis where Mom, Amber and Mom’s cousin, Dawn Rae and I went and saw Rent at the Ordway while dad took a nap at the hotel. Then we went to an awesome 4-star restaurant. The next day we went back up to St. Cloud and watched a Vikings vs. Packers game at a great sports bar there and then I made my way back up to Grand Forks. It was like our family Christmas gift for the year and is one of my fondest memories. After that, my sister and I were obsessed with Rent. I have the piano/vocal book and both Amber and I have the CD set. I think I had a t-shirt and hat at some point too. DH doesn’t understand the obsession, so when I heard it was playing here I got tickets. They aren’t great ones. We’re in the opera (but 4th row). But, if the staging is like that at the Ordway it shouldn’t make a big difference to be that far to the side. Even if I had heard earlier, we probably wouldn’t have gotten much better tickets because they have probably at least 3/4 of the seats sold as season tickets already. There are many people who purchase season tickets and don’t go. They are just in the cue for better seats when someone dies…
Amber is kind of jealous as she has tickets to see it again in April and has had them for some time and I’m going to see it again before her, LOL!
Long story short, I won’t be home watching TV tonight, or at Rainbow Chorus whish is the usual Tuesday night activity so there will be no more knitting today. I must crack the whip and get to work, I only have about 3 hours of work time before DH gets home…
3/22/2004
If you’ve popped in while I’ve been moving around the furniture, I apoligize! I was goofing with having buttons for those blogs I read that have them, but I found it too distracting with all those images over there. Then I finally decided on a proper name and it took some tweaking to get that working properly. Then, the knitlette let me know that there was a problem reading the main portion of the blog! Yikes! I had looked great for me in Opera and Mozilla, my two main browsers I use and I had neglected to look at it in MSIE. Oops! :-} It’s looking okay for me in MSIE now, with a little tweaking of the CSS. Let me know if you still aren’t seeing the full central section of the blog, will you? Thanks!
I also made myself a button for anyone wishing to link back to me in the graphic form… 
Back to the knitting world…
I decided quick, easy, and inexpensive was the key if I’m going to get many done inbetween all my other WIPs. So, as I mentioned I picked up Lion Brand Wool-ease Chunky. It has good body which makes it comfy, it makes a fairly dense fabric that shouldn’t be too troublesome for claws, it holds up well to multiple washings, it’s on big needles so offers a nice rest for my hands/wrists and goes fast, plus it is fairly inexpensive, which is a big concern for my pocketbook. I’m using the basic diagonal garter stitch with eyelet edging, which was the first thing I ever learned to knit way back when. It was actually the only thing I even knit until Novemeber…
If you don’t know what I’m talking about, Lion Brand as a pattern for it in Homespun. I didn’t figure Homespun would stand up to claws and washings very well, which was why I opted for the Wool-Ease Thick & Quick. Because of the difference in gauge I’ve made a few adjustments. I’m working on an 18-inch square (the cat or small dog size) at the moment and it is going to be a very close call whether I can get one out of only one skein. I’m suspecting I’ll end being able to get thee 18-inch squares from four skeins (which of course means I need to go pick up more). I’ll keep you updated…
My Changes
SZ 13 US Needles
Guage = 9 stchs/4″
With the heavier yarn of the Wool-Wase Thick & Quick, I’m not happy with the beginning and ending corners, so I’m adjusting the pattern a bit for nicer corners and for the sizes Critter Knitters recommends…
CO 4 stchs
Row 1: K to end
Row 2: K1 M1 K2 M1 K1 (6) (use one of the invisible make one techniques, not just the YO)
Row 3: K3 YO K to end
Repeat until you are at 58 stchs for an 18-inch square blanket, 76 stchs for a 24-inch square, and 115 for a 36-inch square.
Begin decrease rows according to the directions until you have 6 stchs left then…
K1 K2TOG K2TOG K1 (4)
Bind Off
Have Fun!
3/20/2004
I picked up a few skeins of Chunky Wool Ease at M’s yesterday and started on a diagonal blanket. I’d show a picture, but they are using it as a prop for the silent auction as someone donated knitting lessons for 4. I’m only up to about 30 or stitches across, but that is more knitting than I thought I was going to do! It was great to have an excuse to make time to knit in all of this craziness.
In fact, I got sent home because they could tell my pain had flared so I think I’m going to do some more knitting today in hopes of keeping my nerves in check for the solo tonight…
I don’t need any frustration though, so I think I’ll either start another Critter Knitter blanket or work more on the drop stitch scarf. I need easy and rhythmic to calm my nerves….
3/19/2004
Why am I blogging my knitting? Couldn’t I just as well be doing it for myself and not on the net? Is there even anyone out there reading this?? Probably not… Why would anyone want to read my blog when I’ve only been knitting since November?? Perhaps I should just slink back to where I came from… I don’t have a lot of time for knitting right now and that won’t change significantly until mid-April really… So what in the heck am I going to write about?? Well, I need to write about the knit along once I actually get going on that I guess…
Okay, so it’s a little fib. I still need to stitch the lining into it, but the Southwest Purse is completed otherwise. The lining is even assembled so it’s just a matter of adding the lining…
Since I felt the colors were kind of Southwest inspired, I chose a Kokkipelli charm in pewter. I had originally used handles that were simlarily shaped, but went all the way across. It kept me from really be able to get into the purse. So I switched to these handles instead. Thank goodness Jo-Ann’s has had the purse handles on sale! :-)
The fiber is a blend of three yarns that I got from my LYS. It’s labeled as Cotton, Silk, Merino and Alpaca, mostly cotton. I’m working on a drop stitch scarf of the same yarn to go with the purse.
No real knitting for me now until Sunday and Sunday is even slightly iffy. I have lessons to write yet before bed tonight and then tomorrow is taken up completely with preparations and actual task of setting up the Silent Auction and performing in The Cabaret… Sunday I’m sure to be pretty wiped and I have a Drop-In Journaling class from 4-6pm, but I’m hoping to cast on the Shapely Tank on Sunday evening….
