The not-so-finished FO

Pattern Specs

Pattern: Vogue Knitting Spring/Summer 1989
Yarn: Knit Picks Gloss (Woodland Sage); 7 skeins
Needles: US #2, 3
Started: April 2007
Finished: November 2007
Total Time: ~8 months
Satisfaction (1 to 10): 8

Well, here it is. All finished, or so it seems. Seems. Seams! As I'd expected, the seaming part was a bit of a challenge, but not impossible. The sides didn't quite match up in length so I thought I'd be clever and cinch up the longer side little by little as I seamed. It's a worthy technique, no question, but it was probably no match for the length difference I was trying to hide (which wasn't that much). Needless to say, the sides pucker in a way that doesn't exactly inspire joyful kissing:
ARG! Look at that puckering! The first picture shows the weird hip curve as well--that part definitely sticks out too much. My only option is to rip out the side seams and start over.
But wait, there's more!

What the hell is up with these sleeves?! (I'm not even going to rant about how very 80s they are because, well, the pattern's from the 80s so it's my fault). But it is what it looks like: a pouch on my underarm. Amy Winehouse has nothing on this little hiding place. I know that I knit the sleeves as per the pattern, so what gives? I can understand the shoulder pads--it was the 80s, after all--but what's with the weird bagginess? Does it serve as a purse? Illusion of big muscles? Easy accommodation of arm fat one may acquire between 9 and 5?

Actually, I'm not angry in the least. It was an invaluable learning experience both technically and, uh, practically. Older patterns should be picked with care; it's useful to check for errata, too.

One more detail I'm a bit perplexed about and then it's on to happier stuff:


The ridges don't match up! I painstakingly matched them up for the sleeves and upper body, but there just wasn't the same number on both sides. Weird, but at least the evidence isn't in a noticeable place! Unless I lift up my arms and flaunt it.

So as for the puckering, it seems like my only option is to take the sides apart and start over. Unless I stash it in my closet and never see it again, that is. Which would be sad, considering how much effort I've put into it. No, I'll get to it soon, because otherwise I can't let myself start a new project (there's a gorgeous sweater I've been eyeing in the last issue of IK)!

Paul's afghan is progressing well. I can't believe how big it's gotten!


Yep, it's long enough to cover my legs but I've still got almost as much left to go! I somehow didn't manage to work on it very much during the week while I was on winter break. Weekends, however, are completely dedicated to working on this afghan. Work would be intolerable otherwise. It's already being put to good use, actually, as the room I work in is really cold. It's much better with a snuggly afghan on your lap although it'd be even better if I could tuck it under my feet, too! Anyhow, I promised Paul that I'd be done with it by mid February, but we shall see. It's gotten too heavy to bring to school, which is just as well since all of my classes this semester are math ans sciences; no opportunity to knit.

In other news, I've gotten the hang of knitting with DPNs! I started Donny's hat (procrastination has the darndest effects, eh?) but I'll probably rip it out and start over. The joins weren't the neatest and want this hat to come out well.

The VK pullover is blocking...and I'm in a knitting rut

It's blocking. Or was, actually, since it's been dry for a few hours. I laid down the sleeves last Monday but only got to the body this Tuesday. Everything looks alright so far, although the fabric got alarmingly fuzzy-looking after getting wet.

Next I have to sew one shoulder seam together and knit a neckline. One of my reference books suggests using a needle that's one or two sizes bigger than what was used on the rest of the garment, so I bought size 4 needles today. The picking-up-stitches part is a bit indimidating to me, actually. I'm really hoping that I don't mess it up.

I'm aiming to have it done by Wednesday, which is Knitting Night. A couple of members also have green FOs, so we've arranged to share them then. 'Can't wait!

This past week has been beyond busy--I didn't have time to knit at all! Hopefully I'll make up for it this weekend.

I decided to start Dad's Glitten's tonight--what a disaster! I knew learning to use DPNs would be challenging, but this seemed near impossible! The needles (the project calls for 4) kept moving out of position and twisting around. Just like when I was learning to use circulars, casting on a few times helped a lot. I still haven't got the hang of actually knitting with them, but I'm sure it's only a matter of practice. Seriously though, these things are so awkward!

One of the downsides to having non-knitting parents is their ignorance of things like UFOs or project boredom. I'm the kind of knitter who is more focused on the finished object, so it's a bit unnerving when my folks ask me why I haven't finished the VK pullover and why I'm looking to start a new project when I've got two already. They're so serious about it too, as if it's something akin to my schoolwork. They're probably just antsy because I haven't knit them anything yet!

Speaking of folks: this year's Thanksgiving was quiet and modest. 'Just us, a salad, and the turkey I got from work. And some good white wine, too. Desserts was similarily simple: I baked a pumpkin mirengue pie which we had with tea and more wine.

So close I can almost taste it!

I may have finally gotten cables down, but the art of regular blogging still escapes me. That's something that I need to learn how to do; if I'm going to document this knitting adventure of mine (which is actually rather subdued), I might as well do it right!

I've since finished the front of the VK pullover! As with the back, I somehow lost my place in the ridge pattern repeat and while I fixed my mistake much faster this time around, the de-ja-vu feeling was less than enjoyable. (Afterwards I started circling each row as I got to it to make sure I knew exactly where I was. Who knew that it was okay to write on patterns?!) There was also a bit of confusion about the length right before I began to bind off for the neck. At first it seemed like the piece was going to be a bit longer than I wanted, but as I finished up the armholes, it turned out that it was just right. At this point I don't care how that worked. I'm just glad that it did. Both front and back pieces match! Well, actually, the back is wider in the bust than the front and I'm not really sure why. Maybe it's my knitting tension, or maybe it's just because of different armhole placement for each piece (which doesn't make any sense).

I finished the front on around Oct. 21st.

The second sleeve is about 2/3 finished!

After that it's on to blocking, picking up the neck cuff, and stitching it all together. It hasn't really sunk in yet, actually. The thought of wearing a garment that I made is bizzare to me.

I'm still plugging away at the VK Block and Cable Throw for Paul. This sucker is going to take a while to finish. Why is it that I always choose projects with small gauge? Talk about masochism! I worked out the math in my head while riding the bus home one day (warning: NERDY CONTENT):

There are 28 rows in the repeat, and I need 12 repeats plus the first 14 rows, and then 5 rows for the border. I can knit an average of 3 rows per day. I've done 1 repeat so far and am 12 rows into the second one. This means that I've got 327 rows to go, and if I knit 3 rows each day, then I'll be finished in 109 days (!!!!!!!) Methinks I've got to knit more than 3 rows per day. Or at least knit more than 3 rows on some days.

A few photos:

(A closeup of the stitch pattern. No idea where the funky color is from; the color in the other photos is correct, though)

(The WS looks like chromosomes! Hee!)

On the bright side, I bought some new yarn recently for upcoming projects! The first one is Berroco's Ultra Alpaca for a Seaman's Cap . A co-worker asked me to make him a beanie so I obliged...er, will oblige, soon. As soon as I finish my VK pullover. (No photo of the yarn yet as I still haven't recieved it.)

Next, I'm going to make a pair of Urban Necessity Gloves for my dad. The yarn will be Cascade 220 :

A few weeks ago I took my mom to a Real Yarn Store! It's owned by a woman who I know from knitting night ('not sure if she'd care to be mentioned, so she'll stay anonymous for now!). Ma wants me to make her a hat and after parousing patterns on Ravelry, she finally picked one out: the Sideways Bobble Hat. Ma doesn't want the pompom, and so don't I, for that matter! At first I was really against this pattern seeing as it's so simple, but the upside is that it's going to knit up very quickly. My mom picked out some Rowan Big Wool Fusion for it:

Knitting night is still the thing I look forward to most during the week. Even if I'm not in a social mood when I get on the bus to go there, I already feel better when I get off at my stop. By the end of the night, I'm in a pretty damn good mood. So, long live knitting night! I need to remember to get the new issue of VK and possibly IK's Holiday issue. Like I need more projects in my Ravelry queue.

WIP update and a bit of inspiration

On the WIP front: The VK pullover is coming along well. The front is about half-way done as of now. A photo from 2 days ago:

I have since started the ridge pattern (which takes forever). The sides are held down by pins, so they're not really that angular!

I cast on for Paul's afghan on the 2nd (Sunday) and was less than 10 rows in when I frogged it at Wednesday's knitting night. My stitch count seemed off and since I'd be dealing with cables, it seemed best to have the correct amount of stitches on my needles. I've since gotten further than I was before I frogged it but I'm still a few rows short of cabling.

At this point the stitch pattern doesn't look like much so it's not worth photographing.

At first, knitting with circulars was a bit awkward, but once I learned to turn my work so the two ends of my knitting wouldn't join, things progressed pretty quickly. Circular needles have intimidated me for so long, so it was a surprise to me how easy they are to handle. My only complaint is that the needles can spontaneously untwist from the cable! It's happened twice so far. I sort of panicked the first time and did this fancy maneuver of transfering the stitches from the separated needle onto a stitch holder. The second time happened in class and I didn't have anything to hold the stitches. Sliding them all down onto the cable and then re-attaching the needle worked perfectly, so I guess fancy maneuvers aren't necessary. I'm used to stitches getting lost the instant they slip off the needle, so I think the chunkier yarn of this project plus the bigger gauge is the reason that didn't happen.

These needles are the screw-in kind and it looks like that's not the best mechanism.

I've also discovered the joys of knitting in class. Yes, I swore that it could never work for me and yes, I am now eating my words. As long as I don't need to constantly write things down, knitting in class is possible.

Now on to the inspiration:

Some leaves I found on the ground a few days ago. The colors are absolutely stunning. Someday, if I ever learn how to dye yarn, I hope to attempt to recreate these colors. A few of my favorites:

In in attempt to preserve them, I've pressed these leaves into a Webster's dictionary. I discovered a pressed spider as I was flipping through it--made me jump about a foot. Note to self: don't use books to kill spiders hanging in mid-air by their webs.

My First Cables! (and other good stuff)

One of the sales managers at work, Paul, asked me to knit him an afghan a little while ago. I nosed around online for a while, searching for a suitable pattern. Paul wanted it in a solid color so the dog hair wouldn't show, so I needed to find one with an interesting stitch pattern. I finally decided on one I found in the winter 97/98 edition of VK:





Stitch detail:

Knit Picks had a sale a few weeks ago so I ordered the yarn for them: 17 balls of Swish Superwash in Sand Dune:

The pattern requires size 9 circular needles (24" cord) so I bought those as well. This project includes a few techniques that I've never used before, such as using circular needles and making cables. After a few weeks of hemming and hawing, I finally sat down to learn how to cable:

So far I only know how to make this basic cable--making it gradually 'unzip' at the end didn't work out too well. Thankfully, it looks like I can skate by with what I know so far!



I finished HP 7 a few weeks ago, which means that the knitting hiatus is over!! My friend C invited me to an A's game on 8/14 (Tuesday) and I thought it'd be a good idea to start the front of my VK pullover there...except that I'd packed a skein instead of a ball of yarn. I wasn't about to start converting it on the train, so I cast on when I got home instead. My progress so far:

I've got 2 more decreases to do and then I'm on to whatever's next! Its been coming to school with me every day and I can usually do about 2-5 rows per day. My new back pack even has a nifty little compartment for it! (Well, it's actually a sort of built-in notebook sleeve, but no matter)


The compartment holds a bag containing my WIP (not pictured), as well as the pattern magazine and a ruler.

And...last but not least, I went to my first knitting night last Wednesday! It was mentioned on Ravelry--I was surprised by how many knitting nights there are in the bay area. It's held at a bookstore close to campus and it's very easy to get to by bus. Overall it was awesome and a huge treat since I've never knit with a group of people before or listened to people talk about things that I've only read about. I couldn't make it this week but I'm hoping to make this a regular event for me!

I finally picked up the new IK and VK issues and both are fabulous, although I like VK a little more. Then again I'm partial to VK in general! It's definitely a drool-worthy issue.

Before quitting my barista job a few weeks ago, I used my benefits to get so yummy tea and a cup. I can't wait until the weather gets cold enough to make hot tea in the morning. The tins will definitely come in handy when they're empty (DPNs, anyone? Notions?)

Kitsch of Yester-year

HP 7 went on sale yesterday and I'm still desparately plowing my way through the fifth book. I want to be up-to-date before I read the final one. Pops picked up #7 from Costco the morning it was released and has since settled down to read it. He gives me smug looks at the dinner table and laughs when I clamp my hands to my ears and hum loudly when he drops hints about the plot.

Preparing for HP 7 has definitely been the reason for my knitting lapse; I think that I should continue with the VK pullover soon if I hope to finish it before it gets too cold to wear short sleeves!

A few evenings ago, the absense of knitting drove me to rummage through drawers in search of kitsch. And kitsch I did find!

Circa 1995. This sweater was knit for me by a family acquaintance while we were still living in Russia. Though this photo doesn't show it, the panels of ribbing are actually diagonal. The sweater is really itchy so I didn't like it much. I wasn't too keen on the color either. 'Still had to wear it, though...

Circa 1987. This dress was crocheted for me by my godmother. There's a tie in the front (photo on left) and a button closure in the back (photo on right). I've got to hand it to my mother, she kept this dress in pristine condition all this time!

Socks!! L to R: Slip-on socks made from dog hair (my guess is that it came from a dog my uncle's family used to own); wool socks; my baby socks! All of these were definitely brough over by either my mom or dad from Russia at some point.

More socks! These are a combination of dog hair and what looks like the same wool used for the white socks in the photo above.

Detail of the heel.

The potholder at the top was crocheted by my grandmother's neighbor, who then gifted it to my mother. I'm not ashamed to admit that I sniggered at it. A lot. Dad came home, took one look at it, and scoffed. He then began to rummage through the kitchen drawers, looking for something. After asking him what he was after multiple times, he replied that he was looking for his mother's crocheted potholders. I benignly pointed to a hook on the wall above his head which held the two potholders (bottom photo). "Now that's crocheting", dad proclaimed. I've always been in awe of his mother's handiwork, though I've only just begun to truly appreciate and understand it.

Her crocheted coasters.

Amazingly, these items satisfied my need for a knitting fix without me even so much as looking at a pair of needles. Pathetic? Maybe. Nostalgic and inspirational? A definite 'yes'!

At the half-way point--pausing to enjoy the view!

Progress on the pullover's sleeve became faster as I got closer to the shoulder thanks to the decreases. And the less stitches on the needles, the more rows I was able to do on the train! Returning home from work today with five minutes until my stop, I had almost finished binding off when I accidentally dropped a stitch. So much for my triumphant finale! I ended up finishing the sleeve at home in front of the computer. Here it is, in all of its triangular glory:

(click on photo for larger version)

A different perspective:

(click on photo for larger version)

The two finished pieces together:

(click on photo for larger version)

It's starting to look like a pullover now, eh? Two more pieces like this and I'll be ready to block and seam this puppy together! I'll probably cast on for the front in a few days--I'm a bit behind in reading the first six Harry Potter books before the final one comes out next month! (A change of activity is supposed to be good for concentration, right?)

Making a knitter of her

Today I sheared a live'un!!

My father, to be more presice. Sadly, he produces hair and not wool.

Ever since I learned about Ravelry, I was anxious to join and see what it was all about. So many knitters and crocheters in one place--who can say 'no' to that? Finally, a few days ago I received an invite and signed up! I haven't had time to explore it yet or get settled in, but after reading about various bloggers' addiction to it, I think it's only a matter of time before it becomes one of my daily habits.

Work was busy this weekend so I didn't get to knit as much as I'd hoped; my goal was to finish the sleeve I'm currently working on, but no cigar. I'm about 3/4 of the way done, with 11 of 16 repeats out of the way. 'Not much time to knit this week, so the soonest this piece can be finished is next weekend.

Eventually it'll look like this:

The list of knitting/craft blogs I read has gotten longer again. I read sporadically, but I do read them! It's extremely uplifitng to interact with people with a common interest, to give and receive compliments and critique. Mostly, I just like oggling at crafts!