I finished the autumn socks (note 100% in sidebar... which will stay up until I post pictures as a reminded that I need to get pictures). They are a bit tight and dont match up completely (stripe wise) to each other. But I like them. I wore them yesterday around the house and after a bit of walking they stretch out to fit more comfortable. I think my next socks will be a bit loser tho.

I swatched for Rogue last night. I'm getting correct gauge on size 7's with my yarn. and I like the feel and look of the fabric I'm getting. I also think I picked the exact correct color for me. I really like it. Parts of the pattern confuse me right now, but I'm hoping when I'm actually knitting it, it will magically make sense.

As for my other WIP: I keep looking at sheldon and I know I need to finish him (especially since all he needs is to be put together. I have him completly knit). For some reason I dont really have desire to pick him up. Probably because he is a gift that I dont need finished until August. I'll finish him soon enough and get pictures. He is really cute and really is a rather quick knit.

well that's all I have for now. Look forward to seeing sock pictures soon, and possible a Rogue update (if mine goes anywhere near as fast as Pixie's did). Happy knitting.

~Rose

Rogue update. And new project!

Rogue is officially on hiatus.

It took several days longer than I'd expected, due to me being unable to knit much and severe cold slowing my fingers down considerably, but I finished the body Sunday evening at Luke's house while he burned movies. I tacked the shoulders together and tried it on, and I'm very happy to report that it fits perfectly so far. I still have to do the hood and the sleeves.

But that all will have to wait. That project is on hiatus while I make another sweater for Mom. She's been looking for a white sweater to wear with the brown skirt she made herself, and she can't find anything. Enter me. She doesn't know it, but I'm knitting her a white turtleneck sweater to fit the bill. I hope it fits her. Since it's a surprise, I can't exactly try it on her. I do know her measurements, so that helps a lot, but I'd still rather have a model just to be sure. I can't use myself because I'm several inches smaller, and she generally likes her sweaters to fit a little more loosely than I do, so it would be huge on me. Oh well. I'll just have to compare (on the sly) to other sweaters I know fit her. Which should be easy, since I have one sweater she bought for herself. It fits her but I wore it more (it's a hoodie, so I wanted it to be big on me) so I ended up with it. Hehe.


So, official project status (which, by the way, can also be seen on our sidebar, along with links to patterns wherever applicable)...

Rogue: on hiatus as of the evening of Sunday, January 28 (around 6 p.m.); will be active again once Perfect Sweater is complete

Mom's "Perfect Sweater": about 15% complete

And...

Perfect Sweater Project Details:

Pattern: Perfect Sweater (link on sidebar...normally I'd link here too, but the computer's misbehaving)
Needles/Gauge: 4.5 stitches per inch, 5.5 rows per inch on size 7 Clover bamboo circular needles
Yarn: Caron Simply Soft in white (I love this yarn. Very soft, and machine washable! I use it for everything. Oh yeah, and did I mention it's cheap?)
Modifications: Slight gauge difference...so I'm making one size smaller to make up for it. And also working fewer rows between sections, since mine would otherwise be longer than it should be. Also worked the hem in twisted knit stitch (as opposed to regular knit stitch) so it would be tighter and fold up better...and picked-up stitches at cast-on rather than using a provisional cast-on, just because i was lazy and didn't want to get up for a crochet hook. And when I get to the neck, I'm making this a turtleneck, which means I'll work fewer decreases at the neck and then work straight up into a short tube that folds over.
Start Date: night of Sunday, January 28 (around 8 or 9 p.m.)
Completion Date: not yet!

-Pixie

Whew.

Okay, I managed to salvage Rogue. I got all the stitches picked back up, with the cables crossed correctly this time, used a spare needle to even out the loose stitches, and tugged and pulled it in all directions to even them out even more. The loose stitches aren't really visible now, and after I block it, they'll be even less so.

I did screw up a little on my increases as I got further up the sweater. It makes one side of the cable look a little odd. You can't really tell what I did without looking closely, it just looks a little wobbly because the stitches next to it are pulling on it. I don't think blocking's going to do much for that. But it's not really that noticeable anyway, just a little off, and like I said, you don't notice unless you look closely. Considering that it will located under my arm when the sweater is worn, I don't think that's going to be a problem. So I left it.

I'm now up to the neckline. I can't believe how quickly I'm racing through this thing. I expected it to take months, and here I am, almost finished with the main body. I expect to have the main body completed by tomorrow at the latest.

Then I'm going to put Rogue aside for a while to make Mom a white sweater. She needs one and can't find one in stores, so I'm going to knit a quick one for her. Should, theoretically, go even more quickly than Rogue. No cables or anything like that. Simple.

I'll return to Rogue for the sleeves and hood after the white sweater is completed.

So, now that I've given a Rogue update, time for what everyone really wants: pictures! The pics aren't very good. I could not, for the life of me, get the camera settings right. I tried everything. Finally I gave up and decided these would be okay. It's hard to do anything graphical on this computer anyway, it doesn't work so well.

And eventually, I'll come up with a better way of posting pictures. I don't much care for photobucket anymore. Especially since it doesn't work right on this computer, and I have a feeling I may be posting a lot.

Anyway, here's pics. I'm SO proud of this sweater!

Rogue

-Pixie

my first post!

Since Pixie made a post I suspect its time I do the same. She is currently working on Rogue (as you have read) and I'll be starting it shortly. I printed the pattern last night and have read over it a few times and will be swatching later this week. I'm making mine out of Patons Classic Merino in the dark natural mix, since I got it onsale at Joann's and it was the cheapest option available to me (money is very much an issue right now).

On the needles right now are what I'm referring to as my "autumn socks". They are being worked toe up and I kinda adapted a few patterns together with my gauge to get the socks. They are being worked on size 00 dpn's and out of knitpicks self striping yarn. I'm currently on the gusset increases for the second sock. I'm also getting a new addi turbo later this week and will start on Justin's socks next week (two at a time magic loop method). It will be my first magic loop project. But I told myself that I must learn something knew in knitting and that is what I picked. Plus I want to see if I can finish socks any faster two at a time.

I dont really have anything else to add. Right now I'm just excited that I remembered what I was told to do in order to log in (yes it actually took me a while to figure it out).

oh oh I should also mention that I won the ebay auction for that swift! Actually I was outbid then I got discouraged went to watch Heroes. Justin kept an eye on the auction and then won it for me. Our total was $21.01 + $4.55 (shipping)= $25.56. It is of course an old one. But I'm hoping it will still work beautifully and have no doubts that it will. She already confirmed payment recieved and said she'd mail it out tomorrow!

okay that's all for now, maybe a picture update on the autumn socks tomorrow.

Autumn Socks Project Details

Pattern: my own
Yarn: Knitpicks Self Striping in color Autumn (i think... they dont sell the yarn anymore and I lost the ballband)
Start Date: unsure really. I know I started the first one when I was still in KY. But then didn't work on it forever. it was finished for a while then I took it apart and reworked the leg portion. I CO for the second one on... okay turns out I can't remember that either but it was about a week ago or so.
Completion Date: TBA

-Rose (aka Jess)

Disaster!

So...disaster just struck with my Rogue. (Rogue Project Details located below.)

I was merrily knitting along, almost to the point of reattaching the kangaroo pocket and totally finished with the lower portion of Chart A. I started the upper portion of Chart A and then, a few rows in, I realized something didn't look right. Rather than my cables twisting together, they were snaking back and forth across each other. Uh oh.

So I consulted the chart, and sure enough...I screwed up. 12 rounds down, on row 25, I crossed a cable in the wrong direction. I followed the directions perfectly for the Cable 5 Right symbol. Unfortunately, the symbol in that position on the chart is not the Cable 5 Right symbol. It's the Cable 5 Left symbol. And I never noticed until I got to row 36.

I was forced to make a decision...leave it, frog or try to drop stitches and fix my mistake. I opted for dropping stitches. (No way was I frogging that much work, I was already about to cry as it was, and frogging all that would make me feel sick and want to give up on Rogue, and I want this to be perfect, so I wasn't going to just leave that mistake either.) So I dropped 7 sts 12 rows and started the arduous task of picking them all back up. Finally I was back to where I started. Of course it doesn't look quite as beautiful as it did...the sts are looser and not as even. I evened them out some and it looks better, and I think blocking will help quite a bit. I'm still very disappointed, but I think I can live with it and still be proud of my work.

The only thing is...I made that mistake on both sides. So now I've got to do the whole dropping sts thing again.

Ah well, such is life, I suppose. Life and knitting.


Rogue Project Details

Pattern: Rogue celtic-cabled pullover hoodie
Yarn: Brown Sheep Naturespun Worsted in color #N20, Arctic Moss
Modifications (so far): None, except a smaller hem (5 rows instead of 12) and a slightly smaller gauge, which will hopefully help make the whole sweater fit my small frame better
Start Date: Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Completion Date: TBA

-Pixie

New blog for us, woohoo!

Since Jess and I always post all our knitting stuff in our respective LiveJournals, thereby subjecting a lot of uninterested nonknitters to our content , I thought it was about time we created a knitting blog. A shared one, since we're basically the same person anyway. Besides, we always wanted to start a crafting business...now, if we ever do anything with that idea, we've already got our blog all set up here.

And besides, it's hard for me to keep up with projects on LiveJournal. It'll be much easier to track progress on here, since all the posts will be about knitting...well, okay, mostly about knitting. There may be a few other crafts sprinkled in as well.

Even if she and I are the only two who ever read this, that's okay too. We're writing mostly for ourselves (and each other) anyway.

I'm still working on customizing this, by the way. It's pretty ugly right now, since it's in the middle of a transformation. It'll be pretty when I finish.

Technical (and some graphical) assistance provided by Luke. Thanks Luke.

-Pixie (aka Amie)