Blocking the CPH

The Central Park Hoodie's back and both fronts are now blocked. So far so good...well except for the honking mistake I found while I was blocking the right front. At least I only have to tink back one cable repeat & redo the shoulder shaping so it's not a big problem. Never noticed it while knitting. Mind must have been wandering again because I DID count the cable repeats before I started the shaping...just didn't count well.

Anyhoo once I blocked out the right front and then the left front you could not help but notice the difference...the right was a couple of inches taller. Not good. So once it's dry I've got to fix that before I can join the fronts and the back together. Still plan on doing a three needle bind off for the shoulders so the plan is to finish the main body tomorrow.

As for the sizing issues that I was worried about prior to blocking it looks as if it's right on the money. The back is perfect at 20" wide and about 1 " longer at 25". The left front is 9" wide without the button band and is also 25" long. I'm not gonna talk about the right front since it's slightly off...it is okay in width though at 9". The way the numbers are working out once the button band is attached I'll be slightly wider than the 10 1/2" listed on the schematic...works for me!

As for the sleeves I decided to knit them at the same time on one circular needle. So far so good through 2 pattern repeats. Let's hope there are no more surprises...I have enough going on right now.

Run Through

Today it's all about what progress has been made with all the stuff on the needles. Actually I'm pleased that I have touched everything I have at least once in the last week. All are making progress towards completion. All have required me to fix something...in one case quite a bit of tinking was needed.

First up is the Nicole Jacket I finally got past the armhole shaping and am close to starting the shoulder shaping. It seems like it has taken forever to get past the armhole decreases because of my inability to knit & watch the National Geo channel. This pattern has driven me more nuts than usual because the pattern is knit on the wrong side...you can't tell if you're still right unless you continually flip back & forth or you just go for it and realize you're off as you get to the last 5 stitiches. I thought of using stitch patterns, but I'd need one every 4 stitches...so I just decided I won't work on it if there's really something I have to see on National Geo.

My second big project is the Central Park Hoodie...moving quickly there. I'll finish the right front this evening. This weekend I may go ahead and block the fronts and back so I can seam it up and try the darn thing on. The arms I'm thinking will be done in the round so I'll have a bit less seaming. Although I've thought about doing them together on one circular I doubt I'll go that route...too much thinking about which sleeve is which so the cables aren't flipped. So far my only problem with CPH is the 2nd cable I forgot to do on the left front. At least I noticed before I'd gotten the entire front done. Decided to frog back to it rather than take out the stitches just for the cable...turned out to be much faster than messing with picking up the stitches for 4 sets of cables.

The poor basic sock has been a bit neglected this week. I did work on it while sitting in a waiting room, but I'm just not loving this yarn at all. I don't like the feel of it and the patterning isn't matching as well as I think it should...afterall I did start at almost the same spot, but the design is not as crisp and clear as the first sock. I'm not ripping it back because as much as I hate to say it...just don't care about this sock.

The last of the projects that got a good bit of attention was the Herringbone Wrap...needed to see how far I could get before my trip to Mosaic on Tuesday. It's now 72" long which may be long enough, but I just might add another set or 2 of squares since I still have yarn left & I love long wraps. I ended up buying 2 more skeins of the Noro Silk Garden Lite in the colorway I used the least in order to knit the sides. Maybe the darn thing will be all done by the end of next month...will need to plan out the sides. I'm so type A that I want to match the two long sides...crazy right?

Short RowsDone

Short rows are all completed...there are 18 stitches for each shoulder and 38 stitiches for the hood all waiting paitently on holders. I'm hoping I've done them correctly. Time will tell. I also started knitting on the left front and got all the ribbing completed before bed...yeah!

Short Rows You Say

Significant progress has been made on the Central Park Hoodie or CPH. I'm about ready to start the shoulder shaping and have decided to do short rows rather than binding off as the pattern describes. The sloped shoulder will look so much better than binding off and then seaming up the fronts and back. The live stitches will then be held & I'll seam the fronts and the back using the three needle bind off.

I'll end up with a sloped shoulder & an almost invisible seam...what's not to love about it? Now how will I do this when the pattern isn't written with short rows? Well you can find a tutorial here at Knitty that tells you how to 'rewrite' the pattern from binding off to short rows. It's really very simple in the case of the CPH. The size I'm doing tells me to bind off 6 stitches for 6 rows, but what I plan to do is knit to the last 6 sts then wrap & turn back, then I will follow my pattern until the last 6 sts where I'll wrap & turn back. I'll repeat this for each row...knitting up to 6 sts before the last wrap & turn for 6 rows.

So I have rewritten the shoulder section to look something like this:

Row 1(WS): follow pattern to last 6 sts, sl 1 pw, wyif, return sl st, move yarn to back and turn

Row 2(RS): follow pattern to last 6 sts, sl 1 pw, wyib, return sl st, move yarn to front and turn

Row 3(WS): follow pattern to last 12 sts, sl 1 pw, wyif, return sl st, move yarn to back & turn

Row 4(RS): follow pattern to last 12 sts, sl 1 pw, wyib, return sl st, move yarn to front and turn

Row 5(WS): follow pattern to last 18 sts, sl 1 pw, wyif, return sl st, move yarn to back & turn

Row 6(RS): follow pattern to last 18 sts, sl 1 pw, wyib, return sl st, move yarn to front and turn

Row 7(WS): follow pattern and pick up all wrapped stitches, either knitting or purling as needed, place the stitches just worked on holder (18 sts + 38 sts), break yarn and reattach at RS to pick up all wrapped stitches at right shoulder (18 sts).

I should have 18 stitches(left shoulder), 38 stitches (hood) and 18 stitches (right shoulder) left after I complete the short rows...it'll be fun right?

Even and Odd

What happened? I suddenly have a number of things on the needles this month and all requiring my attention. Currently there are 3 sweaters (Nicole Jacket, Central Park Hoodie and Shaped Edge Sweater) 2 different socks (Basic pattern & Knitty's Spring Forward, Etrusca and the Herringbone Wrap. I'm thinking in order to get it all done quicker and so no project will feel neglected I've decided to take the time honored approach of an odd/even day. It worked during my kids growing up for various things so on odd days I'm planning on working on Nicole, Basic sock or Herringbone Wrap. Then on an even day I'll knit on Central Park Hoodie, the Spring Forward sock or Estrusca. The Shaped Edge Sweater only has a sleeve left so that can be worked in when I need some mindless knitting.

Another great thing about this approach is that my poor thumb will not cramp up with the same needles being handled nightly. Of course it could all fall apart when one project becomes the next obsession...have to resist that impulse.

The Group's First Sock

Back in March I mentioned that my neighbors had asked me to help them learn how to knit socks. Everyone knew the basics of how to knit, but no one had tried knitting socks. The first call came from D who wanted to do a pair for her oldest daughter who had recently had a foot injury. D had knit up a "toe cozy" for the daughter because her exposed toes were constantly cold. Since the daughter loved the feel of the yarn on her toes D naturally thought she'd love handknit socks....who wouldn't love them! So plans were set to get together and start a pair of socks as a birthday present for her daughter. Afterall she said we "had until June to get the socks done"...funny how that worked out. The other neighbors, B & E decided they would like to take part in the knitting party too.

I made up a basic sock pattern based on the Yarn Harlot's book, Knitting Rules and a ball band of Colinette Jitterbug. The first lesson came...everyone got their socks cast on and 2 x 2 ribbing started. We got together a few more Sundays to knit...progress was very very slow for everyone. The last time I checked in on their progress D had ripped back and restarted a few more times...still working on the ribbing & the June birthday is now past. E had made it down to the heel flap, but had not picked up her needles in a while.

Of the three who started knitting back in March only B was close to finishing her first sock. On July 8th she was done with the toe decreases and ready to learn how to finish...the very next evening she learned how to do just that. The Kitchener Stitch can be a confusing mess of stitches when you first do it. I remember sitting at my desk and saying out loud..."knit off, purl on...purl off, knit on"...over & over again until I got to those last 2 stitches. B did have some problems remembering the mantra, but she got through it with a completed first sock.

Her sock has had some memorable moments...about 1/2" of the knit stitch followed by a row of purl before realizing that by knitting in the round stockinette is created without the need of purling, the poor sock & it's attached needles getting sucked up in her vacuumn not once but two times & the heel flap getting ripped back multiple times for 'dropped' slip stitches...still a mystery as to how those stitches ended up unravelling. I've told her that she needs to cast on for the second sock...before "second sock syndrome" rears it's ugly head. Mine is cast on and ribbing is done. The question is do I work to the heel and wait for E & D to get there or do I finish my second sock?

The Forgotten Finished Object

I really shouldn't say it was forgotten because it has been worn a number of times since I finished it back in June...I just forgot to take FO Picture. Of course I'm talking about Chic Knits Ribby Shell that I started in May and finished on the 17th of June. What a fun knit it was...quick, simple, looks nice on, and to top it off a few compliments even from my husband.

I didn't do an awful lot in the way of modifications...in fact only one comes to mind. I added an extra inch in length to the overall garment. After wearing it a bit I think I may add another inch or so to the length on the next one. Yes, there will be another since there are 2 versions of the same pattern...one is a plain front/back and the other is ribbed all the way around. I'm leaning towards a ribbed version, but the plain front is very nice.

The shell looks so nice I'm thinking of making one as a vest for the fall/winter season. Instead of using summer light weight yarns I'm going to use worsted weight to see how it looks...would do it in a much larger size so that I can layer under it. Bonnie Marie Burns, Ms Chic Knits herself makes that recommendation in the pattern so it should work out just fine.

The details of the project:
Pattern: Ribby Shell from Chic Knits

Yarn: Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece in Teddy Bear

Needles: KnitPicks, size 4 Harmony Options and size 6 Options, 48" circulars

Modification: added 1 inch in overall length to shell body

Size: 37"

Monkey is Done...11 Months Late

I finally finished the 2nd Monkey Sock by Cookie A. for the second time. Yep, I knitted it twice...what fun...well not really! I had finished the second sock of the pair way back in October, but when I tried them on there were "size issues". I guess I messed up the gauge and I never paid attention to this "little" problem.

After I had finished the sock I laid it on it's mate and looked at the difference in size between the two. I could not believe that I had never realized as I knit that the second sock that it was growing larger in diameter. I had used the first one as my measuring stick to check that the ribbing, the heels and the toes were all the same between the socks. I remember noticing some width differences, but blew that off as just the way I was laying them together...you know as in those peskey needles "get in the way" notion. Needless to say that width does make a difference in how the sock fits my foot...this sock did not fit & I knew I'd never wear them nor do I know anyone with such mismatched feet that I could dump them.

After this discovery I laid the sock aside for the night...to think. I don't like to rip apart in the heat of the moment so I left it until the next day. Of course I ripped the darn thing apart first thing the next morning...the whole sock. I was left with a pile of curly yarn that I washed, dried and wound back into a ball. I put the completed first sock and the yarn away...far way from me.

A few weeks ago as I was pondering what knitting I would take with me to Purl Jam I came across the Monkey bag...it seemed a shame for such beautiful yarn (Fleece Artist Sock Merino) and one sock to just be sitting on my desk. I cast on and start the second sock...making sure that I had a much tighter gauge. I didn't really knit much on it over the course of the weekend, but it started growing and was finished last night. I'm pleased with the fit...now the only problem is that it's much lighter in tone that sock 1. I didn't try to match the colors because it didn't seem possible. You do notice...DH did, but whose going to notice under my pants leg? There is no way I am going to frog this sock again...not happening.

New Day, New Month and Another Plan

Today I went to visit my LYS...The Yarn Lounge. Since I was close to the shop running some errands I decided to pop in on them. I have 2 projects, both needing a needle size of US6, so it seemed like a good idea to go ahead and get the Addi's for my Nichole Jacket by Jane Ellison. I love using my other Addi's, but I only have lace sized needles.

While I was there I looked thrrough their yarn selection for a replacement yarn for the Mosaic Maniac's Central Park Hoodie KAL. As I said a day or so ago the Kathmandu DK Tweed wasn't going to work for the CPH. After looking at my choices...the Jo Sharp SilkRoad Aran, the Louet Riverstone, and the Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Worsted... I chose the Lamb's Pride. The Lounge had a color I had not seen before called Cafe-au-Lait...think varigated browns. The shades vary from a dark rich brown to a lighter shade of milk chocolate. No really light tones mostly a pleasing brown that once I knitted the swatch has a mottled kind of tone. I like the look of the fabric and best of all I got gauge with the US8's....even the row gauge. A true first for me...I NEVER have been able to get the allusive row gauge in any other project.

Now we will have to wait to see what other things develop as I knit this sweater. The cast on date is set for July 12th so in the meantime I'm going to cast on for the Nichole Jacket that has been on the "To Do List" for over 2 years. The Kathmandu DK Tweed will be used for this one...it hasn't been in the stash a week, but it's actually the yarn called for in the pattern so I may as well use it. I'm thinking this weekend I should be far enough ahead on other projects to start this one. Now we shall see if I can knit 2 sweaters over the same time without going crazy.