Ack! Just found out yesterday that the baby shower for the recipient of this baby sweater is in two weeks! I don’t think I’m gonna make it, but I’m gonna try!
So here’s today’s update:
closeup of the cable section of the sweater
This is the cable I twisted at the pool this evening just before coming home. No dropped stitches, yay! I was having my doubts about this cable in the beginning but now I think it’s starting to look nice.
I did take a break away from the knitting today to get a totally new “do”:
my new haircut
I’ve been wanting wash-and-go hair for quite a while now. Mostly because I wear lots of hats in the winter and my hair always gets so smashed up in my hats because it’s so fine. But now, all I need is a little pomade and water, and instant hairdo! Not bad, eh? Can’t wait to give it the hat test this fall.
The cable needles I was waiting for arrived yesterday so this morning before work I set out to try to fix the dropped stitches in my baby sweater. I tried to video the process but wouldn’t you know, the batteries died in the camera before I could get it all down. So, I got a few photos, but not too many. Sorry! I’ll try to do better at documenting my next major knitting F-up. K? So in this first shot here is the cable needle, holding the stitches of the dropped cable.
Next, I’m showing you the ladders created when I unraveled the cable stitches. I’m going to pretend that each strand is like a little ball of yarn and knit from it. I will use the strands from bottom to top. Picking up the bottom strand, knitting the cable stitches onto a second cable needle, then sliding the second needle so that the stitches are ready to be knit again on the next strand, etc. until all of the stitches are knit back up. I did have to do a cable cross on the third strand up from the bottom, but it was pretty ok.
here are the strands I’m going to knit from
In the photo below, the cable is all re-knit and looking almost good as new. My eyelets on either side of the cable look a little wonky but I am going to try to not worry about it so much because I can’t quite figure out how to smooth it all over. Sigh. It’s not perfect but better than it was, for sure.
cable after being reknit
And here I am, happily knitting after having fixed the cable. Soon, I really will be able to put the sleeve stitches on holders and knit the rest of the body. I’m looking forward to being done with this sweater so I can move on to the matching hat and socks.
me, happily knitting on baby sweater after cable stitches are fixed
I was having a great day today. I went shopping with my mom, who bought me some really gorgeous amethyst earrings for my new earholes. It’s been a while since we’ve been able to go shopping together but I think she finally feels well enough and that feels really great to me.
Then I took Diana to the pool where she met up with a friend and I settled in for an evening of knitting.
That’s when I saw it. a dropped stitch, right at the cable cross of my baby sweater. I managed to rip back to the row with the dropped stitch:
closeup of cable after ripping out
But am doubting my fortitude for picking up ladder by ladder and re-knitting. This yarn is so splitty and hard to do cables with. But tonight, I got some encouragement, of a very high order.
I did a search on Ravelry for fixing cables and up popped a message by Janet Szabo, the Queen of Cables, in my book, where she stated that she’s about to have a DVD come out on cables. In the DVD are techniques for fixing them She invited folks to drop her a line and say if they wanted to be informed when the DVD is released, which of course I did. I mentioned that I am in the middle of trying to fix my first cable. She must have been online because she replied within minutes and offered to look at a photo of my poor cable if I had one. (I had taken the photo for this blog post not 10 minutes before… LOVE my macro photography settings on my camera!)
So I sent her the photo, and basically she suggested that I do what I had been planning to do, that is, re-knit, ladder by ladder, but she also suggested that I use some straight cable needles, like the Brittany cable needles, so I ordered some. Hopefully they should be here soon. In the meantime, I’m stepping back from the sweater.
Thanks, Janet!
Just When I Thought my Birthday Was Over…
My DH told me before that something he got for my birthday didn’t come in time. Well that was two weeks ago, so I was starting to think it was becoming a non-issue. But then, today, this came:
Namaste Newport bag in the peacock colorway
It’s the Namaste Newport bag in the Peacock colorway. I know folks are simply rabid for this bag in this color so it must have been backordered. I’m going to love it… it’s smaller than my others but it does have a firm bottom. Great for knitting in the car, which is where most of mine gets done.
It does, however, have an imperfection:
closeup of bag handles showing excess threads
It looks like it got caught in the sewing machine! It has several places where it is stitched with several layers of thread and there are extra strings. I’m going to try snipping them and see if it holds up. If it doesn’t, I’ll send it back… but I think this bag and I are going to be fast friends. Thanks, hubby!
Ok, yes it’s true… my Yarnaholic Tracker does not lie. Last week, I caved and bought yarn. LOTS of yarn. What am I going to do with it? I don’t know yet. But it’s here. In my stash. That pile, you know, the one that’s overtaking my house.
I shopped at Knit Picks, as per usual, and got Wool of the Andes in Amethyst Heather and Onyx Heather. My daughter has a lovely purple afghan that my step mother made for her a number of years ago, when her room was purple. So I got enough yarn to make myself an afghan and have some left over for some felted hats (of course).
Then there is the not-so-small matter of the endless brown blanket for Miss Z. I am making progress. I am. I am. I am still enjoying knitting it. But there is the issue of that huge box of new yarn and I SO want to make something with it. The Miss Z. blanket cannot wait so I must remain strong. I must hold my resolve to finish that project first and to work on nothing else until it is done. Miss Z. needs it. I need to be able to give it to her. And I will. In a way I am glad she likes brown and I don’t. for a brown blanket, it is turning out BEAUTIFUL if I don’t say so myself, and if it were in colors I actually loved I might have a hard time giving it away. No, not really. I can’t remember the last time I knitted something with such joy and such purpose. It’s a cool feeling.
Wanna know what else was in the box? A set of size 7 Harmony needle tips with a 24″ cable set, that’s what! IJ at work has been eager to learn to knit. About a month ago she bought herself a learn to knit book and I told her about KnittingHelp.com. She doesn’t live near a yarn shop so I offered to include starter needles and a ball of yarn in my big order, which of course she then paid me back for. She decided she would go home with her book, yarn, needles, and website and see what she could do on her own, then she’ll come to me with questions next week. I hope she has an easy time and can get going! I bet she’ll be fine. She seems like the kind of person who would be a successful self-taught knitter. I can’t wait to give her some pointers on Monday!
The last item in my bag was the Harmony Cable Needle Set. Aren’t they just lovely? I usually prefer to cable without a cable needle, but there are times when the extra insurance is really helpful, such as with a slippery yarn or one without much give. I just love looking at them, and hope they will be not too slippery to do the job!
These are the ones for which I have evidence, anyway…
My first cabled poncho was made from Alafoss Lopi–can you say itchy? I was a young knitter and didn’t know better. Plus I didn’t know yet how to make mirrored increases and so my increases look yucky. Rhoda says I should felt it a little and make it into a bag. Maybe I will… someday.
Clapotis #1–I made this with a kettle dyed yarn and even in the same lot the color variance is huge. I should have varied the skeins more as I went but I didn’t and now all I have left is the yarn that doesn’t match. Sigh.
Alison’s Poncho–This is my most shameful UFO to date. I am so regretful that I didn’t finish it but I may yet one day. It’s huge, so hard to lug out and work on. Ponchos will be 10 years out of fashion. Worse yet? This was a gift. And the recipient knew about it. And the yarn was expensive. Sigh.
Cables and Eyelets Baby Blanket — by Nancy Hearne. I started this one for the baby of a former daycare teacher of my son. Kept losing stitches here and there, and lost my mojo.
Clapotis #2– I started this skinnier one a couple of years ago when my dad was dying… knit on it a lot in waiting rooms. Can’t finish it.
Latifa — I like this one, I really do. But I made the first ruffle with too small of a needle and it’s too puny for my taste. I just need to take a pair of scissors to the ruffle and well, you know…
My son’s “Thomas and James” scarf — Mommy guilt! I’ll finish it this year. I must.
Cables and Eyelets Scarf — Too much of a good thing maybe? I fell out of love with this project.
There are many others started but not completed. Quite a few that for whatever reason, I never photographed. Someday I will dig them out.
Many of my UFOs are projects that I have no intention of finishing at this point. Do I keep them? Or throw them out? What about the unused yarn that went with each of those projects? What’s a girl to do?
Yay! I’m starting the last stripe of my baby blanket. Finally! My daughter decided that she needed to snap this photo of me the other day, and is insisting that I put it on my blog. So here it is, with full photo credit to Diana. But, boy… I sure am tired at seeing that fat person in those photos! Who is she, anyway? Someone who wants to be done knitting a baby blanket, that’s who!
What was I thinking, anyway, doing such a large project? I think this confirms for me that I am a small project kind of gal. I’m fine with that.
I am still trying to decide whether the blanket needs an edging. I probably will, to increase the amount of blue in the pattern, since the baby is a boy. Now another co-worker is pregnant so I think next time I will do a pile of baby hats and socks. The baby is due at Christmas and is a girl. Yay, one of each to knit for this year. How fun!
Cable-y Goodness
Yesterday I received the book, Cables Volume 1: The Basics by Janet Szabo. I love this book! Ok, I think I’m a book ho. But seriously. Still. This is a good one. If you love cables like I do, or a shameless fan of Janet’s work, as I am, Go. Now.
The book is chock full of photos and very clear instructions. The photos are black and white, which I think is a good thing, because sometimes color can be distracting in cables. So it’s really easy to see the work. She also discusses cabling without a cable needle right up front, which is how I do it, and I think that’s a very useful thing. Makes cables go a lot faster! Each chapter talks about different types of cables with photos and instructions in charts and words, and also gives you challenges to try other cabling experiments. There’s even a chapter on designing your own cables. How cool!
So look what I found when I opened the book:
Wow. I wasn’t expecting a SIGNED copy! It says, “Patricia, may all your cables cross the right way!” But hey, even if they don’t, there’s a section in the book on fixing cables.
If Volume 1 is this good, I already can’t wait for Volume 2!
Ok, yes it’s true… my Yarnaholic Tracker does not lie. Last week, I caved and bought yarn. LOTS of yarn. What am I going to do with it? I don’t know yet. But it’s here. In my stash. That pile, you know, the one that’s overtaking my house.
Wanna know what else was in the box? A set of 
The last item in my bag was the 
