Second Bacall Sweater

I have finished the second Bacall sweater from Rowan Knitting & Crochet Magazine Number 44.

I made it for older daughter and it will go in the mail today. I sewed the band on as I knitted it (knit it?) and it did work out a bit better than sewing the whole thing on after finishing the band. This way it was exactly the size I needed.

But I know why I knit so many scarves and hats----no seams! I need lots of practice on finishing.

Knitting Lesson No. 213

Rule 213: Just go buy the yarn.

I did think I could make another ten rows or so with the little yarn I had left, but I studied it and looked at the gap and decided that it was unlikely. Really, really unlikely. And I realized that if I did make it, using up all the yarn I had left, I then wouldn't have the yarn I needed to sew the rest of the band and collar and the sleeves to the sweater.

So I gave up and went to the yarn shop for more yarn.

Rats!

Knitting Lesson No. 212

Do NOT return yarn to the yarn shop just because:

a. the pattern calls for four skeins
b. you mistakenly bought five skeins
c. you are starting the fourth skein and only need to knit the band
d. you happen to be at the yarn shop for knit night and have the sweater and yarn with you and you think-Oh, I may as well return this while I'm here because I won't need it.

Why not return the extra skein?

Because returning it will pretty much guarantee that this will happen:


Yes, I need just enough more yarn to knit, oh, maybe ten or so rows to close the gap in the collar portion of the band.

Thirty stitches times ten or so rows.

And all I have left is this:

Hmmmm.............

Maybe if I kind of s.t.r.e.t.c.h. the collar a bit when I sew it on.....

Yes.

I'm sure that will work. Sort of like blocking in advance.....

I'll let you know.

It might become Knitting Lesson No. 213.

I'd Rather Be Knitting

than sewing what I've knit together.

As would most knitters, I think. I have taken a finishing class, taught by Jan, our guru at the LYS, and I don't know that she would approve of these seams, but I tried my hardest...I really did!

Now I am hoping that the saints of the miracle of blocking will make everything just fine.

[S-the sweater really is brown, not gray, as it looks to be in these pictures!]

It's Too Dark to Clean the House

Really, it is! We had five inches of rain here yesterday (note to rain gods: enough is more than enough, already!) and it's raining again today, not as hard as it did yesterday, but it is rain and it is dark. Too dark to clean, I say. Dh is off at some sort of industry event today, and I thought it would be a good time to clean. But it would be very selfish of me to use enough electricity to light the house enough to see what I am doing. Right??? I thought so. I wouldn't want to have a huge carbon footprint just because I decided to clean.

But I suppose it would be OK to use just one light bulb in order to knit. It's one of those spirally energy-saving bulbs, so I would have just a tiny, tiny carbon footprint, just a little toe really.

I have one hat to finish so that I can give my three granddaughters matching pink hats for Christmas. The sizes are a bit iffy; I'm working from an adult's pattern and guessing at how many stitches to cast on for each of the girls. I think I may wrap them as one gift and tell the girls to take whichever one fits.

The almost-elephant hat is for my grandson. The pattern is from 101 Luxury Yarn One-Skein Wonders and is supposed to fit most toddlers. It knits up to a 16" circumference. My three-year old grandson's head circumference is 22", which is larger than many adults' sizes. As a result, I've had to wing it and make it larger - I hope it's large enough - and then make the trunk and ears larger so they will be in scale. I've made the trunk, bought the felt eyes, and just have to make the ears in order to finish the hat. I hope it fits....If not, perhaps sweet Elizabeth would like to wear an elephant hat!

Another project I have almost finished is this Monaco sweater from Rowan's 30th Anniversary book. It's a gorgeous book, a coffee table book really. This sweater is for younger daughter. She picked it out when she was here in July but I just started it recently. I have the back, sleeves and left front finished, with just the right front and border to go. The border band and collar are knit separately, in garter stitch, and then whip-stitched on after the other pieces are sewn together. I love the sweater, although I think it's meant to fit more like a jacket.

So, off to knit, and maybe to swim later....in the back yard perhaps, if it doesn't stop raining!