Yes I Am!

Well, probably. I'm PROBABLY knitting a sweater that won't fit me. 



I'm finally using the Brooklyn Tweed Shelter that I bought a few years ago. I had picked a pattern and very dutifully made several gauge swatches, washed them, dried them, and measured them. I picked the needle size that was supposed to give me the correct gauge, and....

that swatch lied!!! I started over and decided that I didn't even like the pattern. And it had short rows and that put me over the edge. Why struggle to work on something that I wouldn't even want to wear when I presumably finished it?


Over the years, I've considered one pattern, then another, then another, and finally found this:

It's The Weekender by Andrea Mowry and it's probably a quick knit (size 8 needles, worsted weight Shelter), and because it's boxy, it should fit. Someone.

I didn't knit a gauge swatch because a. they lie, and b. I didn't want to.

SO, my working theory is that it WILL fit someone, if not me, then one of my daughters or one of my granddaughters.

And the yarn will stop nagging at me from the yarn closet.  

The Finished Hat

Finished in plenty of time.  The Yarn Chase Hat.  Tah Dah.

This pattern requires lots of what I define as "fiddly bits," (def: stuff I don't like to do) and I won't make another....probably.

BUT, it is not going to fit any of my grandchildren.  I'm pretty sure it's way too big.

Did I make a gauge swatch? Well of course not. Stop asking! I once made gauge swatches for a sweater, and the swatches LIED and I had to frog the sweater. I have not bothered with gauge swatches since then. 

But actually, I don't think the problem is with the gauge; I think it's with the size I chose to make. This was my second attempt at making the hat because the first one was HUGE, and so I consulted head circumference charts on the internet and then chose the size based on the typical head size of a 14-year old. I think the charts were wrong.

I'll find out on Christmas morning. Just the thing: give a child a gift she can't use.  

Yay Gran!

Swatches DO Lie!

So now I'm re-knitting the body of the Trillium sweater. My numerous swatches, washed and dried (first time ever I've done that), told me to use size 6 needles for the ribbing and size 7 needles for the body of the sweater. That is what I had intended to do, but when I frogged the body and double-checked the needle size, I discovered that I had forgotten to switch to size 7s when I started the stockinette section. I must have been working on it at knit night and gotten distracted. No wonder the density of the fabric was off.

However, I am now knitting the body with size 8s, which several other knitters are using for this yarn, and I AM GETTING GAUGE.  (Yes, I know. What does their gauge have to do with mine?)

But WTH? 

Of course I haven't washed and dried my current knitting, and I'm not going to. I'm relying on luck and blocking to make this sweater the right size.  

Because apparently, my previous swatches, multiple swatches with this yarn, made on three different sizes of needles, washed and dried, lied. No more swatches for me, no sir.   

Luck and blocking. That's the ticket.  

What is Wrong With This Picture?

Just about everything.

I finally decided to start work on S's sweater. Yay me!!! (I bought the yarn in March.)

I scanned the paper pattern into an electronic PDF file, imported the file into Dropbox and from there into KnitCompanion on my iPad mini. Then I set up a new project in KC, cropping and pasting as directed. I opened a video on my laptop so that I could follow along with instructions on doing the Old Norwegian Cast On. I pulled out the yarn and the gauge swatch. 

Had I indicated on the swatch which size needles I used for the swatch (and I hardly EVAH make gauge swatches)?  No. Did I leave the needles I used in the bag with the yarn?  No, I did not.

But wait!  My memory says that I had decided that I needed one size larger than the pattern called for.

Woo Hoo!!! So let's get out those size 9 needles and get cracking!!!

Can I find those needles?  

No, I cannot. ANYWHERE.

All these electronic helpers, which kind of took a long time to set up and I'm wondering if they really are all that helpful, and I am defeated by my own lack of organization. 

Off to search for the needles. Again.

First of All,

I must pat myself on the back because I made----ta! da!----a gauge swatch.  I normally don't make them because:

A.  I don't want to.

B.  The Yarn Harlot says that swatches lie.

So why bother? says I.

However, the sweater that I might make (still intimidated by the pattern) looks so complicated that I don't want to do all that work and have the sweater not come out the right size.  So I made a gauge swatch, washed it and dried it, and it had better not lie!!!  Or I will never, ever make another one.  That will show it.

And while I am struggling to understand the sweater directions, I am also trying to learn how to read a crochet chart. Knitter/crocheter extraordinaire Lucille color coded the chart for me, and I still don't get it and that really frustrates me. There are only three easy stitches in this chart, but I just can't get the hang of it. The yarn is fine and I can't see the holes I am supposed to link (or whatever it's called) to and counting? OMYGAH!  I can't count the things.

I have practiced with worsted weight yarn and a larger hook and still no success.

I have, in the past, sworn that I don't swear, but I swear, I soon might start!

Mea Culpa

or My Bad, whichever you prefer.

I admit it. I almost never, well, really, never make gauge swatches. I agree with the Yarn Harlot who said in one of her books that sometimes the item itself can be the gauge swatch: a pocket, a sleeve, whatever. I say that the item itself ( if I actually bothered to check gauge on the item itself) can always be the gauge swatch, and since I usually knit wraps and scarves, I haven't been caught at this omission....until now.

I promised younger daughter that I would make her this hat:

and I did. But the pattern (from One Skein Wonders: 101 Yarn Shop Favorites) called for size 6 double-point needles. I don't have size 6, but I do have size 7, and, I thought, how much difference could the extra half millimeter in needle circumference really make?

So when my daughter called and asked how she could shrink the hat - could she wash it? - I knew the jig was up (whatever that means) and I had been found out. I didn't admit what I had done, just told her to gently rinse the hat in coolish water in the sink and allow it to dry.

I sure hope it works and the hat fits. Otherwise, I think I will be frogging the whole thing, buying size 6 needles, and knitting it again.

Rats.

Just in Time for Texas

First of all, I finished the second sock of my sparkly Berroco Sox Metallic yarn, but the sparklies don't show in the picture. I know they are there! And so will all my friends and family (not you, younger daughter) when I wear them.

These are not blocked. I don't block socks; I figure that's what feet are for.


And second, I finished my second attempt at the Bitty Bolero sweater. THIS one will fit Elizabeth, I am sure. But she doesn't get it till her first birthday, in October, and even if I gave it to her now, it is way too hot in Texas to wear a wool sweater, even one as soft as this one. It's made from 100% merino wool, and I am starting to think that out of all the wonderful fibers that are made into yarn (wool, angora, bamboo, milk -yes-milk, cotton, soy, alpaca, mohair, silk and ???? I'm sure I've forgotten some), I love working with merino the best. It is just SO, SO soft! This is Malabrigo, colorway Cuarento 237. And have I learned my lesson about the importance of making gauge swatches?
Probably not...

I've also bought yarn for a new project to work on while I'm in Texas, because, you know, there are just NO yarn shops there!

Oh, and I do have a new camera. Phew. Without pictures, how can I blog???

When Will I Learn?

Here I've been, happily knitting along on this cute little Pixie Purls Bolero sweater for Elizabeth's first birthday (in October). But when I finished binding off all of the ribbing, I noticed that the sweater looks a bit....small?...for a one year old child. Hmmm....

It is sitting next to a dollar bill, which is, as we knitters know, a good substitute for a tape measure, since it is six inches long. Which means that this sweater is TINY!

Did I make a gauge swatch? Good doG, no. I NEVER make gauge swatches. Sometimes, if I remember, I count the rows and stitches in the actual garment soon after beginning a project, just to make sure I'm on gauge, which I always assume that I am. But did I do that here???

Nope.

So I just did. The correct gauge is: 18 stitches/24 rows = 4".

My gauge is: 24 stitches/32 rows = 4".

OK then. A frogging we will go...unless Elizabeth needs a worsted weight merino sweater in the heat of a Texas summer. I'm guessing she doesn't.