Four days later....

I wonder what this says about me: It took me four days to knit a 30 stitch by 30 row swatch, with size 6s and worsted weight yarn. Last night I finished, and even then, it took me a while. I cast on for the neverending hat again and knit one row and then went to bed (it was nearly midnight). Pathetic! Motivation may be a huge factor. Why knit a cashmere hat when the weather has been in the 70s and the wearer won't need it for many months? Okay, it's still kind of pathetic.

I'm going to do a bit on that tonight and hopefully cast on for the Woodland Trails Cowl. I'll have a few hours to knit tomorrow on the train. I'm heading to Connecticut to try on a bridesmaid dress and have lunch with the girls! Then it's off for a fun game night with coworkers. Should be a nice Saturday and maybe it will give me a chance to make up for the poor showing in knitting the rest of this week.

No pictures because I'm being lazy and really, I had better get straight to knitting if I want to get anything done tonight.

Kaeru, kaeru, kaeru*

Well, hello there cashmere yarn. We meet again.

Only this time I have size six knitting needles. Take that, yarn!

Okay, I know it's not the yarn's fault. It's lovely, soft cashmere yarn in two beautiful colorways I wound together in a ball as I ripped, ripped, ripped that hat. There's actually nothing wrong with the yarn, and I doubt it has consciousness, much less evil intentions.

Again, another warning against making knitting decisions after a concussion: "Let's put these two purty yarns together! Hmmm....the fingering is so small that adding it to the DK yarn, well, it's not much bigger, so I'll just knit it on size 3s. It really doesn't add anything! No gauge check for me!"

Not a problem was putting the two colors together. They complement one another and create a nice rich tone with green-blue lowlights.

The problem, to anyone else in the world who knits, is putting together two yarns and figuring that their combined weights will not equal more than any one of them alone. Okay, that will make sense to anyone who understands basic arithmetic. 1 + 1 does not equal 1. Likewise, Fingering Weight + DK Weight does not equal DK Weight. It's really more like worsted.

To top this off, I know I am a tight knitter. (Result of anxiety. Hypothesis: Post-dissertation and graduate school life will be markedly less stressful, therefore my knitting will be less tight.)

These factors combined, of course, led to the smallest hat ever intended for an adult man.

So, tonight I frogged the hat. And I'm arguing with myself about knitting a gauge swatch. I really don't want to, but I know I should, especially after how badly my last Kasimiya no boushi attempt went. Okay, I'll do it...may as well get in the habit. It looks like with a DK weight, it calls for 23 stitches and 32 rows to a 4" swatch. I'll knit that much at least since it should give me a bigger than 4" swatch. Also, in converting the centimeters to inches, I realized this hat measure 50 centimeters, which is about 20 inches. DB's head is about 22 inches in circumference. So, 20 inches of ribbing should have enough stretch to it. I hope I can tell with the swatch. Here goes....

Well. I got about 10 rows into my 30 stitch swatch and got distracted. I just bought the Woodland Trails Cowl which is really nifty and also works as a hat and wimple. I want it to match my Valentine Mitts and I'm trying to work out if I have enough yarn since I probably have 165 yards, maybe more, of the Knit Picks Wool of the Andes. Also, which size needles to use. This is really too much math and research for a cold Monday night. But, I'm looking forward to starting the pattern, once I finish the swatch for the neverending hat. Seriously, too much math for one night. Off to bed!

*Japanese: Frog, frog, frog. To go with the pattern, you know?

Selfish knitting thoughts

I have been in the mindset that selfish knitting is just more gratifying. And I think by and large it is....but I just finished the Cafe au Lait mitts, which are not for me, and I really like them!

I'm looking forward to giving them to their recipient tomorrow and hopefully that will be another point on the side of doing a little gift knitting once in a while.

It is definitely adding to my happiness with these mitts thinking about brightening someone's day (hopefully)!

Also, I had fun doing this pattern once I learned the proper way to do a yarn over! I really like how the lace comes out....it has me thinking about Gothic cathedrals for some reason, maybe because of the arches in the pattern.


Okay, I admit I do want to do some more selfish knitting. Next on my list though is to re-do DB's hat and maybe a pair of mitts for him if I have enough yarn leftover. Then a baby blanket, and one or two prayer shawls. Though after the hat the others should go quickly as they use bulky weight yarn. I'll have to think more on what I'd like to do for me.

I got the new issue of Interweave Knits yesterday though I haven't looked at everything yet. And I have yet to get the new Vogue Knitting even though it came out on the 9th! None of the bookstores I've been to have the new issue, just the winter one. I know for certain there is at least one pattern in there I like. So....maybe something summery. Or, maybe I could start The Afghan.

For now, I'm just going to bask in my latest FO and relax....long traveling weekend involving trains, delays, cancellations, flooding, power outages and driving a really stinky, in bad condition car. Also, a frisky cat is demanding attention. Once she starts chasing her tail, I start to feel really bad...

Mis-shapes, mistakes, misfits....

I've been really into Pulp lately, mostly because of that song as well as "Common People." They sort of capture my feeling very, very broke and not fitting in and all that. Life has been a bit rough the last few weeks. Very briefly: concussion, upset stomach, another sty, ridiculous heating bill, bill from ER that insurance won't pay, dent in my car from backing into a snow (ice?) drift in my driveway and just not knowing what the future holds. I worry about the cat who eats random fuzz and stuff off the rug. I worry about DB who has not has good news yet about graduate school. Plus, work has been crazy and now two days in a row I haven't had a lunch. I need food. I get cranky without food. Oh, and I had two termination sessions which are always a bit hard.

Oh, mistakes! I've been working on the Cafe au Lait mitts. I've not been too happy with them and a few repeats into the lace pattern, I put them down for nearly a week. Usually I stick with patterns (like the forever and ever hat) and don't let them hibernate. I don't like leaving things undone. I haven't been working on the mitts, because I kept looking at the lace part I've knit, and something didn't look quite right. But, I re-read the pattern and kept thinking, well, I've been doing everything right so far as I can tell!


Then I saw this thread [Ravelry link] on the Ravelry forums. Curious, I read it. Oh. I see now....

Then I said a few four-letter-words to myself. Decided I didn't want to rip back to just the start of the lace, but all the way back. Like completely frog and start over. It felt cleaner that way. I'm still saying some four-letter-words.

So, I had been reading YO, K1 as do the yarn over thing and knit that stitch, then knit another. I learned YO from the Vogue Knitting book which is super clearly illustrated and whatnot. But apparently not clear enough for me. In retrospect, I was trying to figure out why the pattern stressed dividing the stitches into 6 stitch portions when, the way I read it, each row was made up of 7 stitch repeats.

Blah. Well, I guess that's a better word than the others. And I'm very grateful to Ravelry for enlightening me where I didn't know I needed it! I am very much a hands-on learner. And now, maybe I will better enjoy knitting these mitts on the start over. I have to say - the rib pattern on these came out very satisfyingly. I hope that now that I know how to do a proper yarn over, the lace section will be satisfying as well.

The mitts are frogged back to a simple skein of yarn (yummy yarn, by the way) and I'm not going to begin them tonight. It's been a rough week (month, year...). Dear DB has suggested a glass of wine and one of my favorite games, Scrabble. Knowing it's his least favorite game, this warms my heart to no end so I'm off to kick some DB butt.